Satanic Strongholds- "Fear"

Fear Torments Us

In 2005, a Gallup poll was conducted in the United States. Adolescents between the ages of 13 and 15 were questioned regarding their fears.  The top 10 fears among this group were compiled from the answers that were given.  They were terrorist attacks, spiders, death, being a failure, war, criminal or gang violence, being alone, the future, and nuclear war. In many cases, fear comes from the perception of danger not necessarily the presence of danger.  Fear can be classified in two categories:  rational and irrational.  Irrational fear is also known as a phobia.   Traumatic experiences may also trigger a fear response in people. Rational fear due to imminent danger will trigger a fight or flight response.  All of our fear responses initiate in our brain whether rational or irrational.  The five parts of the brain that process this information are the thalamus, sensory cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and the hypothalamus.  The thalamus determines where to send the data that is received from our senses.  The sensory cortex interprets this data. The hippocampus stores and retrieves conscious memories.  The amygdala decodes emotions, determines possible threats, stores fear memories.  The hypothalamus activates the fight or flight response.  

In the absence of a sound mind, fear has the freedom to take up residence within us.  Fear can be crippling because it is such a strong demonic force.  The spirit of fear can open the door to other demonic forces such as bitterness and jealousy.  It is difficult to feel the love of God or accept the love of God in the presence of fear.  Fear will not voluntarily leave us.  We have to address the spirit and cast it out.  Many times in order to effectively do this, we may have to search out and revisit the origin of the fear.  When we understand the root of the fear, we can address it and pray specifically against it.  The spirit of fear counts on our avoidance and tolerance of it in order to keep its hold on us.  The longer that we permit it to reside within us, the deeper the roots settle.   We must present our requests to God with thanksgiving; His peace will go beyond all levels of understanding and guard our hearts and minds in Jesus to counteract the fear.

Deliverance is the Solution

For many years, the devil has enjoyed our ignorance of many things and has used it to his advantage to keep us in bondage. The Bible declares that therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)  It also states that if we abide in the word of God, we will know the truth and the truth shall make you free.  (John 8:32)  Many times in churches it has been taught to shout our issues away or dance our issues away or even praise our issues away instead of confronting our issues.  Praise is essential in our lives and we are instructed by the Word of God to offer praise unto God.  But when it comes to our issues, we must deal with them instead of attempting to apply a quick fix.  The devil wants us to search out temporary fixes or ineffective resolutions with the hopes that we will never focus on the root of the problem, thus enabling him to maintain his grip on us.  The Bible teaches us about the gifts of the fivefold ministry that are given to us to improve us.  It also teaches us that God has placed many ministry gifts within the body of Christ for our benefit.  We have everything that we need within the body of Christ to aid us.  We only need to become proactive and seek out as well as pray for guidance to locate the individuals who will be able to provide us with the specific help that we need.   Action is required in order to overcome the spirit of fear.  Its grip can be broken but we have to be proactive.  Pro means (for) and Active means (action, doing something).  The word only works through application.  Satan will recycle events and negative ideas in order to keep us stagnant and immobile.  As long as he can cloud our judgment, he can keep us from recognizing the authority that has been given to us by God.  The only thing that he needs to do is keep us distracted.  He doesn’t have to overpower us; he only needs to make us believe that he can and that he has.  

Many people live with fear daily.  But understanding the truth means that they can escape their fears by accepting Christ.  This is why 2 Timothy 1:7 (For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind) is such an essential scripture in bringing deliverance to them. The love of Christ will nullify and eradicate any amount of fear that we can experience.  Complete trust in God and in His word will bring us to the place where we will be free of fear.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

Satanic Strongholds- "Rejection"

Romans 8:31, 38-39

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

According to Fritz Springmeier and Cisco Wheeler, “Rejection is a tool of Satan across the board in the world.  Rejection creates a sine wave of hills and valleys.  When a person (or nation) is rejected they will often shift to one of two extremes:  either they will try to perform to meet up to expectations or they will retaliate against rejection.  Both are extremes.”  When dealing with spiritual strongholds, deliverance is twofold. There has to be understanding by those who are involved with the person dealing with rejection and there has to be accountability by the rejected individual for their thoughts, speech, and actions.  When dealing with people who have been rejected or are feeling rejected, we have to understand that this is an extremely strong spirit.  It will be followed by the need to validate oneself or it will be followed by anger which is a cry for attention.  

