In studying Beth Moore’s Breaking Free, I am finding it is
so very helpful to summarize or paraphrase what has been said in her workbook
and in her videos and research further to gain better understanding. So, this
is what she taught in the introductory session video and my research in my own
words.
From the example in Judges 6: 1-6 on Midian’s defeat we can
learn a few things; We, the people of God, can live under great oppression.
Being a Christ-follower does not make us immune to the influences of Satan. He
is the Oppressor and he has two goals for us: to make us unproductive and
impoverished. He wants to make it so you aren’t saying or doing anything that
benefits the Kingdom of God. He wants to suck you dry and keep you from your
true source of nourishment, Jesus Christ. We also can learn from Midian’s
defeat that if we don’t seek freedom, we will seek shelter. What does that
mean? Freedom is found in our surrender to Jesus Christ. He proclaims it and we
have to come and claim it. If we don’t claim freedom in Christ than we will
seek shelter; we will curl up in a ball in the corner of our jail cell that has
the door open wide and not come out. Whatever is keeping us from claiming our
freedom is making us seek shelter and/or comfort and peace through other things
like alcohol, drugs, over-eating, burying ourselves in our work, etc. A
stronghold has kept us in the jail cell and keeps us in isolation.
www.gotquestions.org
tells us what a stronghold is and how to bring it down:
The word strongholds is
found once in the New Testament, used metaphorically by Paul in a description
of the Christian’s spiritual battle: “Though we walk in the flesh, we do not
war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the
flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses [strongholds]” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4, NASB).
1) Our battle is not planned according to the way
this world fights; earthly stratagems are not our concern.
2) Our weapons are not physical, for our warfare is spiritual in nature. Rather than guns and tanks, our weapons are those of the “full armor of God” and consist of “the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:14-17).
3) Our power comes from God alone.
4) God’s plan is to demolish spiritual strongholds.
What are these “strongholds” or “fortifications” we face? In the very next verse, Paul interprets the metaphor: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). The “arguments” are the philosophies, reasonings, and schemes of the world. The “pretensions” have to do with anything proud, man-centered, and self-confident.
Here’s the picture: the Christian, wearing his spiritual armor and bearing his spiritual weapons, sets out to “conquer” the world for Christ, but he soon finds obstacles. The enemy has erected strongly fortified garrisons to resist the Truth and thwart God’s plan of redemption. There is the fortress of human reasoning, reinforced with many subtle arguments and the pretense of logic. There is the castle of passion, with flaming battlements defended by lust, pleasure, and greed. And there is the pinnacle of pride, in which the human heart sits enthroned and revels in thoughts of its own excellence and sufficiency.
The enemy is firmly entrenched; these strongholds have been guarded for thousands of years, presenting a great wall of resistance to the Truth. None of this deters the Christian warrior, however. Using the weapons of God’s choosing, he attacks the strongholds, and by the miraculous power of Christ, the walls are breached, and the bastions of sin and error are battered down. The victorious Christian enters the ruins and leads captive, as it were, every false theory and every human philosophy that had once proudly asserted its independence from God.
2) Our weapons are not physical, for our warfare is spiritual in nature. Rather than guns and tanks, our weapons are those of the “full armor of God” and consist of “the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:14-17).
3) Our power comes from God alone.
4) God’s plan is to demolish spiritual strongholds.
What are these “strongholds” or “fortifications” we face? In the very next verse, Paul interprets the metaphor: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). The “arguments” are the philosophies, reasonings, and schemes of the world. The “pretensions” have to do with anything proud, man-centered, and self-confident.
Here’s the picture: the Christian, wearing his spiritual armor and bearing his spiritual weapons, sets out to “conquer” the world for Christ, but he soon finds obstacles. The enemy has erected strongly fortified garrisons to resist the Truth and thwart God’s plan of redemption. There is the fortress of human reasoning, reinforced with many subtle arguments and the pretense of logic. There is the castle of passion, with flaming battlements defended by lust, pleasure, and greed. And there is the pinnacle of pride, in which the human heart sits enthroned and revels in thoughts of its own excellence and sufficiency.
The enemy is firmly entrenched; these strongholds have been guarded for thousands of years, presenting a great wall of resistance to the Truth. None of this deters the Christian warrior, however. Using the weapons of God’s choosing, he attacks the strongholds, and by the miraculous power of Christ, the walls are breached, and the bastions of sin and error are battered down. The victorious Christian enters the ruins and leads captive, as it were, every false theory and every human philosophy that had once proudly asserted its independence from God.
2)
If this sounds a
lot like Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho, you’re right. What a great
illustration of spiritual truth that story is (Joshua 6)!
Sharing the gospel is not the only time we see resistance. We can also face demonic strongholds in our own lives, in our families, and even in our churches. Anyone who has fought an addiction, struggled with pride, or had to “flee youthful lusts” knows that sin, a lack of faith, and a worldly outlook on life are indeed “strongholds.”
The Lord is building His Church, and the “gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). What we need are Christian soldiers, totally surrendered to the will of the Lord of Hosts, who will use the spiritual weapons He provides. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7).
Sharing the gospel is not the only time we see resistance. We can also face demonic strongholds in our own lives, in our families, and even in our churches. Anyone who has fought an addiction, struggled with pride, or had to “flee youthful lusts” knows that sin, a lack of faith, and a worldly outlook on life are indeed “strongholds.”
The Lord is building His Church, and the “gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). What we need are Christian soldiers, totally surrendered to the will of the Lord of Hosts, who will use the spiritual weapons He provides. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7).
Midian was a nobody according to Scripture. He was the least
likely to be able to bring glory to God but God calls the meek, the low, the
nobodies, the least likelies and He gives them the divine power to demolish the
strongholds; the pride, lust, selfishness, etc.
The journey through breaking down the strongholds will be
hard. You may feel like giving up, you may feel like you can’t take anymore,
you may feel like it is killing you but God knows what you need. Ask him for
the strength and wisdom to help you through this journey and he will fill you
with the abundance of life he so wants to give his beloved child. Reach out
from the corner of your prison towards Jesus who is standing outside the opened
door of your prison with his hand reaching out to you. Reach, reach….keep
reaching…
