A stronghold is an area of our life where we are vulnerable to enemy attack. We all have them. Yours could be language, pride, gossip, pornography, money, overworking, overeating, going with the crowd, wanting to please everybody all the time, giving in to peer pressure, guilt over your past, struggle with your self image, etc.

     The great news is that our God has the power to demolish these strongholds in our lives. By the end of Joshua 6, the stronghold was demolished, the enemy had been defeated, and the people experienced great victory. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says,

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 

      The question for us today is – HOW? How can I demolish a stronghold of the enemy in my life? How can I be victorious in the areas of my life where I am most vulnerable and tend to struggle with the most? The answer is in Joshua 6 along with the rest of Scripture – the people received a Word from the Lord, obeyed that Word, and persisted in that Word until the stronghold fell. For more information on Joshua 6, you can check out the sermon from February 4^th on our Locust Hill Facebook Page or Church App.

       But I would like to discuss how strongholds fall in 2018. First, it begins with the Word of God (Ps. 119:105, 111; Heb. 4:12, 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:21). When Satan tempted Jesus, each time our Lord responded with a Word from the Lord. Although Satan is a powerful adversary, he is NOT very creative. His primary strategy for erecting strongholds in our lives is simple – LIES (Gen. 3:4, John 8:44, Rev. 12:9-11). The ONLY way we can defeat the lies of the enemy is the TRUTH of God’s Word – the Sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17)

     So then, what does this look like in real life? In order to demolish that stronghold, you need a Word from the Lord. Here are some examples. If you struggle with:

     Strongholds don’t fall by trying harder. They only fall through the power of the Living and active Word of God. Please share verses that have helped you demolish a stronghold in your life! It may be just what someone else needs.

    But you know, the greatest thing about snow days in the South is that it is a time when EVERYTHING shuts down. I mean think about it – there are a lot less things open on our snow days than on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

    Our world is FORCED to STOP and PAUSE for a few hours and we love them so much because:

     I love the book of Joshua. It is a book about fulfilling God’s Vision and experiencing God’s Victory. In Joshua 1:2, God calls His people FROM a place of dryness, desperation, defeat, and death TO a place of vision, victory, and vitality. We have that same choice in 2018. Will we choose God’s plan or Satan’s place to live this year? The Lord showed me something in Joshua 1:1-2 that I believe has the potential to have great impact in your life as you begin this New Year. Verse 2 says, “Moses my servant is dead….”

     It could be that God desires that you START something in 2018. Moses had been an incredible leader of the Lord. He had led the people of God faithfully from Egypt out of bondage and to the banks of the Promised Land. But Moses disqualified himself in God’s eyes by taking the glory from God and giving it to himself (Numbers 20). Moses’ calling was complete but God was just getting started. Here’s the word – If we fail to do what God asks from us, God will move on and find someone else to do the job, but we will miss the blessing. For someone – you know God has given you an assignment but to this point you have failed to obey. It could be fear. It could be procrastination. You may feel unworthy. Maybe you’re just too busy. Could it be that God wants to say to you today – You either get on with it or I’ll find someone else, but either way My will is going to be accomplished. If you don’t start my assignment, you are going to miss My blessing in Your life.

     On the other hand, it could be that God desires that you STOP something in 2018. The people of God were having a hard time moving on. Deuteronomy 34:8 says, “The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.”  It’s hard to move on sometimes – especially when something is good. I mean we are talking about Moses here – the man wrote the first 5 books of the Bible, one of the greatest leaders in the history of the people of God. And so God comes and gets right to it – Moses is dead. Ouch. It’s time to STOP looking back. It’s time to start looking forward. And I wonder if there is an area of your life today where you are looking back? For some –it was a good thing. It’s like Moses. If it was good, our tendency in 2018 is to keep looking back to the good old days.

But regardless, God wants to come to us oh so subtly today and say – That’s over. That’s in the past. The sooner you come to the realization of where you actually are in the present –the better.

Why?? Because I have something exciting for your future! I can’t do what I need to do in your future until you close the door on the past. I can’t write your next chapter until you put a period on the last one.

Stop focusing on that good thing. Stop focusing on that bad thing. Start focusing on the NEXT thing!!

We can LEARN from the past, but we can’t LIVE in the past!

Paul says in Philippians 3:13, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Isaiah 43:19 says, “Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth;”

Sometimes we say, “I don’t know if I am ABLE.” Remember…..

Jacob cheated, Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul committed murder, Gideon insecure, Miriam gossiped, Martha worried, Thomas doubted, Sara was impatient, Elijah was moody, Moses stuttered, Zacchaeus was short, Abraham was old, and Lazarus was dead.

        The Lord has put something on my heart this year that I hope may be valuable in your life and family. God’s desire for your Christmas this year is that you Encounter the Living One, Encourage the Hurting One, and Evangelize the Lost One.

God’s plan is all about PRESENCE – being there for Him, there for those that are hurting, and available to the lost.

calendar. It is the tyranny of the urgent, and if we aren’t careful we will have time for everything except Jesus. The second is cash. There are additional expenses this time of year in an already tight budget. The third is criticism. Notice that Martha criticizes her sister in front of Jesus. Mary must have gotten the point by Martha’s huffing and puffing how she was feeling. If you are not careful you will allow the expectations of others or the criticism of others completely control your Christmas and you will make everyone happy except for The Lord. The fourth is change. It could be that your family is dealing with a divorce or the lost of a loved one, but either way the family table will look different this year. The fifth is culture. It’s very subtle and sneaky. Did you realize that out of the top 20 Christmas songs you will hear on the radio this year, that only 2 mention the name of Jesus? If we are not careful we can very easily replace the Nativity with Nostalgia, replace the Savior with a Season, and Replace the Holy for a mere Holiday.

Would you be willing to participate in a Season of Thanks this month? The goal is simply to read 5 Psalms per day, and therefore to finish the book of Psalms in the month of November. The Psalms have been such a source of encouragement to my heart through the highs and lows of life.