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Crushing Strongholds #1 - What is a Stronghold? · One Voice Many Conversations

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, everyone.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Crushing Strongholds.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Today is our very, very first episode.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm super excited and I'm a little bit nervous.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: So please bear with me.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Give me a little bit of grace today.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Mickey, and I am your host.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also a Christian life coach.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: And um I just want to tell you what this podcast is about.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast is basically about um transitioning pain into power, trauma into triumph, and just becoming a better version of who you are and who you want to be.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And for myself, I have actually gone through this, this uh this triumph and all this challenging stuff that I have overcome, especially over the last few years.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: So this this podcast actually came about um when God gave me a little bit of a nudge.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna just jump on the backlog just for just a brief moment and give you a little bit of insight about who I am and what this podcast is going to be kind of about.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: So um, so a little bit of a heads up.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Strongholds, um, first strongholds came about for me when I had to tackle, like literally put on, you know, the football gear and tackle some much needed strongholds that were literally holding me back in my life.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I knew that I was in a place where um I was struggling and I felt um basically trapped and stuck in a situation that I just couldn't get out of.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And for most people that know me, and as you'll get to know me, I'm usually the kind of person that when a triumph or battle comes my way, I usually dive right in, I tackle it, and um I have good strategies and I I go to prayer and I get scripture out, and I'm on my knees and I'm ready to go.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I just don't let anything hold me back for a very long time because from a very, very young age in my life, I didn't have time.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: I really didn't have a lot of time to mess around.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of things were happening in my life, and I had to literally be on the lookout all the time because I went through a lot of stuff in my lifetime, and so I had to constantly be aware of my surroundings.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, um, the area that I was in wasn't a safe place, the people I was around.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, with my upbringing, uh, which we will get into later on in um a few more episodes down the road, I just know that I hit a really dark place in my life about six years ago.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: And God finally gave me this huge nudge.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: And um it really was an eye-opener for me.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And he basically said, You need to, you need to um get a hold of some things that are holding you um hostage.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I was thinking to myself, oh my gosh, you know, I've been sitting in this, I've been sitting in this um this very dark place in my life for just a little bit too long.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't like me.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: It literally was not like me to just sit and dwell in a place um for too long.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: So on the backlog, what happened was my mom passed away, and I had been taking care of her for many years.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: She ended up with dementia, um, the latter years of her life.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: I moved her in with me and took care of her.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: We finally started building a bond uh that we hadn't had since my birth, basically.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: So we had a love-hate relationship, and we will get into that a little bit later on.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: But um, when my mom died, I didn't realize um how much stuff was going to manifest in myself.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it really set me back into a really dark place in trying to figure out who I was and what am I doing here and what is my purpose and why does God have me here?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a lot of whys.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: There was a lot, a lot of whys to this to this um conversation that I was having with myself.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I found myself struggling.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And normally, like I said, I normally see a situation.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I I figure out a solution and I bounce back.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: This time, it literally took me three years.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: I was stuck for three years.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was just miserable.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, everything triggered me.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: I had a lot of emotions.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: I was going through um a great change in in my life.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't understand what or why that was that was happening.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: So God revealed to me that I was hanging on to a lot of strongholds in my life that needed to go.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: I had a lot of baggage.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, if you're not sure what strongholds are or can be, think of it as a great big garbage bag full of past hurt, pain, trauma, um, regrets, disappointments, um, really deeply rooted stuff that you've just been dragging around for a very, very long time.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that was me.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, with God giving me this nudge, He started working on me.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I actually sought out counseling.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I got a I got a life coach of my own, and um I got back into the word every single day.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: I got back into the word and I started going to school.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: I went to a life ministry school with Keith Moore.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: That is actually online.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's a free online course that you can take.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: So feel free to take down anyone who is lacking in faith.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: I recommend it.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then I joined KBA, Kingdom Builders Academy, to get my double degree, um bachelor's and master's degree in ministry and business, and as well as my associates, because apparently all my all my um credits had expired.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: So that was an interesting story there.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: But getting back to strongholds, I really needed to focus in on things in my life that I needed to change, things in my life that needed to be broken, things in my life that um literally had the strongest hold of who I was that was holding me back from where I needed to be.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I really ended up getting disappointed in myself because I had realized I had wasted a lot of time.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that that made me a little bit sad and disappointed.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: But um sometimes if we don't have our eyes open, we end up being in these situations where we can't seem to overcome.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, what crushing strongholds is about, let me go there, okay?