Our culture has devolved into an individualistic, self-centered, “all about me” society. We have lost our contention with God as well as our compass to find our way back to God. We have turned our backs to God and pursued selfish interests with passion and rage. We may still have “In God, We Trust” stamped on our coinage, but it is gone from our hearts. As a society, we have rushed down this disastrous path as fast as we can, and we are a mess. As a disciple of Jesus, if you hope to survive this...
Apr 28, 2021•28 min
How do we improve as people? How do we become the people that God intended us to be? In the world of theology, the term for this process is sanctification. Unfortunately, there is no place for stable stagnation; we are either growing or dying. The path of faith is a lifelong journey. This process of growth and sanctification requires persistence and grit. The goal is to become the people that God intended. The path is narrow and uncrowded. Philippians 1:6 (TPT), “I pray with great faith for you,...
Apr 25, 2021•31 min
We claim to live by faith, yet we live most of our lives as if we are part of a grand science experiment. We use our senses to gather data; we formulate a hypothesis, test, sample, and then proceed down a path we consider is the best and the safest. Now we can look at a chair and feel confident it will hold us. We apply the same formula and determine that some people are safe and others are dangerous. We consider this faith, but it is not faith. Confidence based on our senses may help us pick a ...
Apr 21, 2021•20 min
We must choose our footwear carefully. Our footwear must fit properly and be appropriate for our purpose. Your footwear is your contact point with the world. If you are golfing today, you will need footwear that will give you traction, and if you are ice skating, you will need footwear that will allow you to glide across the ice. If you are a disciple of Jesus, your footwear should be the gospel of peace. The gospel of peace is your faith in action. It is your place and purpose where you connect...
Apr 18, 2021•26 min
The third part of righteousness is restoration and reconciliation. When you have done the work of taking an honest, moral inventory and experienced the impact of redemption, it is time to move ahead by admitting offense and harm and moving forward towards apology, forgiveness, and restitution. We do not live on a desert island. Our relationship with God and our fellow humans is vitally important. The process of apology and forgiveness is how broken relationships are mended. It is also how relati...
Apr 14, 2021•22 min
We pursue a solution where we see a need; we become complacent where we do not see a need. We all know of multiple areas of our lives that require change. We live with the belief that a little effort here and there will accomplish all the needed change. Redemption is a meaningless concept if we do not see a need for redemption. If we do not see the need we will abandon contentment and cling to complacency. Redemption is the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. It is the rega...
Apr 11, 2021•12 min
In the next three chapters, we will look at the importance and significance of the breastplate of righteousness. You will want your storehouse stocked with protective righteousness. As a piece of armor, a breastplate protects your most vital organs, your heart, and lungs. Spiritually we are to pursue righteousness to protect our heart, the source of our emotions and desires, and our lungs, our God-breathed spirit. The surrender of our will and life to God is the ultimate act of humility that can...
Apr 07, 2021•19 min
A confession is a next step after taking a moral inventory. It is the recognition and declaration of a fault or weakness. The subject of confession is the confessor. A confession is a statement without strings attached. It is not a request for forgiveness – that is an apology. It is not a request for a second chance – that is repentance and mercy. It is not a request for restored trust – that is most often manipulation. Confession can be used as a form of deception where the confessor uses a con...
Apr 04, 2021•25 min
Inventory taking, we do it all the time without even realizing what we are doing. When we glance at the gas gauge in our car, we are taking inventory. Just try covering up that gauge and going for a long drive. Not being able to see how much gas you have will significantly increase your level of anxiety. When we check our refrigerator and pantry, we are taking an inventory before going to the store to get groceries for the weekend. At any given time, we are on multiple paths. We should be taking...
Mar 31, 2021•18 min
When it comes to stocking your storehouse with the armor of God, we need to start with the belt of truth. We do not stand a chance against the enemy’s attack if we are not grounded in biblical truth. We need to know the truth about God and the truth about ourselves. We need the truth about what the scriptures say about our relationship with God. Without this truth, there is no foundation for the other weapons. John 8:32 (NKJV), “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” T...
