How Do I Get Free from Strongholds for Good? | Breaking the Cycle

father in the name of jesus we thank you that you have the power to utterly destroy the works of the devil in our lives and i pray today lord that your word would go forth like a hammer and shatter mindsets that are not of you i pray lord that you would expose the enemy expose his tactics reveal deception and cause us to know the truth but the truth might set us free i pray today be a day of breakthrough a day of freedom a day of liberation for your people that they would come to know the fullness of the power of the holy spirit full power of your word at work in our lives the name of jesus we pray i can already send such a strong anointing here and i want you to say it because you believe it say amen okay amen it's time to break the cycle it's time to break the cycle of sin it's time to break the cycle of shame it's time to break the cycle of heaviness it's time to break the cycle of confusion whatever is robbing you of that divine peace that is rightfully yours whatever is robbing you of joy in the holy spirit it's time for that thing to be broken off of your life once and for all and i truly believe that the word of god carries the power to destroy those strongholds in your life it's time to get free once and for all and the word of god does have the answer so we're going to go deep today in the word so i want you taking notes and i want you to listen to this message from start to finish you may hear bits and pieces that encourage you if you skip around but by listening to this in its entirety you're not only going to receive the foundational truths that will cause you to understand spiritual warfare as it pertains to strongholds but your knowledge will also go line upon line that's how the scripture says to do it line upon line precept upon precept not just little sound bites but i want to today with the word of god by the help of the holy spirit lay a foundation of your understanding lay a foundation of your knowledge of the truth and upon that foundation we will build truths and soon you will have an entire structure a spiritual structure in your life that helps you to defeat the assaults of the enemy now it's important to remember that demons affect the believer much differently than they affect the unbeliever believers need deliverance from strongholds unbelievers need deliverance from demons i'm gonna toward the end of this stream i'll explain exactly what i mean by that and i'll even show you why that's important to know the difference but demons affect the believer and the unbeliever differently remember again i'll say it the unbeliever needs to be set free from demons the believer needs to be set free from strongholds and it's important to know the difference again i'll cover a little more on that later also i highly recommend that you go back and watch my teaching on youtube titled how to do spiritual warfare the biblical way and there's a lot of groundwork that was done in that message not necessarily something you have to have in order to understand strongholds but i talk about other aspects of spiritual warfare you may hear me talking today and go what about this well what about that and what about the enemy attacking this way go and take a look at that for a fuller look at my view on spiritual warfare which is biblically based so that teaching and this teaching can go hand in hand so go check it out when you get a chance now this message will only work if you're willing to obey the word if you're not willing to obey the word just turn this off now don't even bother because when you receive the word it's not just the receiving of that word it's not just the hearing of that word that produces the power of the word it's doing the word it's the application of the revelation what i'm going to cover what is a stronghold how to identify a stronghold in your life the eight strongholds how to break a stronghold for good how to stay free and how the enemy can and cannot attack you that last part is going to be very interesting because we often waste our time fighting strategies of the enemy that don't apply to the christian come on and because he has us distracted with things that don't even really work on the believer we fail to address the root of what actually works on the believer so please don't hear what i'm not saying i am not saying nor have i ever said that demons can in no way affect the believer but the way that demons affect the believer is much different than many christians know so number one what is a stronghold a stronghold as described in the scripture is an imagination or reasoning a thought pattern a mindset a stronghold is a paradigm a way of thinking that goes so deep into the mind that it becomes a part of us a stronghold will affect what you think and therefore will affect how you feel and how you feel will affect how you behave and how you behave will produce a pattern in your life now the scripture says in second corinthians chapter 10 go there now second corinthians 10 verses 4 and 5 i'm reading out of the nlt we use god's mighty weapons not worldly weapons to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments we destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing god we capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey christ now the context of what paul is writing here has to do with paul defending his apostolic authority so there were some wannabe apostles who were jealous of paul's influence they were jealous of what god was doing in paul's life and so these wannabe apostles began to attack paul and say well he's not a true apostle they said things like well he's really tough in person with you but once he or he's really tough through letters but once he comes in person he's very weak so in other words they were saying he was you know really intimidated and just acting bold behind the letters almost like some people do you know some people do to each other on facebook in the comment section they're real brave but man i'd like to see some of those people meet because i don't know sometimes they get really heated and so they were accusing paul of that they were saying okay paul is really strong in his letters but when it comes down to it when he comes in person he's going to be really weak and so paul the apostle writes this to defend his apostolic authority now this is paul's way of addressing their rebellious and slanderous deceptions so these false teachers are spreading slander about paul and so paul writes this saying we use god's mighty weapons not the world's weapons not worldly weapons not carnal weapons not weapons made in the physical realm to what to knock down strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments so paul is giving us his strategy on how to deal with deception so the context yes is paul defending his apostolic authority but the universal application the spiritual principle that becomes the takeaway is that paul is actually giving us instructions on how to deal with deception now let's break the verse down where paul says our weapons are not worldly weapons or our weapons are not carnal this means that the fight is not by physical means nor by human effort alone so paul the apostle is saying the fight against deception has nothing really to do with anything in the physical world our weapons are not carnal therefore our weapons are spiritual now the bible then says that they're mighty through god these weapons that paul the apostle uses these elements of truth these declarations of god's truth they're mighty through god what does that mean it means they're effective for the cause of god meaning these weapons of truth that we use are powerful they they pack a punch they're not some weak little thing like in the world they have these sayings and they have these cliches and they have these mantras and they repeat the mantras and the sayings and the cliches but to no avail because they lack power they don't pack a punch why because they're based on human reasoning not god's truth and so paul the apostle is saying that these weapons that we use these weapons of truth that we use they pack a punch they work they're effective they're mighty through god then the scripture says to the pooling down of strongholds now this breakdown i'm giving you is based on the king james version to the pulling down of strongholds i love this phrase because to the pulling down of strongholds means the utter destruction of and the total removal of a barrier an obstacle or a stronghold so when he talks about these weapons paul the apostle is saying that these weapons of truth are mighty through god meaning they actually pack a punch they're quite effective but this is how effective they are this is what's so powerful they're so effective that they're effective to the pooling down of strongholds it literally means the utter destruction of the total removal of in other words not one thing left behind so if you're taking down a stronghold and if you could see it in the spirit realm and if you could see that these strongholds brick by brick are built on lies then you would see in the spirit realm as those strongholds are being pulled down that not one brick would be on top of another that's how effective these weapons are that's the picture that second corinthians 10 is painting for us these strongholds of human reasoning that are incited by demonic influence are built based on lies so brick by brick the enemy builds a stronghold each brick is a lie a deception a half-truth that we embrace and then that structure finds its footing as each lie is built upon another but this phrase to the pooling down of strongholds literally means that not one brick would be upon another the complete and total removal of an obstacle if you are ready for god to completely remove not one brick upon another strongholds in your life then write amen in the comments section right now now watch this so the weapons are not carnal meaning they're not physical they're they're weapons of truth this is how we fight deception mighty through god meaning effective for the cause of god they pack a punch so effective that they're effective unto the pulling down of strongholds completely totally removed casting down imaginations this word imaginations is reasonings or mindsets or deceptive paradigms so that's where we get our understanding of what a stronghold is a stronghold is a mindset every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of god or the ability to know god anything this is so powerful this verse the scripture is telling us that we cast down these imaginations and we tear them down and these things that keep us from truly knowing god are taken down wow so these deceptions these lies warp our view of who god is and once our view of god is warped everything about us becomes warped if we see god as purely angry and vengeful then it affects the way we live and causes us to live in religion if we see god as someone who never punishes sin then it affects us in the way we live and we become carnal what you believe about god will affect every aspect of your life and so the scripture here says that we tear down these imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of god in other words everything that prevents you from truly knowing god is removed now this is amazing here bringing into captivity every thought bringing into captivity every thought now think about this a stronghold is a fortress a stronghold is a place of influence if you're going to battle you want to establish strongholds because strongholds give you the ability to supply your army to feed your army to make it difficult for the enemy to take back ground from you that's why as you advance and you build strongholds it gives you an advantage it secures your position and allows you to move forward on stronger footing so then when you tear down a stronghold you can go in and take captives come on when you tear down a fortress you can take prisoners and that's what this scripture is saying watch this look at casting down imaginations every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of god watch this bringing into captivity what every thought when a stronghold is taken prisoners or captives are then taken so remember this before you can take your thoughts captive you have to first tear down the stronghold amen this is going to be liberating for many people you see you've tried to take your thoughts captive oh i don't want to lust i don't want to lust i don't want to hold unforgiveness i don't want to hold unforgiveness i don't want to repeat this cycle i don't want to repeat this cycle i don't want to have a prideful thought i don't want to have a doubt i don't want to have a thought of anger i don't want to have a thought of cynicism i don't want to have a thought of religion and those thoughts are difficult to control they run through our mind why because you haven't taken down their stronghold you can't take the thought prisoner until you first have removed the stronghold once you take the stronghold then you can take the thoughts once you expose the lie or the mindset or the thought pattern then you can recognize and more easily take captive the thoughts now a lie is anything that contradicts the truth so i could tell you today that the for those of you who will listen to the audio i'm wearing a black jacket but if i were to get on camera and i were to say my jacket is red well you would look at that and you would say okay that's a lie but that lie wouldn't become deception until you believed it so you're looking right at me now you can see my jacket is obviously not red it's black that's a lie i told you but because you don't believe that lie it's not yet deception only when a lie is believed does it then become deception so the only people i could really lie to concerning my jacket are the people who listen to the audio or maybe you're listening to my voice right now on the live stream and you have me playing in your car and you're just listening i could deceive those who aren't looking so what keeps you from being deceived is what not the lack of the lie because people will lie to you all the time demons will lie to you all the time so what is it that keeps you from being deceived it's your ability to see the truth so a lie only becomes deception once that lie is believed that deception watch this now i'm walking you through the process remember we talked about laying a foundation this is something that's so important that you understand that deception becomes a mindset through which other thoughts become processed you hear a lie you can either reject that lie or believe that lie once you believe a lie that lie becomes a pattern and that pattern becomes the filter through which you run all of your other thoughts now if i start to think according to a certain way it just makes it worse and worse so then one lie can affect my thought pattern and if my thought pattern is warped then any anything else that i hear any other information that i gather is going to be skewed or warped or seen through the perspective of that lie and now i have a pattern that pattern then becomes my feelings my feelings then become my actions my actions then become my habits and my habits become cycles those cycles built upon that thought pattern is what we call a stronghold now here's the problem here's where most believers go wrong most believers try to address the habit or the action itself rather than addressing the root which is the lie most believers try to address the habit and not the deception behind it all so they try to let's say for example uh someone is dealing with um a lie of uh they're dealing with a stronghold of paranoia fear so they believe the lie that god doesn't have them in their hand they don't believe that god can protect them that lie or maybe they feel overlooked that lie then becomes feelings of paranoia that paranoia then becomes a reclusive lifestyle and that reclusive lifestyle then becomes a pattern that makes it easier for the enemy to bring in more lies so it's a cycle that gets worse and worse and most believers then at that point they try to just address how they're feeling well i feel worried so they read a scripture on it or they talk to a friend or they listen to worship music and it relieves the problem for the day they go to a service and it relieves the problem for the week but then they find