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um basically it is diving in and finding strongholds and working through each and every single one of those, okay.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And for you, it may be different than what it looks like for me, but together in unity, these these strongholds can come down, okay.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I do believe that every single person, every single person battles with strongholds.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I do believe that there's also freedom for every single person.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: It just has to be a um a period of recognition where we're looking at the situation, looking at um doing some self-searching, basically.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's funny when I think about going on the internet or going on my phone or um going through the Bible or going through my concordance or whatever I'm looking up, how I'm looking up certain things, we have to do that with ourselves.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: We have to literally look up ourselves and and go through and and start um highlighting and defining some things that need to be taken care of.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: So with crushing strongholds, I hope that um you'll get something from this.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: But in the very beginning, I'm gonna tread lightly.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to, I don't want to go in um full force because first I want to break down what a stronghold is.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: There are different strongholds.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's what this episode is called today.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: This episode is called What is a Stronghold?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna break that down.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Then I want to continue on with different um um parts that go to what is a stronghold in a couple of other episodes that are going to be following.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: So this is actually not only is it the first episode, it's also a series.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: So you'll want to stick with me and follow along.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: So when you get to episodes two, three, four, five, and so on down the road with this series, um, you want to make sure that you you follow all the way through.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: So if you end up getting on episode three, make sure you go back and watch episode two and one because they kind of are gonna be connected at the hip, so to speak.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: So um, like I said before, I'm excited and I'm thankful to be here today.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's a joy and a pleasure.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I love the Lord.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: I am a Christian.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I know some people, some people like, oh gosh, you're a Christian.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, really?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, no.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I am a Christian.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: And when I say I'm a Christian, that means I am a sinner saved by grace.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a sinner saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And the the love and the hope and the reality of of Jesus is my strength and my joy.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it's also what helps me to overcome battles in my own life.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: So hopefully that'll be the same for you.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: And through these episodes, I love to share scripture and I love to share the word of God, and I love to share what Jesus is doing in my life and what he can be doing in yours.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: I am not a preacher, I am not a minister.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't want um just to I want to clarify that right up front because I know that there's a lot of riff-raff about women preaching and uh being in the ministry and all of that.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: I literally am just a life coach and I'm a Christian.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: And in the gospels, it tells us that we are to go out and spread the gospel to everyone.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, in that aspect of the Bible, it doesn't say um it's not gender specific and it's not um um a role specific.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's basically just telling people, hey, you need to go out and share the gospel.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: So basically crushing strongholds, I hope to be able to enlighten you with the word of God um in this journey.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start talking about what a stronghold is, because that is today's episode.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so thank you, thank you, thank you again for being here.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: I am super excited to get this rolling and off the ground and want to just express my gratitude.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: So um, what is a stronghold?
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, for me, like what I have already mentioned previously in the beginning of this episode, talking about um something that that has a definite hold on to me.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, but a stronghold isn't just um per se a grip of something that's holding you back.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: So a stronghold um can be referred to as a fortified place or structure that provides protection, even or a defense structure.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: However, the term can have different meanings depending on its context.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's let's dive into that.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: There are four four different types of strongholds, okay.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Not sure if you're aware of that, but we're gonna go over them.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: The first stronghold I want to go over with you today is a physical stronghold.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: A physical stronghold is an actual place, it's a structure, it's a building, it's a home.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, for me, it's a home.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it could be a fortress, it could be a castle.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like for those of you that play Minecraft, I'm sure you've you've heard of strongholds in in the middle of a game.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's a place that's designed to protect you against attacks.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also a place that um you feel secure.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, like when you're when the military they're going to war, they have secure locations that are kind of off-grid, supposedly off-grid, and and and they're places where they go during war to to to gather the troops, figure out what they're gonna do, how they're gonna, how they're gonna defend their territory, kind of so to speak.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: So a physical stronghold is an actual place, um, a building.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: So a home.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: It could be, it could be a garage, it could be your school, it could be your church, it could be in many different places, um, depending on how you want to look at it.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: But for me, I want to talk about what my stronghold, my physical stronghold actually became to me, was more like a prison cell.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: So again, what brought me back to this podcast to start this podcast was being stuck in a place where I felt like I just couldn't get out.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so my stronghold didn't look like a happy fortress or um a palace per se.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: It looked more like a prison cell for a long time.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: So what if that's the case for you?
