S t r o n g h o l d s
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds
2 Corinthians 10:4
You have been going to church, reading your bible and praying, but you are not much different than before you gave your life to Christ. The reason can be that you have a stronghold in your life, an area in which the enemy of God has a foothold. You may have been a christian for many years, but there is an area that is controlled by the enemy. this will keep you from changing.
For 30 years as a Christian I experienced incredible amounts of frustration and it turned into deep anger. I knew God’s word and I did so much to be free from anger, but I had this growing resentment towards God. It seemed like everyone had some kind of wonderful testimony, and I was just becoming more bitter. The reason was that I had strongholds in my life, areas in which the enemy of God had a foothold. It wasn’t until I came to a certain point, under certain conditions that I was able to pray for it to be removed and it was finally gone. You may have been a christian for many years, but there is an area that is controlled by the enemy, this will keep you from changing.
A Stronghold
A stronghold is something that is blocking your heart from being completely free in Christ. It can be just one thing or several things. Most of the time it is something that you do not recognize in yourself. Others may notice it in you, but you do not. There are a set number of areas in our heart and if just one of those areas is controlled by the influence of the enemy, then you can never fully be and feel free. Totally free means that there is absolutely nothing in your life that you are not willing to pray to Christ to remove from your life.
Some examples of strongholds are:
A belief in something that is against God’s word
Anger towards God
Hatred towards a person or a group of people
Not being able to admit you are wrong
An addiction to something
Something that means more to you than Christ
Desire for revenge
Refusal to forgive a person or people
Not being able to love or show love to others
Angry outbursts and rage
Hatred
Not wanting to love anyone
Lying
Lust
Self Centered
No self awareness
Unhealthy relationships
Can a believer have a demonic stronghold?
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”."
2 Corinthians 12:7-9
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 we have not just any believer, but the apostle Paul himself, a man who clearly lived by the Holy Spirit, telling us that he not only had a demon, but it was God who gave it to him. Paul was not possessed, he was oppressed (harassed) by a demonic entity. Some may say that this entity was not an internal harass, in his mind, but externally harassing him in some way. But Paul actually tells us where the demonic entity is located, as he says it was “in the flesh”. This was inside him, inside his mind and body. Most demonic oppression happens in our minds, not outside of our bodies. We also see what Paul does when he recognizes that there is an evil entity harassing him, he prays to God to to remove it “that is should leave me”. We also see that God will not remove it from him for a reason. Not only do we have a believer who has the Holy Spirit in him, and lives by that spirit, but he has a demon harassing him from inside of his mind.
Most people today, I would guess, believe that once you ask God to save you, and pray that you believe in Him, and ask Him to forgive you and help you be a believer and follower, that you are free from all of your sins, and are able to live for Him completely. That any and all demonic strongholds and influences, however they may be, are gone. I believed that way myself until my conversion. I now see there there is a second step before you can fully be free. That step is to cleanse yourself from everything that is impure and sinful inside you, that you had inside you before you were saved.
What is the difference between a stronghold and our flesh?
Your flesh or your sinful nature has the desire to sin. How you can tell when your sin is just in your flesh is that it is usually a sin that you feel that you would like to stop doing and remove from your life. When it is just your flesh, you agree it is wrong and you can see the negative effects it has in your life. You also feel guilty when it is just your sin committing the sin. When it is your flesh, it is a sin that you are aware of in your life and you recognize it as a sin,and you would like to remove it from your life. It is something that you usually have control over and can stop doing if you really wanted to.
A stronghold is usually something that you are either not aware of at all, or it is something that you are in denial about. If you are in denial about it, it is something that you cannot stop doing, no matter how much you try. There is a strong sense of justification for these sins. People often try to find a scripture to use to justify their sin. Often we hear of men who beat their wives and use the “submission” verses to justify it.
Hating a particular race of people is an another example of a stronghold. It is something that is very strongly believed and a believer will usually get defensive if you confront them on the topic of their particular stronghold.
