Tag Archives: Abraham

Stronghold Part 6 – The Stronghold of Confusion/Doubt and Unbelief

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This list is NOT exhaustive, so you may encounter a stronghold or symptoms that aren’t listed.

You can recognize that a stronghold exists when any of the symptoms produced by that spirit are HABITUALLY PRESENT.

CONFUSION/DOUBT & UNBELIEF
Suspicious
Apprehensive
Indecisive/Double-minded
Skeptical
Unsettled
Easily Distracted
Lack of Commitment
No Love of Truth
Distorted Judgment

CONFUSION, n.

1. In a general sense, a mixture of several things promiscuously; hence, disorder; irregularity; as the confusion of tongues at Babel.

2. Tumult; want of order in society.

The whole city was filled with confusion. Acts 19.

God is not the author of confusion. 1 Corinthians. 14.

3. A blending or confounding; indistinct combination; opposed to distinctness or perspicuity; as a confusion of ideas.

4. Abashment; shame.

O Lord, let me never be put to confusion. Psalm 71.

We lie in shame and our confusion covereth us. Jeremiah 3.

5. Astonishment; agitation; perturbation; distraction of mind.

Confusion dwelt in every face.

6. Overthrow; defeat; ruin.

The makers of idols shall go to confusion together. Isaiah 45.

7. A shameful blending of natures, a shocking crime. Leviticus 18:23, 20:12.

DOUBT, v.i. dout. L., G.

1. To waver or fluctuate in opinion; to hesitate; to be in suspense; to be in uncertainty; to be in suspense; to be in uncertainty, respecting the truth or fact; to be undetermined.

Even in matters divine, concerning some things, we may lawfully doubt and suspend our judgment.

So we say, I doubt whether it is proper; I doubt whether I shall go; sometimes with of, as we doubt of a fact.

2. To fear; to be apprehensive; to suspect.

I doubt theres deep resentment in his mind.

DOUBT, v.t. dout.

1. To question, or hold questionable; to withhold assent from; to hesitate to believe; as, I have heard the story, but I doubt the truth of it.

2. To fear; to suspect.

If they turn not back perverse; but that I doubt.

3. To distrust; to withhold confidence from; as, to doubt our ability to execute an office.

Tadmire superior sense, and doubt their own.

4. To fill with fear.

DOUBT, n. Dout.

1. A fluctuation of mind respecting truth or propriety, arising from defect of knowledge or evidence; uncertainty of mind; suspense; unsettled state of opinion; as, to have doubts respecting the theory of the tides.

Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. Genesis 37.

2. Uncertainty of condition.

Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee. Deuteronomy 28.

3. Suspicion; fear; apprehension.

I stand in doubt of you. Galatians 4.

4. Difficulty objected.

To every doubt your answer is the same.

5. Dread; horror and danger.

UNBELIE’F, n.

1. Incredulity; the withholding of belief; as, unbelief is blind.

2. Infidelity; disbelief of divine revelation.

3. In the New Testament, disbelief of the truth of the gospel, rejection of Christ as the Savior of men, and of the doctrines he taught; distrust of God’s promises and faithfulness, &c. Matt. 13. Mark 16. Heb. 3. Rom. 4.

4. Weak faith. Mark 9.

The stronghold of confusion, and doubt & unbelief is common among Christians
who try to live out their faith solely through their MIND rather than through
their spirit. They believe that if they can parrot the right verses and spout the accepted denominational doctrine, they’re fine with God.

Confusion, and doubt and unbelief are a major factor in why there are over
22,000 competing denominations today. This stronghold causes people to approach God through their mind, not the Spirit.

You may remember that the earliest followers of Jesus got noticed because their
trust caused them to pray with certainty. And that’s what trust is — CERTAINTY in
the unseen spiritual realm of our Lord and His faithfulness.

If you aren’t experiencing the confirming and empowering work of the Holy Spirit
in your life, then consider that some of the symptoms of this stronghold may be causing confusion and doubt in you.

Read these Bible scriptures about the importance of not giving in to doubt because “nothing is too hard for God”. Jesus said that “blessed are those that believe without seeing me”, so don’t let the stronghold of doubt come in and stop you from receiving your blessings.

Genesis 17:15-21

God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.  I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”  Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”  And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”  Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.  And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.  But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”
Genesis 18:10-14 10 And he said , I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying , After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also ? 13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh , saying , Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old ? 14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
John 20:24-29 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came . 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe . 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut , and stood in the midst, and said , Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen , and yet have believed .

James 1:5-8 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering . For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed . 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

More examples here.

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Strongholds Part 2 – The stronghold of Deceit

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This list is NOT exhaustive, so you may encounter a stronghold or symptoms that aren’t listed.

 

You can recognize that a stronghold exists when any of the symptoms produced by that spirit are HABITUALLY PRESENT.

