When you have a
stronghold, do not think
it is a lost cause. It
is still possible for
your soul and spirit to
line up. As was said
before, submit to God,
resist the devil and he
will flee from you.
Submit your thinking to
Him; line your thinking
up with His. You may
think you are worthless,
but does God? No, He
most certainly does not!
To view yourself as
worthless, invaluable,
and unworthy is indeed
an insult to your
Creator. Therefore,
match your thinking up
with His as you try to
demolish thoughts from
the devil and
strongholds that develop
from them. Remember that
when you have been
delivered, it is not
“over and done with.”
Lining your thinking up
with His is a daily
battle. You have to
allow Him to transform
your mind. Don’t go back
into your old way of
thinking.
Also, remember that
temptation is not the
same as sinning. James
1:14-15 explains the
process of sin and
destruction. “but each
one is tempted when, by
his own evil desire, he
is dragged away and
enticed [lured]. Then,
after desire has
conceived, it gives
birth to sin; and sin,
when it is full-grown,
gives birth to death.”
Do you notice the
process? We can choose
not to give into the
temptation. If you think
something ungodly, it
does not necessarily
mean you are sinning. We
can choose to line our
thoughts up with God’s
right away, or we can
linger on such thoughts
and allow them to lead
to sin.
For example, I may enter
a store one day and
after purchasing my
groceries, I see
something I’ve been
wanting for a long time.
However, I have exceeded
my budget and cannot
afford to purchase the
item. A thought runs
through my mind, “How
hard would it be to
steal this? You deserve
it!” I can choose either
to erase such a thought
from my mind and line my
thinking up with His or
I can go through with
the thought and allow it
to lead to sin, which
would be actually
stealing the item. Do
not let the devil
deceive you into
thinking that you might
as well go through with
an action because you’ve
“already sinned by
thinking it.” Remain
obedient.
Another important thing
to remember is to
separate the strong hold
from the person when
you want to help them.
Discern the difference.
See them as Christ sees
them. Ask Him to open
your eyes to see where
the stronghold is and
who they are.
Strongholds build upon
each other. Bitterness
can lead to jealousy and
envy. Another stronghold
that has held me,
personally, captive is
jealousy. What is the
difference between
jealousy and envy?
Jealousy is more of a
fear that someone will
take (or has already
taken) something that
you were in the process
of achieving or have
already achieved. Envy
desires something that
isn’t yours. You may
admire something about
someone and jealousy can
distort that admiration
into hatred of them as
you see them succeed
before you.
What does jealousy and
envy do to you,
physically? In
Scripture, it says that
it “dries up your
bones.” (Proverbs
14:30) When we
choose to think as God
does, perhaps we won’t
experience as much
physical pain.
Some of the biggest
crimes have stemmed from
jealousy. Many people
struggle with it. It’s
seen quite often in the
Bible. Here are some
examples of events that
may cause you to become
jealous: Someone gets
promoted before you when
you have worked long and
hard for their position;
your hard work/spiritual
gift goes unnoticed
while another’s is
highly praised; someone
else’s ministry is
bigger than yours; etc.
Does God want us to feel
this way? Aren’t we
hurting Him when we
don’t trust Him to
supply our every need? I
am equipped in Him. He
supplies for my every
need. He has a plan for
me! It’s not really
about the other person
when we feel jealous and
envious. It’s actually
about God and our trust
of Him.
He has plans for me; I
don’t need to look at
other people’s success.
If I’m jealous, I’m
really not trying to
further His kingdom,
anyway. What does it
matter who succeeds at
what if my true desire
is to further His
kingdom? Are my
motivations selfish? Do
I want to be recognized
before He is? We should
be happy that someone
else is furthering His
kingdom rather than
becoming jealous because
it’s all for Him anyway!
We can’t have all the
glory, especially when
it’s not due to us in
the first place.
We need to learn to get
our satisfaction in Him.
He knows our needs and
can fulfill them. True
joy doesn’t come in our
own success; true joy is
found in Him. When we’re
jealous, we’re telling
Him that He can’t make
us happy. We begin to
seek happiness within
ourselves and we think
we know what we need.
Idolatry is when we
place our trust or hope
in anything else but
Jesus.
Are you serving God when
you have this jealousy
and envy in your heart?
Are you stopping at the
temptation to feel
jealous and envious? Or
are you going through
with the actions that
come with it: slander of
the person you feel such
feelings towards, hatred
of them, going outside
of His will for your
life, competing with
them, etc. Don’t allow
yourself to think that
jealousy defines who you
are. Such thoughts are
from the devil and we
must send them back to
where they belong.
What must we do when we
feel jealous or see
others becoming jealous
or envious of us?
Repent, resolve,
reconcile and restore.
These steps are crucial.
Sometimes we think that
it isn’t our problem if
someone else is feeling
jealous of us. However,
we must help them to
turn around so they can
live in His will for
their own lives. Don’t
seek satisfaction from
others feeling jealous
of you. It isn’t godly.
Pity often comes after
jealousy and envy. We
want others to see that
we don’t have what we
“should have” gotten.
Pity is most definitely
dangerous. We want
affirmation that our
feelings are expected
and appropriate.
Don’t allow jealousy and
envy to hinder you from
being where God wants
you to be in His
kingdom. Trust His plan
for your life! Know that
the story He wrote for
your life matches
up with you perfectly.
Realize that our
services should be to
glorify Him and further
His kingdom, not for our
own glory. Know that He
is faithful and will
give you what He says He
will. Don’t allow
strongholds to hold you
back from His perfect
plan for your life!
Submit to Him, resist
the devil and he will
flee from you. Daily
line your thinking up
with His. It’s a daily
battle. Pray that He
will strengthen you as
you put on your armor to
face each day.
Dear Jesus,
I’m sorry for not trusting You. I choose to accept Your amazing plan for my life. Everything I need to further Your Kingdom is within me. I choose to use the tools You have made available to me. I loose myself from the Spirit of Jealousy and Envy. I bind myself to satisfaction in You and faith that You are holding up Your part of the plan for my life. I’m sorry for judging others because of the jealousy I held towards them. I’m sorry for being angry at You for giving them what I wanted and what I thought I needed. Help me to feel satisfied in You. This life isn’t for me, Lord. It’s all for You.
I’m sorry for not trusting You. I choose to accept Your amazing plan for my life. Everything I need to further Your Kingdom is within me. I choose to use the tools You have made available to me. I loose myself from the Spirit of Jealousy and Envy. I bind myself to satisfaction in You and faith that You are holding up Your part of the plan for my life. I’m sorry for judging others because of the jealousy I held towards them. I’m sorry for being angry at You for giving them what I wanted and what I thought I needed. Help me to feel satisfied in You. This life isn’t for me, Lord. It’s all for You.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Amen.
Pray the Cross Walk Prayer to get rid of
this stronghold in your life!
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The Next Stronghold: Doubts and Unbelief
The Next Stronghold: Doubts and Unbelief