Sermon Central
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Breaking Down The Strongholds In Our Lives
Contributed by Anthony Zibolski on Feb 13, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: There are destructive things in our life that keep us from experiencing the life that Jesus intended us to live as believers. Those strongholds must come down in our lives and we need to be honest with the Lord about them.
Bringing down strongholds in our life
Introduction-
I cannot let go of one of the text from last week- Jesus desiring for us to climb to a higher level of commitment and to see greater things done in our life. Wouldn’t that be a great journey?
Matthew 5. (Message)- “When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions.”
I am going to ask you to climb with Jesus this morning- I want to talk about spiritual warfare. I want to address the strongholds that are in our lives that keep us from being and doing what God has for us.
I know some will struggle because it is a subject we do not like talking about.
There are so many people content to live short of the life that God intends for us. Who are not willing to exert the energy needed for us to get to where we need to be. We are doing godly things in our own strength instead of God’s strength. We are living below where the Lord intends for us because we are not willing to let go of the things that keep us down.
There are strongholds in our life that the Lord wants to break but we first have to let go of them.
We first have to acknowledge that we have a problem with that stronghold and desire it to be taken away.
Do whatever is needed for the Lord to give us victory.
Illustration-
If you are a man or women of God and you are seeking the Lord to do whatever is needed in your life to please God, you would be excited to have a preacher come to the pulpit and bring God’s word because even if the word steps on your toes, you are willing to make the changes in your life. If on the other hand, you are struggling in some areas of your life but are not willing to make those changes, that same preacher comes to town and you will shut him down because you are not willing to do what the Lord is telling you through that man or women of God.
THAT IS WHERE THE CHURCH AT CORNITH WAS WITH THE APOSTLE PAUL SHOWING UP IN OUR TEXT THIS MORNING.
Prayer-
Apostle Paul comes to the church at Corinth with the authority of being an apostle of the Lord, but also wanting to have the meekness and gentleness of Jesus. By definition “meekness is to be humble” like Jesus and gentleness “is not weakness but the boldness” of Jesus to bring the truth of God to them with the heart of compassion.
As I (Paul) come to you, I want you to sense Jesus, but the same Jesus that brings truth is coming to speak to your spiritual condition.
If you think those days were any different than today, you would be wrong- God is still trying to use men and women of God to bring down strongholds that defeat most believers.
“Though we live in this world, we do not wage war as the world does” - What does he mean?
There are two kingdoms- God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom- (Ever sense the fall of Satan from God’s kingdom, he has set out to destroy the people of God ( Fall of man in the garden) Ever sense you became a believer (Reversal of the fall of man), you are no longer of one kingdom and you belong to the other. Satan with his hatred for God hates God’s people and will do whatever he can to destroy not only the things of God but the people of God.
You can say you don’t believe that but that is the truth of God’s word and is backed up by scripture-
Jesus in his priestly prayer of John 17- (Talking to God the Father)
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”
We have to live in this world, but we as believers are no longer part of this world thinking.
We are to be different! We are to bring under captivity our thoughts and our actions to match those of Jesus Christ.
Meaning that anything that does not match up with the thought and actions of Christ must be eliminated from our lives-
We have Satan trying to trip us up and we have our own selfish desires that flare up and make us lose our focus on Christ.