themselves coming back to that place of fear why because they never took down the stronghold they never took down the thought patterns if a lie isn't believed it isn't deception and here's what's so scary the nature of deception is such that those who are deceived don't know they're deceived nobody wants to be deceived nobody wants to believe that they are deceived but that's the problem with deception it only works when you're not aware of it matthew 6 23 says this but when your eye is unhealthy your whole body is filled with darkness and if the light you think you have is actually darkness how deep that darkness is whoa so for example let's say you believe the lie you're alone the enemy lies to you you're alone you're alone you're alone you're alone well what happens then i start to feel lonely once i believe that lie and then i act upon that loneliness you know some people treat their loneliness or they try to medicate their loneliness through overeating through sexual perversion through bad relationships through mind numbing entertainment they try to distract themselves from the problem so they they address the feeling but they never take care of the lie and what do those things end up doing they end up making the person feel even lonelier and therefore the actions repeat so they get caught in the cycle between their actions and their feelings their actions and their feelings their actions and their feelings while never going to the root of the problem and not just addressing their actions and their feelings but getting down to the root of it and addressing their beliefs most people at this point would keep addressing the cycle not realizing that there's a lie or a stronghold behind it now this is how demonic powers work against the believer when demons work against believers they always use deception they always use words they always speak to get a hold of your mind and i want to tell you how to identify these strongholds in the meantime i'm going to check in on the chat tg says okay i love an online service isaac says this is how i used to be jason is watching deborah get to the root of the problem and address it that's right jessica lepena says amen all glory to god says wow chenille is leaving hand clap emojis riri is saying preach it diga joanna writes get to the root and this is so important that we get to the root take a moment guys like comment share like this if it's blessing you so we can reach more people so i want to show you how to identify a stronghold how to identify a stronghold john chapter 8 verses 31 and 32 say this jesus said to the people who believed in him you are truly my disciples if he gives a condition you are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free so if you walked into a dark room pitch black you can't see anything what would you do to get rid of the darkness would you fight the darkness would you flail your fists about the air trying to punch the darkness out of the room would you yell at the darkness would you scream at the darkness would you try to scoop the darkness with your hands and toss it out no that would be silly to try to do that the best way to get rid of darkness is to simply turn on the light come on the best way to get rid of deception is to simply know the truth so how do you identify these strongholds number one we have to well overall we identify strongholds i should say by knowing the truth plain and simple so how do we know the truth i'm going to give you three ways you can know the truth number one we know the truth by god's word psalm 119 105 says your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path second timothy chapter 3 verse 16 says all scripture is inspired by god and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives it corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right so number one we know the truth by god's word if you're not in the word you are easy pray for deception i don't say that to condemn you i don't say that to make you feel bad i don't say that to make you feel lazy i say that because i care about you and i don't want you to be deceived i want you to know the truth and one of the main ways that we know the truth if not the main way that we know the truth is to the word of god be in the word daily and you will find that as you move to the scripture as you read verse after verse you will find that there are things that you believe that are contradicted in the word of god and there's two ways we can react when that happens we can say oh well let me try to find a way to make this verse fit what i want it to say or let me try to try a way to i call this uh theological gymnastics when they try to contort the scripture like a pretzel to fit in their world view rather than just humbling themselves before the word of god and saying okay i was wrong i will adjust now but you can't know you're in deception until you know the truth and you can't know the truth if you don't know the word so get in the word if you make a daily practice of being in the word i'm telling you that will be 90 of the issue when it comes to strongholds so many people want to go and have a quick fix lay hands on me and make it all go away and god does do that sometimes right but generally speaking the life of the believer is to be a life of spiritual discipline and we can't try to gain in a moment which only comes to devotion we cannot try to gain in a moment what can only come through faithful devotion to the lord so we have to know the truth of god's word number two we know the truth by the holy spirit john 14 26 says but when the father sends the advocate as my representative that is the holy spirit he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything i have told you john 16 13 when the spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth he will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard he will tell you about the future so the holy spirit works with the word to highlight truths from scripture that give us breakthrough in our thinking the holy spirit takes what was spoken in the word and he reminds us of what was spoken in the word he reveals what the word reveals the holy spirit is another means by which we come to know the truth and number three so number one we know the truth by god's word number two we know the truth by the holy spirit number three we know the truth by sound teachers now i know that first john 2 27 says you don't have any need that any man should teach you but we have to understand is that in that letter john is writing to the believers who already understand how salvation works and he's talking to them trying to encourage them in their faith basically saying to them look you already know how this works you already know the gospel so you don't need these false teachers coming along and trying to tell you of a new gospel or a new way to be saved so in first john 2 27 it's not saying that we don't need teachers plain and simple it was saying in that specific instance when you understand salvation you don't need someone else to come and give you another gospel so let's not hear what that scripture is not saying ephesians 4 11 and 12 says now these are the gifts christ gave to the church the apostles the prophets the evangelists and the pastors and teachers their responsibility is to equip god's people to do his work and build up the church the body of christ so the lord has given us teachers that we might become spiritually equipped now titus 1 9 in the esv version says this he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also rebuke those who contradict it now this is not a license to go attacking other preachers right right rather what the scripture is talking about here is the power of sound doctrine to overpower deception now there are times where people need to be called out but these these moments are not as common as we may imagine them to be things that you call out are things that contradict the fundamentals of the faith like if somebody starts teaching that jesus didn't rise from the dead in bodily form if someone starts teaching that there are other ways to heaven besides jesus if someone starts teaching that you don't need to repent of your sins in order to be saved these fundamental truths that's when you call out the heresy now if there are disagreements among brethren you know i believe in speaking in tongues some may not i believe in divine healing for today some may not i believe in different ways of interpreting some scriptures on the peripheral doctrines there are differences among brethrens which is brethren which is why we have different denominations but again this is not a license to call everyone out who disagrees with you rather this has to do with calling people out who contradict the fundamentals of the faith and who try to change the core principles the core truth of the gospel which is not something that should be allowed that you call out the scripture goes on to say in second timothy chapter four verses two through four and these are instructions to timothy to teach and to preach the bible says preach the word be ready in season and out of season reprove rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching so with humility with kindness with grace for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths that's very dangerous now the scripture makes it clear that we are given teachers to give us sound doctrine teachers that help us to understand the word and you know true teachers by what they do with jesus and the fundamentals of the faith so you know the truth and the truth is how you expose the stronghold so let's recap a stronghold is a mindset a mindset that is based in deception in order to expose a stronghold you have to find the truth you can find the truth through god's word through the holy spirit and through sound teachers so that's how you identify strongholds now i want to talk to you a little bit about the battle in the mind and then i'm going to show you eight different strongholds that actually may be affecting your life right now before i get to the next point remember to like this video if you're receiving from it also if you're new to this stream you're new to our channel we post videos all the time about the power of the holy spirit we're people come here for our teachings on the holy spirit and sermons on the holy spirit and videos of the holy spirit's power and action but we also do other types of teachings like on spiritual warfare healing prayer and so forth we also feature weekly a worship cover from our very own mr stephen moctezuma this beautiful worship covers we do live streams we show the power of god and we teach the word of god spirit-filled and biblically balanced so make sure you're subscribed if you're enjoying the content and don't forget to share the stream like and leave a comment for those of you watching do me a favor if you're subscribed to the channel can you tell us in the comment section why you're subscribed to encounter tv and how it blesses your life and while we do that uh steve you want to read some comments there yeah so if you didn't know we just hit 1 000 likes on this video so you have activated right now that book giveaway so it could be any one of you so all you have to do is keep commenting keep liking and keep sharing but i i believe what diga is saying right now is so powerful so key and i can already tell in this comment section you guys are loving it and receiving it um i like this comment uh someone left strongholds or like roaches they flee once the light turns on that's a it's a great great analogy you really think about it it's a good analogy so people are loving it they're receiving it so powerful stuff all right so the battle is in the mind now i did address some of this a few weeks ago but i want you to just kind of if you heard this before let it be a refresher if you haven't heard this before it's essential to your understanding and then as i said i'm going to get into these eight different strongholds and we're going to expose these strongholds and after we expose them i'm going to show you how to get rid of strongholds once and for all okay so when demons attack christians it's always by means of deception okay that's generally speaking now the way demonic beings attack believers as i said at the top of the live stream is much different than the way they attack unbelievers when demons attack christians it's through deception that deception becomes feelings those feelings become actions those actions become behavior patterns and then that is what people sometimes mistake for a curse or demon possession or oppression or demonization but i am not saying that christians don't need deliverance i am not saying that christians don't need to be aware of the enemy's tactics i am not saying that demons can't affect the believer but i'm saying we have to describe these things accurately if we're going to address them properly and effectively so demons will use their words now there are a couple other ways that demonic powers can attack the believer sometimes through sickness and other times through violent demoniacs so demons can't physically harm the believer themselves they need a vessel and that vessel sometimes is sickness or perhaps someone who is demon-possessed who goes on a rage and harms christians that's happened before so demonic beings use deception primarily against believers and if they want to harm the christian because they can't dwell on the christian or attach themselves to the christian or oppress the christian they can use vicariously sickness or someone who is violent and demon-possessed and that would be a vicarious attack but they use natural means in the world and they influence those natural means to affect the believer now that's important to know and i'll explain why that's very very very important because the reason people are stuck in cycles is because they don't know how to address the problems so um i want to read a scripture to your portion of scripture to you and i want to give you this working definition of spiritual warfare for the believer spiritual warfare is simply the fight to believe god's truth over the enemy's lies ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 through 18 says this a final word be strong in the lord and in his mighty power put on all of god's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in heavenly places therefore put on every piece of god's armor this is verse 13 of ephesians 6 therefore put on every piece of god's armor so that you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil then after the battle you will be standing firm stand your ground putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of god's righteousness for shoes put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared in addition to all of these hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the spirit which is the word of god pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere now notice here that each piece of armor that the scripture gives us has to do with fighting deception the word strategies here in verse 11 is methods deceit trickery so the bible tells us in ephesians 6 right here this is everything that you need to fight the enemy look at this again real quick i'll read it put on all of god's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil in other words there's no strategy of the devil that can't be defeated by what we see in ephesians chapter six so every strategy every attack every mode of trickery every method that the devil has to use against the believer specifically against the believer because ephesians is to the believer specifically his attacks to the believer can all be defeated by what we see in ephesians six so this is it if you're a believer this is it there are no other strategies that the enemy has this is so you can stand against all strategies of the enemy all strategies of the devil the armor of god gives you the power to fight all strategies of the devil now the belt of truth truth is something you know in your mind the body armor of righteousness how do you live in righteousness you overcome temptation where do you fight temptation in the mind right shoes of peace peace of mind shield of faith belief in the mind or the mind of the spirit helmet having to do with the mind or the mindset the mindset of salvation the knowledge of the truth of salvation the belief by faith