NEIL ANDERSON DEVOTIONALS are available on free online subscription through www.goshen.net. We place a selection here to encourage you to be established in your identity in Christ, and recommend Neil Anderson's books for new believers, those seeking to be freed from cycles of bondage to repetitive sin, and to all believers, experienced and new, as excellent resource material. Those listed under headings follow on in thematic sequence (most recent material first)

Hot topic - The Priority Of Relationships (With God And People) Over Regulations And Achievements
Relationships above Regimentation God's purpose - a relationship that supersedes regulations
Relationships First The primary importance of LOVE in God's system of values
Controlling Others Identity through WHO we are (in Christ), not through WHAT we do!
A Higher Priority Neil Anderson's personal testimony
The Only Limit to Faith - really knowing God

DISCERNING THE PROPHETIC - Criteria to prove valid and invalid prophetic gifting.

FOUR QUALIFICATIONS FOR DEMONSTRATING AUTHORITY OVER RULERS AND AUTHORITIES IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM
A concise summary of foundations for effective use of Christian authority in spiritual warfare
1] Believing In Christ’s Authority
2] True Humility
3] Spirit-Inspired Boldness
4] Dependence On God

MODERN MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Confronting Spiritual Opposition - are demons less active today than in Christ's time?
The Reality Of The Spiritual World - isn't at all psychological?
The Enemy’s Potential - can demons harm a Christian?
Truth Encounter - Resisting The Devil As A Christian
Power In The Truth
Renouncing Wrong Ways

RESISTING THE ATTEMPTS OF THE ENEMY TO ROB AND CONDEMN US
THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN - the Devil's main weapon on believers
ACCUSATION AND CONVICTION - recognising the difference makes all the difference!
THE SPIRIT’S CONVICTION - How the Spirit convicts and why
GOD’S PROTECTION - the place of safety and how to abide there
TRUTH ENCOUNTER - Resisting the Devil as a Christian

GOD'S WORD AS THE FOUNDATION FOR CHARISMATIC ACTIVITY
Discerning The Truth
Proper Use of Prophecy
Signs and the Word of God
Testing Everything

MINISTRY WHILE AT "REST"
Distorted Identity Christian behaviour / service proceeds from our (purchased) position and not to it.
Being God-Centered In Ministry Remaining Christ-centered while dealing with demons and success in ministry

STRONGHOLDS
How You Are Programmed
Threshold of Temptation
When Strongholds Become Entrenched
Recognizing Your Stronghold
Renewing Your Mind
Living According to the Spirit  

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DISCERNING THE TRUTH

Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances.  But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21).  If you accept prophetic utterances as valid for today, I would encourage you to test them in the following ways.

1.       First, is the person giving the prophetic utterance living a balanced and righteous lifestyle? You must carefully evaluate the person announcing, “Thus saith the Lord.” Also, be on guard for the person who wants to bring a “new thing.” If it is true, it’s not new. If it is new, it’s not true.

2.       Second, is the person committed to building God’s kingdom or his own? Is Christ being lifted up or is he?

3.       Third, does the prophetic utterance establish confidence in the Word of God and is it consistent with a balanced presentation of it? Are people going to have a greater dependency on God’s revelation or man’s inspiration? Are prophetic utterances a substitute for the serious, personal study of God’s Word?

4.       Fourth, does the use of the spiritual gift bring unity to the church and build up the body? Be careful in this test because those who hold to a form of godliness but deny its power are not in balance either. They will quench the Spirit through censorship and very little will be accomplished in the church. They can cause disunity as well.

5.       Last, do the spiritual manifestations bypass the mind? God operates through our mind; Satan bypasses it. If a person takes on a medium-like trance, be assured it is occultic. God renews our mind and brings back to our mind all that He has taught us.  We are to think so as to have sound judgment.

All of us receive input from a myriad of sources today. With Satan still using false prophets in his battle for your mind, determine to discern the truth God wants you to know to set you free and keep you free.  Lord, I want to be so in tune with your Word that I can discern error and darkness even when it appears as truth and light.

RESISTING THE ATTEMPTS OF THE ENEMY TO ROB AND CONDEMN US

Before reading these Neil Anderson devotionals - consider the statement made by Zimbabwean author, Mark Roser, in his book Cleansing the Heavenlies, that the often-misapplied quote from Rev 12:10 is no longer applicable to the people of God, after Jesus cleansed the heavenlies of all sin and defilement.  After Calvary and His exaltation, Christ evicted Satan from (the third) heaven.  He was cast down to earth and now inhabits the first and second heavens only.  He is the Prince of this world and the Ruler of the kingdom of the air  (John 12:31  14:30  16:11  Eph 2:2).  Although Satan can no longer come before God's throne and accuse the believer, Anderson makes the point in his material that Satan continues to harass believers on earth with thoughts of condemnation, accusation, etc.

The significance of this change to the devil's location is in its relevance to an improved understanding of our defence against his persistent attacks on our standing with our God.  This, after all, is always the bottom line of satanic attack on believers.

Our office has several copies of this challenging book after Brian Rensford returned from Zimbabwe, having spent time with the author in Harare.  They are available to borrow upon request (We think they are not yet available in our part of the world).

THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN
The accuser of our brethren . . . who accuses them before our God day and night (Revelation 12:10). Next to temptation, perhaps the most frequent and insistent attack from Satan to which we are vulnerable is accusation. By faith we have entered into an eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, we are dead to sin and alive to God, and we now sit with Christ in the heavenlies. In Christ we are important, we are qualified, we are justified. Satan can do absolutely nothing to alter our position in Christ and our worth to God. But he can render us virtually inoperative if he can deceive us into listening to and believing his insidious lies, accusing us of being of little value to God or other people.

Satan often uses temptation and accusation as a brutal one-two punch. He comes along and says, "Why don’t you try it? Everybody does it. Besides, you can get away with it. Who’s going to know?" Then as soon as we fall for his tempting line, he changes his tune to accusation: "What kind of a Christian are you to do such a thing? You’re a pitiful excuse for a child of God. You’ll never get away with it. You might as well give up because God has already given up on you."

We have all heard Satan’s lying, hateful voice in our hearts and consciences. He never seems to let up on us. Many Christians are perpetually discouraged and defeated because they believe his persistent lies about them. And those who give in to his accusations end up being robbed of the freedom that God intends His people to enjoy.