Mar 28, 2021•15 min
To become the person God intends you to be, to fill your part in His kingdom will take more than tearing down strongholds and overcoming the enemy's schemes. You are not a threat to the enemy if you spend your life focused only on the strongholds like lady Macbeth continuously washing her hands. To break free of the cycle of tearing down strongholds and be free to use our voice and live as God intended, we will need a storehouse within His fortress where we can grow and mature. This storehouse i...
Mar 24, 2021•13 min
If you are the coach of a team headed to the Super Bowl, you would have a considerable advantage if you had the other team’s playbook. A playbook details the game plan, listing what options you have and how you will respond based on the game's unfolding. The Bible is not only a guidebook on how to live, but it is also a revelation of the enemy’s playbook. You will be at a considerable advantage if you know how the enemy plans to stop you from fulfilling God’s plan for your life. If you seek God ...
Mar 21, 2021•15 min
Life is hard, confusing, troubling, and at times, feels impossible. We all struggle with insults, painful losses, injustices, and our own sinful nature. Our goal during these times of difficulty is not complacency or comfort; our goal is contentment. The Bible refers to another stronghold, one that is protective and not destructive. If you are a disciple of Jesus, you have a defensive fortress manufactured by the cross's wood and nails. This fortress is a place of peace and contentment where you...
Mar 17, 2021•22 min
The belief and demand that you deserve to be worshipped is the stronghold of adoration. The enemy whispers, and the enemy knows where we are weak and when we are vulnerable. The enemy knows when to whisper and what to whisper, and when we are in pain, we listen. The enemy's whispers are lies that encourage us to focus on ourselves during times of anguish. With the stronghold of adoration, the enemy exploits another one of our weaknesses, the desire to be worshiped. When it comes to adoration, th...
Mar 14, 2021•25 min
The stronghold of narcissism is the belief and demand that I deserve to be loved. Narcissism is the internalization and personalization of perceived inadequacy resulting in ongoing, intense self-centeredness and self-adoration. Self-love is the “sin that so easily entangles” recorded in Hebrews 12:1. All of the strongholds are types of insults and offenses used by the enemy to get you to focus on yourself. Once we start focusing on ourselves, we begin to lose our God-given peace, purpose, and po...
Mar 10, 2021•12 min
The next three strongholds share a common theme. The strongholds of entitlement, narcissism, and adoration present because of a naïve, immature world-view carried into adulthood. What is appropriate and necessary for a three-year-old is not suitable for a thirty-year-old. In 1 Corinthians 13:11 (AMP), it is written: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.” Living entitled, self-focused, and...
Mar 07, 2021•9 min
An addictive substance is a non-essential element, meaning it is not necessary to maintain or sustain life. These chemicals can impact the nervous system by producing a sensation of satisfaction as it creates the desire (craving) and need (physiological dependency) for more of the element. Using the element repeatedly will result in a changed nervous system that now defines the element as necessary for life, as essential as oxygen, food, water, shelter, and relationships. Eventually, this elemen...
Mar 03, 2021•18 min
The stronghold of agony is the experience of physical pain. The offense in agony is betrayal. This type of betrayal is not one you can easily ignore because, with agony, your own body betrays you. If you are suffering under the stronghold of agony, your world gets very small, very quickly. Pain is tangible; you feel it, yet the source of the felt pain is often unknown. Pain’s origin can be physical, emotional, existential, or spiritual. This chapter is not a thesis on pain's pathophysiology but ...
Feb 28, 2021•15 min
Legalism is the internalization and personalization of a set of rules or a code of conduct strictly adhered to and promoted as the way to achieve righteousness. Legalism emphasizes what you do and neglects what you are. Legalism is an attempt to secure rightness in God’s sight by good works. Those who live legalistically add human rules to God’s laws and treat them as divine. What is the appeal of legalism? What is the power of legalism? Legalism is attractive because the focus of living is on w...
Feb 24, 2021•15 min
Grief is the internalization and rumination about a significant unbearable loss. The magnitude of the loss determines the degree of suffering. What losses would result in the experience of grief? The dictionary definition of grief is: “Grief is the response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something that has died , to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, cultura...
