Hope for the Heart Part 30 - Strongholds

by Gail Rodgers
“Why are you so negative?” The question had surprised Lindsey. She told me how her private thoughts had fallen into a negative pattern. She knew it was beginning to show in her actions and her relationships.

Thoughts that we allow to persist in our minds create strongholds that are reflected in our behavior. A stronghold is a fortress or a defense.
Pay attention to your thought patterns. What path does your mind run down?

• Paths of praise to God?
• Paths of worry or fear?
• Paths of criticism or cynicism?
• Negative thoughts about yourself, those around you or your circumstances?

When we ask God to help us keep our thoughts centered on His power and His principles and priorities it gives our life a security that is found in nothing else. The Bible says He will be the fortress of our life as we navigate the turns and twists of the journey we are each on.

“The Lord is the stronghold of my life.” (Psalm 27:1)

Thoughts that are centered on fear, worry, criticism, cynicism or simply just on ourselves will build strongholds of another kind in our lives. These fortresses actually build a defense against God in our hearts and minds. They move us away from trust in God. We are reminded to be alert to thoughts that do this.

“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 10:3 – 5)

When we become aware of where our thoughts are taking us we can choose the path we will go down. God’s Word says that He gives divine power to demolish the strongholds of thinking that move us away from trusting God and His power in our lives.
Guard your thoughts. Pay attention to what road they take you down. Let the Lord be the stronghold of your life!
prayer & reflection

Father God,
I confess that many of my thought patterns create ruts in my thinking and move me away from trusting You. Help me today to be aware of these thought patterns and to capture them and turn my thinking to You and Your power and strength in my life. I desire You to be the stronghold of my life, Lord! Help me to be transformed by the renewing of my mind today.
In the strong name of Jesus I pray, Amen.