The good news is that we don’t have to listen to Satan’s accusations and live in despair and defeat. Satan is not your judge; he is merely your accuser. When Satan’s accusations of unworthiness attack you, don’t pay attention to them. Instead respond, "I have put my trust in Christ, and I am a child of God in Him. I have been rescued by God from the fire of judgment, and He has declared me righteous. Satan cannot determine a verdict or pronounce a sentence. All he can do is accuse me—and I don’t buy it." Lord God, when Satan accuses me and reminds me of my past, help me resist him and remind him of his future. [return to top of page ]

ACCUSATION AND CONVICTION
The sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death (2 Corinthians 7:10).  A graphic example of the contrast between accusation and conviction is found in the lives of Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter. Somehow Judas allowed Satan to deceive him into betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (Luke 22:3-5). When Judas realized what he had done, he was so remorseful that he hung himself. Was his suicide the result of Satan’s accusation or of God’s conviction? It had to be accusation because it drove Judas to kill himself. Accusation leads to death; conviction leads to repentance and life.

Peter also failed Jesus by denying Him. It apparently began with pride as the disciples argued over who was the greatest among them (Luke 22:24-30). Jesus told Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat” (verse 31).  That’s right—Jesus allowed Satan to put Peter through the mill because Peter had given the enemy a foothold through pride. But Jesus also looked at Peter and said, “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (verse 32).

Peter vowed to die with Jesus, but Jesus told him that he would deny Him three times (verses 33, 34) which he did. The remorse Peter felt was every bit as painful as that which Judas experienced. But Peter’s sorrow was from conviction which led to his eventual repentance and restoration to Christ (John 21:15-17). When your feelings of remorse drive you from God, you are being accused by Satan. Resist it. But when your sorrow draws you to confront Christ and confess your wrong, you are being convicted by the Spirit. Yield to it through repentance.

According to Revelation 12:10, Satan’s continuing work is to accuse the brethren. But the good news is that Christ’s continuing work is to intercede for us as He did for Peter (Hebrews 7:25). We have a persistent adversary, but we have an even more persistent, eternal advocate who defends us before the Father on the basis of our faith in Him (1 John 2:1). [return to top of page ]

THE SPIRIT’S CONVICTION
I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God (2 Corinthians 7:9).  I’m often asked, “How can I tell the difference between the devil’s accusations and the Holy Spirit’s conviction?” Every Christians is faced with the choice of walking by the Spirit or by the flesh on a daily basis. The moment you choose to walk according to the flesh, the Holy Spirit brings conviction because what you have just chosen to do is not compatible with who you really are. If you continue in the flesh, you will feel the sorrow of conviction.

“How do I know which kind of sorrow I’m experiencing?” you may ask. “The devil’s accusation and the Spirit’s conviction both make me feel sorrowful.” Determine whether your feelings reflect thoughts of truth or error, and you will identify their source.  Do you feel guilty, worthless, stupid, or inept? That’s a sorrow provoked by accusation because those feelings don’t reflect truth. Judicially, you are no longer guilty; you have been justified through your faith in Christ, and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. You are not worthless;

Jesus gave His life for you. You are not stupid or inept; you can do all things through Christ. When you find lies lurking beneath your feelings of sorrow—especially if your feelings persistently drive you into the ground—you are being falsely accused. To disarm the sorrow of accusation you must submit yourself to God and resist the devil and his lies.

But if you are sorrowful because your behavior doesn’t reflect your true identity in Christ, that’s the sorrow according to the will of God which is designed to produce repentance. It’s the Holy Spirit calling you to admit on the basis of 1 John 1:9, “Dear Lord, I was wrong.” As soon as you confess and repent, God says, “I’m glad you shared that with Me. You’re cleansed; now get on with life.” And you walk away from that confrontation free.  The sorrow is gone, and you have a positive new resolve to obey God in the area of your failure.  Thank You, Lord, for the “tough love” of Your Holy Spirit in bringing me to repentance when I sin. [return to top of page ]

GOD’S PROTECTION
But resist him [the devil], firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world (1 Peter 5:9).  I cannot accept someone saying, “The devil made me do it.” No, he didn’t make you do it; you did it. Somewhere along the line, you chose to give the devil a foothold. He merely took advantage of the opportunity you gave him. You have all the resources and protection you need to live a victorious life in Christ every day. If you’re not living it, it’s your choice. When you leave a door open for the devil by not resisting temptation, accusation or deception, you are vulnerable. And if you continue to allow him access to your life, he can gain a measure of control over you. You won’t lose your salvation, but you will lose your daily victory.

Many Christians today who cannot control their lives in some area wallow in self-blame instead of acting responsibly to solve the problem. They berate themselves and punish themselves for not having the willpower to break a bad habit, when instead they should be resisting Satan in an area where he had obviously robbed them of control. Anything bad which you seemingly cannot stop doing, or anything good which you cannot make yourself do, could be an area of demonic control.

God’s protection from demonic attack is not something you can take for granted irrespective of how you behave. This protection is conditional on your willingness to respond to God’s provision.  We are told to put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14), to put on the armour of God and to stand firm (Ephesians 6:11), to submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7). If we irresponsibly ignore God’s resources by failing to obey these commands, how can we expect Him to protect us?  Thank You, Lord, for the clear direction and mighty weapons You have provided for victory in spiritual warfare. [return to top of page ]

TRUTH ENCOUNTER - Resisting the Devil as a Christian
Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14, 15). Another common misconception of the spiritual world is that demonic influence is only evident in extreme or violent behavior and gross sin. Most Christians suffering from demonic activity lead relatively normal lives while experiencing serious personal and interpersonal problems for which no cause or solution has been found. Since they relegate satanic involvement only to mass murderers or violent sex criminals, these ordinary problem-plagued individuals wonder what’s wrong with them and why they can’t just "do better."

Satan’s first and foremost strategy is deception. It is not the few raving demoniacs who are causing the church to be ineffective, but Satan’s subtle deception and intrusion into the lives of "normal" believers. One Christian psychotherapist who attended my conference on spiritual conflicts and counselling said, "I discovered that two-thirds of my clients were having problems because they were being deceived by Satan—and so was I!"