Feb 21, 2021•16 min
Shame is the internalization, personalization, and rumination about our inadequacy and depravity. Shame causes emotionally painful self-condemnation. Shame is a state of bitter, paralyzing remorse when you get a glimpse of who you are. Shame is a powerful force. We do all we can to look good and intact from the outside, knowing something is rotten on the inside because of shame. We all hide and avoid exposure. Shake off the shackles of shame. Do not believe the lie of the enemy who is trying to ...
Feb 17, 2021•20 min
The power behind bitterness is greed and emptiness. Greed is the passionate pursuit of more, just for the sake of having more. It is an insatiable longing that cannot be satisfied. It is a loud, demanding hunger. A hunger that does not go away. It desires more food, money, affirmation, affection, power, knowledge, status, or comfort. It is an inability to experience contentment with what you currently have. Greed is an intense pang of hunger with unattainable peace. The Merriam-Webster dictionar...
Feb 14, 2021•9 min
Bitterness is the internalization and personalization of a real or perceived injustice with a persistent and intense rumination about the injustice or the injustice agent, resulting in more damage caused by the bitterness than could ever be caused by the injustice. Tannerite is a combination of two safe and stable compounds, an oxidizer consisting of ammonium nitrate and ammonium perchlorate and a catalyst comprised of aluminum powder. The oxidizer and the catalyst are very safe if kept separate...
Feb 10, 2021•10 min
The last category of strongholds is the relational strongholds. With our first breath and first cry, we begin learning how to relate to our world. As we grow and mature, we develop and discover ways that we feel work for us. In the world of psychology, these are called coping mechanisms. Many of these coping mechanisms work well for both the people around us and us. There are some coping mechanisms that we may feel work well for us but do not work so well for the people around us; we label these...
Feb 07, 2021•6 min
As people, we will do almost anything to hide our transgressions, yet it is the hiding of them that makes them so damaging. We have all done wrong. We have all deeply wounded the people who love us. We all carry the scars of hurting others. To live your life carrying these injuries is stressful. The enemy whispers that you can successfully cover your transgressions, and they will not produce negative consequences. None of us like the process of looking at where we have hurt others. The stronghol...
Feb 03, 2021•8 min
As humans, we function best when we are personally responsible, care for ourselves, and function with a meaningful purpose. However, there are times when this is not possible, and you are in the position where you have to provide necessary care, boundaries, and security for someone you care about that is not willing or able to function independently. In Galatians 6:5 (MSG), we read, “Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.” It is hard enough t...
Jan 31, 2021•11 min
In the book of Philippians 4:6 (TPT) in the New Testament, we are encouraged by the following words. “Don’t be pulled in different directions, or worried about a thing.” Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to live an utterly worry-free life, with no uncertainty or confusion? Unfortunately, life is not that easy to navigate. Life is filled with times of confusion and uncertainty. Life is filled with times of troubling uncertainty and confusion. If your stress is in the area of uncertainty, question, c...
Jan 27, 2021•12 min
To function in life as a human being, with some sense of meaning, purpose, and direction, we all operate from a platform of self-definition. This platform is a form of ego-intactness, how we see and define ourselves, and how we think others see us. If our self-definition becomes unfamiliar or not authentic, there will be stress. We need a grip on our true identity. In the Bible, we are encouraged in Romans 12:3 (TPT), “I would ask each of you to be emptied of self-promotion and not create a fals...
Jan 24, 2021•16 min
Most of us face the imminent danger type of stress day-to-day in the category of the fearful “what ifs.” What if someone breaks into my house? What if the road is icy on the way to work? What if there is a flood? What if my house catches fire? What if the stock market crashes and I lose all my retirement? We are human beings devoid of reason and directed by emotion. So now, when you take a concept of threat and danger and a mix of emotion and fear, you have the ingredients for a toxic soup. Our ...
Jan 20, 2021•14 min
Stress is one of those terms that we toss around with presumed conceptual familiarity while lacking the necessary substantial understanding. Stress strongholds are life experiences where we feel inadequate. The enemy uses these situations to whisper to us that we will not make it, that we should be afraid that we are about to collapse. These strongholds stir up thoughts that if I was only more fearless, more together, more aware, or more intact, then my life would be complete. The enemy also use...
Jan 17, 2021•9 min