It is very important to understand the effect that rejection may have on an individual.  Rejection may result in social isolation, loneliness, aggression, depression, feelings of insecurity and a heightened sense of future rejection.  When teaching, I address things from a spiritual perspective but I do not disregard or ignore the natural or human side of the issue.  It is essential that we learn to be more understanding of one another.  Even if we aren't experiencing the effects of rejection, we are probably experiencing other issues which require the patience of others.  Longsuffering is one of the fruit of the Spirit that we are required by God to possess.  With rejection being a satanic stronghold, many times we become impatient with those dealing with rejection. We may feel as if they should be ‘over’ it by now. This is exactly what the devil desires.  As long as we do not have the patience to endure one another’s issues, it enables them to either remain in the same position or digress.  However, as stated previously, deliverance is twofold.  The individual has to make a decision to release these feelings.  

Freedom

Freedom comes from letting go.  Many times as humans, our emotional inadequacies transition from an emotional pain to an emotional security blanket.  We become comfortable with these feelings because they are familiar to us.  Many times there is a fear of the unknown.  If we release the hurt that we’re feeling, what hurt will it be replaced with?  But Jesus made it clear that He came so that we would be able to have life and not just life, but abundant life.  He came so that we could live and not just exist.  

Social isolation is an extremely dangerous effect of rejection.  For Christians, this isolation presents spiritual atrophy as well as natural consequences. The Bible tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.  When we come in contact with one another, we draw strength from one another.  Social isolation can be identified with loneliness but loneliness is an emotional disorder, while social isolation is a voluntary removal of oneself from social interaction.  Epidemiologist Andrew Steptoe researched 6500 individuals over a twelve year period.  He came to the conclusion that many of the subjects died as a result of social isolation rather than loneliness.   

Depression is another ramification of rejection.   Depression affects us physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  People may lose or gain weight as a result of depression.  Depression can produce one of two extremes.  One extreme is the tendency to avoid food because the body does not respond to feelings of hunger.  The other extreme happens when certain foods cater to the reward system in the brain.  Pleasure chemicals such as the neurotransmitter dopamine are released when we indulge in devouring some foods.  Excessive food consumption is used to attempt to satisfy the internal pain that the individual is feeling.  Insomnia as a result of depression will have a negative mental effect on us.  As we rest, our brain which is a self-repairing organ has the ability to regenerate itself.  Old or dead cells are released and new cells are formed.  When we fail to get sufficient sleep or rest, our brain does not have an opportunity to properly restore itself.  Lack of sufficient rest will also distort your perception or viewpoint on life’s occurrences.  The inner turmoil that we may be trying to navigate our way through will cause us to focus on the negative aspect of everything.  There are also times when we convert positive events into negative ones.  Depression will also stunt our spiritual growth.  Having a sober and sound mind is essential in our development as Christians.  In the absence of clouded judgment, it is easier to believe and accept the instructions of God.  Even when we experience rejection in life, we receive assurance that nothing has the ability to separate us from God’s love.

Moving from Defense to Offense Part 2

We are in a war.  The war is in the spirit for the soul of man.  In Acts chapter 2, the disciples began to preach the gospel of Jesus in other languages after they received the Holy Ghost.  The Israelites who were from other nations were amazed. They realized that the disciples were from Galilee but they were able to speak the native languages of the visiting Jews because the Holy Ghost had given them the ability to do so.  As a result, about 3000 souls were saved.  This was the greatest offensive attack that the devil and the kingdom of darkness had experienced.  The attack was so great that the devil had to completely change his strategy for warfare against the people of God.  Prior to Jesus’ arrival, Satan’s opposition to God was to alter God’s creation or present the opposite of everything that God is and represents.   God performed miracles.  Satan performed magic.  God used prophets.  Satan used psychics.  Jehovah is the true God.  Satan created false gods.  God used procreation to honor Him.  Satan used homosexuality to direct worship to himself.  Satan knew that Jesus was coming so he feigned his own virgin births with Buddha and Maya as well as other false deities.  However, after the disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to assault his kingdom, the devil had to alter his strategy of total opposition to incorporate mimicking what God has given us.  

God gave us His Holy Spirit to comfort us and guide us into all truth.  Satan has given the kundalini spirit from yoga which causes people to pass out and lose consciousness and make strange noises and bark like dogs.  We have Christianity so that we can become Christ-like.  Satan presented us with Catholicism which is a merger of Christianity and pagan practices.  Satan used men who were very charismatic to deceive people.  God used ordinary men to do His will.  Since these men were willing to humble themselves and become obedient to the will of God, God was able to use them to go on the offensive and shake up the devil’s kingdom.  They totally disturbed his organization.  

In Acts chapter 3, we see Peter and John going on the offensive once again.  They were going to the temple to pray: offensive action.  They saw a lame man and used the power given to them by Jesus to heal him: offensive action.  When the people in attendance who witnessed the miracle ran up to check out the miracle, Peter preached the gospel of Jesus to them and as a result, 5000 men believed in Jesus: really offensive action.  