A final misconception that must be dispelled is that freedom from spiritual bondage is the result of a power encounter with demonic forces. Freedom from spiritual conflicts and bondage is not a power encounter; it’s a truth encounter. Satan is a deceiver, and he will work undercover at all costs. But the truth of God’s Word exposes him and his lie. His demons are like cockroaches that scurry for the shadows when the light comes on. Satan’s power is in the lie, and when his lie is exposed by the truth, his plans are foiled.

When God first disciplined the early church in Acts 5, He did so in a dramatic way. Peter confronted Ananias and Sapphira: "Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?" (v3). God wanted the church to know that Satan the deceiver can ruin us if he can get us to believe and live a lie. If I could infiltrate a church, a committee, or a person undetected, and deceive them into believing a lie, I could control their lives! That’s exactly what Satan is doing, and his lie is the focus of the battle. [return to top of page ]

FOUR QUALIFICATIONS FOR DEMONSTRATING AUTHORITY OVER RULERS AND AUTHORITIES IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM
Truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you (Matthew 17:20). What does it take to effectively exercise Christ’s authority over spiritual powers? Can any Christian do so regardless of his level of spiritual maturity? If so, why aren’t we more consistent in demonstrating our authority over Satan’s kingdom? I believe there are at least four qualifications for demonstrating authority over rulers and authorities in the spiritual realm. We’ll consider them over the next few days.

1. BELIEVING IN CHRIST’S AUTHORITY

The first qualification is belief. In the spiritual realm, if you don’t believe you have authority, you’re not going to exercise it. If your belief is weak, your expression of it will also be weak and ineffective. But if you grasp with confidence the authority that Christ has conferred upon you, you will exercise it with confidence.

Imagine a rookie traffic copy approaching a busy intersection to direct traffic for the first time. They told him at the academy that all he had to do was step into the street and hold up his hand and the cars would stop, but he’s not so sure. He stands on the curb, tweets his whistle weakly, and sort of waves at an oncoming car, which roars by him. His authority is diminished by his lack of confidence.

Now imagine a seasoned officer coming on the scene. He sizes up the situation, steps into the street carefully but confidently, gives a blast on his whistle, and stretches out his hand and the cars stop. There’s no doubt in his mind that he’s in control in that intersection because he has a settled belief in his authority.

You may consider yourself just a "rookie" at stopping the devil’s traffic in your life. But Jesus Christ is a seasoned veteran, and you’re in Him. Build your faith in your authority by studying how Jesus operated against the powers of darkness in the Gospels and how we are commanded to do so in the Epistles. Lord, enlarge my belief that I have been given authority over principalities and powers in Christ, and help me act on that belief. [return to top of page ].

2. TRUE HUMILITY

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you (James 4:10). The second qualification for demonstrating authority over rulers and authorities in the spiritual realm is humility. Humility doesn’t mean that you’re always looking for a rock to crawl under because you feel unworthy to do anything. In exercising our authority, humility is placing confidence in Christ, the source of our authority, instead of in ourselves. Jesus didn’t shrink back from exercising His authority, but He showed tremendous humility because He did everything according to what His Father told Him to do.

Pride says, "I resisted the devil all by myself." False humility says, "God resisted the devil; I did nothing." True humility says, "I resisted the devil by the grace of God." Apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5), but that doesn’t mean we’re not supposed to do something. We exercise authority humbly in His strength and in His name.

Seeing humility as self-abasement is similar to seeing meekness as weakness. The Lord was meek, but He wasn’t weak. Meekness is great strength under great control. Humility is confidence properly placed. We are to "glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3).

Pride is a killer. Pride says, "I can do it." No you can’t. We absolutely need God and each other. Father, I know You can remove Your blessing from me if I move out from under Your protection and authority. I acknowledge today that You are in charge of my life. [return to top of page ].

3. SPIRIT-INSPIRED BOLDNESS

Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9). The third qualification for demonstrating authority over rulers and authorities in the spiritual realm is boldness. A Spirit-filled Christian is characterized by a true, godly sense of courage and boldness in spiritual warfare. On the eve of taking authority over the Promised Land, Joshua was challenged four times to be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6, 7, 9, 18). When the early church prayed about their mission of sharing the gospel in Jerusalem, "the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31). Spirit-inspired boldness is behind every successful advance in the church today.

The opposite of boldness is cowardice, fear and unbelief. Notice what God thinks about these characteristics: I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murders and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 21:6-8).

That’s pretty serious—cowards lined up at the lake of fire alongside murderers, sorcerers and idolaters! It should serve to motivate us to exercise authority with boldness (2 Timothy 1:7).

A lot of Christians I meet fear the dark side of the spiritual world. It’s true that a little knowledge can be a dangerous and frightful thing, but a growing knowledge of the truth is liberating. Seminary students have told me, "I used to be afraid of that stuff, but now I know who I am in Christ, and I’m not afraid anymore." That’s exactly the perception we should have. Lord, increase my courage to light candles of truth and dispel the darkness in Your name. I will fear only You today, not the enemy.

4. DEPENDENCE ON GOD

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5). The fourth qualification for demonstrating authority over rulers and authorities in the spiritual realm is dependence. A Spirit-filled life is dependent on God the Father. Even Jesus and the Holy Spirit modelled this dependency. Jesus said: "I can do nothing on My own initiative" (John 5:30); "Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you" (John 17:7 NIV); "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak" (John 16:13).

Spiritual authority is not an independent authority. We don’t charge out on our own initiative like some kind of evangelical ghostbusters to hunt down the devil and engage him in combat. God’s primary call is for each of us to focus on the ministry of the kingdom: loving, caring, preaching, teaching, praying, etc. However, when demonic powers challenge us in the course of pursuing this ministry, we deal with them on the basis of our authority in Christ and our dependence on Him. Then we carry on with our primary task.

Nor is the spiritual authority of the believer an authority to be exercised over other believers. We are to be "subject to one another in the fear of Christ" (Ephesians 5:21). There is a God-established authority on earth which governs the social structures of government, work, home and church (Romans 13:1-7). It is critically important that we submit to these governing authorities unless they operate outside the scope of their authority, command us to do something against God’s will, or restrict us from doing what God has commanded. Then we must obey God rather than men. Lord, it’s a great relief to know I can depend on You. You are the Rock, the Almighty, unchanging, full of glory. I praise You. [return to top of page ].

The powers and forces that Paul wrote about in the first century are still around at the dawn of the twenty-first century, evident in the popularity of the New Age Movement and the proliferation of Satanism and the occult.