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: What if your place um that you find yourself hanging out in?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: What if it's a place of captivity and you just feel stuck in it?
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're gonna talk about that a little bit.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, or it could be a place where everything's fine and dandy and everything's just honky dory.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: And if that's where you're at, you know, praise God, that's where we, that's where we all want to be.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: So um, you're already a step ahead of the game if that's where you're at.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's the first stronghold that I want to talk about today, the physical stronghold.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, but that ties us into the second stronghold.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: The second stronghold is a psychological stronghold.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're gonna step into that because when we're talking about captivity and being stuck in a place, I'm not literally in my home with bars on the windows and big huge bolts on my door.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm literally stuck in in this prison cell because of strongholds in my personal life, in my psychological mind, and in my my my my own being that have kept me stuck and in prison.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's where this kind of all ties into it's all psychological, okay?
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: But what are psychological strongholds?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's the second stronghold I want to talk about today.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: The psychological strongholds are actually deeply ingrained patterns of thought.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's your thought process, okay.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: We we have our mind and it's useful.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: It can be useful, but it can also be um dangerous.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: It can be a very dangerous place to dwell in.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, patterns that can get deeply ingrained can be beliefs or habits or emotions that influence our behavior and can be difficult to change, or that can keep us in captive.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we can be we can be stuck in captivity.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of psychological strongholds are actually rooted in lies.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: So they're negative influences, they're destructive thoughts or self-beliefs.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like, let's say um a belief or a self-thought would be like saying to yourself, I'm not good enough, or I'm not worthy.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: That is a destructive thought.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: That is also a self-belief.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: That is also a psychological stronghold.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: So let's keep it into that realm.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what that is.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: A psychological stronghold is also um something that brings on persistent fears and anxieties.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've had several, several anxiety attacks in my lifetime.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: I get super anxious, super nervous.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm always feeling um still to this day, I struggle with this to this day, and I'm working on it.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: It is a stronghold that I'm working on with crushing strongholds.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: So um I I work on um the ability to be able to not be perfect.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like I want everything to be like in its place.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I need it to go a certain way sometimes.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: And if it doesn't, um my mind just goes, woo, it goes a little bit cuckoo.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: So um we have to be careful of the anxieties because we just need to think about okay, what is what is making what is making me anxious today?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: What is this that's causing me to feel anxiety?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then narrow in on that instead of actually self-destructing.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times when we have anxieties or psychological strongholds, we end up self-destructing and we set ourselves back into captivity.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: We put ourselves back into a place where we're just stuck in it, okay?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Another um psychological stronghold would be uh addictions or unhealthy habits.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: That could be um being an addict of um drugs or alcohol, food, um, sexual um unhealthy habits, um, getting into some of that.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: There, there's a lot of unhealthy habits and actions and addictions that um affect us with our psychological strongholds.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to be really careful when we think that these things might be helping us, they're actually hurting us.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: The last one I want to talk about with psychological, excuse me, psychological strongholds is impactful thinking.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm actually going to do a whole episode on impactful thinking because there's so much to it, and I want to basically unpack it.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we will get into that episode a little bit later, but keep in mind impactful thinking is also a strong, a psychological stronghold that keeps us in captivity, keeps us stuck, and um keeps us from having a physical stronghold that we enjoy or like or want to be in.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, like I said, it was like a prison cell.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the third stronghold that I want to share with you today is a metaphorical stronghold.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: And to me, metaphorical stronghold is not a big deal.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't really affect me, has nothing to do with me, but I just want to share with you what it is so that you could be mindful.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: A metaphorical stronghold is basically a place or um an idea or group that strongly supports a particular belief, an ideology, or a practice.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, an example would be like um a city or a region known for its strong political or cultural identity, um, such as a stronghold of democracy.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not very political, I don't like to get into politics.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, as you get to know me, you'll know that I don't even like to discuss politics if I can if I can refrain from it.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure during some of my interviews with some of my guests, it will probably be a topic that gets brought up, but um I do not usually engage too much in politics.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm kind of like basically um I vote individually.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm not, you know, I have a hard time picking sides.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And um I just think that God is going to resolve it.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: So let's not go into that.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's a whole nother topic.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: But basically, um, another metaphorical stronghold, if you will, is like um an example would be, let's say, a company or an organization that dominates a specific industry.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: So like Amazon.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is huge, it's huge.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon definitely dominates over um the mom and pop shops or um thrift stores or certain specific smaller entities because it has a variety of everything in itself.