WEBVTT 00:00:11.369 --> 00:00:14.310 Today, from guest teacher Kyle Eidelman. The 00:00:14.310 --> 00:00:17.550 stronghold in the ancient world was this fortress. 00:00:17.670 --> 00:00:20.230 It was built on the highest and most defensible 00:00:20.230 --> 00:00:23.370 point in the city. It had thick walls, reinforced 00:00:23.370 --> 00:00:27.250 gates. It was designed to be impenetrable. It 00:00:27.250 --> 00:00:29.329 was considered to be too strong to be brought 00:00:29.329 --> 00:00:33.009 down. And Paul uses this language to talk about 00:00:33.009 --> 00:00:38.109 the thoughts that are on repeat in our minds. 00:00:40.329 --> 00:00:42.950 Is there a lie you've believed for so long it 00:00:42.950 --> 00:00:46.030 just feels like who you are? I've always been 00:00:46.030 --> 00:00:48.950 an anxious person. I'm not worthy of love. I 00:00:48.950 --> 00:00:51.789 always mess things up. Well, those thoughts aren't 00:00:51.789 --> 00:00:54.789 just habits. They're strongholds. The good news 00:00:54.789 --> 00:00:58.090 is they can be torn down. Today on Living on 00:00:58.090 --> 00:01:00.630 the Edge, Chip Ingram brings to the stage guest 00:01:00.630 --> 00:01:03.250 teacher Kyle Eidelman for an important lesson 00:01:03.250 --> 00:01:07.030 on keeping every thought captive and why strongholds 00:01:07.030 --> 00:01:10.409 must fall. Here's Chip Ingram to introduce today's 00:01:10.409 --> 00:01:12.930 guest teacher. This whole series is about something 00:01:12.930 --> 00:01:16.230 that happens inside your mind and my mind, and 00:01:16.230 --> 00:01:19.250 that life change actually happens, and the root 00:01:19.250 --> 00:01:22.329 of all life change is in our thinking. And so 00:01:22.329 --> 00:01:24.989 we need to get the truth in our mind. What I 00:01:24.989 --> 00:01:27.829 love about Kyle's teaching in this series is 00:01:27.829 --> 00:01:31.450 I know Kyle. He's authentic. He's real. He's 00:01:31.450 --> 00:01:34.430 sharing real life stuff that you struggle with, 00:01:34.489 --> 00:01:37.250 I struggle with. And then he helps us learn through 00:01:37.250 --> 00:01:40.269 scripture and science how to put into practice 00:01:40.269 --> 00:01:45.450 taking every thought captive so that the Spirit 00:01:45.450 --> 00:01:48.329 of God can take the Word of God in the context 00:01:48.329 --> 00:01:51.390 of community and see those areas that need to 00:01:51.390 --> 00:01:54.349 change in your life and my life become a reality. 00:01:54.650 --> 00:01:57.189 Today's message from Kyle Eidelman is titled, 00:01:57.349 --> 00:02:01.000 Strongholds Must Fall. There are some strongholds 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:03.519 in your life that maybe you didn't choose. They 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:05.879 were handed down to you. Maybe it wasn't purposeful, 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:08.400 but here you are. There's some thoughts you've 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:11.819 been thinking that control so much of who you 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:14.580 are. Your emotions, your relationships, your 00:02:14.580 --> 00:02:16.979 spiritual journey in ways that you don't fully 00:02:16.979 --> 00:02:20.599 see are being controlled by a stronghold, a lie 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:22.840 that you've believed and you're living your life 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:25.629 by. But because of the power of Jesus and the 00:02:25.629 --> 00:02:27.930 power of the Holy Spirit, that stronghold can 00:02:27.930 --> 00:02:31.689 fall today. Paul writes about this in 2 Corinthians 00:02:31.689 --> 00:02:35.449 chapter 10. He says, for though we live in the 00:02:35.449 --> 00:02:38.849 world, we do not wage war as the world does. 00:02:38.949 --> 00:02:41.250 So there is a war we're a part of, may not seem 00:02:41.250 --> 00:02:42.969 like it, it may not feel like it. You might be 00:02:42.969 --> 00:02:44.569 treating your life like it's on a playground, 00:02:44.849 --> 00:02:47.710 but it's really on a battleground. And the weapons 00:02:47.710 --> 00:02:50.270 we fight with are not the weapons of the world. 00:02:50.430 --> 00:02:53.830 On the contrary, the weapons we fight with, they 00:02:53.830 --> 00:02:57.669 have divine power to demolish strongholds, these 00:02:57.669 --> 00:03:01.069 spiritual weapons that we've been given. So we 00:03:01.069 --> 00:03:03.729 demolish arguments and every pretension that 00:03:03.729 --> 00:03:05.629 sets itself up against the knowledge of God. 00:03:05.689 --> 00:03:08.789 And here it is, we take captive every thought 00:03:08.789 --> 00:03:10.830 and we make it obedient to Christ. And so we're 00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:12.689 in this series called Every Thought Captive. 00:03:12.750 --> 00:03:15.129 And what we're learning together is that our 00:03:15.129 --> 00:03:18.150 thoughts shape our lives. They determine so much 00:03:18.150 --> 00:03:21.780 of who we are and God will transform us. when 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:24.740 we align our thoughts with him. How do we do 00:03:24.740 --> 00:03:26.460 that? Well, we take our thoughts captive. It 00:03:26.460 --> 00:03:28.520 doesn't just mean we stop thinking certain things. 