God’s people wrestling against dark spiritual forces is not a first-century phenomenon, nor is it an option for the Christian today; it’s unavoidable. The kingdom of darkness is still present and Satan is intent on making your life miserable and keeping you from enjoying and exercising your inheritance in Christ. Your only options in confronting spiritual opposition are how and to what extent you’re going to wage the battle. [return to top of page ].

THE REALITY OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD
Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Here’s another common misconception about the spiritual world that must be dispelled: What the early church called demonic activity we now understand to be mental illness. One counsellor argued, "There is no way his problem can be demonic; he’s a paranoid schizophrenic." Simply accepting secular psychology’s definition of a human problem in no way establishes the actual cause of the problem. Terms such as schizophrenia, paranoia, psychosis, etc. are merely labels classifying symptoms.

But what or who is causing the symptoms? Is it a neurological or hormonal problem, or perhaps a chemical imbalance? Certainly these options must be explored. But what if no physical cause is found? Then it must be a psychological problem. But which school of psychology do you choose: biblical or secular? Why not explore the possibility that the problem may be spiritual?

We should not be surprised that secular psychologists, limited to a natural worldview, supply only natural explanations for mental problems. They offer their explanation from a viewpoint with no concept of God, much less the demonic. Even many Christians who vociferously reject the scientific community’s explanation for the origin of the species naively accept the secular psychologist’s explanation of mental illness. Research based on the scientific method of investigation of human spiritual problems is not wrong; it’s just incomplete. It ignores the reality of the spiritual world because neither God nor the devil submit to our methods of investigation.

Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is." Science is inadequate to explain matters of faith. We must trust God’s Word to explain the reality of the spiritual world. [return to top of page ].

THE ENEMY’S POTENTIAL
How can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? (Matthew 12:29). Another common misconception of the spiritual world is that some problems are psychological and some are spiritual. This misconception implies a division between the human soul and spirit, which does not exist. There is no inner conflict which is not psychological, because there is never a time when your mind, emotions and will are not involved. Similarly, there is no problem which is not spiritual. There is no time when God is not present or when it is safe for you to take off the armour of God. The tendency is to polarise into a deliverance ministry, ignoring the realities of the physical realm, or a psychotherapeutic ministry, ignoring the spiritual realm.

Dr. Paul Hiebert, a missions specialist, contends that, as long as believers accept a two-tier worldview with God confined to the supernatural and the natural world operating for all practical purposes according to autonomous scientific laws, Christianity will continue to be a secularising force in the world. If your worldview does not recognize the activity of the god of this world in human problems, it is at best incomplete and at worst a distortion of reality.

Another misconception is that Christian aren’t subject to demon activity. The prevailing belief among evangelicals today is that Christians cannot be severely oppressed by demons. Even the suggestion that demonic influence can be part of the problem often prompts the hasty disclaimer, "Impossible! I’m a Christian!"

Nothing has done greater damage to diagnosing spiritual problems than this untruth. If Satan can’t touch the church, why are we instructed to put on the armour of God, to resist the devil, to stand firm, and to be alert? If we aren’t susceptible to being wounded or trapped by Satan, why does Paul describe our relationship to the powers of darkness as a wrestling match? Those who deny the enemy’s potential for destruction are the most vulnerable to it. [return to top of page ].

POWER IN THE TRUTH
He who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God (John 3:21). Satan’s first and foremost strategy is deception. As long as Satan’s influence in a person’s life remains undetected, he is content to lie low and not show his hand. Like a snake in the grass, he quietly sneaks up on his prey and squeezes the life out of it.

But when you confront Satan’s deception and expose his lies with the truth, his strategy changes from stealth to a pretense of power. He becomes the roaring lion that Peter warned about (1 Peter 5:8). The procedure that most Christian counsellors follow in dealing with people in whom demonic strongholds have been exposed is to challenge the spirit to manifest itself, and then to cast it out. Inevitably there is a power struggle which can provoke the victim to either lapse into a catatonic state, become generally disoriented, or run out of the room. I’ve seen people get physically injured during such confrontations. This procedure can potentially create more harm than help, especially for the novice.

We must avoid buying into Satan’s second strategy of power as much as we avoid swallowing his first strategy of deception. It isn’t power per se that sets the captive free; it’s truth (John 8:32). The power of the Christian is in the truth; the power of Satan is in the lie. To the Satanist, power is everything, but power is only effective in the darkness. The Christian is to pursue the truth because power and authority are already inherent in him. Truth is what makes an encounter with Satan effective. Satan’s demonstration of power (which is also deceptive because his power has actually been broken by the cross) is intended to provoke a fear response. When fear is controlling a believer, the Spirit of God is not, and Satan has the upper hand. Fear of the enemy and faith in God are mutually exclusive. Lord, I pray that Your presence will be manifested in my life today that Your name may be glorified in the world [return to top of page ].

RENOUNCING THE WRONG WAYS
He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters (Luke 11:23). The early church included in its public declaration of faith, "I renounce you, Satan, and all your works and ways." The Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and many other liturgical churches still require this renunciation as part of confirmation. For some reason it has disappeared from most evangelical churches. Consequently, we have mislaid a very important truth:

We must not only choose the truth but recognize and renounce the counterfeit. There is no middle ground with truth. Jesus said, "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters" (Luke 11:23). There are not many paths to God; there is only one way (John 14:6). Christians are not being narrow-minded when they stand on what God has declared.

The literal meaning of repentance is a change of mind. This is not merely mental acknowledgment. The idea is that "I used to think, believe and walk one way, but now I think, believe and walk a new way." People who say "I believe the Bible, but I also believe what I learned that is contrary to the Word of God" are deceived and living in bondage.

The first step to freedom in Christ is to renounce previous or current involvement with satanically inspired occultic practices or false religions. Any activity or group which denies Jesus Christ, offers guidance through any source other than the absolute authority of the written Word of God, or requires secret initiations must be forsaken. No Christian has any business being part of a group that is not completely open about all they do. God does everything in the light because in Him there is no darkness at all. We are to walk in the light [return to top of page ].

RELATIONSHIP, NOT REGIMEN
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death (Romans 8:2). Walking according to the Spirit is more a relationship than a regimen. Think about your marriage as an illustration. You may have started out relying on some rules for effective communication, meeting each other’s sexual needs, etc. But if after several years you can’t even talk to each other or make love without following an outline or list of steps, your marriage is still in infancy. The goal of a marriage is to develop a relationship which supersedes rules.

