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The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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 10:4-5 (NIV)
In this article we’re going to look at the root cause of many people’s difficulty with the whole concept of wealth creation.
THERE’S A BATTLE GOING ON!
Whether we like it or not, when you become a Christian, you enter a battle. Life becomes enjoyable, rewarding and fulfilling, but at the same time the battles, if not won, can cause discouragement, depression and defeat. Joyce Meyer has written an excellent book that has a title telling us exactly where this battleground is. It’s called ‘The Battlefield of the Mind’.
It’s primarily in our thinking where our enemy the Devil wages war with us. And for us to live in complete victory all we need to do is align our thinking with the Word of God and follow through with appropriate actions.
The biggest weapon that our enemy has is ‘the lie’. Jesus himself said of the Devil that “he is a liar and the father of all lies and of all that is false” (John 8:44, AV).
If you are truly ‘in Christ’, then the Devil cannot lay a finger on you without God's say so (which only seems to happen on rare occasions for a higher purpose, e.g. Job). But your enemy’s chief means of reducing your Christian life to defeat is to put lies and deceit in your mind, so that you latch on to a wrong thought process that will ultimately take you away from God's purpose for your life.
On the subject of Christians and wealth, for many people the Devil only has to divert them away from the truths of God's words. But for others he does a special work, leading people far away from the truth and convincing them in their own minds that they are thinking godly thoughts when in fact they are being deceived.
WHAT IS A STRONGHOLD?
When we entertain negative thought patterns and wrong mindsets, over time we will build what the Bible calls a ‘stronghold’.
In Bible times a city was fortified with strong walls running all the way around it – often several metres high. This would protect them from enemy attacks. Furthermore, in the centre of the city, the inhabitants would build a secondary defence in the shape of a tower. This was called a ‘stronghold’. So if the enemy broke through the gates or scaled the walls of the city, it would still have to breakdown the stronghold.
A wise man attacks the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust.
Proverbs 21:22 (NIV)
Many people come to Christ and in some sense allow God to break down the outer walls of their lives. But God wants to invade every area of our lives, and unfortunately, knowingly or not, some strongholds are left standing – in our minds. The stronghold can represent any way of thinking that does not align itself with God’s Word.
SOME WRONG MINDSETS
Here are some wrong mindsets related to Christians and wealth, that if adopted will create strongholds in our minds:
- Those in full time ministry are like the Levites of the Old Testament; they should have no inheritance and shouldn’t be concerned with the things of the world.
- The poorer I am, the more spiritual I am.
- Christianity is about surviving in this evil-ridden world until all things are put right when Jesus returns.
- I should never buy new when second hand will do.
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