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:31.020 It means we identify thoughts we've been thinking 00:03:31.020 --> 00:03:34.120 and we wrestle them to the ground and we interrogate 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:37.020 them and we ask ourselves some questions about 00:03:37.020 --> 00:03:38.860 the thoughts we've been thinking. Where did that 00:03:38.860 --> 00:03:41.759 thought come from? Why do I think this way? What's 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:45.740 the result of this thought in my life? Who do 00:03:45.740 --> 00:03:47.939 I know that maybe thought this way where I picked 00:03:47.939 --> 00:03:50.659 up on it from them? And we start to interrogate 00:03:50.659 --> 00:03:52.400 our thoughts so that we can take them captive. 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:56.419 Because otherwise, our thoughts form these neural 00:03:56.419 --> 00:03:58.879 pathways that become strongholds. And that's 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:01.319 the word Paul uses here as a word picture. A 00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:04.800 stronghold. And in ancient days, that word picture 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:07.639 would have been immediately understood. A stronghold. 00:04:08.300 --> 00:04:10.620 In the ancient world was this fortress. It was 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:13.099 built on the highest and most defensible point 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:16.279 in the city. It had thick walls, reinforced gates. 00:04:16.420 --> 00:04:19.920 It was designed to be impenetrable. It was considered 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.939 to be too strong to be brought down. And Paul 00:04:22.939 --> 00:04:26.800 uses this language to talk about the thoughts 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:32.800 that are on repeat in our minds. These lies that 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:36.639 we are living our lives by. Strongholds that 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:40.329 are so entrenched. And so fortified, they seem 00:04:40.329 --> 00:04:42.649 impossible to defeat. And so what we're gonna 00:04:42.649 --> 00:04:44.629 do in the next few minutes is we're gonna diagnose 00:04:44.629 --> 00:04:47.089 some strongholds in your life and in my life. 00:04:47.170 --> 00:04:49.490 And I'm gonna spend a little bit more time doing 00:04:49.490 --> 00:04:51.870 some diagnostic work than I might usually do. 00:04:51.990 --> 00:04:54.069 Because the thing about strongholds is they've 00:04:54.069 --> 00:04:55.889 been a part for many of us. They've been a part 00:04:55.889 --> 00:04:58.509 of our lives for so long. We have a hard time 00:04:58.509 --> 00:05:00.350 seeing them. We have a hard time identifying 00:05:00.350 --> 00:05:03.850 them. They just feel a part of who we are. So 00:05:03.850 --> 00:05:06.470 first let's talk about some. characteristics 00:05:06.470 --> 00:05:08.670 of a stronghold, how you know you're dealing 00:05:08.670 --> 00:05:11.009 with a stronghold. One, they feel unassailable. 00:05:11.930 --> 00:05:13.750 You know you're dealing with a stronghold, but 00:05:13.750 --> 00:05:16.750 you'll use language like this. You'll say, nah, 00:05:16.949 --> 00:05:19.990 it's just the way I am. It's just how I feel. 00:05:21.389 --> 00:05:24.529 I've always been this way. It's just how I think. 00:05:25.449 --> 00:05:28.250 And when you find yourself using identity language 00:05:28.250 --> 00:05:34.420 to excuse a behavior or routine in your life, 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:37.660 it's a good chance you're dealing with a stronghold. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:39.639 So here's what it looks like. You say, I know 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:43.060 I shouldn't worry so much, but you got to understand, 00:05:43.139 --> 00:05:45.100 I've always been an anxious person. It's just 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:49.079 the way I'm wired. Stronghold. I know I shouldn't 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:51.259 be such a slave to some of my sexual desires, 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:53.540 but I just feel like that's the way God made 00:05:53.540 --> 00:05:57.120 me. Stronghold. When you hear yourself making 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:00.379 statements like this, you are identifying a stronghold. 00:06:00.420 --> 00:06:02.500 It's something that's become so entrenched in 00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:05.240 your identity that changing it feels impossible. 