Strongholds....

Strongholds.....

A stronghold is anything that keeps us from the freedom of being in Christ..."Rooms",  by James Rubart

I have been slowly reading the novel, Rooms, among other things.  It is a good read, long and thought provoking...about examining our life.....decisions ....

The "stronghold" quote caught my attention ....what are the strongholds in my life.   It is easy to point them out in others.....but when we are pointing one finger at another, we are pointing three at ourselves....I have strongholds....

I have worked through some in my life....fear....anger....possessiveness ...

God has a way of pointing out strongholds in our lives,  then we have the opportunity to let Him work on them or we can ignore both Him and the area....it becomes mightier..it seems... But it still stands in the way of being free to live in Christ......

Fear ruled my life .......my mother was fearful....I had some life experiences that made me fearful....I became fearful of many , many things....I remember the day when I realized that it ruled my life in so many areas....I was being held captive, I was holding my family captive and I wasn't free.....

"Okay, help me meet this head on" ....and God answered....

I walked in the woods behind our house by myself....I hadn't done that since I was 11 years old...it wasn't easy, but doable...

I planned and took a trip by myself on a plane to Texas to see one of my daughters,   It was easy, but doable....

We flew to Mongolia, it wasn't easy, but doable.....

Living alone, it isn't easy, but doable...

He tears down the city walls, frees the captives, fights the enemy, blinds the army and whatever it takes to tear down the strongholds in our lives...

It is one step at a time, holding God's hand ...He does the battle, He is the victor and we are the winners In each stronghold ....we claim the freedom....still holding His hand....

Thank you soooo very much for working in my life....holding my hand everyday...doing battle for me...providing the way to victory in the strongholds of my life....

Psalm 69:33

The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.

Psalm 142:7

Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.

Psalm 146:7

He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free,

Isaiah 49:23-25

23 Kings will be your foster fathers,

    and their queens your nursing mothers.

They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground;

    they will lick the dust at your feet.

Then you will know that I am the Lord;

    those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”

24 Can plunder be taken from warriors,

    or captives be rescued from the fierce[a]?

25 But this is what the Lord says:

“Yes, captives will be taken from warriors,

    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;

I will contend with those who contend with you,

    and your children I will save.

2 Corinthians 2:14

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.