Free At Last?

This morning in my Beth Moore "Breaking Free" lessons, she addressed one of the subjects I have long been studying myself. Beth has a way of breaking down each piece of a deep passage of Scripture and making it real and applicable in my life, so I am using much of her own work and words here.


Begininning with the passage from Isaiah 26:3(NIV) “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” (Although I prefer the NKJV which says “whose mind is stayed on you.” My mind cannot be “steadfast” unless it is fixed on Him.) The word “keep” is the Hebrew “nasar” which means “to guard, protect, keep.” The word Perfect peace” is from “Shalom” which means “to be kept safe, complete, well, peaceful, whole, secure, friendly, healthy, sound.” It denotes a satisfied condition, a state of peacefulness, a sense of well-being.”


“Mind” is from the Hebrew “yetser” which means “to frame, pattern, image, conception, imagination, thought, device, plans and purposes.” It is to “frame” the mind around something. Frame means literally a picture frame. Our minds work to frame every circumstance, temptation and experience we have. Two people can look at the same experience so differently, putting the event in different “frames” and acting accordingly. Our reaction to people depends on how we “frame” the event.


“Steadfast” is from the Hebrew “samak” which means “to sustain, to be braced, to lean upon, to lay one’s hand upon. “


“Trusts” is from the Hebrew “batach” which means “to attach oneself to, to confide in, feel safe, be confident, secure.”


Based on these expanded definitions, I read Isaiah 26:3 as follows:
“He (God) will guard, protect, keep me safe, complete, well, peaceful, whole, secure, friendly, healthy, and sound, with a sense of satisfaction and well-being, when I frame my images, imaginations, thoughts, desires and purposes, around Him, when I brace myself upon Him, lean only upon Him, lay my hand upon His truth, because I attach myself to Him, confide in Him, feel safe with Him, am confident and secure in Him.”


Beautiful.


The next passage of scripture Beth connects to this one is from 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV, “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.”


Anyone who has been in my Bible studies for any length of time will recall how often I refer to this passage. It is pregnant with meaning and I like the way Beth breaks it down.


“Demolish” is from the Greek, “Kathairesis” which means “demolition, destruction of a fortress--any strong points or arguments in which one trusts.” It is a “divine power.” When did you last try to break a stronghold in your own strength and end up feeling powerless and totally defeated? Human effort is useless in demolishing strongholds. No amount of discipline or determination will do it. Satanic strongholds require divine demolition.


I noticed when I was in Ireland and also in Israel that there are ancient castles and fortresses still standing, partially destroyed. Some of these go back as far as 2000 or more years. Men with all manner of weapons have attempted over the centuries to destroy these fortresses, but have succeeded in only a partial destruction. They stand as broken sentinels, a reminder to me of the ruins in my own life, erected by my own self, which I have attempted to demolish, but have only succeeded in partially destroying, leaving a broken ruin, not useful for protecting me or even to hide within.


Only God can divinely destroy these fortresses; only He can completely tear them down. A “stronghold” is a place of hiding in times of insecurity. What part does insecurity play in my strongholds? Beth asks this question. My answer is “Insecurity is the stronghold!”


From the passage, the word “arguments” is from the Greek “logismos” which means “a reckoning, a calculation, consideration, reflection, which determines conduct.


These “arguments” are our rationalizations for the strongholds we continue to possess in our lives. We maintain excuses for not surrendering areas of our lives to the authority of Christ. Satan persists where a stronghold exists. He supplies us with an endless list of rationalizations for the things we do and refuse to do.


“Pretensions” is from the Greek “hupsoma”, something made high, elevated, a high place, figuratively of a proud adversary, a lofty tower or fortress built up proudly by the enemy—Pride.”


From this, Beth concludes: 1) every stronghold is related to something we have exalted to a higher position than God in our lives; 2) Every stronghold pretends to bring something we feel we must have—aid, comfort, the relief of stress, or protection; and, 3) Every stronghold in the life of a believer is a tremendous source of pride for the enemy. Satan takes pride in the strongholds he has helped us erect, and in which we find security. He will stir pride is us to keep the stronghold from being broken.


Humility is a necessary part of the mind-set for someone ready to be free. The proud are never free.


“Sets itself up against” is from the Greek “espairo”, “to hoist up a sail, to lift up the eyes, meaning to look upon.”


Satan’s goal is to be worshipped; that is what he has always wanted. If Satan can’t get us to worship him directly, he will tempt us to worship something or someone other than God. We worship whatever we fix our mind upon—even someone who has hurt or disappointed us. Even worry is worship, if we are focused on the worry rather than upon God.


God created us to worship. We all worship something—the “epairo”—gaze, of our eyes determines the focus of our worship. Whatever we worship we will also obey. “Arguments” and “sails” serve to propel and determine the direction of the vessel. Strongholds are the cords by which Satan attempts to lead us.


From Hosea 11:4, we see the difference between Satan’s cords and God’s cords: “I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them” (NIV).


“Against the knowledge of God” implies knowing the truth about who God is. How do we know who God is? We have His truth in Scripture. Anything that leads us to believe anything about God other than what is the revealed truth about His character in Scripture is setting itself up against the “knowledge of God.” Knowing and choosing to believe truth is the key to liberty. When I am believing that God is not who He claims to be, because my life is not going as I think it should, it must be my decision to choose to believe truth over the lie; only this will ultimately set me free.


“Take captive every thought” is from the Greek “aichmalotize” a “prisoner, captive, to lead captive, to subdue, to bring into subjection.” This implies a continuous action. We’re after a quick fix, God is after lasting change and freedom. This is a lifetime process.


“Make it obedient to Christ”—God wants us to be victors. We don’t become victors by conquering the enemy. We become victors through surrender to Christ.