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:08.060 It's just who you are. Second characteristic 00:06:08.060 --> 00:06:11.180 of a stronghold is they're built on lies. A stronghold 00:06:11.180 --> 00:06:13.800 is a lie that we live our lives by. And so every 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:18.139 stronghold has at its foundation, a lie that 00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:21.699 we've bought into. And I'm gonna give you just 00:06:21.699 --> 00:06:24.120 three categories of lies that tend to make up 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:26.139 strongholds. These are broad categories and I'll 00:06:26.139 --> 00:06:28.839 give you some examples for each category of lies. 00:06:29.019 --> 00:06:32.180 There are lies about God. He doesn't really care 00:06:32.180 --> 00:06:35.839 about me. Look, if you believe this lie, if this 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:39.500 thought is a stronghold for you, I mean, it's 00:06:39.500 --> 00:06:41.899 gonna affect your spiritual life in every way. 00:06:42.339 --> 00:06:44.579 If you are convinced that that, yeah, there's 00:06:44.579 --> 00:06:46.980 a God, but he doesn't care about me. Or if God 00:06:46.980 --> 00:06:50.220 loved me, my life would be easier. Or I've messed 00:06:50.220 --> 00:06:52.459 up too much for God to forgive me. So there's 00:06:52.459 --> 00:06:54.319 these lies about God. Another category would 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:58.259 be lies about yourself. Just thoughts that you've 00:06:58.259 --> 00:07:00.720 thought about yourself so much, it's created 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:02.720 the stronghold. Like I'm not worthy of love. 00:07:03.899 --> 00:07:06.060 And maybe that comes from some abandonment or 00:07:06.060 --> 00:07:09.480 some rejection when you were young and that got 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:12.800 established in your life. And now that stronghold, 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:15.319 I mean, you filter almost everything through 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:18.410 this. Lie, I'm not worthy of love. Or I always 00:07:18.410 --> 00:07:21.569 mess things up or I'm too broken to be used by 00:07:21.569 --> 00:07:24.870 God. Stronghold of shame. Another category of 00:07:24.870 --> 00:07:28.689 lies would be lies about life. I have to control 00:07:28.689 --> 00:07:31.129 everything or it'll fall apart. Like if it's 00:07:31.129 --> 00:07:33.629 not done my way, it won't be done. I've got to 00:07:33.629 --> 00:07:35.649 be in charge of everything. And the thought of 00:07:35.649 --> 00:07:39.720 you not controlling something. Just has created 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:42.459 all kinds of anxiety. My desires are meant to 00:07:42.459 --> 00:07:44.420 be satisfied. I wouldn't have this desire if 00:07:44.420 --> 00:07:47.319 it didn't have to be satisfied. It's just how 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:51.060 I feel. I can't trust anyone. You have these 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:55.199 lies that have become a stronghold in your life. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:58.300 Now look, the enemy is brilliant at mixing just 00:07:58.300 --> 00:08:01.680 enough truth with lies to make it believable. 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:05.990 So yeah, you've made mistakes. That's true. What's 00:08:05.990 --> 00:08:07.769 not true is that that means you're worthless. 00:08:08.569 --> 00:08:11.389 Yeah, life can be difficult. That's true. Life 00:08:11.389 --> 00:08:13.889 can be really hard. What's not true is it doesn't 00:08:13.889 --> 00:08:16.189 mean God doesn't care about you. And yeah, people 00:08:16.189 --> 00:08:18.089 will disappoint you for sure. They'll disappoint 00:08:18.089 --> 00:08:20.430 you. That doesn't mean that nobody can be trusted. 00:08:20.610 --> 00:08:23.009 And here's what a stronghold will do. A stronghold 00:08:23.009 --> 00:08:25.670 will take a kernel of truth and then build a 00:08:25.670 --> 00:08:29.410 fortress of lies around it. Third characteristic 00:08:29.410 --> 00:08:32.879 of a stronghold is they resist truth. One of 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:35.059 the ways you know you're up against a stronghold 00:08:35.059 --> 00:08:38.440 is you hear a truth that should be freeing and 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:40.820 instead it feels threatening. And so you hear 00:08:40.820 --> 00:08:43.299 these truths about God's provision and you're 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:45.139 threatened by it. You're immediately defensive 00:08:45.139 --> 00:08:47.580 and you're like, well, that's not how it's gonna 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:49.480 work for me. That's not gonna apply that way 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:51.360 in my life. Or you hear somebody give a testimony 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:54.500 about God's faithfulness and you immediately 00:08:54.500 --> 00:08:57.519 say, well, he can't work things out for the good 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:00.100 in my life and things are too broken. It's too 00:09:00.100 --> 00:09:03.440 late for that. You hear God, God's words speak 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:06.519 on a subject that's really personal, like sexuality 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:10.159 or money. And you're immediately defensive about 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:12.580 it. You immediately resist. That's how you know 00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:16.279 you're up against a stronghold. Truth should 00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:18.919 feel liberating. The truth is what sets you free. