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SCRIPTURE – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5                                                                                                                                                           AUGUST, 2022

For the weapons of our lied to rfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of STRONG HOLDS;
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;

SUBJECT – THOSE DAMN STRONG HOLDS [2]!!!

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Last month, I left off, talking about the stronghold, that parents, and family have on our lives, when it comes to making decisions on how we run our lives.

However, while these may have the primary initial impact on our decision making process, they are only a small part of the strong holds the enemy uses to keep us in his grip, and on our way to destruction.

As I mentioned last month, only a person that is ignorant as to results of their decision making, would choose to follow this path. That is why I say ignorance, is the chief stronghold.

The next stronghold on the list, are friends.

Friends, are the next on the list because they are the ones you spend the most time with, outside of family.

Friends are usually people that you hang with because of various factors. Chief among them is the idea that they act and think like you do. They are a secondary support system to your lifestyle choices.

You have probably heard the term, Birds of a feather, flock together!!

I don't know many people, that spend a lot of time with people that do not agree with what they believe, and are critical of them. The reason being, as I stated earlier, last month, people seek to feel good about what they are doing. There is no place for someone that takes that away from them. A person like that, will usually be relegated to the status of being an acquaintance[someone you know, but don't spend much time with]!!!

And, just like family, your comfort is dependent on being able to be yourself, and have friends that will support you in it.

Then we have the group stronghold.

Unlike friends, that you hang with mostly every day, groups, are friends and associates that you get together with, for special occasions.

The range of groups are many. You have unions, club members, church, gangs, political affiliations, and the list goes on and on.

One's association with these groups depends on the like mindedness that they have regarding certain issues, with theirs. The more in line with their thinking, the more a person will be a part of, or attend meetings, held by the said group.

You wouldn't, say for instance, find an atheist, attending church, or an African American attending a white supremacist meeting because they have entirely different mindsets. Yet, at the same time, atheists, and Christians may be acquaintances, or even friends. However, these situations usually require compromise on certain lifestyle issues. In some cases, members of the family, may be in these same positions, and in order to keep the family together, compromise is usually the tool they use. The whole idea is that they can exist together in peace and harmony. There is no room for discord and strife.

Now, in the natural scheme of things, compromise, in order to have peace and harmony is a good thing. However, when it comes to God, and His Word, compromising it, for the goal of tranquility, is a disaster. In fact, the result will be the opposite of what you are seeking.

As the Bible puts it, 'There is a way that seems right to men, but, the end result is death[destruction and misery]!!! [Prov. 14:12, 16:25].

Now, let's face it. The Bible gives everyone a clear message of what will bring peace and prosperity, and what will bring the opposite.

So, what is the problem???

The aforementioned strongholds, ignorance, education, family, friends, and groups.

I want you to take a close look at these scriptures,

Proverbs chapter 1. Because of its length, I will not post the whole thing. However, key verses in it, highlight the need to pursue wisdom, and understanding [of God and His ways], as well as what the consequences will be for those that choose to be themselves.

Hosea 4:6. My people are destroyed forlack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I WILL ALSO FORGET THY CHILDREN.

Amos 3:3. Can two walk together, except they be agreed? [Birds of a feather].

Galatians 6:7. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he  also  reap.

Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for

sweet, and sweet for bitter!

These are but a few of hundreds of scriptures that point out the fact that there is 'great danger' in line for those that don't take heed to what God says.

Now, the question is, whose job is it to direct you to the knowledge of, and the consequences of His Word??

Preachers!!!

It is their job to direct the people in the paths that God says they are to go. That means, they are to tell the people what He approves of, and what He disapproves of.

Then, they are to tell them about the consequences of obedience, which are Blessings, and disobedience, which result in cursings.

The book of Deuteronomy, chapter 28, gives a complete list of what can be expected in both cases.

However, very few preachers in the black community, say anything about this, and other passages of scripture, that make it abundantly clear, what God expects, and what the results will be.

So, why aren't they telling their people these things??? Strongholds!!!

It could be ignorance, meaning they haven't read these passages of scripture. Or, it could be fear because they want to maintain their status in their community, knowing what would happen if they go against what the community expects them to do.