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: So that would just be a type of metaphorical stronghold, if you will.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that makes some kind of sense.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: So so far we have gone over three types of strongholds.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: We've addressed physical strongholds, psychological strongholds, and metaphorical strongholds.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Again, metaphorical strongholds, we probably won't talk too much about because I don't really want to get into anything politically.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so the fourth stronghold, and the reason that I wanted to talk about this one last is because for me it's the most important stronghold that there is.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the one where I feel like um when you dive deep into it, you can start becoming free.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can become free from the strongholds that keep you captive or keep you stuck or keep you in prison.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: So spiritual strongholds basically um is like a religious or spiritual content that um often seen as a negative influence or forces that hold a person captive, like like I said, I was, such as in sin, fear, or doubt.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll be honest with you folks, all three of those, that was me.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: I I I lived in sin, I lived in fear, and I lived in doubt.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, basically they're all conjoined.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: So um in Christianity, strongholds are mentioned in 2 Corinthians in 10, 4, and 5 as spiritual barriers or arguments that actually oppose God's truth.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Excuse me.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: One thing I want to talk about when we dive into the scripture is definitely opposing God's truth.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we never want to oppose God's truth.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, they can represent areas in life where someone just feels spiritually stuck or even oppressed.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and we're gonna get into what that looks like in a in a minute.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: But what I would like to do now is is I want to I want to dive into that scripture.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: So if you actually have your Bible or um your phone or your laptop that you can look up this scripture and read along with me, that'd be amazing and wonderful.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you're welcome to join in, but I'm going to read it and tell you what it says.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: So join me, join with me at in uh Second Corinthians 10, 4 and 5.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: It says, um, for the wages of our well, where excuse me, let me start over.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: A little nervous here, guys.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget first episode.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: So, okay, 2 Corinthians 10, 4 and 5.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm reading from the King James Version, and you can read from whatever version you want.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna poke the bear on that subject, that's for sure, especially not today.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, 2 Corinthians 10, 4 and 5.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through the through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing it into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: The weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: That means they're not they're not um in the flesh.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: They are let me say that again.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: They are in the flesh.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: I said that backwards.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: They're not like like we're gonna battle up and go outside and go to war.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: They're they're they are fleshly warfares within ourselves, within our mind, within our body, within our spirit, within our realm.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: These are battles that we have going on that nobody else knows about.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: I could look at you from across the room and have no idea, no idea what you're dealing with, what warfare you're up against, what weapons you need, what what what you're actually what you're actually going through.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like this is what this means, okay.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: For the warfare or the weapons of our warfare, they're not carnal.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're not going to actual battle.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're battling within ourselves, okay.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, what does that mean?
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we are not going through this by ourselves.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: It says mighty through God.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: So when we're battling anything in our life, God is with us.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: God is with us.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I think what happens is that we forget God is with us, or we blame God, or we shut God out completely because we think we're going to handle it all by ourselves.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: We need to remember that God is with us and He's going to be what helps pull down the strongholds, pulling down strongholds.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: So there's not very many verses in the Bible that actually say strongholds or even talk about strongholds.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I really want to clarify and make sure that this verse is really understood, okay?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um Corinthians 10, 5, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing it into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when I think about this, this is where we have to think about what we're thinking up here.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we're casting down our imaginations.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like I could tell you anything and everything, and I could just be full of baloney.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: I could be full of hogwash all day long.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm just making it up, okay, we have to cast down imaginations.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, when we're dealing with God, God is so smart that he knows when we're when we're talking dumb, he knows when we're not talking truthful, he knows when we're full of lies.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: When we have all of these psychological strongholds in our mind, whether we've brought them on ourselves or through generational curses, he knows.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: He knows more than anything.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know about you, but for myself, there's been many times where I have literally had conversations with God where I questioned his knowledge because I was an idiot.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not gonna lie, I literally was like, God, like, come on now, like, really, like, you know, and it's funny that we for one think that that's okay, which you have to repent for that.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I had to rebuke that out of myself because that was a really bad thing for me to be doing, although I didn't know it.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, this scripture here taught me this.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot go against the knowledge of God, God knows everything.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: God, God knows everything, and then some.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: The moment that you think you know God and haven't figured out, I guarantee you you don't.