Reject the Lies

Reject the Lies

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4, NIV)

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16, NIV)

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10, NIV)

Several years ago, our family went on an excursion out west. Our last stop was Jackson Hole, Wyoming—cowboy country. On Saturday night, we joined the locals at the weekly rodeo. I was very unnerved watching the calf-lassoing contest. I winced every time that lasso flew around the calf’s neck, even though they were freed once the time was logged. After the third contestant wrangled his captive, God nudged me to pay attention. I was watching a perfect example of what Paul meant when he said to “take every thought captive.” Specifically, he wrote, “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).

Those calves reminded me of the lies that sometimes run across our minds. Lies such as, I can’t do anything right…Nobody likes me…I’m not qualified…I’m so stupid…I’ll never be successful…I’ll always be average. As soon as one of those thoughts comes bursting through the doorway of our minds and enters the arena of our thinking, we need to ride up on that thought’s heels, lasso it with the truth of God’s Word, and throw it back in the dirt where it came from.

Many of the lies that rumble and tumble about in our minds have been there for a long time. We might not even know when or how they started. These pervasive and persistent thoughts can become what are called “strongholds.” The Greek word for stronghold is echo, meaning, “to hold fast.” It looks like our English word echo and has a similar connotation: to echo again and again in someone’s mind.

A derivation of that same word, echuroma, means “a stronghold, fortification, fortress.” A stronghold is a thought pattern that forms a fortress around the mind, holding it prisoner to faulty thinking. It’s formed brick by brick with repetitive faulty thinking or all at once by a one-time traumatic event, such as rape, molestation, or abuse. These thought patterns have the potential to grab hold of a mind and rule a life. Many strongholds are built for protection but inevitably become prisons.

In the Old Testament, a stronghold was a fortified dwelling used for protection from an enemy (1 Samuel 22:4; 23:14). In the New Testament Paul uses the Old Testament imagery of a fortress to describe a structure that keeps the enemy in rather than a structure that keeps an enemy out. An ungodly habit or habitual way of thinking can become a habitation for the enemy.

When we talk about strongholds, we’re not talking about random thoughts or occasional sins. A stronghold is a thought pattern or habitual sin. It’s a fortress built with the bricks of thoughts and held together by the mortar of emotions. Strongholds become our perception of reality.

A stronghold might be a thought such as:

I’m no good.

Nobody loves me.

I can’t do anything right.

The enemy locks you up in hopes you’ll never reach for the key within your reach—only a belief away. But the Bible says, “We have divine power to demolish strongholds.” The word demolish implies a kind of destruction requiring tremendous power—divine power. We cannot destroy strongholds with our own strength even on our best days. The Holy Spirit can destroy strongholds with His power even on our worst days. It begins with recognizing the lie, and then declaring, “That’s not true.” Hit the delete button! Stop the thought in its tracks. Let’s practice that today.

Prayer:

God, thank You for giving me the power of the Holy Spirit to do all things that You have called me to do. Help me to recognize the lies and quickly reject the lies by saying, “that’s not true.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The final step will be tomorrow, but for now, simply practice saying aloud, “that’s not true.” I’m cheering you on.

Life Bible