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SCRIPTURE – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5                                                                                                                                     SEPTEMBER, 2022

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of STRONG HOLDS;
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

SUBJECT – THOSE DAMN STRONG HOLDS [3]!!!
Last month, when I left off, I said, I will show you how these strong holds, reach all the way to the highest levels of government.

Now, if you have read the first two parts, you have come to realize how, over the decades, family, friends, associates and education have influenced you in to becoming the individual you are today. And, depending on your choices, you are the sum total of all these. They are all part of your DNA, so to speak.

It is that DNA, that guides you in everything you do. And, when I say everything, I mean everything.

As I mentioned earlier, you, being who you are, make choices as to who to associate with, and listen to, among other things.

As a result of this, it is only natural, when it comes to who you choose to give power over your life, and family, you will quite naturally choose other individuals who have what you consider, your best interests at heart.

I doubt very seriously that you would vest this power into someone you were not comfortable with.

This is how life works, and that is the way it is supposed to be.

So, where is the problem???

The problem is rooted in your DNA.

If the family, friends, associates and education that helped make you the man/woman you are today, were corrupted, then, like it or not, you have been corrupted as well.

You must remember, when I say family and friends, I am talking about those that are your inner circle, so to speak. The ones you listen to when you need advice on parts of your life, that may be troublesome. These are the primary ones you put all your faith and trust in. What they say, goes!!

So, with that being the case, when you are not sure about the choice you should make for leadership in your community, their advice helps you make that decision.

Remember when I said, 'Birds of a feather, flock together'?? Well, when you pick a leader, you will inevitably pick someone who thinks just like you. In fact, if anyone of these individuals[family, friends, associates] chose to run for some position that gave them control over you, you would gladly support them.

By the same token, if one of your associates, chose to run for the same position, even if they weren't close to you, if they supported what you believe, you would support them.

Now, the problem we have is this!!

All of us like to presume what we believe is the truth. And as such, it is the best course of action to take in circumstances like this.

Consequently, anything, or anyone that comes along, that shows us that we have been wrong in our decision making processes, is to be rejected outright.

And, why is this???

Because if that is the case, that means, not only are you wrong, but all of those family and friends, have been wrong as well. And, given what the ramifications of those wrong decisions might be, you might be hard pressed to change your way of thinking[DNA].

On small, insignificant issues, you might not have that big of a problem changing your way of thinking. You know, like what types of furniture, houses, or cars to buy, or some other things like that.

However, as I mentioned, when it comes to control over your life, that is a whole different ball game.

So, if you take in to consideration the fact that all of us, have gone through this same process, then you can see how we have been molded in to the individuals we are.

Well, with some of us, this condition has another characteristic, and that is being one that is a leader.

Not all of us desire to be in this position. As it is often said, some are leaders, and others are followers.

Those with the desire to lead, do so because they believe that what they have as a foundation, is something that, if everyone else were able to grasp what they see as a solution to the problems that are facing us, then everything would come out just fine.

So, when they get up and espouse their ideas to others, those that are like minded, will get behind them. This then, puts them in the position of leader.

The more people that get behind them, the more influential they become. The more influential they become, the more others begin to take notice of them and their ideas, and figure how they can get them in the position of taking their message to the city, state, and even the nation.

Thus, we have the makings of a politician.

Now, I am not going to go in to detail of how the political scene goes. But suffice it to say, every politician, has gone through the exact same process you have, and like it or not, the fate not only of our lives, but this nation's survival is in the hands of these individuals, many of whom are walking disasters.

Now, as I also mentioned earlier, if you will look at the subject verse, the Christian, is called on, to begin essentially tearing down, and ignoring everything in their DNA, that goes against what God says.

You see, up until such time as you have come to Christ, the major influences on your life, and in your DNA, have been people, and a system that for whatever reason, have been leading you away from God through Jesus Christ.

When you come to Him, He is to take the place of all of them. He is to be your parent, sibling, educator, doctor lawyer and everything else. In short, you will have to get a complete makeover.

Your DNA will have to be changed.