in salvation having to do with the mind the only weapon that we're given that's offensive in nature you could say shoes of peace technically are to help us take ground but the only one that is directly defensive meaning or that meaning offensive the only one that's directly offensive the only one that we actually use for attack is the sword of the spirit and what is the sword of the spirit it's god's word so with the armor of god we defend against the attacks of the enemy the deceptions the trickery the methods but it's with the sword of the spirit that we take ground it's with the word of god that we fight the enemy and where does this battle take place it's in the mind now for the non-believer here's the sad reality for the non-believer there's actually no such thing as spiritual warfare why because they're not fighting it's not a war they're they're not soldiers they're prisoners so spiritual warfare is something that only applies to the believer now we can war in prayer on behalf of the unbeliever but the unbeliever is not fighting that war they're fully given to the enemy as his prisoner wow ii timothy chapter 3 verses 15 through 17 say this you have been taught the holy scriptures from childhood and they have been given to you they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in christ jesus all scripture is inspired by god and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives it corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right god uses it to prepare and equip his people watch this now to do every good work so there's no work that the believer ought to do that isn't covered in scripture everything that is necessary for fighting the enemy is covered in scripture everything that is necessary to fulfill all spiritual duties is covered in scripture everything you ever need to know about the spiritual realm is covered in scripture and if it's not covered in scripture it's not necessary for your victory so ephesians 6 makes it very clear that a this is how you fight all the strategy of the enemy and b that each piece of armor is given to us to fight the battle in the mind therefore christians fight deception that's what believers fight now the deception of the enemy is still very powerful so i don't want to give you any false sense of security because we shouldn't just arrogantly wander around say oh well i can't be possessed i can't be posses oppressed i can't be cursed i can't be demonized no devil can touch me yes that's true but don't forget he can still affect you through deception and that deception is very powerful because once that deception takes root in your mind well that affects the way you feel and the way you feel changes almost everything about you if you allow it to and those actions become patterns and it's a very powerful powerful hold your your mind is like a walled city the enemy can walk by he can't read your mind he can't see into the mind he can't get into you but he can throw thoughts over the wall and those thoughts that he throws to you are suggestions ideas deceptions lies contradictions half truths he throws them at you and they go into your mind and you can choose to either take that thought captive or you can choose to dwell on that thought now watch this remember we talked about strongholds here's the problem if there's a stronghold in your mind or a pattern of thinking that's not according to scripture you wouldn't know it because that's how deception works so if there's a stronghold in your mind and the enemy throws a thought your way guess what's going to happen that thought is going to take refuge in that stronghold and you won't be able to take it captive until you first have pulled down the stronghold now i'm going to talk about the eight strongholds before i do if you're receiving from this can you just type amen in the comment section so i know that you're receiving i see etta commented fiery darts yes the fiery darts are the lies of the enemy the deceptions why because they're fiery darts they start as a little flame and then they become a huge inferno if we don't address them so that's very important that we use the shield of faith to quench as the scripture says the fiery darts of the enemy so how many of you are having your mind open right now you're starting to see okay i'm it's starting to make a little more sense remember this anything that's religious is always complex anything that's spiritual is simple don't forget to like this video if it's blessing you hey if you're joining us and you just now join the stream make sure you've shared this with a couple friends um this stream is growing this is our ninth week and we're already almost at 1600 concurrent viewers this is just an amazing community welcome to the spirit family if you're just now joining us so we covered so far what is a stronghold it's a mindset we covered how to identify a stronghold you identify the stronghold by knowing the truth you know the truth to the word through the holy spirit and through sound teaching the battle is in the mind and i talked about the armor of god and how the armor of god gives us everything we need to fight the deceptions of the enemy and now i want to go through and this is going to be very challenging i need you to say lord help me i want you to say it out loud say lord help me receive because now i'm going to go through the strongholds and i'm going to show you each stronghold these aren't all the strongholds but these are some strongholds some of the main ones that i've seen affecting most christians and this right here it's going to be eye opening it's going to be eye-opening and you're going to see why you feel that heaviness you're going to see why you can't break free from the sin you're going to see why you keep having those nightmares those dreams you're not possessed you're not oppressed you're not demonized you're not cursed there's a stronghold and the answer for the believer is simply knowing the truth i'm going to show you how to fight this after i tell you about all these strongholds or some of the strongholds all the strongholds at least on my list steve how's the chat doing chat's doing amazing i like this comment by our friend meredith meredith said deception always seems to sneak into my life when i let my guard down how many of you been there i'm always having to remind myself that i am in a battle of the unseen so very powerful very interesting because how many of you realize we are in a fight and we have to remember stick to that word stick to that word it's what we need so powerful message so far everybody in the chat is i mean you guys are breaking the chat i can't even keep up with everybody on here so very powerful stuff so far stronghold number one indoctrination now paul wrote to the galatians who were being deceived by this perspective on the law that was quite religious in nature so they were coming under the subjection of a law-based gospel and this is what is written to the galatians by paul o foolish galatians who has cast an evil spell on you for the meaning of jesus christ's death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross so paul is basically telling him look i explained the death of christ i explain how all of this works and now someone's deceiving you now it's important to look at this phrase here who has cast an evil spell on you or as the king james version i believe puts it who hath bewitched you now that word doesn't mean cursed it doesn't mean demonized it doesn't mean oppressed or possessed what it means literally in the greek it means captivated fascinated deceived there are a couple ways that word can be translated but the context always dictates the meaning here paul is talking about what they believe he's talking about a mindset he's talking about them falling into what deception so he's reminding them now of the truth how is he addressing this bewitching he's not addressing the bewitching through rituals he's not addressing the bewitching through some traditional or religious means of handling the situation what's he doing he's addressing the bewitching by presenting the truth to contradict the deception so here they're bewitched they're captivated they're fascinated by this lie first timothy chapter four verses one through two says this now the holy spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith terrifying they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons these people are hypocrites and liars and their consciences are dead now again let me make this clear this is not a license to go labeling people false prophets false teachers look i have dozens and dozens of friends in ministry who you probably would know we don't all agree on every little thing but we agree on jesus here the scripture in 1st timothy 4 is talking about these doctrines that that uproot the fundamentals of the gospel so i like to say it like this when receiving from ministries eat like a watermelon you don't need to throw the watermelon out if the watermelon is good it's good just as you're eating the watermelon you may have to spit out a few seeds now and then and that's okay how do you know the seeds we'll just compare everything that's said to the scripture compare everything i say to with the scripture and you may find some seeds that you have to spit out from what i tell you who knows maybe years from now i'll go oh actually i got to correct that because i was wrong on this thing but i'm talking here about doctrines of devils that are destructive to the faith this is this is not well do you believe in you know pre-trib or post-trib do you believe in healing for today or no healing for today do you believe even some of these doctrines on spiritual warfare they're not make or break the doctrines rather that are being addressed here these doctrines of demons are doctrines that question the fundamentals of the faith it's the kind of deception or stronghold that causes something to fall away from i'll give you an example of indoctrination universalism this doctrine that teaches that god will ultimately not punish sin the sin of those who haven't repented now some would say well that's not what universalism is but in reality when you study it it's all semantics when it comes down to it that's what universalism teaches another doctrine of demons is this idea that there are many ways to god that's a doctrine of demons so let's not go labeling every preacher who has some form of disagreement with us as a heretic or a false teacher you can still receive from many wonderful men and women of god who you may not agree with on every little thing so like a watermelon eat the watermelon spit out the seeds but don't throw out their whole ministries my goodness that wouldn't be good for for the body of christ rather the indoctrination that i'm talking about here are fundamental problems with doctrines now there are things that people believe that contradict the scripture and it's the enemy's way of causing confusion they changed the core of the gospel things like salvation repentance resurrection the deity of christ so here's how it looks i'm going to walk you through this i'm going to talk about the strongholds and i hope you enjoy this part of it because i'm going to show you the strongholds and then i'm going to show you how a stronghold looks in your life i'm going to show you how that cycle looks so watch this check this out so the stronghold number one of indoctrination the cycle works like this let's say there's a lie that you believe the lie goes for example i have to earn my salvation that's an example of a stronghold of indoctrination it's a belief that is anti-gospel i have to earn my salvation there's the lie so what does it produce in your feelings the lie that i have to earn my salvation and maybe some of you watching this maybe you right now are dealing with this very same thing where you feel like you have to earn your salvation you know you feel like you have to earn your salvation if every time you mess up you wonder if you lost your salvation so maybe you believe this lie i have to earn my salvation and you feel what you feel shame you feel hopeless you feel condemnation and what does that produce in you that produces the action of doing more work to try to earn your salvation and what does that action produce as a result a life of joyless service heaviness and mental anguish so that mental anguish that joylessness that that tired feeling of constantly always trying to work for your salvation where does it come from ultimately it's rooted in that lie that i have to earn my salvation that's an example number one of indoctrination stronghold number two this is a big one for many believers here stronghold number two accusation revelation 12 10 says this then i heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens it has come at last salvation and power and the kingdom of our god and the authority of his christ for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to the earth the one who accuses them before our god day and night who's the accuser it's the enemy what does the enemy do the enemy accuses you of your past someone is going to get set free right now from this come on this is how the attack looks let's say you wake up in the morning you're having a good day everything worked well you didn't burn the toast your breakfast was served in a way you like it you go out there's not much traffic so your day is running smooth you didn't get an argument with anybody things are going your favorite song is playing on the radio the worship song you want it plays it just the right time things are going great and you're just saying god thank you thank you for this blessing thank you for this day thank you for my life thank you and then all of a sudden out of nowhere a thought something from your past something you're ashamed of something you just can't seem to let go of and it seems that every time you're just starting to enjoy your life that this thought comes rushing back and suddenly you're caught up again in this cycle of guilt and shame and looking over your shoulder is this thing going to come back and haunt me is is this going to come back and ruin my life you tell yourself things like well i don't really deserve to enjoy things you're you're afraid to start enjoying your life because you feel like the moment you start enjoying your life and let your guard down that this thing is just going to come running right back into your life and you feel shame and yeah you've heard all the sermons you've heard people preach oh you can be forgiven you've heard people preach if any man be in christ he's a new creation you've you've read the scripture there is now therefore no condemnation to those that are in christ you've heard all the scriptures you've received prayer you've received counseling people have told you god forgave you you repented you got it right move on you've heard it again and again and again and again but you just somehow can't break this cycle of guilt and shame and paranoia regarding your past you feel like you can't move on and no matter what you do you can't get this heaviness from off of your shoulders my friend that is the stronghold of accusation and even though you may be able to push a thought out now and then your entire thought pattern needs to be shifted if you're going to find freedom now the cycle works like this and here's how subtle oh the enemy is so subtle here's how subtle it is this may be why you still can't get over your past sin this may be still why you feel guilty for for things that you know god has forgiven this is why because watch this now you believe god forgives you you know god forgives sinners okay that's not the lie that you believe here's the lie you believe you believe that somehow someway god's forgiveness just doesn't apply to your specific situation [Music] what a subtle lie that the enemy throws in so it's not that you don't believe god forgives it's not that you don't believe the blood has power it's not that you don't believe in the forgiveness of god it's that you don't believe the forgiveness of god applies specifically to your exact situation why maybe you did something wrong and you knew better you want to hear something amazing the grace of god applies even to those who knew better wow the mercy of god the grace of god applies even to those who knew better this of course does not mean that we should go on sinning