Everyone sins, every day. You, me, Mother Theresa; we are all sinners. There is a power struggle within us; sin versus the Holy Spirit. It is a war; one that we have to win, but can’t win alone. Do you want to walk in the light or do you want to walk in the darkness?
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
Matthew 5:14-16 NLT
Will you be the light? As I said, we are all sinners in a broken world. It is how we respond to sin that will define us. There are two options: light or darkness. We cannot win alone and need the Holy Spirit to help us win the power struggle. We must defeat Satan with the Holy Spirit’s help and not allow him to have strongholds in our lives.
“We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.”
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 NLT
Our war is not fought by flesh and blood, but in the Spiritual Realm. Our war is fought with the weapons of God. Weapons like truth, righteousness, readiness from the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Holy Spirit the dwells within us, and the word of God.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Ephesians 6:10-17 NIV
God gives us fighting words. For each trouble we encounter in our life, God foretold it and there is Biblical advice for it. These troubles are also known as strongholds. A stronghold is defined as a spiritual battle Satan is waging for our souls. Because of this, we are usually blind to them. One may tell petty lies without realizing it, or manipulate situations to their benefit without knowing they are doing so. They go through their daily lives living like this, and Satan is smiling the entire time. It may start out as one sin for some, and spiral down a path of habitual sin; while, for others, it could be the result of past injustice or abuse against us.
“The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.”
Psalm 9:9 ESV
The only way to get out of Satan’s strongholds is to pray for God to show you your weakness. Once he does, you have the Spirit on your side but it will be hard to break a possibly lifelong habit. We pray for everyone reading that your eyes be opened to strongholds in your life and that we could defeat Satan together.
Messengers of Mercy 