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:21.799 Truth should feel liberating. So when truth feels 00:09:21.799 --> 00:09:25.600 threatening, stronghold. It's because it's coming 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:28.039 up against this stronghold in your life. Four, 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:31.279 they govern our behavior. Strongholds don't just 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:33.840 affect how you think, they determine what you 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.940 do. You'll find yourself acting out in ways that 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:39.159 you don't even want to. You're not even sure 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:41.120 where it came from. And it's obvious it's against 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.279 what's best for you, but you're still doing it. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.620 And that's because you've got this stronghold 00:09:45.620 --> 00:09:48.539 that needs to be torn down because you're trying 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:51.299 to deal with behavior modification to change 00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:53.360 your behaviors. But this stronghold, this way 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:56.139 of thinking that has just gotten reinforced again 00:09:56.139 --> 00:09:58.860 and again is what's dictating the direction that 00:09:58.860 --> 00:10:01.370 you're going. And so if you've got a stronghold 00:10:01.370 --> 00:10:06.309 of rejection in your life, well, you'll end up 00:10:06.309 --> 00:10:11.009 doing things that make no sense. Like you'll 00:10:11.009 --> 00:10:14.509 sabotage really good relationships because you're 00:10:14.509 --> 00:10:17.090 expecting to be rejected. You're expecting to 00:10:17.090 --> 00:10:19.090 be abandoned and you're not gonna put yourself 00:10:19.090 --> 00:10:21.389 in a vulnerable place to be disappointed in that 00:10:21.389 --> 00:10:23.929 way because of this stronghold. If you've got 00:10:23.929 --> 00:10:27.210 the stronghold of, then you'll micromanage everything 00:10:27.210 --> 00:10:30.350 and create the very chaos you were so desperate 00:10:30.350 --> 00:10:32.730 to prevent. If you've got a stronghold of unworthiness, 00:10:33.009 --> 00:10:36.870 it'll show up in your life by you working yourself 00:10:36.870 --> 00:10:40.009 to death, trying to earn love or by giving up 00:10:40.009 --> 00:10:43.570 completely because what's the point? You're just 00:10:43.570 --> 00:10:47.730 gonna blow it anyway. And Paul, I think understood 00:10:47.730 --> 00:10:49.710 all of this. I think it's what he's talking about 00:10:49.710 --> 00:10:52.990 in Romans 7 when he says, I don't understand 00:10:52.990 --> 00:10:56.049 what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, 00:10:56.110 --> 00:10:59.690 but what I hate, I do. He's recognizing that 00:10:59.690 --> 00:11:02.250 sometimes his behavior and his actions go against 00:11:02.250 --> 00:11:07.110 what he wants. Why? It's because there is this 00:11:07.110 --> 00:11:12.029 stronghold in his life, in my life, that we are 00:11:12.029 --> 00:11:16.009 living from without even recognizing it or knowing 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:18.769 it. And neuroscience helps us understand this. 00:11:19.330 --> 00:11:22.649 So this is how neuroscience and strongholds in 00:11:22.649 --> 00:11:29.129 scripture come together. What Paul calls a stronghold, 00:11:29.289 --> 00:11:35.289 neuroscience would call a neural pathway. That 00:11:35.289 --> 00:11:40.169 your mind has some trails that have been established. 00:11:41.269 --> 00:11:44.190 And the first time a thought goes through that 00:11:44.190 --> 00:11:46.549 trail, it's not gonna weigh bushes and trees 00:11:46.549 --> 00:11:50.029 and clearing space, but every thought you think 00:11:50.029 --> 00:11:53.340 is like a new hiker going down that trail. And 00:11:53.340 --> 00:11:55.320 the more thoughts you think, the more times you 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:58.039 think it, the more hikers go through that trail 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:00.600 and eventually that trail becomes a road, becomes 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:03.700 a highway because the more a thought is repeated, 00:12:03.820 --> 00:12:06.259 the more that neural pathway is established or 00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:08.500 scripturally, the stronger that stronghold becomes. 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.700 You're listening to Living on the Edge with guest 00:12:13.700 --> 00:12:16.179 teacher Kyle Eidelman. There's more just ahead, 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:19.159 so stay with us. Today we continue our journey 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:21.740 through a fundamental series called God's Dream 00:12:21.740 --> 00:12:24.200 for Your Life. And if you've missed any part 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:26.519 of this study or want to find more Bible lessons, 00:12:26.700 --> 00:12:30.840 just go online to livingontheedge .org. There 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:33.419 you'll discover a wide array of teaching content, 00:12:33.779 --> 00:12:36.539 downloadable materials, and daily discipleship 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:39.720 