rather this means that you can be free so it goes something like this the lie is god's forgiveness doesn't apply to you or to your specific situation so what happens what's produced the feeling of shame guilt fear of your past coming back to bite you and what what are the actions that come out of that fear and shame and guilt you start to seek affirmation you know how you know you're struggling with this stronghold is if you have to get an answer to your specific situation i can't tell you how many times i've received comments from people or messages from people who say brother david i know god can forgive but i did this this this and this can god forgive me too right right and what what you do is you maybe you've listened to sermons on on on forgiveness and and all of that and you're reading books on forgiveness and you're trying to assure yourself god forgives me god forgives and you want to hear somebody tell you yeah in that specific situation god forgives you here's the problem with that oh my goodness the enemy is so so cunning here's the problem with that let's say you commit a sin and you want assurance for forgiveness of that sin you repent you turn from it and then you come to someone like me and you say brother david i did this isn't this can god forgive me of this too am i really forgiven and i say to you yeah god forgives you with that here's what happens you go ah thank god i'm forgiven and then when you go and make another mistake you go right back into the cycle again and now you got to get someone to tell you that that specific sin is forgiven too the problem you didn't break the stronghold so you're always going to come back to that pattern you're always going to come back to that place where you need assurance for this one and this one and this one and this one and what happens it starts to produce paranoia to where you are constantly needing somebody to tell you yeah that sin can be forgiven yeah that sin can be forgiven and you're waiting for your feelings to confirm what the word of god already tells you hear me now you're waiting for your feelings to confirm what the word of god already tells you and so you get stuck in this pattern of constantly needing assurance for the forgiveness of your sins now again i'm not saying that you should continue sinning but what i am saying is that assault of accusation that's a demonic being accusing you constantly reminding you your past you don't deserve the grace of god you don't deserve blessings you don't deserve god's favor you don't deserve good things you don't deserve to have peace you don't deserve to move on and they keep you stuck in that and sure maybe you overcome that one issue but you didn't deal with the thought pattern and so what happens you come back to it again and again constantly needing reassurance of forgiveness when the word of god assures you so you have to break it so what's the result of this the action is you constantly seek affirmation you constantly question if your specific sin is forgivable and then the result is you get stuck in sin and shame you feel trapped and you're unable to enjoy your life you can't hang with friends and family you can't be in a worship service you can't enjoy a live stream without these thoughts bombarding you about your past well it's time to be free first john 1 9 says but if we confess our sins to him he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness so that's stronghold number two accusation stronghold number three temptation uh satan is called the tempter watch this first thessalonians chapter three i'm going to read verses four and five even while we were with you we warned you that troubles would soon come and they did as you well know that is why when i could bear it no longer i sent timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong i was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that your work had been useless if sin is a product demons are salesmen you ever try to go buy a car the moment you pull up man they like vultures they'll run out and they'll they'll start talking they start showing off all the features in the car that's what the devil does with sin look at all these wonderful pleasures oh look at how this will make you feel look at how this will make you look and it and the enemy is a salesman for sin demons take advantage of our own sinful desires james 1 14 says temptation comes when our own desires they come from our own desires which entice us and drag us away so it's my own desires that produce this but the enemy takes advantage of your desires demons work with our demented desires remember that demons work with our demented desires if you don't struggle with alcohol the enemy is not going to offer you a beer if you don't struggle with lying the enemy is not going to tempt you with a way out through line if you are not struggling with lust the enemy is not going to offer you an individual the enemy will only offer you what he knows tempts you demons understand us demonic beings are very intelligent beings from another realm filled with evil intent that seek to destroy our faith they understand human nature they understand your patterns they watch you closely they've been watching humankind for thousands of years taking notes understanding not just our body language but our physiological responses to their temptations they can see your heart racing they can see you begin to sweat they can see you begin to fidget they can see that the temptation is working demons will speak to you what's the lie what's the lie with the stronghold of temptation what is that lie that we believe the lie is this will satisfy you the lie is god won't punish this the lie is god can't satisfy you like this can satisfy you and what does this cause so the lie we lie to ourselves this is gonna satisfy me that's the only reason people sin if you stopped in the moment of temptation and truly believed this won't satisfy me you wouldn't do it but because of the lie that it satisfies you tell yourself maybe this one more time will satisfy and it keeps you moving forward further and further into sin how does it leave you feeling it leaves you feeling trapped leaves you feeling like a hypocrite makes you double minded for one hour you're a sincere believer asking god to help set you free from this sin the next hour you're trying to figure out how to do it to where you won't get caught keeps you double-minded going back and forth the result habits form you develop a secretive lifestyle a guilty conscience you feel distant from god and then you come to a preacher and say i need you to cast this devil out of me if you're a believer that's not what you need you need to come to know the truth you need to come to know the truth that sin does not satisfy and you need to learn to find your satisfaction in him otherwise this cycle will never break you'll always be looking for someone to lay hands on you you'll always be looking for that special prayer to break it off of your life you can't cast you out of you that temptation will always be something that the enemy uses but don't let it become a stronghold now stronghold number four i'm going to reveal in just a moment how many of you in the comment section as i'm talking about these strongholds can identify with them and even to some degree you're finding things about yourself who's finding things about themselves that they didn't realize right now let me know in the comments section steve how's the chat doing chat's doing amazing i love some of these comments i've been reading this one comes from our friend emerson i find it interesting that just as the holy spirit works with us to heal and give clarity the demonic work with sin to corrupt and deceive powerful and i also love this comment here by marissa we tend to forget we know how the story ends we win hold on to the word and hold on to the holy spirit until then keep believing so powerful powerful time amazing amazing uh sermon and message right now i mean like i said the comment section is going pretty uh wild right now so it's amazing so again i am not saying that demons can't affect christians nor am i saying that christians don't need deliverance what i'm saying is christians need deliverance from strongholds and deception we need deliverance differently than do the unbelievers so that's important that we understand that stronghold number four stronghold number four intimidation now in second timothy paul the apostle is charging timothy not financially like he's encouraging him he's charging timothy to embrace his call he's charging timothy to stir up the gift he's saying stir it up timothy go out there and preach what was the gift that he was talking about specifically in regards to timothy it was timothy's preaching and teaching gifts so paul the apostle is saying to timothy stir up that preaching gift stir up that teaching gift how does he do it watch this second timothy 1 5-7 i remember your genuine faith for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother lois and your mother eunice and now that same faith continues strong in you this is why i remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift of god the spiritual gift god gave you when i laid my hands on you watch this now for god has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power love and self discipline for so something was causing hesitation in timothy something was intimidating him and this is what the enemy will do he'll try to intimidate you from fulfilling your call he'll try to intimidate you from speaking out the truth he'll try to intimidate you from taking a step of faith he'll try to intimidate you to keep you from giving to keep you from loving to keep you from exercising your spiritual gift to keep you from embracing the ministry that god has for you to keep you from getting connected with other believers there are many things that the enemy will attempt to intimidate you out of doing the fear of fulfilling the call the fear of man some of us struggle with the fear of tragedy and calamity i had that for a while i had these two for a while the fear of tragedy and calamity and the fear of sickness so when i was when my anxiety was at its peak there were days when i could have a simple symptom like a headache some something as simple as a headache and i would go google it a symptom headache and my throat's a little dry oh my goodness every single time i would diagnose myself i would think i had like days to live why what is that that's the spirit of fear that's intimidation that's the enemy trying to make you live in a fearful way people fear tragedy and calamity what if my loved one dies what if someone gets in an accident what if i get injured or hurt or what if this and that and this constant barrage of fears and what ifs that is a stronghold of fear and intimidation people fear sickness people fear loss of job of income of influence of loved ones people fear loneliness loneliness the list goes on and on but here's how it works the cycle works like this for intimidation so let's take the lie first the lie is you're unsafe or the lie is you'll fail and what's the feeling that's caused by that line the feeling then becomes you feel stifled you feel paralyzed the action what's produced by that feeling your state you stay stuck you try to do everything you can to bubble wrap your life and make sure there's absolutely no danger around you or any chance of any loss and that's no way to live the result is there's no purpose you take no risks there's no acts of faith you're stuck and then you end up going how did i get here how am i paralyzed in my spiritual walk why am i constantly worried about this or that you don't realize that the lie you're believing that you're unsafe or that you can't trust god or that you'll fail or that something bad is going to happen that's the lie that keeps you gripped and who knows something bad may happen but you know what ultimately you can trust god and the lie at the core would be i can't trust god so you try to address the feeling the feeling of fear the feeling of being unsafe the the thoughts that race through your mind rather than going to the core of it and saying what is this lie that i'm believing that's not enabling me to live a victorious life so that was number four so so far i've covered indoctrination stronghold number one stronghold number two accusation stronghold number three temptation stronghold number four intimidation now stronghold number five i'm gonna talk about its depression but let me let me just check in with the chat for just a second um i see someone says so glad you're teaching this pastor david it's a biblical psychology session that we need well you know psychology borrows a lot from the bible and and i appreciate that comment i do want to be clear though it's not just psychology this is this is the truth of the word of god james george fear sometimes is crouched as safety ungodly wisdom procrastination and ungodly caution how true that is my friend john harry writes lest he be found naked amongst the world and unrecognizable not sure the context of that patricia wow you're speaking to me on this one kim breons in agreement for deliverance from strongholds deception intimidation and fear okay i'm going to show you guys how people start to confuse these things for possession for oppression four curses and they get caught up in trying to break something that doesn't even exist in their lives again christians do need deliverance and that deliverance is from deception i'm going to show you how to do that in a moment but now we go on to the next stronghold depression now this one i have to just give this disclaimer there are things that naturally occur in the world some sickness is demonic now biblically theologically spiritually speaking all sickness ultimately is at least an indirect result of the fallen state of the world so it could be said that sickness would not exist were it not for sin and ungodly spiritual influences however this doesn't mean that every time sickness comes upon someone that it is definitely directly a demonic assault sickness can be caused by sin but not all sickness is caused by sin sickness can be caused by demonic influence but not all sickness is caused by demonic influence now remember there are different types of sickness there's heart disease there's kidney disease there's disease of the bones there there are brain disorders there are sicknesses of the mind which yes can be agitated intensified and prolonged by demonic influence but aren't necessarily in and of themselves always directly demonic so then depression can simply be a natural response to a tragedy that we experience in this world now christians should never be depressed but that doesn't mean we ought to feel shame when we struggle with depression i had a friend who preached at a conference i just ministered at he said something so brilliant he said struggling with mental illness is not a sin but our response to mental illness when people are struggling with it can be the way we treat people can be sin so just as you wouldn't berate someone or criticize someone for struggling with cancer or heart disease so we should not berate or criticize those who are struggling with mental illness now that's not to say that it can't be demonic absolutely it can be demonic but this doesn't mean that just because someone has anxiety or depression or maybe some ocd or something like that that doesn't mean that we should just say oh you know you you you have issues and and you're not truly spiritual and and so far that that makes it worse for them okay that that causes more problems than it brings solutions this is why i think it's important too that we address the root of these issues because if you tell someone with ocd or anxiety oh that's a demon in you well they don't know that as a christian they can't have a demon attached to them they don't know they can't be cursed i mean we know that from the scripture but they may not know that and so what this does is this produces in them a never-ending cycle of constantly needing deliverance and yeah they may find relief from the symptoms for a few days or a few weeks but if they never address the thought pattern they're going to go back to thinking they're under that demonic influence when in fact it's a stronghold so demons can prolong and agitate depression let's say for example as i was