Part 2
“And
do not give the devil a foothold.”
Ephesians 4:27
Simply
stated, our rebellion towards God provides a place for the devil in our
life. Even the smallest of room, given
to an area our lives, in which we refuse to obey God, will soon become a
stronghold.
In order to
demolish the rebellious behavior, we have to first destroy or demolish the
stronghold of wrong thinking built around it:
“We demolish arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
2
Corinthians 10:5
It is only
when we bring our thoughts and attitudes in alignment with Christ’s will that
the behavior will change. As long as we defend the behaviors within us by being
sympathetic to our own sinfulness we should expect to see no change in our lives.
However, when we pull down the walls of
wrong thinking, the behavior is then exposed, it is then we begin to see real
transformation. Our actions follow our attitudes.
The Apostle
Paul recognized this when he wrote Romans 12:2:
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Paul
understood that we are destined to continue in wrong behavior (pattern of this
world) unless we are transformed by renewing our minds.
How then do
we pull down the stronghold? It begins by identifying our enemy. First, we must
identify any behavior or attitude we hold, that is contrary to God’s Word that we
are sympathetic towards. We must
acknowledge that this is a spiritual battle, not one that can be overcome by
worldly means:
2
Corinthians 10:3-4
It means that
worldly methods such as violence, political maneuvering, human ingenuity,
talents, wealth, organizational skills, charisma and personality are in
themselves inadequate in the pulling down of these strongholds. To tear them
down will take a two-fold approach.
Pastor Scott
Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/
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