I watched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which is a great movie, but not as good as the book by C. S. Lewis of the same name. Some of my favorite lines never made it into the movie...for instance, Aslan the great lion saying, "“But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder.”
For those who haven't read the Narnia books, Aslan is representative of Jesus Christ. I love this quote because it reminds me that Jesus is the great Bridge Builder . He created a bridge from this world and separation from God to heaven and relationship beginning now with our Creator ...and the way He created it was through the cross.
" Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." -Romans 8:1-2

"The love of God has no meaning apart from Calvary. And Calvary has no meaning apart from the holy and just wrath of God. Jesus did not die just to give us peace and a purpose in life, He died to save us from the wrath of God. He died to reconcile us to a holy God who was alienated from us because of our sin. He died to ransom us from the penalty of in - the punishment of everlasting destruction, shut out from the presence of the Lord. He died that we, the just objects of God's wrath, should become, by His grace, heirs of God and co-heirs with Him.
Do you have that assurance that your past, present, and future sins are forgiven by Christ Jesus because of what He did on the cross? If not, you can. In I John 1:9 we read, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." "(15 Minutes Alone With God

Strongholds Demolished...How?

God brings things together from many different directions and in many different ways (His Word, a sermon, a pastor, godly counsel) to speak to my heart. When many parts of what I am hearing, reading in the Word and noticing in life begin converging on one specific point, I know that this is an area God wants to speak to me on.

There is a battle being waged on this earth that is unseen. It is a battle that everyone of us is involved in...whether we realize it or not. It is a battle of the prince of this world to deceive both unbelievers and believers ...unbelievers he lies to about who God is...believers he lies to about who God is. He just does it in different ways.

However, it is a fact that Jesus has defeated satan and broken the bondage of slavery to sin in this life and has defeated death and therefore there is no fear of death for the Christian which leads to freedom from slavery in this life.

The battle is different from wars fought on this earth between countries and men.

"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. 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." I Corinthians 10:3-5

Our Sword is the Word of God. This week I heard a message on praying the Word of God. Then I found a book I had received to read in order to write a review....PRAYING GOD'S WORD by Beth Moore.

I love how she defines a stronghold..."anything that exalts itself in our minds, "pretending" to be bigger or more powerful than our God. It steals much of our focus and causes us to feel overpowered. Controlled. Mastered. Whether the stronghold is an addiction, or unforgiveness toward a person who has hurt us, or despair over a loss, it is something that consumes so much of our emotional and mental energy that abundant life is strangled - our callings remain largely unfulfilled and our believing lives are virtually ineffective. Needless to say, these are the enemy's precise goals."

Can you point to any strongholds that the enemy, the deceiver has in your life? I certainly can and I am glad that the Word of God tells us how to demolish these strongholds. Our weapons are the Word of God and Spirit-empowered prayer.

Get a hold of your Bible and get on your knees and do battle and know that Jesus has already defeated the enemy!

Another weapon that is Biblically supported is singing. William Law in his book A SERIOUS CALL TO A DEVOUT AND HOLY LIFE writes these words:

"Just as singing is a natural effect of joy in the heart so it has also a natural power of rendering the heart joyful . . . There is nothing that so clears a way for your prayers, nothing that so disperses dullness of heart, nothing that so purifies the soul from poor and little passions, nothing that so opens heaven, or carries your heart so near it, as these songs of praise.

They create a sense and delight in God, they awaken holy desires, they teach you how to ask, and they prevail with God to give. They kindle a holy flame, they turn your heart into an altar, your prayers into incense, and carry them as a sweet-smelling savor to the throne of grace."

In 2 Chronicles 20:19-21 we read how the frontline warriors were singers, appointed by God to go first into battle. Through song the enemy can be defeated. So pray the Word and sing His praises!

In PRAYING GOD'S WORD, Beth writes, "We take our thoughts captive, making them obedient to Christ, every time we choose to think Christ's thoughts about any situation or stronghold instead of Satan's or our own. What are Christ's thoughts? The Word of God revealed to us."

Today I heard the whisper of God in His Word...the place you can always go to hear His voice. :)