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: I guarantee you you don't.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: And there's not one person, not one person on the entire face of the earth that does.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus, yes, but Jesus is no longer here.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, yes, but he's not in human fleshly form.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: So as far as a person or a being, nobody knows all of the knowledge of God.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's absolutely 100% impossible.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: But God wants us to take our imaginations, cast them down, and get a hold captive of every thought that we have and give it to the obedience of Christ.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, how do we do that?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's talk about that for just a moment, okay?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Pulling down strongholds.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna back up a little bit, pulling down strongholds, okay.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: One way I like to look at pulling down strongholds is to remember this phrase Rome wasn't built in a day.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, neither were your strongholds.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Your strongholds weren't built in a day, and that's why sometimes I I think personally, why we feel stuck and we get oppressed, because we think that we should just be able to build up the Lincoln logs like my grandkids do.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: They build up all these little fun things with Lincoln logs and different shaped buildings and castles and barns and whatever.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: And in a moment, they can be knocked down.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: That could be devastating too for them, by the way.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: But just letting you know they don't like it when that happens, but it does happen.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that easy.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: Our strongholds are built up over time, they're built up um in a couple of different ways, and I'm going to be breaking this down bit by bit, piece by piece, as we further go through these episodes because it's so important to understand strongholds, where they come from, and how to actually bring them down.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: But you need to understand right off the bat, with today's episode, as we're talking about what a stronghold is, okay.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're not talking about how to overcome it today.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: We're just talking about what it is.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's something that does not come down easily.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: You're pulling them down, okay?
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: Pulling them down brick by brick, piece by piece, okay.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: We don't just get to just knock it down and hey, it's all honky dory from there on out.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's not how it works, okay?
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: That is not how it works at all.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we will get into that as we get into more episodes.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: So let's continue on with this scripture.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, what is it to be stuck?
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: What is it literally to be stuck, spiritually stuck or oppressed?
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about that real quick so that way we can we can talk about the next part of the scripture.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: To be stuck is basically um when you're unable to move or get out from a specific position or place, or you are unable, unable to change a situation or a circumstance.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how many times I got myself into a situation and I thought, oh man, you know, oh man, I really, I really put my foot in it this time.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: How am I gonna get out of this?
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: How am I gonna get out of this?
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: And like I mentioned um earlier in this episode, that a lot of times I was pretty good at recognizing the situation and and quickly coming up with a solution, not allowing myself to stay stuck, not allowing myself to stay oppressed, not allowing myself to stay um in a really dark place.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't didn't want to, I never wanted to stay in prison.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I've always been known as um a lot of people have called me a social butterfly, basically.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm outgoing, I'm energetic, um, I I I generally care about all people.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't literally, you know, I try to keep myself unopinionated because I think that that's too destructive.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: So for myself.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes I would find myself in a situation that I just did not know how to get out of.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: And because I didn't know how to get out of the situation, I would let it bog me down and weigh me down and weigh me down and weigh me down.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then I would allow people um to treat me unfairly and gain power over me because here I am putting myself into this lower, lower, lower, lower position.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what being oppressed is is when you when you allow um, or when you allow or you're subjected to cruel and unfair treatment by those in power.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like often they often limit your freedom and they take away your opportunities.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a state of being burdened and um basically exploited, and also it's a place where uh individuals or groups are systematically um denied their rights.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want to be denied our rights, okay?
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: We have the right to have freedom in our life.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know that?
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: We we literally have the right to have freedom in our lives, okay?
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: So let's bounce back to 2 Corinthians 10 5, which is casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing it into captivity, every thought to the obedience of Christ.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: And as we're getting near the end of this episode, just gonna let you know we're kind of narrowing down to the finish line here.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's important to understand what this scripture is really saying and what it means when we're dealing with strongholds.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, like I said today, we're not going to be able to dissect all of it.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're just talking about the differences with the different types of strongholds today.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: But with this specific stronghold, a spiritual stronghold, which is to me the very most important, it's so vital, so important that we understand this and we learn how to conquer it and achieve and overcome these obstacles that come our way with these strongholds.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: So when we cast down our imaginations and we take our thoughts captive, what does that mean?
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: What does that look like?
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like when I think about capturing a thought, when you first hear it, it sounds kind of like, that is ridiculous.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: How do I do that?
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: How do I just capture a thought?
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like here comes a thought, and how do I capture it?
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: How am I gonna do that?
