As children of Christ, we should no longer look outward for joy through acquisitions, people, places or things.
This is the day the Lord has made rejoice and be glad in it. Our joy is internal. It emanates outward. What we see and walk through does not dictate our joy. Our joy is the expression of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
Today is a great day to acknowledge our sins to God and the iniquity we have hidden. Today we proclaim change.
Sin blocks our fellowship with God. It keeps us from experiencing His goodness.
As humans we often repeat the sins that have been forgiven. We feel discouraged because we have difficulties overcoming them and feel we have failed. We fear we have lost fellowship with God. Good news, God is a God of many chances.
This is the day we free ourselves. Ask God to apply His forgiveness one more time and receive His mercy, this time with conviction.
Confession spiritually cleans our hearts. This is the day we proclaim victory over our sins and enter fellowship with our Lord. We will no longer carry unconfessed sin in our hearts allowing it to keep us weak, discouraged, and miserable.
“Be Glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous; shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (Ps 32:11)
Image – LAB Photo
Scripture – Bible.com
Reference – Charles Stanley, Life Principles Bible, Ps 32
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV
According to this scripture, a stronghold is a demonic hold. Strongholds are demolished through spiritual warfare. When we are in spiritual warfare, it is imperative to put on the Armor of God, because we cannot enter a battle ill-prepared.
There are two strongholds that bind believers in bondage. The first one is an incorrect perception of who God is, and the other is an inaccurate perception of who we are. (Identifying Strongholds)
According to Deliverance Ministries, a stronghold is an incorrect thinking pattern. They 
are built upon deception and error, perpetuated by Satan. The global news is one mechanism used to create strongholds today. Rarely do we view ‘good’ news stories. Why, because these stories would dilute the stronghold of deception, hate, oppression, and depression.
2 Corinthians 10:5 continues by expressing that “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.”
The KJV uses the phrase casting down strongholds and imaginations.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 KJV
The only way we can demolish strongholds is through the transformation of the way we think. Our thinking is governed by what we know, what we are taught, what we see, what we hear, and what we feel. In essence, much of what we know is informed through emotions. We must renew our minds by cleansing it of deceptions, errors, and lies by reading and studying the Word of God. We cannot allow ourselves to conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Romans 12:2 NIV.
So, what are common strongholds that we must break to live a Godly life? The primary strongholds are anger, fear, abandonment, shame, lying, financial lack, addictions, sensuality, depression, grief, mental instability, pride, and procrastination. These strongholds can be referred to as clusters because they group a host of similar emotions. (Charisma News)
Satan builds strongholds by reminding us of our past failures and sins. He keeps us in bondage threw doubt, anger, fear, and shame. He works to create an environment of self-hate and self-loathing and uses them to tear down our faith which says we are worthy. He uses our sins to gain a foothold. Extra-marital affairs are an example. There is temptation, desire, and lust, followed by action, twisting the truth, which in turn fosters shame, lying and guilt. Satan convinces us that God rejects us because of our sins and we are unworthy of God’s forgiveness and love.
The only way to break the stronghold is through repentance and the renewing of our mind. We must put on the Armor of God and read the scriptures that offer strength and truth to overcome our strongholds. I think we can all admit that we have experienced strongholds we are not proud of, but with prayer have overcome.
Satan tempted Jesus, he will and does tempt us. Thank God, Jesus died on the cross to take away our sin, 1 John 3:5, and He chose to forgive our sin. Hebrews 8:12.
IMPORTANT NOTE
This post only begins a conversation about strongholds, but hopefully provides an understanding of what demonic strongholds are and how they create a gulf between you and God.
The final verse in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, we must bring captive every thought to the obedience of Christ. The only way to do this is to practice living the Word of God to align ourselves with His thinking and promises that set us free.
ReBlog – https://wp.me/p9BMGC-M8
Images – Google Images; YouVersion
Scriptures – Biblegateway.com
Resources – Ministering Deliverance.com; Charisma News-How to Take Down 13 Demonic Strongholds that Bind You, Mark Virkler. Chrisma.com; Identifying Strongholds, Greatbiblestudy.com; Spiritual Warfare-Tear Down Strongholds, Greatbiblestudys.com; The Battle for Your Mind, Rick Warren. desiringgod.org; WInning the Battle of Your Mind, Joseph Prince.com/blog; Prayers that Rout Demons, John Eckhardt.
Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.
I like the Message Version because it is clear and to the point. My ticket to hell has been canceled. It is not my destination.
I’m happy from the inside and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed.
You canceled my ticket to hell—that’s not my destination! Psalm 16:9-10 MESS
Why was my ticket to hell canceled? Christ died on the cross to cancel our destination, i.e., hell. The Old Testament dispensation did not allow redemption for our sins. Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden. There were no second chances in the Old Testament. Once guilty, always guilty.
When Christ visited the earth in human form, experienced what we experience and then was crucified, He did so to provide a path of repentance and redemption to righteousness. Forgiveness from God is essential for our relationship with God.
The crucifixion of Christ changed our relationship with God. We were no longer bound by the atrocities of sin that man has committed since the beginning of time. In today’s lexicon, ‘God gave us an out.’ If we are truly remorseful for whatever sin we committed, we can go to God in prayer and ask His forgiveness; we will be washed clean. 1 John 1:9 says,
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Psalm 51 stresses that God can blot out our transgressions and cleanse us from our sin. 
He can create a new heart in us and renew a steadfast spirit within us. He will not cast us away and will not take the Holy Spirit that dwells in us away. He will, upon praying, restore our joy in His salvation and uphold us in Christ.
The Unforgivable Sin
The only unforgivable sin is the sin of rejecting God and refusing His offer of forgiveness and new life in Jesus Christ. This is the only unforgivable sin because it means we are saying that the Holy Spirit’s witness about Jesus is a lie.
And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Luke 12:10
Jesus is God in human form and when we deny Jesus, we are denying God Himself; we limit Him and assume He is unable to save us.
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. John 1:18
The main reason it is serious to reject Christ is that Christ is God’s appointed means of (our) salvation. Our greatest need is to have our sins forgiven; if we don’t, we have no reason to expect God to welcome us into Heaven. But by His death and resurrection, Christ provided the way for us to be forgiven and cleansed of all of our sins. (What’s the Unforgivable Sin? Billy Graham. Billygraham.org, April 12, 2016)
Praise our God. We are not doomed to go to hell unless we commit the unforgivable sin. Less that, we are not hell bound.
Images – Google Images; LAB Photos
Scriptures – Biblica.org; Biblegateway.com
Resources – Billygraham.org; Biblestudytools.com; Crosswalk.com
Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.
Jesus never changes, He is always the same. Throughout the day remember Jesus is always the same. Our relationship with Him is not dependent upon our feelings, expectations, or daily responsibilities.
Just thank Him when you see Him at work, which is all the time. Look for His infusion in all that you do, and in everything around you.
Our Lord lives in us, the atmosphere, and the universe.
He is the great ‘I AM’.
He is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow.
Re-Blog – http://www.youngchristianwarriors.com/jesus-is-always-the-same
Images – YouVersion.Bible.com; LAB Photos
Scriptures – 35 Powerful I am Verses
References/Resources – Deb Wolf, Counting My Blessings.com
Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.
Good Morning,
Thank God, His mercies are renewed everyday. Our actions are covered everyday. We do not have to worry about them piling up and being buried by them. We can repent of the day and know we are forgiven. Keep having good thoughts, and doing positive deeds, and for those moments when thoughts or actions don’t align with Christ, repent, ask for immediate forgiveness.
God’s compassion never fails. Today’s mercies cover this day, and faith that tomorrow’s unseen mercies will be sufficient for that day. Do not carry woes, anxieties, and concerns into the upcoming day. Release them, give them to God through repentance and begin each day believing in new mercies.
In faith we are strong.
Two passages of scripture sum up how God frees us.
“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassion’s fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:34 NKJV
Think about these passages as you go through your day. Before I retired I often thought of and recited them to myself, it is freeing and a reminder that God is ever-present, and covers us each and every day. Oh, and yes, I still recite them to myself and will as long as I am alive.
Lisa’s Daily Inspirations 