 

DECEIT

Lying
Fantasies
Delusions
Rationalization
Wrong Doctrine/
Misuse of Scripture
Flattery
Syncretism

 

de·ceit/diˈsēt/

Noun:
  1. The action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth.
  2. A dishonest act or statement.
Synonyms:
deception – fraud – cheat – trickery – trick – guile

 

 

Acts 5:3But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

 

Ananias died because of a lie. The question was, “what made you do such a thing?” A Demon of deceit. Ananias was in such agreement with a demon of deceit that his heart was full of guile. Demons promote bible illiteracy, ignorance, foolishness, as part of protecting their lies.

Romans 1:24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

 

Psalm 63:11But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

 

Revelation 12:9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

 

A lie is a powerful thing once it’s believed. A lie has the power to drag people to hell without much effort from Satan. He gained dominion over this planet through one lie. Most of us live in lies. Our social status is a lie. Our marriage is a lie.

 

The first stronghold, DECEIT, is both powerful and prevalent.

Deceit is the very essence of the devil. Jesus Christ wants us to know that, “When [Satan] lies, he speaks his native language, for he’s a DECEIVER and the
FATHER of lies.” (John 8:44)

Satan deceived Eve to sin. And our Adversary has used deceit ever since to entice people down a path of destruction.

Go over each symptom under this stronghold very carefully. If you hear a
rationalizing voice in your mind trying to convince you that a particular symptom
DOESN’T APPLY to you, it most likely does.
There’s a strong connection between the stronghold of deceit and your sin nature.

It produces a lying assumption that there’s an area of your life that can NEVER CHANGE.

Any time you believe an aspect of your character is UNCHANGEABLE, you’re
letting yourself be deceived.

The stronghold of Deceit also masks over other strongholds. In this way people are
attracted to one another by their common stronghold that’s hidden by deceit.

 

When Satan is in charge, deception is chosen over truth.  He cannot build on truth. So Demons hate the truth. If you are having a hard time understanding the word of God, a demon is blocking you. Bind deception and you will begin to see and hear and understand the truth.  Truth is Jesus Christ. He said, I am the truth. He did not say, I have the truth, but I am the Truth.  And to His people he commanded: You shall not bear false witness. You shall not lie. You shall not deceive.

Truth and demons cannot co-exist. Where there is truth, every demon is uprooted. What you know about the truth will set you free.  What most people don’t understand is that Satan will at times tell you half truths, little truths, but not the whole truth.

Demons work hard to make sure you heed their lies at whatever cost.

 

1 Timothy 4:1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

 

 

Satan cannot speak the truth. He is the father of lies. And a father protects, nourishes, and sustains something. Satan protects every lie, he nourishes every lie on the earth, and he sustains every lie. He is not only a liar but the father of lies. If you like to lie, you belong to a different father.

 

John 8:34Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 37I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 38I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

39They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. 42Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

 

 

Upcoming: Stronghold Part 3 – Bitterness

 

 

 

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Seven Dispensations – My Study Reference

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Dr. Scofield defines a dispensation as a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God. He teaches in the Scofield Bible that there are Seven Dispensations: (1) The Dispensation of Innocency: before the Fall; (2) The Dispensation of Conscience: before the Flood; (3) The Dispensation of Human Government; (4) The Dispensation of Promise: from the calling of Abraham until Mt. Sinai; (5) The Dispensation of the Law: from Mt. Sinai to the cross of Christ; (6) The Dispensation of Grace: from the cross of Christ to the Second Advent; (7) The Dispensation of the Kingdom: the Millennium.

A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God. Seven such dispensations are distinguished in Scripture.

The First Dispensation: Innocency. Man was created in innocency, placed in a perfect environment, subjected to an absolutely simple test, and warned of the consequence of disobedience. The woman fell through pride; the man deliberately. 1 Timothy 2:14 God restored His sinning creatures, but the dispensation of innocency ended in the judgment of the Expulsion Genesis 3:24

The Second Dispensation: Conscience. By disobedience man came to a personal and experimental knowledge of good and evil–of good as obedience, of evil as disobedience to the known will of God. Through that knowledge conscience awoke. Expelled from Eden and placed under the second, or ADAMIC COVENANT, man was responsible to do all known good, to abstain from all known evil, and to approach God through sacrifice. The result of this second testing of man is stated in Genesis 6:5 and the dispensation ended in the judgment of the Flood. Apparently “the east of the garden” Genesis 3:24 where were the cherubims and the flame, remained the place of worship through this second dispensation.

The Third Dispensation: Human Government. Under Conscience, as in Innocency, man utterly failed, and the judgment of the Flood marks the end of the second dispensation and the beginning of the third. The declaration of the Noahic Covenant subjects humanity to a new test. Its distinctive feature is the institution, for the first time, of human government–the government of man by man. The highest function of government is the judicial taking of life. All other governmental powers are implied in that. It follows that the third dispensation is distinctively that of human government. Man is responsible to govern the world for God. That responsibility rested upon the whole race, Jew and Gentile, until the failure of Israel under the Palestinian Covenant (Deu 28.- 30:1-10 ) brought the judgment of the Captivities, when “the times of the Gentiles” (See) ; Luke 21:24 ; Revelation 16:14 began, and the government of the world passed exclusively into Gentile hands ; Daniel 2:36-45 ; Luke 21:24 ; Acts 15:14-17 . That both Israel and the Gentiles have governed for self, not God, is sadly apparent. The judgment of the confusion of tongues ended the racial testing; that of the captivities the Jewish; while the Gentile testing will end in the smiting of the Image (Da 2.) and the judgment of the nations Matthew 25:31-46 .