with Chip Ingram. Find it all at livingontheedge 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:42.789 .org. Well, now let's get back to our lesson 00:12:42.789 --> 00:12:45.710 with guest teacher Kyle Eidelman. Dr. Donald 00:12:45.710 --> 00:12:48.370 Hebb, a neuroscientist, discovered a principle 00:12:48.370 --> 00:12:51.370 that's known as Hebb's Law, to help us understand 00:12:51.370 --> 00:12:53.789 this. Hebb's Law would say that neurons that 00:12:53.789 --> 00:12:57.090 fire together wire together, meaning that every 00:12:57.090 --> 00:12:59.809 time you think the same thought, you are strengthening 00:12:59.809 --> 00:13:01.889 a neural pathway. And if you think that thought 00:13:01.889 --> 00:13:05.110 enough times, it's where almost every thought 00:13:05.110 --> 00:13:08.389 you have gets sent down that pathway. So let's 00:13:08.389 --> 00:13:14.169 say... You have this thought that gets seeded 00:13:14.169 --> 00:13:16.929 in your mind, maybe before you even remember, 00:13:17.070 --> 00:13:23.490 that says, I'm not enough. I'm not enough. And 00:13:23.490 --> 00:13:25.029 you think that thought and you think it again 00:13:25.029 --> 00:13:28.870 and you think it 10 ,000 times. And now that 00:13:28.870 --> 00:13:31.470 thought has created a highway that is affecting 00:13:31.470 --> 00:13:34.840 everything you do. every relationship you have. 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:38.399 It's affecting all the emotions that you're trying 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:41.799 to monitor and understand. It's all coming from 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:46.879 this one superhighway that God established. And 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.600 so I wanna spend some time just identifying some 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:53.669 of those strongholds. And so as I talk through 00:13:53.669 --> 00:13:55.629 this next section, what I'd love to do is just 00:13:55.629 --> 00:13:57.690 challenge you to identify one or two strongholds 00:13:57.690 --> 00:13:59.730 in your life, some lies that you've believed, 00:13:59.830 --> 00:14:02.629 maybe you don't recognize it as such, but just 00:14:02.629 --> 00:14:05.929 some things that have been determining the direction 00:14:05.929 --> 00:14:09.490 of your life, some thoughts that you think subconsciously 00:14:09.490 --> 00:14:12.190 that you're gonna really pay attention to. I 00:14:12.190 --> 00:14:14.350 just wanna talk about where these strongholds 00:14:14.350 --> 00:14:16.970 come from as a way to help us identify them in 00:14:16.970 --> 00:14:19.940 our own lives. First, they come from early and 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:21.940 frequent thinking, early and often thinking. 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:27.039 When you are young, your brain, my brain, is 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:30.019 when it's the most plastic, it's the most moldable. 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:32.240 And there's some strongholds that were passed 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:36.179 down to us that we never wanted and we didn't 00:14:36.179 --> 00:14:39.860 intentionally choose. Second is cognitive reinforcement. 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:43.960 This is how some strongholds in your life have 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:46.399 been formed. It's your instinct and my instinct 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:48.700 to surround ourselves with voices and opinions 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:52.200 that reinforce thoughts that we've had for a 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:56.460 while. Cognitive reinforcement or sometimes confirmation 00:14:56.460 --> 00:14:58.600 bias would be another way to talk about this 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:02.379 is what we naturally do when we start looking 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:07.480 for information and interpretation that reinforces 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:10.220 a thought that we've had. And we stay away from 00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:12.799 information and interpretation that might challenge 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:16.279 a thought that we've been thinking. So, okay, 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.679 let's say the thought that you've had is people 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:20.899 always let me down. If that's a stronghold in 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:23.480 your life, then confirmation bias will lead you 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.259 to, in a relationship, look for ways that that's 00:15:26.259 --> 00:15:29.379 true while ignoring ways it's not. Thirdly is 00:15:29.379 --> 00:15:32.620 emotional association. Our thoughts are strongly 00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:35.039 connected to emotions when it comes to forming 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:38.320 lasting patterns. This is why thoughts that you 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:41.899 have during a time of trauma or rejection or 00:15:41.899 --> 00:15:45.240 intense loss or intense grief will create, without 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:47.139 you even knowing it, will create a stronghold. 