As soldiers in this army, God has been preparing us to stand in the midst of all kinds of adversity.  Romans 8:28 says and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  But many times our interpretation of this scripture is that everything is going to work out for us the way that we desire it to.  God expects us not to fold in uncomfortable situations.  He expects us to push on in spite of.  Nothing takes the fight out of an opponent like seeing their enemy continuing to push forward when they are hitting them with all they got.  Whenever you get discouraged, the devil says, “Whew!”  However, when you go on the offensive and the devil is doing his best to deter you and you keep coming, he has no idea what to do from there.  He has to go back to the drawing board to find out what to attack us with.  Our preparation is what pushes us to drive on in spite of what comes our way.  

Moving from Defense to Offense Part 1

As Christians, we know that our enemy is the devil.  We know that his purpose is to steal, kill and destroy.  We also know that in order to combat him, we have to submit to God, resist the devil and then he will flee from us.  But in order to go on the offensive against the devil, we must have  power.  Power comes from the Holy Ghost.  In order to receive maximum power from the Holy Ghost, we need an effective prayer life and fasting.  Jesus told His disciples that some demons would only become subject to them because they practiced prayer and fasting.  We’ll talk a little bit about sports.  Boxing is different from other fighting styles because every boxer is taught the same four punches:  the jab, the cross, the hook, and the uppercut.  I’ve heard some people say that anyone can get in the ring and throw punches but boxing measures strength, speed, reflexes, and endurance.  Boxing is more mental than it is physical.  In a boxing match, if there is no knockout, the fight will generally go in the favor of whoever is the most aggressive.  We have to be on the offensive to be aggressive.  We cannot win staying on the defensive.  When we are on offense, we dictate the course of the fight.  When we are on the defense, we are only reactive.  Praise confuses the devil and it takes us from retreating or being on the defense to going on the offense.  In boxing, the jab can be used offensively or defensively.  God wants us on the offensive.  We have the Word of God which is our sword to fight with.  Jesus defeated the devil using the Word of God.  When we don’t know the Word, we are defenseless.  We must know our Bible in order to go on the offensive.  When we know what is in the Word, we understand why the devil is no match for us.  God needs us to be on the offensive because there is a battle for the lost souls of the world.  If we don’t know the Word, we can’t believe the Word!  

Sometimes it seems as though the devil is doing a number on us.  But not only do we need to know our enemy, we also need to know our ally.  Our enemy really could care less about our money, our cars or our jobs.  He wants our souls.  God is not just simply an ally.  He’s our protector.  So we never need to be concerned in this war.  He is never caught off guard and everything goes according to how He has planned it.  The things that we go through have been designed for us because they don’t have the power to destroy us.  If someone else went through what you have gone through, it would destroy them.  And if you went through what some others have gone through, you wouldn't be able to handle it.   When we go on the offensive, both our front and rear are protected.  Since so many things go on in the spirit realm and we can’t see it with our natural eyes, we have a hard time believing how protected that we really are.  

I listened to the testimony of Curtis Kelly, a Christian who was formerly a participant in voodoo.  He told a story of how some of his neighborhood friends who were brothers had gotten saved.  They began to witness to others in the neighborhood.  Curtis became upset because he didn't want the brothers to cause others to get saved because he would lose his customers.  He was accustomed to people coming to him to receive spells to protect them or to heal them.  One night he called up a small imp and told him to go and make trouble for the family.  The imp went off and when it returned it said that they were protected and he couldn't touch them.  Curtis became angry with the imp and said, “I told you to go and destroy them.”  So the imp left again and returned and said, “I told you I couldn't touch them.  They’re protected.”  So Curtis sent the imp away and called for a bigger imp and sent him out to tear the house and cars up, set the house on fire and do everything the other imp couldn't do.  After a few days, this imp returned.  He asked the imp if he did what he told it to do.  The imp said, “It’s just like the other imp told you, we can’t touch them.  They’re protected.”  Curtis got angry and sent the imp away and astral projected to their house.  When he arrived, he saw two eight foot tall angels with flaming swords.  He said, “They looked like they had been working out in the gym.  They were tough.”  He stood behind a telephone pole and peeked out at them and said, “Man, I see why those imps couldn't do anything.”  So he went back into his body and said to himself, “Wow, they have some serious power. They have some power behind them.”  Part of going on the offensive is learning how to strategize.  We don’t just rush headlong into the battle.  The devil strategizes against us and we learn to strategize against him.  When we learn his tactics, we learn how to fortify ourselves and seal the weak areas.  As we go on the offensive, we need to ensure that we cover all vulnerable areas.