Or think about prayer. Perhaps you learned to pray using the simple acrostic ACTS: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. But if you have been a Christian for a few years and your prayer life is no deeper than an acrostic, you’ve missed the point of prayer. Prayer is not a formula; it’s the language of your relationship with God. Similarly, walking in the Spirit is essentially a relationship with the indwelling Spirit which defies quantification.

Even though Scripture doesn’t give us a formula, it does help us see what the Spirit-filled walk is and what it is not. Helpful parameters are found in Galatians 5:16-18: "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law."

So how do you walk by the Spirit? If I answered by giving you a rigid formula, I would be putting you back under the law. The Spirit is not an "it"; the Holy Spirit is a "He"—a person. Walking by the Spirit is a relationship issue, not a legal issue or ritualistic exercise. It is a walk with God. Father, thank You that my life in You is a relationship, not a set of rules. [return to top of page ]

RELATIONSHIPS FIRST
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law (Romans 13:8). Many people demonstrate that their need to win when trying to resolve conflicts with others is greater than their regard for relationships. Why is winning so important to us? Why must we always be right? The person who is driven to win, to be right, or to be first is insecure. Insecure people are driven to perform.

Security comes from relationships, not achievements. A secure person is a person who is comfortable with himself and others. It is easy to communicate with a secure person, but you often end up clashing with a driven person. Would you rather be a lover or an achiever? Which would you prefer your spouse, children, coworkers and friends to be?

Relationships are more important than achievements to God. Jesus declared that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love people (Matthew 22:36-40). The purpose of the Word of God is to govern our relationships with God and man. If our achievements in life don’t enhance our relationships with God, our spouse and children, and others, then we are not fulfilling God’s commandments.

Is there ever a time when we need to assert ourselves in conflicts? Yes, we need to stand our ground on moral issues. But we never have the right to violate the fruit of the Spirit in doing so. If what you do can’t be done in love and self-control, then maybe it’s better left undone. And remember: Your authority does not increase with the volume of your voice. When you resort to shouting in conflict, you are reacting in the flesh. You have lost control of the only person you can control: yourself.

Anyone who accomplishes something at the expense of people or elevates tasks over relationships will sow the seeds of their own destruction and the destruction of those around them. Governments, institutions and organizations exist for the cause and needs of people. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. How easy it is to turn our priorities upside down. Gracious Lord, help me today to love people and use things, and not to love things and use people. [return to top of page ]

CONTROLLING OTHERS
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). When a person's self-worth or success hinges on the achievement of a goal which can be blocked or which is uncertain or impossible, how will he respond to those who frustrate his goals? Often he will attempt to control or manipulate the people or circumstances who stand between him and his success.

For example, a pastor's goal is to have the finest youth ministry in the community. But one of his board members blocks his goal by insisting that a music ministry is more important. Every attempt by the pastor to hire a youth pastor is vetoed by the influential board member who wants to hire a music director first. The pastor wrongly perceives that his sense of worth and success in ministry is on the line. So he shifts into a power mode to push the stumbling block out of the way. He looks for a way to change the opposition's mind or remove him from the board because he believes that his success in ministry is dependent on reaching his goal of a great youth ministry.

A mother believes that her self-worth is dependent on her children behaving in a certain way. Her goal is to raise perfect little Christians who will become pastors or missionaries. But as the children reach their teen years and begin to express their independence, their behavior doesn't always match their mother's ideal. So instead of helping them grow through adolescence and releasing them into adulthood, she tries to control them.

It is not hard to understand why people try to control others. They believe that their worth is dependent on other people and circumstances. This is a false belief as evidenced by the fact that the most insecure people you will ever meet are manipulators and controllers of others. But people who are secure in their identity in Christ don't need to control others. Their goal is to be the leader, spouse, parent or employee that God wants them to be because nothing can keep them from being what God wants them to be but themselves. [return to top of page ]

A HIGHER PRIORITY
Two significant events in my life brought into clear focus the priority of relationship over achievement. Before being called into the ministry, I worked as an aerospace engineer on the Apollo program. I will never forget the day the lunar lander touched down on the moon. This bold headline dominated the front page of the Minneapolis Star: "Neil Armstrong Lands on the Moon." It was an achievement I was proud to be part of. 

But the really big news came months earlier on page 7 in the third section: "Heidi Jo Anderson, born to Mr. and Mrs. Neil Anderson, North-western Hospital, March 12, 1969." That may not sound like big news to you, but it was to her mother and me. Heidi totally took over my den and captured an entire shelf in the refrigerator. She altered our sleeping pattern and restricted our social calendar. But she was ours to hold, to hug and to care for. 

What does God care about moon shots? They are deeds to be outdone. Somebody will always come along and do it better, faster and higher. What God cares about is little people like Heidi Jo Anderson because they will be with Him forever. 

The second significant event in my life was receiving my first doctoral degree. But it turned out to be one of the most anticlimactic days of my life. I heard no applause from heaven, and I don't believe my achievement added so much as an asterisk to my name in the Lamb's Book of Life. I was a child of God before that day and I was still a child of God afterward. 

But what happens in heaven when one sinner repents? Applause! Why? Because a relationship with God is eternal, while earthly achievements last only for time. Have you sacrificed the eternal to gain the temporal? Have you ignored personal and spiritual relationships in your pursuit of human achievements? Relationships must always have a higher priority than temporal achievements. Lord, amidst the busyness of my schedule and clutter of my possessions, help me cherish and nurture my relationships today. [return to top of page ]

THE ONLY LIMIT TO FAITH - REALLY KNOWING GOD
Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). When people struggle with their faith in God, it’s not because their faith-object is insufficient. It’s because people have unreal expectations of God. They expect Him to operate a certain way or answer prayer a certain way—their way, not His—and when He doesn’t comply they say, "Forget You, God." But God doesn’t change; He’s the perfect faith-object. Faith in God only fails when people hold a faulty understanding of Him.

If you want your faith in God to increase, you must increase your understanding of Him as the object of your faith. If you have little knowledge about God and His Word, you will have little faith. If you have great knowledge of God and His Word, you will have great faith. Faith cannot be pumped up by coaxing yourself, "If only I can believe! If only I can believe!" Any attempt to push yourself beyond what you know about God and his ways is to move from faith to presumption. You choose to believe God according to what you already know to be true from His Word. And the only way to increase your faith is to increase your knowledge of God, your faith-object (Romans 10:17).

