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Overcomer
July 22, 2017

Overcoming Strongholds

by Israel Piotter
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIVThe weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On thecontrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. Wedemolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up againstthe knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make itobedient to Christ.A stronghold is something that becomes a fortress
Sermon Notes

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the
contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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.
A stronghold is something that becomes a fortress in our minds that
seals sinful activity in, while attempting to seal God out.
Strongholds are not just addictions. A stronghold can also be: lies,
pride, warped philosophies, thoughts, and plans that challenge God.
Strongholds: finding yourself stuck in cycles, substances, people
and practices that don’t work, or fail to meet your real needs
Two Main Classes of Strongholds:

  1. Monster Strongholds
  2. Sleeper Strongholds
    Monster Strongholds:
    • Drugs, sex, alcohol, pornography, nicotine
    Romans 7:18-21 NIV
    For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful
    nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it
    out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to
    do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no
    longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this
    law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

Sleeper Strongholds:

  1. Pride
    Proverbs 16:18 HCSB
    Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.
  2. Perfectionism
  3. Control
  4. Worry
  5. Busyness
  6. Technology
  7. People
    Common Strongholds:
    • Narcissism, food, shopping, social media

Overcoming Strongholds:

  1. Admit
    “Admitting you have a stronghold is not a declaration of your
    weakness; it’s asking God for a demonstration of His strength.”
  2. Repent
    “Change your thought processes, and go beyond your mind’s present
    state of limitations and sinful habits.”
    Romans 12:2 ESV
    Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal
    of your mind.
  3. Attend
    Attend means to take care of, minister to, take charge of, watch over
    and guard your heart and mind.
  4. Replace
    We can’t just stop bad habits; we have to replace them with healthy
    habits.
    Romans 6:16-18 NIV
    Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as
    obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you
    are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads
    to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be
    slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of
    teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set
    free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
    Overcoming Strongholds:
    ADMIT — REPENT — ATTEND — REPLACE

Benefits of Overcoming Strongholds:

  1. Relentless grit
    Hebrews 10:38-39 NIV
    “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the
    one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink
    back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
    James 1:2-3 NIV
    Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face
    trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith
    produces perseverance.
  2. Godly desperation
    Psalm 18:2 NIV
    The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my
    rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation,
    my stronghold.
  3. Agents of redemption
    Revelation 12:11 NIV
    They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of
    their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from
    death.
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