Breaking Strongholds
Let’s pause and reflect: What is a stronghold? Where do they come from? How do we break them?
A stronghold is any area of our mind where lies have taken root—places of dominance and strength like fortresses in our thinking. Breaking a stronghold begins with a choice: to recognize we are believing a lie and to replace it with truth.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NKJV, TPT)
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
I had to admit that I was thinking wrong thoughts in many areas of my life. Perhaps you’re there too. But take heart—there is always a way out when trusting the Lord. He is always for you!
Forsaking Mercy
Jonah 2:8
“They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.”
This verse hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized that by believing lies—like thinking God may not love me anymore, that His redemption wasn’t enough to forgive my sins, that I could never be healed, or fulfill His will for my life—I was forsaking my own mercy.
But the Father began to show me the truth: His love for me is eternal. Christ’s finished work covers every sin—past, present, and even future. By doubting God’s Word, I was doing what Adam and Eve did in the garden.
Brothers and sisters, we have been given the right and privilege to believe the impossible because we are the offspring of the God of the impossible. We are created in His image and likeness. We can think like Him.
Writing God’s Word on Our Hearts
Psalm 45:1
“My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.”
We write the truths of God’s Word on our hearts by speaking them. We choose what we say to ourselves every day. God placed His faith in His Words!
Romans 10:17
“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
There is His faith in every Word of God we read.
Renewing the Mind
We will never think God’s thoughts if we don’t allow His Word, His thoughts, and His ways to renew our minds. As this happens, our soul aligns with our spirit, and the life of God manifests in every part of our being—including our physical body.
This is when we experience healing, deliverance, anointing, victory, joy, and prosperity.
When your soul agrees with what it sees in God’s spiritual mirror (His Word), what is already in your spirit releases into your soul and body. This is how we live out the benefits of salvation.
Living from Eternal Reality
When we open our mind, will, and emotions by renewing our minds, the eternal reality in our spirit impacts the temporal reality of our physical world.
Isaiah 42:16
“I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.”
We can begin to declare just as God does:
“I will think God’s thoughts. I will think about who I am in Christ. I am no longer in darkness but a child of light!”
We can not only think the impossible but believe the impossible—because we are created in His image.
“With God nothing is impossible.” (Luke 1:37)
“Nothing shall be impossible to him who believes.” (Matthew 17:20)
The Miracle Within You
This transformation begins from the inside out. Rick Renner in Sparkling Gems II explains it beautifully:
“The change in our previously dead spiritual nature is truly miraculous. He resurrected us with glory and power and recreated us to contain the revelation, holiness, splendor, righteousness, the fruit of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, and the life and character of Christ. Spiritually speaking, we became a shrine unto God! Inwardly we are so beautifully and magnificently created that Almighty God, through His Spirit, is willing to take up permanent residency within us.”
The Holy Spirit performed the ultimate miracle when He came to dwell in our hearts.
Ephesians 2:1, 5
We were dead in trespasses and sins, but He quickened us together with Christ.
Ephesians 4:24
We were created in His image—in righteousness and true holiness.
Ephesians 2:10
We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.
From start to finish, we were apprehended by Him, regenerated by Him, and molded to be a magnificent temple for His Spirit to dwell in.
Remember, you are Loved, you are Righteous, and you are His!
By His stripes I am healed. Healed is who I am, my identity. When the Spirit of God came to live inside me, I became divine health and wholeness. I am the healed of the Lord. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. Jesus is my perfect mirror, my true identity
I will keep my mind stayed on the Lord and who I am in Him. Good morning Colleen and thank you.
Thank you, Colleen. Exactly what I needed to read! Praise the Lord!
This refreshed my soul. I was looking for the depth and richness these verses provided today.
Blessings to you Colleen. Always helping me to see me as I am and how the Father already sees me…healed, healthy, prosperous, protected, full of wisdom, at peace with God.
Amen!