The High Places by Anita Mundorf & Keith Edwards August 14th Devotional

Read:
11 Corinthians 10:3-5

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 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.

Also Read Joshua 24:15
15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Operational Definition of Spiritual Stronghold:
Strongholds are patterns of thought etched into the mind over a period of time or through a traumatic experience. Strongholds are seldom recognized, and if recognized not understood to be choices.

We learn of strongholds the hard way, in battle. I would not trade His lessons, but sometimes find it VERY hard battling for those who attack the "perceived enemy". We step into warfare when God directs, and our weapons are strong and mighty. God's Words will pull down strongholds, yet satan's words are thoughts often in Christians, and exalt themselves above the thoughts of the mind of Christ. Satan then begins his stirrings within minds not prepared with Word defenses, usually through demonic whisperings of confusion, suspicion and division. Often people are clueless to his wiles. They see strongholds through their own strongholds. They then go to war against who ever the enemy points to, armed with human reasonings and satan's weapons being, the wrong attitudes, thoughts, imaginations, actions, and carnal weapons which is futile in Christian warfare. God entrusts some with the holding of keys of truth, keys to free for those held by lies and choices not submitted to the mind of Christ. The enemy knows exactly who holds these keys. They love truth, have singleness of purpose, **stand against compromise** they fear Him over men, and have an ability to convey God's truth. We need to always ask, "does this friend truly understand warfare?" It is not those demons about us or in others which pose great harm to the Christian. It is those long at home within! Those having ..squatters rights..to ground willing given. Those within being (wrong thoughts, leading to wrong attitudes and actions) which prompt us to use those well fitting old boxing gloves to do all the bashing. They fit so well, and are quite comfortable. He fails to tell us, they are his weapons, and we lose the war, for we are fighting for him. If God tells us that His weapons, thoughts (within our minds), are not carnal but spiritual and mighty, then even so, satan's weapons, thoughts (within our minds) are carnal and weal..failing the pulling down of any strongholds in others. They actually strengthen those strongholds of the enemy!

comment by Keith Edwards:

We need to have a "more than a conqeuror revelation" when it comes to overcoming the thoughts and attacks of the enemy. Revelation of who we are in Christ jesus will take us above with the mind of Christ. We are seated in heavenly place in Christ Jesus, and we are above and not beneath. The greatest weapon the enemy has upon us are those thoughts of a defeated mentality. Satan tries to lure us into uneccessary warfare, and we start fighting it out in the flesh insteaed of understanding how to pray, discernment in a given situation, and letting the Holy Spirit do work needed apart from our "extra" help. Sometimes we just need to enter into praise like King David and put the praise up front and the warfare in the back. We are more than conqeurors. Conquerors fight, but a more than a conqueror will enter into the rest of what Christ has already done with the finished work of calvary. Let's have the revelation today that we were buried with Jesus, but we were also raised with him through that beautiful resurection.

Prayer:

Lord, help us to choose to serve you with a whole heart. We seek you today Lord with the choice of seeking your face. As we seek your face give us that revelation of who we are in you, and help us to cast down all imaginations as we choose to think meditate upon you in all of our ways, Amen.

by Anita Mundorf and Keith Edwards