saying you lose a loved one of course if you lose a loved one you're going to feel heartbroken you're going to feel downtrodden you're going to feel the weight of the sadness and the sorrow of that loss but that does not mean that just because it was caused by natural means that the enemy can't get involved the enemy can get involved and the enemy can agitate that situation the enemy can prolong and intensify that depression by telling you lies so let's say you lose a loved one the enemy can agitate that sadness by saying you'll never see him again or saying god forgot about you that's why they died or the lord doesn't love you that's why he allowed this tragedy to happen or god may not know what he's doing or you can't trust god in this place of heartache and that is what produces a prolonged and intensified depression though it was the result of a response to a natural tragedy the enemy can still use it to grip you with this stronghold of depression so elijah the prophet experienced depression i mean he just got done calling down fire from heaven and because he thought he was the only prophet left he said lord just let me die you can see that in first kings chapter 19 verses three through nine the prophet was depressed now the the lord didn't say okay you got to go through this special session you're gonna have to renounce this and that you're going to go through this special tradition or ritual and he didn't have to go through that he simply had to realize the truth which was that he was not alone now now please hear me i i am not i don't want you to think i'm attacking you i'm very passionate about breaking mindsets i'm very passionate about speaking against things that i believe contradict the scripture i'll use passion i'll use humor but i want you to know if you're if you're if you're in christ if you're a believer you're not my enemy you're my brother you're my sister and i know that sometimes we hear these things that contradict what we believe and it can feel like we're being attacked and i promise you that is not by any means my goal to make you feel attacked i want to help you i want to help you and so when i say this i'm not i'm not trying to be facetious and and and you know make you feel um foolish by any means rather i want you to come to know the truth i want you to come to know that you don't have to go through the emotional turmoil of some of these things that we subject ourselves to and by no means am i saying that anyone who disagrees with what i'm saying isn't a man or woman of god um i don't want you to think that at all like i said you eat the watermelon spit out the seeds but but you don't you don't just disregard people in ministries because of these things and i still honor many ministries men and women of god who who believe and teach differently than this and i don't want you to think that because i teach one thing and you may hear someone else teach another that that means there's some war or feud going on or that oh my goodness i have to pick one no no no we're all in christ we're all brothers and sisters and differences don't have to become divisions having said that i still will very passionately always side with the word of god because i want you to go free so if you feel attacked by this i want you to know that's not personal i'm showing you something in the scripture and i'm i want you to compare it with what you believe and instead of getting offended and i know that that it's easier said than done instead of saying well my spirit this doesn't sit well with my spirit or i don't know this is this doesn't sound right ask yourself why doesn't it sound right and look at what the scripture teaches look at how things are handled in the bible that's our ultimate guide so when someone's dealing with depression as elijah was he was dealing with suicidal thoughts okay and this isn't to say that you don't need prayer prayer is one of the tools i'm going to give you right now but we have to put everything in its rightful place otherwise what happens is we go off onto these extremes that become more harmful than they are helpful so so please don't feel that i'm attacking you attacking any person or any ministry i would never do that in a million years you couldn't get me to do it so having said that have peace okay don't don't don't get all worked up and say well wait you say this and i've heard this and there are wonderful books and teachings and e-courses you can go and listen to that may differ from this but i have to give you the word and i don't teach these things because i like to stir things up i teach these things because the people of god need to know and it's my responsibility to at least teach the ones who follow this ministry the truth and again i'll never name anybody or anything like that nor should should should you do that but but i'm saying this so that you might be helped so so that you might overcome this and stop going through that cycle because what happens is let's say someone's battling with depression and then they go through that cycle of the rituals and the the these special sessions and sometimes that just agitates it more because they you get put things in your head things get put in your head that aren't biblical and now you're trying to keep track of all these different things and instead of just addressing the root the lie that you're believing you you chase all these experiences and things that were never found in scripture i'll have more on that in a little bit but but i think with depression it's important to at least mention that a little bit because you know it's it's it's key it's key to getting free from this so here's how the lie would work in this situation that cycle you're in you would believe you're you're alone you're unloved you're without value you're without purpose that's the lie and then the feeling of what if depression is what you feel heavy disconnected distant not not not you feel lifeless you feel cynical you feel empty you know people who struggle with depression people don't realize it's not always this heavy sadness sometimes it's just this disconnection from life it makes you just go what's the point of all of this and you just kind of have this cynicism about you where you can't really connect with people even though you're looking at them talking to them you still feel like a huge gap between you and them and so depression can be caused by these thoughts now what are the actions that are produced by these feelings you're low energy i'm not saying you're lazy don't ever accuse people with depression of being lazy that's that's that's like that's like accusing people who can't walk physically or being lazy there's something that's to be said of this type of struggle they feel discouraged they feel sorrow they feel suicidal thoughts and they're battling these things and they need breakthrough they do need deliverance they do need deliverance from depression they do need prayer they do need the word but how we go about it is so key and what's the result in their life they have no motivation for life or for anything in life now this most certainly is a demonic assault of deception a demon doesn't need to literally possess your body a demon doesn't need to literally attach itself to cause this behavior it just needs to get you to believe a lie now i'm going to get into strongholds 6 7 8 before i do write it in the comment section if this is blessing you just write the word amen type it up leave it there don't forget to share this stream if you're enjoying it leave a like on the video everyone go and like this video right now because it actually helps us to expand our reach all around the world also if you're new to our stream you're new to our channel don't forget to subscribe we release teachings on the holy spirit prayer spiritual warfare we also feature worship from stephen mock the zuma and we show footage of the power of the holy spirit in action it's a wonderful channel we call it the holy spirit's channel it's his channel his means to do whatever he wants to do so make sure you're subscribed to us click that notification bell when you do subscribe we release i think like two videos every weekday and then one video on saturday and sunday sometimes we miss saturday and sunday but monday through friday we would do two videos a day and we also do a saturday and a sunday release so go ahead like and share you guys are at 1.5 likes thank you so much we love you chat okay number six number six stronghold is distraction and by the way i'm gonna be covering these two things number seven is confusion and number eight is affliction or mental torment and somebody might be watching and dealing with that now do not turn this broadcast off and do not turn it off because after i go through these i'm also going to show you how to break the strongholds for good it's very very simple okay stronghold number six distraction first peter 5 8 says stay alert watch out for your great enemy the devil he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour that's first peter chapter 5 verse 8. so we have to keep our focus because the enemy works best in distraction when our minds are off the battlefield he'll keep you focused on one battle when you should be focused on another how does he distract us he distracts us with divisions with debates with detours from our destiny he keeps us from reading the word from praying from worshiping give her notice you open the word and you go to read the bible and all of a sudden distractions here they're everywhere all of a sudden the kids are hungry all of a sudden you get all these phone calls nobody texts you or calls you all day and suddenly the moment you go to read the word you just get lit up with texts and phone calls and that's how it works if i i'll tell you if nothing else convinces you of the existence of your enemy that should be satisfactory the fact that every time you go to pray or read or worship that there are suddenly all these distractions the pastor's teaching oh but you're distracted the worship's happening oh but you're distracted the enemy works by means of distraction and it keeps us not focused on what truly needs to be focused on the matters of the spirit as i said divisions are distractions debates are distractions detours are distractions that's how the enemy keeps you off the path and this is the lie he tells you so here's how the cycle works for the stronghold of distraction here's how it works ready the lie is this needs your attention now the lie is this is important enough to focus on the lie is this is more important than what you're doing the feeling ego why somebody somebody says something to you wrong or you hear somebody said something about you maybe a family member at a family barbecue or something someone so said this how about instead of going on facebook and writing some people like everyone knows who you're writing about or texting people did you hear what so-and-so said about me why not just ignore it hey that works that's a distraction that the enemy tries to use to keep you from fulfilling the call of god and how does it feel your ego is inflated you get all fired up you feel ambitious you you know you know how distraction works there's other two feelings that come with distraction here's how you can identify it distraction also makes you feel rushed and pressured so if there's something that you feel rushed to do or something that causes you great pressure it may just be a distraction and what action is produced by these feelings doing things that ultimately detour you or rob you of peace and the result you become ineffective tense you ever notice some people they're just always worked up intense i mean everything's a million miles i mean just this great tension around them and and you know it just it just causes this uneasiness and and you leave their burden do you know how you can tell the difference between anointed preaching and preaching in the flesh is preaching in the flesh leaves you feeling burdened and tensed and all worked up and somewhat angry but true anointed preaching leaves you feeling at peace this doesn't mean that you'll never be challenged and if you're in sin it certainly it certainly won't leave you feeling peace but generally speaking it leaves you feeling peace why because even if you are in sin you hear the preaching about repentance and how you can have peace with god you get your sins forgiven you leave with peace so this tension this rushing this hurrying this pressure this ego inflating ambitious pursuit to the things that we think we need in life are the things that we think need our attention that's the stronghold of distraction number seven the stronghold of confusion first john 4 1 dear friends do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the spirit this is so key you must test them to see if they if the spirit they have comes from god for there are many false prophets in the world first corinthians 14 33 says for god is not the author of confusion but of peace as in all churches of the saints okay i'm going to park it here for just a couple minutes because this stronghold is a big one we got to be very careful here do you realize that sometimes the truth will confuse you now i know that's interesting to hear you may be going what where's the scripture for that well we know it's true because when you share the truth with people sometimes they in fact become confused here's how confusion works confusion works when i'm trying to mesh two contradicting mindsets together well now when you believe a lie and you hear the truth that contradicts the lies you believe you become confused why because you say to yourself wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute i believe this but the bible says that or i was taught this but that preacher is saying that i'm confused and i've been there and you go huh and our first instinct is always to blame the new information for the confusion here's what's so subtle about this attack please hear me now this will save you so much trouble we have the tendency to blame the new information don't blame in every circumstance the new information instead try to find which information is backed by the word in fact the enemy can use confusion as a barrier to truth you ever talk to someone who believes that god is just love and he'll never judge sin you ever talk to them you show them the scriptures how god will punish sin you tell them that god is a god of justice you know what they say i don't know doesn't sit right with me it's confusing what you're saying because i was always taught that god is a god of just pure love and because they were never taught of god's justice now suddenly they become confused but it's not the new information that's causing the confusion it's the lie they're clinging to so when you hear something that contradicts what you believe even if you hold that belief deeply and dearly instead of saying oh i don't like this new information it doesn't sit right with my spirit really it doesn't sit right with your spirit or you just don't like the information and you're trying to spiritualize your stubbornness don't spiritualize your stubbornness instead humbly come to the word and say okay what was it that caused this confusion what was this what was it in me that i was believing that caused me to be confused because it's not always the new information that will confuse you there there have been times where i would read the word and i would find something in the word that contradicted something i believed and it confused me but you know what i didn't do i didn't throw out the word i said okay i have to correct my beliefs so the enemy will use confusion as a barrier to truth the enemy will use confusion as a way to prevent you to change your mind wow confusion prevents us from changing our minds why because we become defensive we say oh i don't like that new information oh i don't like that they're teaching that i don't like that they're contradicting what i've always held to be true i don't like that they're telling me i'm wrong nobody wants to believe they were wrong nobody it's easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they were fooled it's easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they were fooled and that's where the confusion comes from so the confusion doesn't always come from the new information the confusion can come from the