00:15:48.019 --> 00:15:50.440 A thought that you have during an intense time 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:53.840 of loss or grief or something traumatic will 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:55.840 create a stronghold. Even though you haven't 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:57.919 thought it repeatedly, it gets connected to that 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:00.820 emotion and that pathway gets established. And 00:16:00.820 --> 00:16:03.580 so one painful rejection can create a stronghold 00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:07.820 that says, I'm not lovable. And it will have 00:16:07.820 --> 00:16:11.139 a grip on your heart. One traumatic event can 00:16:11.139 --> 00:16:12.820 build a stronghold that says, people just don't 00:16:12.820 --> 00:16:15.899 understand me. Nobody understands me. And it'll 00:16:15.899 --> 00:16:19.259 cause you to build walls around your life. Fourth 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:21.679 is generational patterns. Some strongholds are 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:24.559 passed down through families, not genetically, 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:27.879 but through repeated patterns of thinking, of 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:31.700 speaking, of believing. And it just gets transmitted 00:16:31.700 --> 00:16:34.789 from child to parent, from child to parent. This 00:16:34.789 --> 00:16:39.330 is why some of you, you said to yourself, I can 00:16:39.330 --> 00:16:42.009 tell you one thing, I'm not gonna handle stress 00:16:42.009 --> 00:16:46.070 the way my mom does or the way my dad does. And 00:16:46.070 --> 00:16:47.649 yet when you're stressed, you find yourself doing 00:16:47.649 --> 00:16:50.789 it. There's an old illustration, it's been around 00:16:50.789 --> 00:16:52.929 for a while, that I think perfectly illustrates 00:16:52.929 --> 00:16:54.889 what it looks like when strongholds get passed 00:16:54.889 --> 00:16:58.230 down generationally. The story goes like this, 00:16:58.230 --> 00:17:01.220 that there was a young couple. on their first 00:17:01.220 --> 00:17:05.380 Thanksgiving together, the new bride was preparing 00:17:05.380 --> 00:17:07.599 the Thanksgiving turkey and the husband was watching 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:10.380 as she did it. And he watched as she cut off 00:17:10.380 --> 00:17:12.000 both ends of the turkey, stuck it in the pan 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:13.440 and then put it in the oven. The husband says 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:15.240 to the wife, why did you do that? Why'd you cut 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:16.920 up both ends of the turkey? It's perfectly good 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:19.160 turkey. She said, I don't know. That's just how 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:21.660 you do it. That's how you cook a turkey. That's 00:17:21.660 --> 00:17:23.240 how my mom always cooked a turkey. You cut off 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:24.579 both ends, put it in the pan, stick it in the 00:17:24.579 --> 00:17:27.779 oven. And the husband thought, well, that's really 00:17:27.779 --> 00:17:30.950 weird. but maybe he's wrong. Like maybe that 00:17:30.950 --> 00:17:32.369 is how you're supposed to cook a turkey. And 00:17:32.369 --> 00:17:34.250 so he called his mother -in -law and said to 00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:36.210 his mother -in -law, when you cook a turkey, 00:17:36.289 --> 00:17:38.410 do you cut off both ends of the turkey before 00:17:38.410 --> 00:17:39.730 putting it in the oven? The mother -in -law said, 00:17:39.829 --> 00:17:42.549 well, yeah, that's how you do it. That's how 00:17:42.549 --> 00:17:44.349 you cook a turkey. You cut off both ends. Why 00:17:44.349 --> 00:17:46.309 do you do it that way? The mother -in -law says, 00:17:46.410 --> 00:17:48.490 well, I don't know exactly, but that's the way 00:17:48.490 --> 00:17:51.049 my mom always did it. So the next day he calls 00:17:51.049 --> 00:17:54.549 grandma and says, grandma, when you cook a turkey, 00:17:54.690 --> 00:17:57.710 how do you cook the turkey? Do you cut off both 00:17:57.710 --> 00:17:59.109 ends and put it in a pan and stick it in the 00:17:59.109 --> 00:18:00.690 oven? And the grandma laughed and said, well, 00:18:00.750 --> 00:18:04.269 yeah, that's how I cook the turkey because my 00:18:04.269 --> 00:18:06.670 oven is really small. And so I had to have a 00:18:06.670 --> 00:18:08.730 small pan. So I had to make the turkey fit the 00:18:08.730 --> 00:18:10.769 pan to fit in the oven. And you've got three 00:18:10.769 --> 00:18:14.789 generations of turkey cookers wasting all kinds 00:18:14.789 --> 00:18:20.369 of perfectly good turkey. And this is where some 00:18:20.369 --> 00:18:24.210 of us are. Ezekiel 18 though says that these 00:18:24.210 --> 00:18:29.480 generational these generational strongholds can 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:32.319 be broken. And it's one of my favorite things 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:37.299 about being a pastor in this church is almost 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:41.160 every week I witnessed it of someone saying, 00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:44.380 by God's grace and with the help of the Holy 00:18:44.380 --> 00:18:49.200 Spirit, it stops with me. It stops with me. A 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:55.960 person recognizes the way their family has operated 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:59.680 under a stronghold of fear, under a stronghold 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:02.059 of addiction, under a stronghold of control or 00:19:02.059 --> 00:19:06.119 anger or rejection. And they say, not anymore. 