Joyce Meyer in “Battlefield of the Mind,” defines a stronghold as an area in which we are held in bondage due to a certain way of thinking.
It can also be defined as a mental preoccupation that typically leads to isolation, according to Beth Moore.
What does that mean to you and me?
Here’s an interesting and revealing formula to ponder:
- Thoughts lead to emotions
- Emotions lead to behaviors
- Behaviors lead to results
The last one I write with hesitancy because I know that God is in control of all things, like results. However, I also know that God will allow us to wallow in our results until we get our thinking right!
Think about that formula for a minute. What type of thoughts do you think? It’s been said that the average person has about 3.000 thoughts a day. How many of those thoughts are deliberate and intentional, and how many are random and negative?
From my own experience, I know that I had, and can still have, a lot of unwanted negative thoughts. Stinkin’ thinkin’ if you will!
Can you relate?
It’s like we are on autopilot, almost like there is a cassette playing in our heads and it’s stuck on negative and we don’t even realize it. It’s just how we think.
My negative thinking, or strongholds, were the result of my childhood experiences, which molded my thoughts and understanding of myself. These thoughts lead to feelings of loneliness, shame, guilt, anger, depression, and sometimes isolation.
Where have your thoughts taken you?
I’ve shared in my other posts how God has reached into my life and lifted me out of the junk; for that I am filled with gratitude and joy. But I still sometimes slip into my old ways of thinking, so I have learned to take my thoughts captive in Christ. What does THAT mean? It means I use His word and truth as a weapon against my strongholds. My negative thoughts can’t hold up against His truth. My thoughts are replaced by his love and purpose for my life.
Don’t let your thoughts hold you captive!
Break free!
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1
He is waiting for you.
If you would like to learn more about strongholds, and hear a testimony from someone who is overcoming one, click here. Watch the latest episode of my new TV show, Love, Hope and Faith.
I’m going over right now to watch! Thanks Heather!
It’s GREAT Heather! Good for you – wonderful testimony 🙂
Thank you Cindy! 🙂 God is good!
What a blessing this article has been to me, Heather! I see the hand of God all over your ministry, and the work that the Holy Spirit is doing through you is touching more lives than you may ever realize.
I struggled with many of these very issues in my own life for several years. But praise God, He delivered me from my negative thinking and outlook on life! I will admit though, this is a subject that likes to rear it’s ugly head from time to time. Like you, I have to capture that way of thinking and judge it with God’s Word.
Thank you again for allowing yourself to be a vessle of the Holy Spirit.
May God continue to bless you and your ministry!
~Michael
Michael, thank you so much for responding to my post! You have really blessed me today by encouraging me to keep pressing on. Although I have found writing to be very therapeutic for me, I always pray that others connect with it, too. What a wonderful world this blog world is, to be able to connect with so many that we may never even meet face to face. Thank you for sharing your struggle in this area. There’s comfort in knowing we are not alone. i will be praying for you! 🙂