fact that i'm holding on to something that contradicts the word it's like this imagine you have two puzzles each of them are a thousand pieces if you try to do one puzzle it's hard enough i don't know maybe some of you are experts thousand piece puzzles takes me a while and then i get the second puzzle let's say i took the second puzzle and i just mixed it in all the pieces together both puzzles are are now mixed in there now you have 2 000 pieces of conflicting images that's going to be near impossible to solve until you sort out what's one puzzle and what's the other so what happens is we hear something new we hear information from the word we hear something that contradicts our beliefs and rather than embracing it and going well let's check it with the word of god we say that can't be because i was always taught this right that can't be because i believe this or i have experiences that teach me this and that confusion now is blamed on the new information rather what we should do is say okay here's what i believe here's what i'm being told let me check it with the word and then once you go to the word you get rid of all confusion so confusion always results from believing conflicting information if you're confused about something it's because somewhere hidden in the midst of all those beliefs doctrines and ideas is a lie maybe several of them the key then is not to toss out the truth but rather to identify the lie and remove it the lie of confusion here's how it works what i here's the lie what i believe couldn't possibly be untrue i couldn't possibly have been deceived what i believe couldn't possibly be wrong that's our ego and that lie clings to the ego what does that feeling produce the feeling produced is we're offended we're unsure we get uneasy whenever our beliefs are contradicted and so what's the action the action we take is to stubbornly hold on to our beliefs instead of submitting to scripture and the result you stay bound in the lie and the enemy worked in you that's how the stronghold of confusion works guys we have a new record here we are at 1800 concurrent viewers can you believe that powerful and this is only of nine weeks right britain nine weeks nine weeks of doing this stream this format in this time slot so it's basically a new stream that's almost 1900 viewers guys thank you so much you are the absolute best don't forget to like comment and share okay on the point of confusion i want to hear your thoughts so jaya writes boom stubbornness um oh dane question so the people who suddenly call me or text me when i begin to pray or read the word are they somehow being used by the devil to distract me possibly this doesn't mean they're demon possessed this just means the enemy can maybe put thoughts in people's minds or maybe the timing of it is just being used by the enemy and the fact that he's drawing your attention so it doesn't necessarily have to result from the person but it could be that the text arrived at the time of your prayer just so happens to be but the fact that you're drawn to that text instead of praying could be a distraction from the enemy yevin yventy writes that's amazing jessica says amen i see patricia said that's so true when i believe something when another idea comes from the word i get a little confused yeah and the confusion comes from our beliefs so instead of saying well that doesn't sit right in my spirit or i can't listen to that anymore because i just can't that's that's that's immaturity what we have to do is embrace the word and humble ourselves before it um eva cortez says uh send an email of your notes please we'll see if we can put that together um i'm looking at teacher carlo who says this hits me hard do not spiritualize stubbornness we do guys i do it too this is not just you this is me i'm preaching to myself we do this we we spiritualize our stubbornness and we get all worked up and offended i remember there was this preacher i listened to um he was teaching on excellence in ministry and this is when i was first learning about excellence really and i didn't like some of the way he criticized some of the traditional ways i do ministry you know not not doctrinal or it wasn't even doctrines or even really methods just the style i was doing things in and he kind of criticized and i thought who is this guy criticized me and i got offended i got in the car i'm saying to myself oh that guy doesn't know any better that guy wasn't even spiritual i'm like oh he grieved the holy spirit and the holy spirit told me i'm not grieved you're convicted oh come on and i said what and i had to realize yeah i was i was convicted and i said and and i tried to spiritualize my conviction by saying well actually my spirit is just grieved my spirit is described no i was convicted i was wrong and i had to change my belief so so don't spiritualize your stubbornness don't say well i'm confused i can't listen this morning instead test it with the word that will clear up everything now i'm not saying go delve into every teaching that's out there you get into some pretty weird things rather what i'm saying is is filter everything to the word and that clears up the confusion pretty quickly and don't just reject things right off the bat because they're different than what you've been told rather compare it with scripture and yeah when we get confused from reading the bible we have to search it out instead of dismissing it great point enya because sometimes people read the word they get confused and they kind of just put the book away and that's not a very good place to be like comment share share share this stream thank you spirit family you got us to 1800 viewers this is a new record for us nine weeks in we're at 1800 viewers exciting stuff and the channel is growing by the way i think like almost 2 000 subscribers a day now is is what we're going towards so you guys are amazing and to god be the glory if you're wondering why i care about numbers it's because numbers represent people and people are souls stronghold number eight affliction this is mental torment mental anguish did you know paul the apostle dealt with torment ah interesting paul the apostle dealt with torment second corinthians chapter 12 verses 7 to 9 say this even though i have received such a wonder even though i have received such wonderful revelations from god so to keep me from becoming proud i was given a thorn in my flesh and he very clearly says what it is a messenger from satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud guys he says it it's a demon three different times i begged the lord to take it away each time he said my grace is all you need my power works best in weakness so now i am glad to boast about my weaknesses so the power of christ can work through me now paul was not possessed paul was not oppressed paul was not demonized paul was not cursed paul had a messenger of satan speaking deceptive things antagonizing his mind with words grace was the solution for paul's torment now i am not saying that you have to accept torment in your life i don't think paul lived under the power of that torment i think he just lived with the potential of that torment because the grace of god helped him to overcome it so i'm not saying you have to live your life in torment don't hear what i'm not saying rather what i'm saying is that grace is what gives you the power to overcome it so rather than seeking out a special type of prayer or a special type of ritual or the traditions of man seek out the ways of the spirit the holy ghost and that is what sets you free so the the cycle goes like this the lie is the troubling thought the feeling you're tormented the action you become paranoid and neurotic and the result is you lack peace now i had a woman one time ask me a question i taught on spiritual warfare and sometimes what i'll do um in some of the smaller settings i think there was like maybe a couple hundred people so it's more like a classroom setting what i did is i did a q a they passed around the microphone reuben had the microphone we passed it around and we just let people ask questions and this woman asked me this question she said hey when i start to pray suddenly i see a snake that's what she said i see a snake i said okay she goes what do you think that is i see i said i think that could be distraction or the enemy attempting to torment you she says how do i go about defeating it i said just continue to pray and she didn't like that answer she she kept like on she goes remember that steve i do she didn't like the answer and and she kept saying well no no it's big but it happens when i pray i said yeah keep praying no no no you don't understand i see a snake which is a symbol for a demon when i pray and i said what do you want me to tell you i want me to tell you that you have to renounce this this this and this do you want me to tell you that you have to identify where it's coming you want me to tell you that you have to go on um ancestry.com and i'm not being facetious i'm being serious these are the types of thoughts that people have i'm not trying to mock anyone here these are the types of thoughts that the thought patterns people get locked into am i are you trying to they want to be told well i have to go to ancestry.com and find out maybe my great-grandmother practice this and if i go and i specifically do the word break that then the snake vision will stop i said first of all you're probably intensifying it by giving it so much of your attention and second of all there's nothing that the power of the holy ghost can't break and so i think we seek out these super specific ways of being set free from these things when you need to understand that it's quite simply the presence and power of god isaiah 26 3 says thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee when you have your mind stayed on the lord there's perfect peace there's breakthrough in that area and god wants to give that to you okay so those are some of the strongholds that you could be affected by i didn't get to cover number nine and 10 would be isolation and addiction addiction's a whole different message for a whole different time right but it is a stronghold so stronghold 1 indoctrination stronghold 2 accusation 3 temptation four intimidation five depression six distractions seven confusion eight affliction now how do you break free from these i'm gonna give this to you and then you're probably not going to like what i tell you and i say that because sometimes when we get lost in religious paradigms we seek out very specific instructions for our very specific situations now i'm not saying that specifics never help i mean counseling helps and working through very specific issues and how that that relates to you those are all very helpful things especially if you're using the word of god to help fight the battle number one you have to receive the word now this may seem basic but it is the way you break a stronghold and stay free when you receive the word in your life you're allowing light to shine the more of the word that you receive the less powerful these strongholds will become number two meditate on the word once a stronghold is exposed it's easier to monitor your thoughts or control your thoughts now the scripture commands us several times how to think and what to think think on these things the scripture would not command us to do something that we're not capable of doing hmm so when the scripture says think on these things it's telling you something that you're able to do so you have the power to take your thoughts captive to control them and to tear them down how do you do that with the word so when the enemy tells you you are alone ah the scripture says i'll never leave you nor forsake you when the scripture tells you that it's okay to sin you can point to all of the scriptures like first corinthians chapter six verses nine through twelve that tell us to not sin when the scripture contradicts the lie that's when you begin to see freedom so i meditate on the word and meditation isn't just reading the word meditation is thinking about the word you know that when you think about the word it's like water rushing through your mind washing your mind how do you wash your mind with the word you run the word through it kind of like when you put your hands under the sink if you your hands are really dirty or maybe when you're cooking some of you who cook like with dough you you get the dough all over your hands what do you have to do you run it under water and the water the constant flow of the water is what removes the things from your hand in the same way it's the constant flow of the word that removes these lies from the mind you have to constantly be thinking on the word so you may say well i already tried that now wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute did you really because the scripture says thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee the word of god works let god be true and every man a liar god's word works god's word works period so you have to wash your mind the problem comes when we wash our mind with the word and then go get it dirty again with our youtube searches and our instagram scrolling and our netflix viewings we wash our minds with the word and then we go listen to music that makes it all filthy again we wash our minds with the word and then we go obsessing about thoughts that are not biblical we wash our minds with the word and then we go off on these weird myths and doctrines because they're fascinating yet they cause more torment than they do freedom wash your mind with the word keep a steady flow of the word number three obey the word the word will only work for you when you start to obey it and that takes discipline that takes time there is no christian who is in the word daily who makes daily contact with god not just praise but who makes daily contact with god through prayer who lives a lifestyle of worship who lives a lifestyle of repentance and practices holiness there is no christian like that in bondage did you hear what i said there is no christian who makes daily practice of the word who makes daily contact with the lord through prayer who practices a lifestyle of worship who practices a lifestyle of repentance and who walks in holiness that christian is not in bondage that christian in bondage does not exist look in the new testament you didn't see a whole lot of that among the apostles or the church leaders look in the new testament you didn't see a whole lot of talk about how to overcome these things why because the christian life is a life of freedom if you're not walking in that freedom you're settling for less than what is the christian life now i know that may sound harsh but i don't mean it to be harsh i mean it to be encouraging because we tell ourselves already tried that and there again is a stronghold there's the lie you believe i already tried that and it doesn't work for me those are the lies that keep you bound right there well it worked for me for a little bit and then it stopped did it stop working or did you stop working it did it stop working or did you stop obeying did it stop working or did you fall back into your old habits how because you have to make the decisions daily to practice these spiritual disciplines you have to do it i can't lay hands on you and impart discipline see we want to hear oh it's a curse so you pray for me you break it yeah okay i'll pray for you you may experience the power of god you may be healed from the effects of the stronghold in that moment but if you don't address that mindset and that pattern of thinking you're just going to go back into it again number four prayer now prayer can break the effects of the stronghold this is so key so let's say i come under a stronghold of depression because of a lie i'm believing let's say i believe the lie that i'm worthless okay i believe that lie or i'm worthless or everybody hates me i believe that lie it produces feelings of heaviness in me and then that produces certain behaviors in my life now someone can pray for me and i can experience breakthrough from the heaviness i can experience breakthrough from that sensible i may feel this joy in part something broke right that's a break that's deliverance that's the breaking of a bondage but if i don't address that stronghold and i don't allow the word to change my patterns of thinking and i don't allow