"Well," you may say, "that means there’s a limit to our faith." Yes, there’s a limit. But God isn’t controlling it; you are. As the object of your faith, He is infinite. The only limit to your faith is your knowledge and understanding of God, which grows every time you read your Bible, memorize a new Scripture verse, participate in a Bible study, or meditate on a scriptural truth. Can you see the practical, tangible potential for your faith to grow as you endeavour to know God through His Word? It’s boundless!

Furthermore, it is important to know that God is under no obligation to us. There is no way you can cleverly word a prayer so that God must act on your behalf. If God declares something to be true, you simply believe Him and live according to what is true. If God didn’t say it, no amount of faith in the world will make it so. Believing doesn’t make God’s Word true; His Word is true, therefore I believe it. Dear Lord, increase the boundaries of my faith today as I increase my understanding of You through Your Word. [return to top of page ]

GOD'S WORD AS THE FOUNDATION FOR CHARISMATIC ACTIVITY

1] Discerning The Truth
Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). If you accept prophetic utterances as valid for today, I would encourage you to test them in the following ways.

First, is the person giving the prophetic utterance living a balanced and righteous lifestyle? You must carefully evaluate the person announcing, "Thus saith the Lord." Also, be on guard for the person who wants to bring a "new thing." If it is true, it’s not new. If it is new, it’s not true.

Second, is the person committed to building God’s kingdom or his own? Is Christ being lifted up or is he?

Third, does the prophetic utterance establish confidence in the Word of God and is it consistent with a balanced presentation of it? Are people going to have a greater dependency on God’s revelation or man’s inspiration? Are prophetic utterances a substitute for the serious, personal study of God’s Word?

Fourth, does the use of the spiritual gift bring unity to the church and build up the body? Be careful in this test because those who hold to a form of godliness but deny its power are not in balance either. They will quench the Spirit through censorship and very little will be accomplished in the church. They can cause disunity as well.

Last, do the spiritual manifestations bypass the mind? God operates through our mind; Satan bypasses it. If a person takes on a medium-like trance, be assured it is occultic. God renews our mind and brings back to our mind all that He has taught us. We are to think so as to have sound judgment.

All of us receive input from a myriad of sources today. With Satan still using false prophets in his battle for your mind, determine to discern the truth God wants you to know to set you free and keep you free. Lord, I want to be so in tune with your Word that I can discern error and darkness even when it appears as truth and light. [return to top of page ]

2] Proper Use Of Prophecy
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). The Bible says there is only one intermediary between God and man, and that is Jesus. False prophets and teachers often function like intermediaries. When God sent the prophet Nathan to David, it was for the purpose of bringing conviction in order to establish righteousness. In the church age, bringing conviction is a primary ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The proper use of the gift of prophecy would reveal unrighteousness in order to establish people in Christ. Once people are living righteously with the Lord, the Holy Spirit will lead them. False gifts will not consistently promote holiness but often will specify decisions concerning direction in life. That function is the role of the Holy Spirit alone (Romans 8:14).

Some churches encourage their members, including the immature, to come into the fullness of the Spirit with manifestations,. I ask, "Why not the fullness of the truth?" It's the fullness of the truth the Holy Spirit has promised to lead us into. I'm deeply concerned for young converts in ministries that push for them to seek total manifestations of the Spirit. Many have not had the time to understand the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets. The church at Corinth had similar problems. They were exhorted by Paul to get back to the basics of faith, hope and love, and govern very closely the use of tongues and prophecies in public worship because God does everything decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40).

A pastor received a letter from a former staff member who was dismissed for moral reasons. The letter contained a prophecy for the pastor's church. I asked, "Why would God give a prophecy for your church through this man?" I suggested that they shouldn't even read it since it would function like a curse. Everything that happened in the church would be evaluated by the prophecy (either to substantiate it or invalidate it).

If a person or church is earnestly seeking the Lord, God will work through the lines of authority He has established in His Word. [return to top of page ]

3] Signs And The Word Of God
You shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him (Deuteronomy 8:6). I believe in miracles, and I accept as fact every one recorded in the Bible. I believe that our entire Christian experience is a miracle. It simply cannot be explained by natural means. And God’s power is seen in other miraculous ways today, but must He always prove Himself by stepping outside His created order? If God doesn’t primarily guide us through His Word (which never changes) and take into account the fixed order of the universe, how can we ever have any stability? How can we make any plans if God doesn’t reveal His ways and then stay consistent with them?

God is not capricious in His dealings with man. He has clearly established His ways and He is faithful to them. I believe God has revealed His ways and we are to walk in them. The question is, how does God work through human responsibility and the natural order of the universe to bring about His will? Somehow He works through a less-than-perfect church, orchestrating human affairs in such a way as to guarantee the outcome of the ages. What really impresses me is His timing, not His miraculous interventions.

Notice how Jesus responded to those who insisted on a sign: "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet" (Matthew 12:39). Satan wanted a sign too. He said, "If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down" (Matthew 4:6). To this Jesus responded, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test" (verse 7 NIV). Jesus was saying that the sign we need is the Word of God, and we are to use the Word to guard against Satan’s temptations to force the Lord to prove Himself.

I think it is better to prove ourselves to God rather than demand He prove Himself to us. We are the ones being tested, not God. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). [return to top of page ]

4] Test Everything
Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 NIV).

Alvin was discouraged and defeated. For several years he believed he had a special gift of prophecy from God. But over a period of months his personal life began to fall apart. By the time he came to see me he had been unemployed for two years, he was being cared for by his father, and he was a slave to prescription drugs.

Alvin and I read 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21. I said, "Alvin, Satan can counterfeit spiritual gifts. That’s why the Scriptures instruct us to put everything to the test." Alvin admitted, "I think my problems began when I failed to test the ‘gifts’ of tongues and prophecy conferred on me by false teachers." "Would you be willing to put your gift of tongues to the test?" I asked. Alvin really wanted to be free. "Yes," he answered. I instructed Alvin to begin praying aloud in his "spiritual language." As he began to chant an unintelligible prayer, I said, "In the name of Christ and in obedience to God’s Word, I command you, spirit, to identify yourself." Alvin stopped in the middle of his chanting and said, "I am he." "Are you the ‘He’ who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried, raised on the third day, and who now sits at the right hand of the Father?" I asked. Alvin almost shouted the response: "No! Not He!" I led Alvin through a prayer renouncing Satan’s activity in his life, and he was free from that deception.