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:10.460 It stops with me. And part of this is understanding 00:19:10.460 --> 00:19:15.420 the fifth factor, and that is it's spiritual 00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:20.380 warfare at its heart, spiritual warfare. The 00:19:20.380 --> 00:19:23.519 Bible calls our enemy the father of lies in John 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:27.519 8. His job from the time you were born is to 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:29.160 get you to buy into a few of these lies. Because 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:31.460 if he can get you to believe this lie and establish 00:19:31.460 --> 00:19:33.880 a stronghold in your heart by the thoughts you 00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:36.339 think, then his job is done. He doesn't really 00:19:36.339 --> 00:19:37.660 have to do anything else. The stronghold will 00:19:37.660 --> 00:19:40.940 do what the stronghold does. Think about this. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.000 If Satan can get you to think, God doesn't really 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:46.740 care about me. If he can get you to say that 00:19:46.740 --> 00:19:50.089 out loud and think that over your own life. then 00:19:50.089 --> 00:19:52.529 it affects everything. It keeps you from prayer. 00:19:52.630 --> 00:19:54.809 It keeps you from believing God's promises. It 00:19:54.809 --> 00:19:56.710 keeps you from having a relationship with God. 00:19:58.029 --> 00:20:00.890 If he can just get you to focus on a few failures 00:20:00.890 --> 00:20:05.049 or inadequacies or insecurities and convince 00:20:05.049 --> 00:20:07.150 you to believe this thought, you're not worthy 00:20:07.150 --> 00:20:09.890 of love, then he can create a fortress around 00:20:09.890 --> 00:20:12.569 your life that will sabotage you from all the 00:20:12.569 --> 00:20:15.490 good God wants you to have and walking with him 00:20:15.490 --> 00:20:18.519 and sharing life with others. And so this is 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:20.319 why when we talk about taking our thoughts captive, 00:20:20.420 --> 00:20:23.299 we're not so much talking about psychology, we're 00:20:23.299 --> 00:20:26.740 talking about spiritual warfare. So what is a 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:29.579 stronghold in your life that needs to fall? Can 00:20:29.579 --> 00:20:33.180 you identify it? I was at a men's conference, 00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:35.099 speaking at a men's conference a few years ago, 00:20:35.180 --> 00:20:37.019 and I sat down at a table with a group of men 00:20:37.019 --> 00:20:40.059 and we were focusing on this idea of strongholds 00:20:40.059 --> 00:20:42.039 and trying to identify them specifically looking 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.950 at these. strongholds that we'd had since we 00:20:44.950 --> 00:20:46.950 were perhaps boys that were affecting our lives 00:20:46.950 --> 00:20:50.890 now as men. And we just went around the table 00:20:50.890 --> 00:20:53.349 to share the strongholds. And so Joe went first 00:20:53.349 --> 00:20:55.809 and Joe said, I didn't think it was okay to be 00:20:55.809 --> 00:20:58.650 sad. And he grew up in a home where the expectation 00:20:58.650 --> 00:21:02.390 was to be happy no matter what, all the time, 00:21:02.390 --> 00:21:06.410 real men aren't sad. Being sad is for weak people. 00:21:06.670 --> 00:21:10.390 And so when his family dog died and he cried, 00:21:10.490 --> 00:21:13.319 he remembers his dad teasing him. And now Joe, 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:15.359 because of the stronghold of it's okay not to 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:17.700 be sad, he deals with lots of loneliness in his 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:20.079 life. Why? Because when he's sad, it doesn't 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.440 feel like it's okay to share that with anybody. 