god to work in my life through spiritual disciplines and practices what's going to happen i'm going to go right back into that pattern i'm going to go right back to that place of suffering why because i didn't take the time to break that stronghold prayer works but you must also enact discipline number five faithfulness you have to be faithful in doing these things you can't just do this for two weeks and then say well it didn't work for me i'm done no no it takes time to develop new ways of thinking it takes time for the word to wash it's a process that deliverance for believers is a process and that's how you break the stronghold and that's how you stay free practice the spiritual basics and you will avoid spiritual crisis practice the spiritual basics and you will avoid spiritual crisis now i'm going to get into something here that's going to challenge the way you see spiritual warfare but i'm not doing this to upset you it's just a slight shift it's really not even that different from what probably most people believe and teach but it's a slight shift so don't hear what i'm not saying first let me give you my my view on spiritual very simple demons exist demon possession is real deliverance is key spiritual warfare should be practiced by every believer five unbelievers need deliverance from demons six believers need deliverance from strongholds not possession not oppression not curses not demonization now here's where i'm going to talk about why that's important because some would say well david you call it a curse or they call it a curse i call it a curse you call it a stronghold why is that important because if we don't get the problem right we won't get the solution right come on so now this effect that the stronghold has on you this effect of heaviness this effect of guilt or shame or torment or confusion or intimidation or fear or anxiety all those effects of strongholds this is what christians sometimes confuse for demon possession this is what christians sometimes confuse for oppression or demonization or curses so it's still a very real attack in that you'll feel it you need deliverance but it's important that we get the terminology straight so again if you believe differently i'm not i'm not trying to attack you i'm not trying to tear you down and i'm not trying to discredit anybody who teaches differently remember watermelon eat the watermelon spit out the seeds we're all brothers and sisters in christ we all love each other there's no need for division but i want to teach this because hey i've been teaching this for years and i've seen it help people and b i want you to know this truth so you can be truly set free now don't let the enemy redirect the battle if you're fighting a curse when you should be addressing a stronghold you'll never be free if you're fighting demon possession when you should be fighting deception you'll never be free if you're fighting what you think is demonization and oppression when you should be addressing mindsets you will never be free and that's why people get caught in these cycles i want to help you get unstuck i care about you i love you and i want you to get unstuck i don't want you to go through through cycles again and again and again i don't want you to be tormented i don't want you to feel defeated i don't want you to return to the same sin over and over i want you to be free now christians don't need demons expelled they need lies exposed now it is often the case that a christian will confuse a stronghold for demon possession oppression demonization and a curse it's also often the case that a christian will get will confuse let me say this clearly it is also often the case that a christian will confuse getting set free from a stronghold for getting set free from demon possession oppression demonization or curse now why is this important to tell you now it's not just semantics that's like saying you call it cancer i call it a virus okay that's that's pretty drastic indifference well you call it cancer i call it a broken bone you still need to go to the hospital yes in general the solutions sound about the same but it's the specific addressing of the issue that brings forth freedom now watch this nowhere in the new testament did did christians let me say this again because i want i want to be clear i don't want to fumble over my words i want these to be sharp and pointed nowhere in the new testament did christians undergo anything resembling an exorcism spirit-filled believers now i believe in deliverance i believe in demon possession i believe we need deliverance ministries i'm talking specifically now about christian demon possession nowhere in the new testament did christians undergo anything resembling an exorcism nowhere in the new testament did christians have demons cast out of them some would say that acts chapter 8 may be an example of that they say well they heeded philip's words so didn't they get saved no no the actual greek means they listened intently to what philip was saying but this doesn't mean they embraced the message and repented of sins the same is said of the government officials who listened to paul the apostle when he was on trial they listened intently to him but they did not get saved so it's possible to listen intently without being saved so acts 8 is not an example of christians having demons cast out of them nowhere in the new testament were christians put through rituals and renouncements in order to be free nowhere in the new testament do we see a believer with the demon and not be aware of it nowhere in the new testament do we see asymptomatic demon possession or demonization so this idea that i could have a demon and not know it in the new testament there were always symptoms of it and again this is not an attack on you if you believe differently i love you you're my brother you're my sister we're on the same team we just so happen to teach and believe different things and i want you to know that because i don't want i don't i don't want you to try to cause in your mind a vision this is just something that i think is healthy to go over that we might look at spiritual warfare we we need spiritual warfare we need deliverance we need deliverance ministries all that is wonderful and the reason i teach this is because really i'm teaching against the old me because i used to teach these things and i have a responsibility now to correct some of these things um and i'm doing this because i care about god's people now these practices cause you to fight the wrong battle thus repeating the same cycle so if you have a stronghold and you go in for you know deliverance from a demon you may have an experience that's very highly emotional very powerful and i'm not discounting that experience the question is were you set free from demon possession or were you set free from the effects of a stronghold now the issue is once you get set free if you don't learn to practice these spiritual principles if you don't learn the disciplines of these spiritual practices if you don't change the way you think if you don't address the pattern of your thoughts no matter how many times you go through an experience where you feel set free you will always eventually end up back at that place and this has to do with going from a new believer mindset to a mature believer's mindset from constantly needing the experience of freedom the feeling of freedom to trusting in the word for your freedom so by practicing i'll say it again practicing the spiritual basics you avoid spiritual crisis i'll give you some examples let's say you're really tired okay you're exhausted is it better for you to go to sleep or just have an energy energy drink let's say you're dealing with depression and anxiety is it better for you to practice a new way of thinking or is it better for you to start drinking beer let's say you're dealing with issues in your health or your your blood let's save a blood disorder is it better for you to start eating healthy and exercise or to start taking all sorts of blood pressure medication and just mask the symptoms just like sleep is better than energy drinks just like healthy thinking is better than alcoholism just like healthy eating and exercise is better than medication so addressing the root of the stronghold is better than seeking after experiences now you can be in services and we have services all the time where people come up they go out under the power of god they're weeping they're shaking they're crying and they're getting delivered from the effects of a stronghold that's wonderful that should happen but by no means should we label that as demon possession now if they're an unbeliever quite possibly it is demon possession but the reason i think it's so important that we we address these correctly and label these things correctly is so we can get to the root otherwise what happens is we'll go from that experience we'll get set free from the symptoms of it yes we get our breakthrough yes you have an experience i'm not saying your experience didn't happen i'm saying you got to change the way you look at the experience and say okay what actually did happen in that moment did god touch you yes did you experience freedom yes but what was it you experienced freedom from it was from the symptoms of a stronghold so the solution then yes is the touch of god yes it's the power of the holy spirit yes it's worship yes it's all those things but you've got to now go back and address the stronghold and remember don't wait for your fillings to assure you of something you should already know by the word now ironically i get testimonies from people all the time people message me brother david i had always believed i had a demon coming in and out of me and i had to go through deliverance every three weeks every week they said now after i learned the truth i've been free for months some of them years yeah that is that does more for and i'm telling you that alone is worth teaching these things and ironically being set free from the belief of a curse or a demon or oppression ironically that belief being removed is almost like having a demon removed and so again some people confuse these things for each other let me say this again because i want to make sure my all my viewers understand this if you hear someone teaching differently than me it doesn't mean they're my enemy it doesn't mean i'm against them it doesn't mean you should have nothing to do with them it doesn't mean i'm attacking them in fact i make sure that before i put together something that i'm not addressing somebody specifically or anything like that or responding to something i and in fact we plan our content about six months in advance additionally we need deliverance ministry additionally we need people casting out devils that should be a part of every christian's life what i'm saying is that christians need deliverance from strongholds unbelievers need deliverance from possession oppression demonization and curses and the believer should never undergo anything that resembles an exorcism can you have an emotional experience will your body tremble under the power of god yes but will a demon take over the body of a believer no and i think the scary truth is that if a demon has the ability to take over the body of someone and speak for them the scary truth is that maybe that person wasn't safe to begin with or they're not really having an experience of a demon taking them over so we have to look at it biblically so i'm not saying there's no need for these things i'm not saying i'll throw all that out i want to just make sure that that that that we understand the truth and again i've been teaching these things since goodness what was it early 2014 2015 and so i don't want you to think that this is an attack on anyone no by no means i i don't want there to be any rumors well david's at odds with this person or that person no no i love honor respect all men and women of god and i don't want people to think that i would i would never be involved in anything like that like a theology feud or debate even if someone you know were to address me publicly i leave it alone because i don't get involved in things like that i have to stay focused on the ministry and the gospel so and don't be all worked up because some of us we feel you know like almost dread like oh my goodness you know some of my preachers all disagree that's okay these are disagreements among brethren and it doesn't mean that you have to stop listening to people or you have to you know throw them out just again like eating a watermelon eat the watermelon spit out the seeds and even with this ministry even with me there may be some seeds that you'll have to spit out that when you compare it with the word and um and maybe one day there are some things i'll correct on some of the things that i teach publicly but we're all learning we're all we're all studying the word together we're all trying to get this right and so i have a responsibility to share this with you so you can break those cycles so love you guys and i want you to know that and any believer who thinks differently than me you're not my enemy i love you to pieces and if you wanted to talk about this in person we do this all the time with some of our friends even on staff some of our staff members we have discussions and things so that is what i wanted to clarify and i want to make sure in teaching this please don't ever mistake my passion sometimes i'm very passionate coming against ideas and sometimes i use humor but i don't want you to ever think i'm attacking anyone i i love my brothers and sisters in christ and i want you to be at peace and the only reason i'm even saying this is because sometimes i'll get messages and say brother david you taught this someone about taught this should i stop listening and i say no no don't stop listening to them these are great ministries and and again these are we're all growing so we all love each other and we're all on the same team and i hope that's clear now i will always choose unity always um and one more thing and i will never get involved with things like that online so if you even don't don't don't even think that don't jump to conclusions don't say oh david's doing this because no no i will never be involved with anything like that you have to rise above that you have to rise above that so you can stay focused on the call we have souls to win i don't have time to be getting into uh theology debates so on curses i thought this was a great breakdown and then we're going to pray and we're going to take some some teachings or some questions here um i wanted to show you something on curses here here's the reason why i teach that christians can't be cursed even generationally in the new testament when someone is cursed it literally means they're cut off from christ like damned for eternity i'll show you that in the scripture right now romans 9 3 says this now this is powerful because this is paul the apostle saying that he would be willing this is so powerful that he would be willing to be forever cursed if it means that the jews would accept jesus think about that what he's saying paul is saying i'd be willing to go to hell for all eternity if it means that the jewish people would be saved now that obviously wasn't required and paul didn't have to go to hell in order for them to be saved but he was saying i want this so bad that i'd be willing to go to hell if it meant that the jews would be saved but look at how he words this romans 9 3 for my people my jewish brothers and sisters i would be willing to be forever cursed and look at he defines cursed i would be willing to be forever cursed cut off from christ if that would save them matthew 25 41 the king will turn to those on the left and say away with you you cursed ones into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons one more first corinthians 16 22 if anyone does not love the lord that person is cursed whoa so in the new testament when you say curse you're saying they're cut off from christ now in john chapter um seven the only ones who taught this is so interesting here i i saw this and it jumped right up i said oh my goodness what a powerful truth you know that the only ones who taught that believers can be cursed were the pharisees they taught that they said that in john 7 the only ones who taught that christians can be cursed were the pharisees look at this john 