If a preacher has gained a large following, and is seen by the community as a leader, it is near to impossible for him to change up on his message, and expect those followers to continue following him. He is bound to be ostracized, and cast away.

So, he maintains the status quo.

This brings up the question as to why wouldn't this person not know what God has to say about these things.

The first reason is the fact that whatever denomination or group he belongs to, may have taught him that these scriptures, are not for us today. Or, it could be that he was never taught anything about them, because his teachers, skipped over, or completely ignored them.

Now, and this is important, if God is going to use someone as His spokesperson, then, it is up to Him, to prepare them before He sends them out!!!

Too many of our leaders that are preachers in the black community, are not called of God, but rather, have pursued the position for selfish means.

Some pursue it as a means of employment, meaning it is a job opportunity. Others pursue it because, they like the attention the preachers that they have seen, get from the community. Then, there are others, who have aspirations of becoming 'great' in the eyes of the community,and as such, will say and do whatever it takes, to achieve that goal.

Preachers like these, are what is called 'false prophets and teachers!!'

These types of preachers, have no anointing from God, on their lives, or ministry. And, without that anointing, they aren't going to be directed by God, to understand the entire Truth of the Word of God. As a result, any scriptures that they do read, will be interpreted the wrong way, and as a result, will only lead them, and those that listen to them, to destruction.

This then brings us to parents. If the parents are loyal church-going people, that sit under one of these preachers, then, they are going to be misled. And consequently, if they have children, and are teaching them according to what they are being taught at church then, the children are going to be misled as well.

Later on in life, as they become grown, and have children, they will teach their kids the things they believe to be true.

When someone comes along and tells them the Truth, the first thing they want to do, is reject it. Why?? Because that is not what their parents/grandparents taught them. And, as if that isn't bad enough, they definitely don't want to face the fact that, depending on what they were taught, their parents/grandparents may be in hell.

No one wants to have to face that possibility!!

However, as I mentioned earlier, it is possible that they had someone come along to tell them the Truth before they died, and repented, and are now in Heaven, while their child/grandchild is heading for hell because they refuse to accept that their elders lied to them.

We must remember if an elder passed a lie onto you, not knowing that it was a lie, then, that wasn't a direct attempt to deceive you. They had all the best intentions of guiding you along what they thought to be the right path.

The same thing can be said about other members of your family, and even some of your friends.

When it comes to things like education, we have a little different problem in that, once again, depending on what institution you are getting educated by, you may be getting lied to deliberately!!

When it comes to public schools, they havethe obligation of making sure that when a child graduates from them, they are able to become a productive member of society.

Well, depending on what the leaders of that society have set up as what is/is not, acceptable, the public schools within its control, are mandated to direct the students as to what is right and wrong, in their eyes.

So, once again, you have a situation where a group's vision of what is right and wrong, overshadows, what God says. And as a result, you can see the results all around you. CHAOS!!!

Now, as the subject scripture says, the job of the church, preacher, christian, is to tear down these things, with the Truth of the Word of God.

However, in order to do that, you are going to have to go in to 'warfare', because the establishment is not going to accept what Christians are saying, without a fight.

For the record, this 'warfare', is not meant to be physical in nature, but, the establishment will not see it that way. To them, this is an attack that should be responded to by whatever means is necessary, to maintain its position.

As a consequence, most preachers in our community, compromise God's Word of Truth, to keep the peace. But, once again, compromising His Truth for peace, only sets you up for the exact opposite.

Matthew 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

What this scripture is saying, is that anytime you compromise on God's Word, to attain something, you will lose it. While if you are willing to lose something, by not compromising His Word, you will gain that back, and, a lot more!!

Last month, I referenced the book of Job, and all the things that happened to him. Well, because he held to his faith in God, even when his friends, and even his wife told him he needed to 'curse God', he refused to do so, and in the end, attained seven times as much as he lost!!

Now, you tell me, given this example, which side of the aisle would you rather be on???

But, as I said, if you don't know these things, then you are going to be easily misled by those that you trust.

Next month, I will show you how these strong holds, reach all the way to the highest levels of government.

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