Jesus puts it like this, 2Cor 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: OLD THINGS are passed away; behold, ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW.

This is what is known as being 'BORN AGAIN!!'

But, as I said earlier. This is by no means an easy thing to do, especially when it comes to choosing to go against family and friends.

Associates, and groups, might be easier to break away from. But, even here, major problems may arise when you make it appear that they are wrong in their way of thinking.

If you really think about it, how did you feel when someone told you that you needed a change in your DNA?? That your whole thought process was wrong??? You didn't like it, did you??? Now, here you are essentially telling all these people that helped make you the person you are today, that they were all wrong.

What do you think their response would be??? They will most likely go on the attack against you. It could come as verbal, but could be physical. It all depends on the individual.

This is where the stronghold of FEAR, comes in.

Fear, is by far the strongest motivator to keep people from doing something. It also can have the opposite effect in making some people do things that under normal circumstances, they wouldn't even think of doing.

The main reason for this is because it deals with the unknown. And who is willing to just run off and face the unknown, without reservation?? Very few.

However, if you look at life's lessons, and how it, was an unknown to you, until your parents, and other family members guided you through it, you will see that you had no problem because you trusted them to be there for you, if you needed them.

Now, here is Jesus, telling you to Trust Him, and do as He directs you, with the assurances that He will always be there for you, but yet, you are worried about what family and friends might say, think or do.

There's that damn stronghold again!!

Well, let's look at it from the other perspective. What will Jesus say, think or do if you make your decision based on what those others think??

Jesus gives us a clear direction when He says, Mat. 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

What He is saying here is, if you are more concerned about what family thinks, than what He says, then, you have no part in Him.

The reason being, in order to be in Christ, you have to be willing to get rid of anything that He disapproves of, period.

As the Bible puts it, He is Holy and Righteous. There is no sin/darkness, in Him. 1John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that GOD IS LIGHT, and IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS/SIN AT ALL.

Turn on a light in your house and look at the bulb. Do you see any dark spots in the light coming from that bulb?? Of course not. Light, and darkness can't occupy the same space at the same time. That is natural law.

Yet, far too many Christians want to bring their darkness/sin, with them, in to Christ!! That's not going to happen!! No one is going to corrupt Him!!

If you go back and look at the life of Christ, you will see, time and again how the Devil, and religious folks tried to corrupt Him, and He rejected them all.

Now, here is the disturbing part.

Today, we have preachers that are painting a picture of Christ as being exactly that. As a result, many souls are now in hell because some blind, or corrupt preacher led them to believe that they can be in Christ while still actively operating in darkness.

You have heard Christians say that you can 'come as you are!!'

This term has been used for as long as I can remember. And though true, it is meant for all to come to the place where they can be cleansed, as opposed to cleaning themselves up first before coming there.

The only way to be cleansed of sin/darkness, is to come to the One that can cleanse you, and make you presentable to enter in to Heaven.

So, what we have is a misinterpretation of that saying.

And the only way this happens is, the DNA of the person using it, has caused them to see it that way.

I hear many people quoting scriptures, to justify what they are doing when actually they have a corrupt interpretation of what that scripture actually means.

When I hear people giving reasons as to why it is wrong to judge, how we should show the love of Christ, how no one is perfect, seeking peace with our neighbor and others that appear to give justification to living in darkness, I am listening to spiritual ignorance, rooted and grounded in the DNA of those individuals. And, it comes from family and friends, who got their beliefs from preachers.

When it comes to peace for instance, look at this passage of scripture concerning family,

[Mat. 10:34-36]Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

This is followed by the verse I used earlier about loving father or mother, more than Jesus.

But, as I mentioned in part 1, parents and friends were not intentionally giving you the wrong information, as much as it was, they thought it was right based on who they got it from.

With all things being considered, you can see why we have the mess we have in this nation, and especially the black community. All these strongholds. And, we need to get rid of any of them that conflict with what Jesus Christ says.

Do you need a DNA makeover???

Time is running out for all of us. Tomorrow, next week, a year or so from now, of maybe the next minute. Who knows?? Better get it done, NOW!!!



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