In today’s Christian world, most believe there there are just one step to being set free, and that is giving your life to Jesus. But the bible talks about something that we don’t hear very often in today’s Christian world, and that is the cleansing of our hearts and minds after we get saved.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Galatians 5:17
Does a stronghold always mean there is a demonic element to it? Can it just be your flesh but it is just a stronger desire than others?
I do believe that there are sins that we hold dearly more than others, and that they still are just in our flesh. I believe the truth is that the enemy knows every single sinful desire we have and they try to encourage us to commit all of them the same amount. I don’t think they only try to get us to sin in a set number of ways. But I believe that they know what is our weakest point and they work on that the most. There is the example of David, who was a man after God’s own heart, but he has his weaknesses just like everyone else. The enemy knew them all and was able to get David to sin in major ways in several points in his life. One was the taking of a census. We know that it was the enemy because it states it clearly.
Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
Now even his wicked servant Joab knew this was wrong but David would not listen. A stronghold is either not recognized by the person, or they are in denial about it, and here again Satan is mentioned as the key motivating voice behind the sin, it’s not just his flesh. Others can usually see very clearly a stronghold that the person cannot see themselves.
But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel? But the king’s word prevailed against Joab.”
How can a believer have the Holy Spirit and also have a stronghold of the enemy?
It seems to be logical, that you can’t have the Holy Spirit inside of you and also have a demonic entity as well, the two can’t seem to occupy the same person. I think the confusion is the idea of being “inside” of someone. Romans 8 says
“Therefore there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”
The subtle difference is not the enemy is no inside your heart and soul, just your mind. The Holy Spirit is in your heart and in your mind. If we look at the case with this story of David, we see that Satan convinces him to take a census. So somewhere there was a conversation when Satan talks to David. But we are pretty sure that it’s not an audible conversation, it is inside of his mind. The enemy uses your own voice, the same one you use when you have any thought, so you don’t recognize that it’s the enemy easily. This happens long after David is king, yet when David was first anointed, he was given the Holy Spirit of God.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.
The text says “from that day going forward.” It was not just on that one particular day. So here we have David, with God’s Holy Spirit, and he has Satan convincing him to sin. He also has a godless man telling him it’s a huge sin, but David won’t listen. How does David, with God’s Holy Spirit have Satan talking to him and David agreeing to do what he suggests? The Spirit is in David’s heart. Satan only enters David’s mind. In the case of Judas, Satan is not just in his mind at this point, he enters his heart.
Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.
The word is clear, he enters him, not just his mind, but now is heart. He is now possessed, not just oppressed. We know that because if Judas was possessed early, he would not be mentioning him entering at this point. It is the first time that Satan is now going from Judas’s mind, to his heart and soul. It’s important to note that Judas never was a follower of Christ, he was there for the financial gain that he thought Jesus might one day bring.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Galatians 5:17
Some people upon getting saved say they instantly stopped smoking, or swearing, and I do believe that God does that for some people. But I think the majority of us still have most, if not all of the sinful habits and thoughts we had prior to being saved, with us after we are saved. This one step is a process that we repeat for the rest of our lives. It is not that you pray a few times, and it all leaves you, and you are free for the rest of your life from any and all oppression. I am not saying that there is a way to pray that God removes all sin from your mind and your life. Galatians 5:17 makes it clear the struggle between flesh and spirit goes on for our whole lives. What I am saying is that strongholds are different than your normal sinful desires.
What is the difference between a stronghold and our flesh?
Your flesh has desires to sin, but its usually a sin that you feel that you would like to stop doing and remove from your life. When it is just your flesh, you agree it is wrong and you cna see the negative effects it has in your life. You also feel guilty when it is just your sin committing the sin. When it is your flesh, it is a sin that you are aware of in your life and you would like to remove it from your life. It is something that you usually have control over and can stop doing if you really wanted to.
A stronghold is usually something that you are either not aware of at all, or it is something that you are in denial about. It is something that you cannot stop doing, no matter how much you try.