I am not against spiritual gifts, even prophecy and tongues. I am committed to obeying Scripture, and 1 Corinthians 14:39 says, "Desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues." But Scripture also requires that all spiritual phenomena be tested. I believe that false prophets and teachers flourish today simply because Christians accept their ministry without testing the spirits behind it. Heavenly Father, help me to stay alert to spiritual seduction and reject all phenomena that do not come from God. [return to top of page ]

DISTORTED IDENTITY
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:2, 3).

"If our identity in Christ is the key to wholeness," you may ask, "why do so many believers have difficulty with self-worth, spiritual growth and maturity?" Because we have been deceived by the devil. Our true identity in Christ has been distorted by the great deceiver himself.

This deception was brought home to me a few years ago when I was counselling a Christian girl who was the victim of satanic oppression. I asked her, "Who are you?" "I’m evil," she answered. "You’re not evil. How can a child of God be evil? Is that how you see yourself?" She nodded.

Now she may have done some evil things, but she wasn’t evil. She was basing her identity on the wrong equation. She was letting Satan’s accusations of her behavior influence her perception of identity instead of letting her identity—as a child of God in Christ—influence her behavior.

Sadly, a great number of Christians are trapped in the same pit. We fail, so we see ourselves as failures, which only causes us to fail more. We sin, so we see ourselves as sinners, which only causes us to sin more. We’ve been sucked into the devil’s futile equation. We’ve been tricked into believing that what we do makes us what we are. And that false belief sends us into a tailspin of hopelessness and defeat.

Don’t be deceived. You are not a product of what you do or don’t do. You are a product of who you are in Christ and His work on the cross. You are not saved by how you behave but by how you believe. God’s Word assures us, "Beloved, now we are children of God. . . . And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2, 3). return to top of page

BEING GOD-CENTERED IN MINISTRY
He [Jesus] called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God, and to perform healing (Luke 9:1, 2). Notice how Jesus equipped His disciples for ministry. He knew that when they began preaching the kingdom of God and healing the sick, demonic powers would bring opposition. So He specifically gave them power and authority over demons.

Later Jesus sent out 70 of His followers on a similar mission, and they "returned with joy, saying ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name’ Luke 10:17). These missionaries were spiritually in tune enough to know that demons existed and that they were a force to be reckoned with in their ministry. Jesus’ followers had been eyewitnesses as the evil spirits opposed the Master, and they probably anticipated the same treatment. Perhaps they even started out on their mission with pangs of fear and doubt about encountering demonic resistance. But they came back astonished at the victory they experienced over evil spirits.

But Jesus quickly brought the issue of spiritual conflicts into perspective: "Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven" (Luke 10:20). Jesus sent out the 70 to preach the gospel and to heal, but all they could talk about when they came back was how they sent the demons running. "Don’t be demon-centered," Jesus replied. "Be kingdom-centered, be ministry-centered, be God-centered."

That’s a good warning. As you learn to exercise authority over the kingdom of darkness in your life and in the lives of others, you may be tempted to see yourself as some kind of spiritual freedom fighter, looking for demons behind every door. But it’s truth which sets you free, NOT the knowledge of error. You are not called to dispel the darkness; you are called to turn on the light. You would have no authority at all if it weren’t for your identity as a child of God and your position in Christ. return to top of page

STRONGHOLDS
1] How You Are Programmed
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men . . . rather than according to Christ (Colossians 2:8). The first step toward the formation of strongholds in our minds can be called "environmental stimulation." You were designed to live in fellowship with God and fulfil His purposes, but you were born physically alive and spiritually dead in a hostile world (Ephesians 2:1, 2). Before you came to Christ, all your stimulation came from this environment. Every day you lived in this environment you were influenced by it and preconditioned to conform to it.

The worldly stimulation you were exposed to was both brief and prevailing. Brief stimulation includes individual events, situations, places and personal encounters you experienced. You were influenced by books you read, movies you watched, music you listened to, and traumatic events you experienced or witnessed, such as a car accident or a death in the family. You learned a way (which may or may not have been God’s way) to cope with these experiences and resolve the conflicts they produced.

Prevailing stimulation consists of long-term exposure to your environment, such as the influence of your family, your friends and peers, your neighbourhood, your teachers, and your job. If you grew up separated from God, and were raised in a non-Christian environment, you developed a philosophy of how to survive, cope and succeed in this world apart from God.

When you became a Christian your sins were washed away, but your predisposition to think and behave a certain way, which you developed as you adjusted to your environment, remained programmed in your mind. In fact, you can become a born-again believer and continue to live on the basis of the lifestyle you developed while living independently of God. That is why Paul insists that we be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

I know I was saved in a moment, Lord. But my character still needs daily transformation. Help me be as patient with others in their transformation as You are with me. [return to top of page ]

2] Threshold of Temptation
The grace of God has appeared . . . instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age (Titus 2:11, 12). Yielding to temptation is another step toward a stronghold being established in your mind. Whenever you are stimulated to conform to Plan B instead of God’s Plan A for your life, you are experiencing temptation. The essence of all temptation is the invitation to live independently of God and fulfil legitimate needs in the world, the flesh or the devil instead of in Christ. That’s the great contest. And Satan knows just which buttons to push to tempt you away from dependency on Christ.

The moment you are tempted to get your need met in the world instead of in Christ, you are at the threshold of a decision. If you don’t immediately choose to take that thought "captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5), you will begin to consider it as an option. And if you begin to mull it over in your mind, immediately your emotions will be affected and the likelihood of yielding to that temptation is increased.

The Scriptures teach us that God has provided a way of escape from every temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). But the escape is right at the threshold of the temptation. If you don’t control the temptation at the threshold, you run the risk of allowing the temptation to control you. Rare is the Christian who can turn around after directing his will toward Plan B.

For example, a man sees a pornographic picture and is tempted toward lust. He has the opportunity to respond by saying something like, "My relationship with sin has ended. I choose to take this thought captive to the obedience of Christ. I’m not going to look at it or think about it." And he separates himself from the picture immediately and escapes the lust.