The Fourth Dispensation: Promise. For Abraham, and his descendants it is evident that the Abrahamic Covenant (See Scofield “Genesis 15:18“) made a great change. They became distinctively the heirs of promise. That covenant is wholly gracious and unconditional. The descendants of Abraham had but to abide in their own land to inherit every blessing. In Egypt they lost their blessings, but not their covenant. The Dispensation of Promise ended when Israel rashly accepted the law Exodus 19:8 . Grace had prepared a deliverer (Moses), provided a sacrifice for the guilty, and by divine power brought them out of bondage Exodus 19:4 but at Sinai they exchanged grace for law. The Dispensation of Promise extends from Genesis 12:1 to Exodus 19:8, and was exclusively Israelitish. The dispensation must be distinguished from the covenant. The former is a mode of testing; the latter is everlasting because unconditional. The law did not abrogate the Abrahamic Covenant Galatians 3:15-18 but was an intermediate disciplinary dealing “till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made” ; Galatians 3:19-29 ; 4:1-7 . Only the dispensation, as a testing of Israel, ended at the giving of the law.

The Fifth Dispensation: Law. This dispensation extends from Sinai to Calvary–from Exodus to the Cross. The history of Israel in the wilderness and in the land is one long record of the violation of the law. The testing of the nation by law ended in the judgment of the Captivities, but the dispensation itself ended at the Cross.

(1) Man’s state at the beginning Exodus 19:1-4 .

(2) His responsibility Exodus 19:5 Exodus 19:6 ; Romans 10:5 .

(3) His failure 2 Kings 17:7-17 2 Kings 17:19 ; Acts 2:22 Acts 2:23 .

(4) The judgment 2 Kings 17:1-6 2 Kings 17:20 ; 25:1-11 ; Luke 21:20-24

 

The Sixth Dispensation:  As a dispensation, grace begins with the death and resurrection of Christ Romans 3:24-26 Romans 4:24 Romans 4:25 . The point of testing is no longer legal obedience as the condition of salvation, but acceptance or rejection of Christ, with good works as a fruit of salvation, ; John 1:12 John 1:13 ; 3:36 ; Matthew 21:37 ; 22:24 ; John 15:22 John 15:25 ; Hebrews 1:2 ; 1 John 5:10-12 . The immediate result of this testing was the rejection of Christ by the Jews, and His crucifixion by Jew and Gentile Acts 4:27 . The predicted end of the testing of man under grace is the apostasy of the professing church: See “Apostasy” (See Scofield “2 Timothy 3:1“) 2 Timothy 3:1-8 and the resultant apocalyptic judgments.

(3) Grace has a twofold manifestation: in salvation Romans 3:24 and in the walk and service of the saved Romans 6:15 .

The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. This, the seventh and last of the ordered ages which condition human life on the earth, is identical with the kingdom covenanted to David. 2 Samuel 7:8-17 ; Zechariah 12:8

Summary;

Luke 1:31-33 ; 1 Corinthians 15:24, and gathers into itself under Christ all past “times”:

(1) The time of oppression and misrule ends by Christ taking His kingdom. Isaiah 11:3 Isaiah 11:4 .

(2) The time of testimony and divine forbearance ends in judgment. Matthew 25:31-46 ; Acts 17:30 Acts 17:31 ; Revelation 20:7-15 .

(3) The time of toil ends in rest and reward. 2 Thessalonians 1:6 2 Thessalonians 1:7 .

(4) The time of suffering ends in glory. Romans 8:17 Romans 8:18 .

(5) The time of Israel’s blindness and chastisement ends in restoration and conversion. Romans 11:25-27 ; Ezekiel 39:25-29 .

(6) The times of the Gentiles end in the smiting of the image and the setting up of the kingdom of the heavens. Daniel 2:34 Daniel 2:35 ; Revelation 19:15-21 .

(7) The time of creation’s thraldom ends in deliverance at the manifestation of the sons of God. Genesis 3:17 ; Isaiah 11:6-8 ; Romans 8:19-21 .

 

“All dispensational distinctions in the Bible are important but it is especially important to learn about our present dispensation because this enables us to distinguish our identity as members of the Body of Christ with teachings that God has put into His written Word specifically about us.  Through dispensational Bible study we understand why things aren’t the same in all parts of the Bible, many so called “contradictions” are eliminated, and we enjoy allowing the Bible mean what it says without thinking events in the Bible can only be true if they can now be duplicated.  Without this knowledge we cannot benefit as we should from the dispensational teachings of grace that God has provided for our knowledge, obedience and joy.  Let us study to show ourselves approved unto God as workmen who need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” via Light From the Bible