Watch out for strongholds of the mind

Satan is capable of building strongholds in our minds. These are designed to protect his prosperity that he may have gained in our lives. That property may simply be a carnal worldly mindset, or the stronghold could progress to influence by a demon. Jesus is our protector, and He will protect us, provided we cooperate (2Corithians 10:4, 5). Primary evidence of a stronghold is a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. This can make a person to act ungodly without being able to even choose the godly behavior. Strongholds can nullify one’s will, other common symptoms of strongholds are: Low self-esteem, a guilty conscience, feeling worthless and condemned. Shame-based thinking is a sure sign of this stronghold among other negative thoughts and stale desires Joyce’s audio teaching, Battlefield of the Mind, has it that: “Did you know that we are in a war every day? We see the casualties everywhere—people falling from disease, divorce and tragedy. Looking around at all the suffering, we may think the battles in hospitals and divorce courts are being lost. But in reality, we’re losing the advanced and more important conflict—the battle in our minds”. In real sense, Satan and his assistants are knocking on your door 24/7. We need to continually resist him using the spoken word of God. Psalms 23:6 says: “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” Wrong ideas about God are not automatically eliminated when we are born again. Paul instructs believers to “put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Col. 3:10). We are continually in the process of being renewed by the true knowledge of the personality of God. Satan’s goal is to keep us in darkness by keeping us deceived about what God is like. His strategy is to distort our knowledge of God’s personality so that what we believe is erroneous and inadequate ways. Thus we are emotionally weakened and held in spiritual bondage. John 8:31-32 says: To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Again in the book of John Chapter ten states that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus is the only solution to neutralize the strongholds in place. The book of the Prophet Isaiah chapter 14 , verse 3 states: “And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear, and from the hard bondage in which you were made to serve.” GOD LOVES YOU.