But if he hesitates at the threshold, stares at the picture, and begins to fantasise about it, he will trigger an emotional landslide producing a physical response which will be difficult to stop. He must capture the tempting thought in the threshold or it will probably capture him. [return to top of page ]

3] When Strongholds Become Entrenched
No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier (2 Timothy 2:4). Once your consideration of a temptation has triggered an emotional response leading to a Plan B choice, you will act upon that choice and own that behavior. You may resent your actions or claim that you are not responsible for what you do. But you are responsible for your actions at this stage because you failed to take a tempting thought captive when it first appeared at the threshold of your mind.

People who study human behavior tell us that if you continue to repeat an act for six weeks, you will form a habit. And if you exercise that habit long enough, a stronghold will be established. Once a stronghold of thought and response is entrenched in your mind, choosing to act contrary to that pattern is extremely difficult.

Like environmental stimulation, a stronghold of the mind can be the result of a brief encounter or a prevailing atmosphere. For example, a woman goes into a deep depression every time she hears a siren sound. It turns out that she was raped 20 years earlier while a siren was wailing in the distance. In the weeks and months after the rape, the sound of a siren triggered traumatic memories. Instead of resolving that conflict, she relived the tragedy in her mind, deepening the emotional scars and locking herself into a thought pattern she cannot seem to break. That’s a stronghold.

Other strongholds are the result of a prevailing pattern of thinking and responding. Imagine, for instance, a nine-year-old boy whose father is an alcoholic. When the father comes home drunk and belligerent every night, the boy is simply scared stiff of him. He scurries out of sight and hides. As the boy continues in his defensive reaction to his hostile alcoholic father, he forms a pattern of behavior. Ten years later, when he faces any kind of hostile behavior, how do you think he will respond? He will run away. His deeply ingrained pattern of thinking and responding has formed a stronghold in his mind. [return to top of page ]

4] Recognizing Your Stronghold
I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3). Hostility is a stronghold. Plan A from God develops the character and the knowledge to love your enemy, pray for him, and turn the other cheek. If you cannot help being pugnacious or argumentative in a threatening situation, it’s because you have learned to cope that way and your Plan B response has become entrenched as a stronghold.

Inferiority is a stronghold. Plan A says that you are a child of God, a saint who is inferior to no mortal. If you are constantly shrinking back from people because of feelings of inferiority, it’s because the world, the flesh and the devil have carved a negative, Plan B groove in your mind over the years.

Manipulation is a stronghold. Do you feel like you must control the people and circumstances in your life? Is it nearly impossible for you to give a problem to God and not worry about it? Somewhere in your past you developed a pattern of control which now masters you. It’s a stronghold.

Homosexuality is a stronghold. In God’s eyes there is no such thing as a homosexual. He created us male and female. There is homosexual behavior, which can usually be traced to past negative experiences. Such experiences prompted these individuals to doubt their sexual adequacy and they began to believe a lie about their sexual identity.

Anorexia and bulimia are strongholds. A 99-pound woman stands in front of a mirror believing that she is fat. She is the victim of negative thought patterns about herself which have been burned into her mind and direct all her activities concerning her body and the proper use of food.

Somewhere in the past you may have consciously or unconsciously formed patterns of thinking and behaving which now control you. That’s a stronghold. Satan works through strongholds to keep our minds from focusing on Christ. But, thank God, as we appropriate God’s truth we are set free. [return to top of page ]

5] Renewing Your Mind
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). If the strongholds in your mind are the result of conditioning, then you can be reconditioned by the renewing of your mind. Anything that has been learned can be unlearned. Certainly this is the major path of renewal in the New Testament. Through the preaching of God’s Word, Bible study and personal discipleship, you stop being conformed to this world and experience the transformation of the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

If your past experiences were spiritually or emotionally devastating, then counselling and Christ-centered support groups will help the transformation. Since some of these strongholds are thoughts raised up against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:5), learning to know God as a loving Father and yourself as His accepted child is your starting place.

But you’re not just up against the world and the flesh. You’re also up against the devil who is scheming to fill your mind with thoughts which are opposed to God’s plan for you. Notice how Paul uses the word for thoughts (noema) in 2 Corinthians in relation to Satan’s activity. We’ve already seen it in 2 Corinthians 10:5: "We are taking every thought [noema] captive to the obedience to Christ." Why do these thoughts need to be taken captive? Because they may be the enemy’s.

In 2 Corinthians 3:14 and 4:4, Paul reveals that Satan is responsible for our spiritual hardness and blindness when we were unbelievers: "But their minds [noema] were hardened. . . . The god of this world has blinded the minds [noema] of the unbelieving." In 2 Corinthians 11:3 and 2:11, Paul states that Satan actively plots to defeat and divide believers: "I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds [noema] should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. . . . We are not ignorant of his [Satan’s] schemes [noema]."

If Satan can place his thought in your mind—and he can—it isn’t much more of a trick for him to make you think it’s your thought. That’s the deception. In the name of Jesus, I renounce and refuse any thoughts which are raised up against the knowledge of God. [return to top of page ]

6] According To The Spirit
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5). The center of all spiritual bondage is the mind. That’s where the battle must be fought and won if you are to experience the freedom in Christ He purchased for you on the cross. Paul wrote:

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Before you came to Christ, bad habits and sinful thought patterns were established as you learned to live your life independently of God. Your non-Christian environment taught you to think about and respond to life in a non-Christian way, and those patterns and responses were ingrained in your mind as strongholds. When you became a Christian, your old fleshly habits and patterns weren’t erased; they are still a part of your flesh which must be dealt with on a daily basis. Thankfully, however, you are not just a product of your past; you are a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and now you are primarily the product of the work of Christ on the cross.

Old strongholds can be destroyed. Patterns of negative thinking and behavior are learned, and they can be unlearned through disciplined Bible study. Some strongholds are the result of demonic influences and spiritual conflicts from past and present mental assaults. If people believe Satan’s lies, those lies will control their lives. These people need to be freed from the shackles of Satan’s lies by God’s truth. Jesus said: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

Victory is truly available for those who are in Christ. There is a war raging for our minds, but we are on the winning side, for we are more than conquerors in Christ! Today, Lord, I tear down all thoughts established in my mind against the knowledge of You. I choose to believe who You are and who I am in Christ. [return to top of page ]