00:21:22.740 --> 00:21:26.039 So he keeps his sadness to himself. And that's 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:31.319 really isolating. And it's really lonely. You're 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:34.000 listening to Living on the Edge with guest teacher 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:37.500 Kyle Eidelman and a lesson titled Strongholds 00:21:37.500 --> 00:21:40.630 Must Fall. Chip Ingram will join us to share 00:21:40.630 --> 00:21:42.809 some of his own thoughts on today's lesson in 00:21:42.809 --> 00:21:46.250 just a moment. A stronghold is a lie you've believed 00:21:46.250 --> 00:21:49.630 so long it starts to feel like the truth. Maybe 00:21:49.630 --> 00:21:52.109 it was passed down through your family. Maybe 00:21:52.109 --> 00:21:54.589 it was planted in a moment of rejection or loss. 00:21:54.849 --> 00:21:57.529 But here's what Kyle made unmistakably clear 00:21:57.529 --> 00:22:00.269 today. Because of the power of Jesus and the 00:22:00.269 --> 00:22:04.009 Holy Spirit, that stronghold can fall. And if 00:22:04.009 --> 00:22:05.970 you're one of the faithful friends who already 00:22:05.970 --> 00:22:08.619 gives to support Living on the Edge, Thank you. 00:22:08.920 --> 00:22:11.400 Sincerely. It's because of your partnership that 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:13.980 teaching like this reaches people who are quietly 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:16.680 carrying strongholds they've never told anyone 00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:19.660 about. You may never know this side of heaven 00:22:19.660 --> 00:22:22.440 the lives your generosity has touched. What you're 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:24.759 doing matters deeply, and we're grateful for 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:27.339 you. And if you've been on the fence about giving, 00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:30.059 today is a great day to join this team. Your 00:22:30.059 --> 00:22:32.660 gift of any amount helps us continue bringing 00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:35.099 God's Word into the moments when people need 00:22:35.099 --> 00:22:38.190 it most. Your support, whether monthly or one 00:22:38.190 --> 00:22:41.390 time, makes this ministry possible. Will you 00:22:41.390 --> 00:22:44.369 join our team today? To give, visit livingontheedge 00:22:44.369 --> 00:22:50.210 .org or call us at 888 -333 -6003. You can also 00:22:50.210 --> 00:22:53.069 mail your gift to Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 00:22:53.069 --> 00:22:58.789 3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. You can also stay 00:22:58.789 --> 00:23:01.470 connected with us beyond this broadcast. Subscribe 00:23:01.470 --> 00:23:04.730 to the Chip Ingram sermon podcast available wherever 00:23:04.730 --> 00:23:08.069 you listen to podcasts. Find us on Facebook and 00:23:08.069 --> 00:23:11.309 Instagram at living on the edge with Chip Ingram 00:23:11.309 --> 00:23:13.869 and subscribe to Chip Ingram's YouTube channel. 00:23:14.490 --> 00:23:16.849 Well, now here's Chip with some final thoughts. 00:23:17.130 --> 00:23:20.309 Man, that is a subject I never get tired of digging 00:23:20.309 --> 00:23:24.369 into. Today, my buddy Kyle taught about strongholds. 00:23:24.369 --> 00:23:27.670 Those fortified lives we've believed for so long, 00:23:27.710 --> 00:23:29.910 they actually become a part of our identity. 00:23:30.349 --> 00:23:33.509 The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10 that 00:23:33.509 --> 00:23:37.690 we have divine weapons to demolish these strongholds. 00:23:37.769 --> 00:23:42.380 They are not impossible to defeat. You know you're 00:23:42.380 --> 00:23:45.019 dealing with a stronghold when you start saying 00:23:45.019 --> 00:23:47.099 things like, well, you know, that's just the 00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:50.680 way I am or I've always been this way. When you 00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:53.779 start using identity language to excuse patterns 00:23:53.779 --> 00:23:56.960 in your life, that tells you it's a stronghold. 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:01.440 Here's the good news. These strongholds can be 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:05.099 broken. You can be the generation that breaks 00:24:05.099 --> 00:24:09.980 the pattern. Ask God to help you identify. What 00:24:09.980 --> 00:24:12.319 are the strongholds in your life? And even more 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:15.940 importantly, what's the lie behind them? I have 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:18.940 to tell you, for years, I was a prisoner of pleasing 00:24:18.940 --> 00:24:22.500 people growing up in an alcoholic family until 00:24:22.500 --> 00:24:25.720 I identified the real issue behind my workaholism 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:29.319 and pleasing people was a lie that I didn't measure 00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:32.900 up unless other people gave me approval. That 00:24:32.900 --> 00:24:36.700 was a stronghold. You have yours. I have mine. 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:40.579 I'm here to tell you, they can be broken. I'm 00:24:40.579 --> 00:24:42.960 Dave Drewy. Tomorrow, Kyle Eidelman continues 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:46.200 with the next step after identifying your strongholds. 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:48.460 How do you actually begin to tear them down? 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:51.539 We'll find out next time here on Living on the 00:24:51.539 --> 00:24:57.140 Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored 00:24:57.140 --> 00:24:58.619 by Living on the Edge.