7 47-49 these the pharisees speaking now have you been led astray to the pharisees mocked so they're mocking the lord is there a single one of us rulers or pharisees who believes in him so they're saying none of us believe in jesus then look at verse 49 the pharisee's speaking this foolish crowd follows him so talk about the followers of christ but they are ignorant of the law god's curse is on them so the only ones who ever taught that the followers of christ could be cursed were the pharisees when they were attacking those followers and the reason this is important is because i talked to so many believers who who leave a church and the pastor or leader said well you're cursed now because you left the man of god and that person lives in torment so here's what what they do they believe the lie oh my goodness i'm cursed i'm cursed i'm cursed that produces fear remember guys these cycles this is how it works i'm exposing it now they believe i'm cursed i'm cursed i'm cursed i'm cursed they believe that lie that they're cursed which produces the feelings of fear which bring about actions based on fear which create the lifestyle of bondage and then what do they do they go the curse is working that's how it works because they believe that they were cursed that ultimately it was what brought about the feelings that they were cursed so no people can't curse you people of god the people of god are blessed and you cannot bless what god curses now in the scripture second peter 2 14 um we see that um there are those who live under god's curse but this is not speaking of a demonic curse this is speaking of god's curse and a it's god's curse b it's not it's not a demonic curse c the key is repentance not a ritual d it wasn't generational and e they are not redeemed when they're under this curse and you can note you can see that in second peter 2 4 17 and 21 in second peter chapter 2 verses 4 17 and 21 we see that those who are under god's curse curse are not believers this is a punishment for false teachers not a strategy of demonic beings plus nothing says that these false teachers were ever actually saved in the first place we see an example of this again in galatians 1 8 let god's curse fall on anyone including us or even an angel from heaven who preaches a different kind of gospel again god curses false teachers that is not a demonic curse it's god's curse the key is repentance not ritual so that's very different than some of the things you hear about generational curses so i say all that to say that doesn't mean we totally discount some of these teachings guys i just want to um to teach what what the lord led me to teach this is what this is what i teach on spiritual warfare based on the scripture not for any other reason then this is what i believe and this is what i teach so that the people of god might go free so i want to pray with you now and now is the moment now is the moment for deliverance people of god i'm going to pray that god would heal you set you free deliver you from the effects of strongholds the heaviness the fear the paranoia the torment you know dreams that you may be having that's part of the torment but you have to know the truth if it's going to set you free you are the righteousness of god through christ you are a child of god you are filled with the holy spirit what know you not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost you're not your own you are redeemed you are spirit filled you are being sanctified you are justified you are in right standing with god you are seated in heavenly places with christ may these bondages be broken from off of you today now what i want you to do in the comments section right now i want you to begin to write your prayer requests do not please do not be discouraged if i don't read it because there are hundreds of people watching now a couple thousand really who are ready to pray and i want everyone watching to pray for these requests as they come in so you see the requests coming up on on the screen i want you to pray for those people let's believe together and we're going to break the bondage today today today right now it's going to be broken today and then you're going to walk in that freedom then you're going to stay free why because you're going to implement the spiritual disciplines you're not going to wait for your fillings to confirm with the word of god alright i sent such a strong anointing right now wow there's such a strong anointing to break every bondage begin to pray right now come on so father in the name of jesus i thank you lord that you're setting your people free thank you that you're breaking the bondages of the enemy thank you that you're exposing lies we uproot those lies right now in the name of jesus speak freedom right now from deceptive doctrines lord that would even cause us to question our faith the core of our faith lord those doctrines that cause us to believe that jesus isn't the only way i rebuke that now in jesus name expose it lord let us not fall away because of deception come on pray right now in the holy ghost god's doing something [Music] jesus we honor you wow such a strong anointing father i pray you begin to break every bondage [Music] every bondage bondages of depression bondages of intimidation indoctrination confusion lord we break its power now affliction that mental torment goes in the name of jesus god has given you grace i pray lord that with your truth you would silence every lie of the enemy let them know that they're free whom the son sets free is free indeed sometimes it's simply the belief that you're bound that makes you feel bound be set free in the name of jesus you are redeemed you belong to the lord and nothing else the lord owns you you're his possession the holy spirit takes up residence in you we bind the power of the enemy we break the power of the enemy today today that power is broken in the wonderful name of jesus we pray amen all of god's people who agreed said amen amen listen [Music] what wonderful truth the word of god has for us we're going to take your questions in just a moment let me just hear from you in the comment section what are some of the things that are being broken off of you today and write into me write me on instagram send me a message on instagram on facebook send an email to us write your testimony because we want to see how the lord is breaking off bondages from his people by the way you guys are almost at uh 2 000 likes here's what i'll do i'll fill this in since you guys are so close if we get to 2 000 likes while we're live we'll pick a winner i'll fly a couple of you out to one of the services any service you want to go to will fly you out you and a friend and we'll take care of all the accommodations uh so that's if you get to 2000 likes while we're live that's only two away you already get the books coming so let's see about that ministry trip you can come you can come and serve and be a part of the service you can just come and uh maybe steve and i will take you to dinner or something second corinthians chapter nine i'm going to read verses 6 to 12. listen to this scripture and then we're going to take your questions don't go anywhere i want to i want to talk to you second corinthians chapter 9 verses 6 and onward i'll read remember this a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop but the one who plants generously will get a generous crop you must each decide in your heart how much to give and don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure for god loves a person who gives cheerfully now watch this to those who give generously to the gospel this is the promise of scripture and god will generously provide all you need now here's a real key promise then you will always not sometimes then you will always have everything not some things then you will always have everything you need and this is my favorite part and plenty left over to share with others wow verse 10 for god is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat in the same way he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you yes you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous what's the purpose of why god blesses us financially the purpose of god blessing you financially is so that you can be a blessing to others now i know we hear all sorts of things about the world today you hear of economic collapse you hear of things falling apart you hear of this currency weakening and this cryptocurrency taking off and there seems to be so much instability in the world today and because of that instability we can become a little nervous come on we're all human and i think we can all admit we all get a little nervous sometimes when we hear these things but i just want to remind you you can have perfect peace even in the midst of the chaos don't look to the conditions of the world to determine your giving ecclesiastes says that the one who considers the weather will never sow if you're constantly looking around at the world and the conditions you'll never give to the gospel but if you turn your focus instead to god and you see that he's going to supply all your needs not only is he going to meet every need he's going to give you enough left over to share with those around you so he's going to bless you to be a blessing that's prosperity prosperity is being able to bless others imagine having all your needs met and then then being able to buy your neighbors groceries if they're struggling then being able to send money to that orphanage to help house those children being able to help pay for someone's education being able to help pay for someone's hospital bill or maybe someone has a car that broke down and god blesses you and you can get them a new car things like this are why we give because then we can continue to be a blessing god looks at you and he sees your resources and he says ah i can trust that one with more resources so i'm asking you my dear friend spirit family if this message blessed you if you appreciate the content coming out of encounter tv if you want to get behind what we're doing as a ministry and help us continue to create the videos to continue to do the live streams continue to do the events around the world and continue with the holy spirit school then sow into the ministry your gift will go to that and so much more just a general account of the ministry now our events are growing do you know that starting in september we're now switching to conference centers the denver service that's going to be at the aurora denver conference center because churches can't hold what we're doing anymore so now we're switching to conference center so it's going to be a little more money but hey we're widening the the net so we can reach more people so help us do it go right now to david davidhernandezministries.com look i know you love the lord i know you love souls i know you love this ministry you are generous you are giving you are kind and i thank you for that so i need you to go now davidhernandezministries.com and give a one-time gift give something generous because you're giving to jesus really you're saying lord here's my gift because i love you give something generous are there two or three people watching right now who could do a thousand dollars is there one person watching right now who can do ten thousand maybe that's you maybe you're blessed in business and god can and god has given you resources the rest of you do twenty five dollars do fifty dollars do a hundred dollars someone can do 500. these are the amounts we're challenging you to do but give us the lord leads you go and give right now davidhernandezministries.com donate give a one-time gift become a monthly partner or do both we accept gifts from all countries all currencies you just go to that website and the form will adjust the currency to your nation go and give so we can continue doing what we're doing go and give because you believe in this because you want to see souls saved and i will see the names of all the givers come in on my phone those you giving at davidhernandezministries.com donate i'll be able to see them come through thank you to those you giving on the super chat i'll be able to read the names coming in on the the the um the website which goes to my email so david hernandez ministries.com donate don't hold back give to the gospel because you love the gospel stand behind us stand with the thou you know we have thousands of partners all around the world so when you partner with us when you give a one-time gift you're not just joining hands with us you're joining hands with believers from around the globe and i can see those gifts beginning to come in now from all over the world thank you antonio and carmen and pauline and shifto and gina and linda and dolce and valerie i see names coming in from all over the world elizabeth and michelle and daisy thank you thank you thank you for your support we need the people of god to give and to support these one-time gifts and these monthly gifts they really make all the difference in the world thank you for doing this again i need two or three of you watching you have it on your heart you can do it give the gift of a thousand maybe there's one person watching you can do ten and i don't do this often i don't say and this is not a gimmick i'm not saying this because you know i really believe that um it's a special number or anything like that i just i i'm of the impression right now that there's someone watching who can do that and maybe you just needed that little extra nudge maybe you were considering it you needed a little extra nudge this is how we win the spiritual war for souls we back ministries like this this ministry is exploding i mean explosive growth like i think 300 percent growth on youtube alone in the past 40 days that's huge this ministry is going and growing and it only is just getting started thank you carlton for hearing the voice of the lord and giving that very generous gift david and jeremiah and jay and valerie and so many others who are sewing from enya what a beautiful name enya and crystal and so forth and i'll be able to read all these if you're giving you can also give um even if we're not live and i'll still be able to see your name come up on my phone now i want to just real quickly before we get into the q a remind you and and britain we'll leave these events so don't trim these events out we'll leave these in that on friday august 20th we're having our online encounter service that's a miracle service that's geared just toward the online audience that means i'm going to be 100 focused on the online audience that's friday august 20th at 6pm register at davidhernandezministries.com events then sunday august 29th at 6 00 p.m we're going to be in orange california this encounter service is going to be a special impartation service we're going to be praying over and giving away for free bottles of anointing oil don't worry we're not charging for these you can't buy the anointing we're going to give those away for free bottles of anointing oil and then we're going to pray over you anyone who wants hands laid on them we're going to lay hands on you that's going to be a very special service i'll be ministering the word steve will be leading worship and of course the power of the holy spirit will be present to heal deliver and refresh his people and then september 18th and 19th we're coming to denver colorado september 18th and 19th we're coming to the aurora denver conference center that's saturday and sunday two nights saturday night and sunday night don't miss any of these events you can get information about these events or register for any of these events for free we don't charge for entry by going to davidhernandezministries.com events

Channel: Encounter TV

Views: 483,231

Rating: 4.9302921 out of 5

Keywords: How Do I Get Free from Strongholds for Good, how do i get free fomr strongholds for good, how do i get free form strongholds for good, how to destroy strongholds, how to destroy strongholds in your life, spiritual warfare, sermons on spiritual warfare, sermons on deliverance, how to defeat demonic strongholds, how to identify demonic attacks, signs you are under demonic attack, encounter tv, david diga hernandez, david diga hernandez holy spirit, David diga hernandez sermons

Id: RqHC4UbW2MY

Length: 143min 35sec (8615 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 18 2021