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I got to take that thought and I gotta be obedient with it, and I gotta give it to Christ.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: I gotta be like, okay, Lord, I'm gonna run this by you.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: Everything in our life that we do, we should be running it by Jesus before we do anything with it.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: All of our thoughts.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's why it's best to get up every morning and pray, pray throughout the day, pray through through your situations and your obstacles and pray for your circumstances, pray for your finances, pray for your home, your family, your loved ones, pray for yourself, pray for your country, pray for your presidents, pray for your pastors.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: So vital that we are in constant conversation with Jesus because when we have these thoughts that come into our head, as soon as we grab a hold of them, if we take them to Jesus first, I guarantee you the outcome is gonna be way better than if you don't do that.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, taking your thoughts into captive, I want you to think about these because we're gonna go into this into the next episode.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so as we close out this episode today, I want you to really think about this.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: How do you take your thoughts captive?
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: How do you grab a hold of your thoughts?
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do with your thoughts?
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: Do you grab them and put them in a box and be like, I'm gonna deal with you later?
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: Set them aside and I'm gonna deal with you later.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: How do you get free from your thoughts?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, how do you crush strongholds?
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: How would you crush psychological strongholds?
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you have strongholds, something that's holding you back, keeping you in captivity, keeping you in a prison cell or keeping you from being the best version of yourself, how are you gonna crush that?
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: How are you gonna get a hold of it and annihilate it, like just oblivate it, is gone, just be done with it.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: How are we gonna do that?
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I kind of want to leave you with that cliffhanger today with those three questions because I want you to have time to think about it.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: So when we meet again and we start breaking it down into the next episodes, you'll have an idea as to kind of like where this is going and how we are overcoming these obstacles.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: A stronghold is nothing but an obstacle.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I promise you and I guarantee you that it can be overcome.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, it can be overcome by the strength of the Lord because remember, God's going with you, God's with you when you're pulling these down.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: Not likely gonna be able to do it on your own.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna need God, okay?
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then going into taking your thoughts and being obedient with it and taking it to Jesus and saying, Lord, I lay this at your feet.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: What do you want me to do with it?
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's good, it's so important.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's so mightily important.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to thrive and you want to be an overcomer and you want to take your pain and turn it into power, you you look at your past trauma and and you you want to triumph on the other side.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: This is how we do it, okay?
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is this is a really, really great way to get yourself out of being stuck.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: So stay tuned and find out because my next episode is surface to purpose, where we are going to be talking about how do we get past just scratching the surface to finding out what God's purpose is for our life.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's important to know what God's purpose is so that you understand the areas that you're being, you know, held hostage in, the strongholds that are hanging on to you that you don't want to let go of are holding you back from God's purpose.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: And once you realize that and you see it, it's it makes it a little easier to let go of those strongholds.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: For me, I hung on to some things that I did not want to let go of for nothing.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Couldn't have it for nothing until God revealed to me how much it was damaging me, how much it was really holding me back from what he had for me.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I really want to go into that in the next episode, which is episode number two.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: Episode number three is talk stuck and stay stuck.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: Episode number four is activation takes action.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then there will be a few more to follow.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: But those are the next three to look forward to.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that you guys enjoyed this episode and I hope that you learned something from it.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: I also hope and pray that um um you found meaning and that you gained some perspective, okay, for your for your own self, not just not just for me, but I want this podcast not to be um about myself.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: I want it to be something that helps people break free from bondage.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's what crushing strongholds is all about.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: We want to get in there, we want to crush strongholds, we want to bring people to freedom.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: We want to um just be able to live in the joy and the goodness of the Lord because Jesus has so much for us.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: He has so much for us.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we don't even know what that is because we're barely scratching the surface.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: We really need to dive in and find out what that purpose is.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope that you follow along with me and you stay tuned for more episodes of Crushing Strongholds.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, today is episode number one.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: And today's topic was um, what is a stronghold?
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I thank you so much for being here and being a part of this.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: I will say this, and I like to close with this always.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: I will always close with this.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you need anything, if you need prayer for anything, you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: I am always available to pray with you.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: I will pray for anyone.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: I have a lot of people that like to ask me just to pray, okay?
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: And um I hope that you stay tuned because I have interviews coming up.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: I have lots of people that are ready to get on here and share some of their testimonies and their stories, how they were able to crush some strongholds in their lives.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm so excited to get this podcast up and going.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I just hope that you all have a great, blessed, and terrific day.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: Stay strong, stay mighty.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: And above all, let's stay crushing some strongholds.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you all, and I will talk to you soon.