Friday, January 31, 2020 By Van Houser
For
though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons
we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have
divine power to demolish strongholds. Itching to attack 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. II Corinthians 10:3-5
Today’s Jerichos
In the passage from Joshua we have considered this week we have seen how God led the Israelites to victory over the fortress of Jericho. The people of Israel were greatly rewarded by the victory but also learned some lasting truths about their God.
The
final victory was quite a scene. On the
seventh day, they marched seven times around Jericho with the Priests blowing a
ram’s horn, called a shophar. The
shophar was not a battle trumpet; it was used as a call to worship, so they
continued to march and play. Then at the
conclusion of the seventh circuit, the trumpets blew a long, sustained note,
and all the people shouted. I don’t know
what they shouted, but when they shouted, the walls came tumbling down!!
Now don’t miss this: There is abundant archeological evidence that the walls crumbled from the inside out, which confirms the story of the bible. You’ve probably heard the old song that says, “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho...and the walls came tumbling down.” It’s a nice song, but it’s all wrong. Joshua didn’t fight the battle of Jericho – the Lord fought the battle, and he alone was the victor!!
Now we’re not only talking about a city that was conquered 3,300 years ago, we’re talking about my Jericho and your Jericho!! The bible teaches that there will be personal strongholds and fortified cities, that impede our spiritual progress. Now let me give you a definition of a spiritual stronghold: an outpost that the enemy has built in your mind. Think about it like this: Your life is occupied territory that belongs to Jesus, but, Satan, is always on the attack and if you have a weakness, he will use it as his base of operations to thwart your spiritual growth!!
Just as the walls of Jericho came tumbling down by the divine power of God, the Bible says that we have divine power to demolish strongholds, but before you can demolish your strongholds, you must identify them!! A stronghold may be an addiction, an obsession, and unhealthy thought pattern, or a recurring habit. But the key to demolishing any stronghold, is to focus your mind on bringing your thoughts into obedience to Christ.
As Proverbs 23:7 says, As a person thinks in his heart, so is he. Our spiritual progress is halted until we destroy the enemy’s fortresses in our lives! You have the God-given power to bring your thoughts captive to Jesus, by thinking about the right things, which is why the Bible says in Philippians 4:8, Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent and praiseworthy think about such things. And that is our Scripture to Claim.
