Psalm 27:1  The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

A stronghold is normally a well fortified fortress, a place of survival and refuge.  Back in the day, strongholds were cities and/or castles that protected the king from foreign invaders and from his enemies.  It was both a residence and a safe place which provided protection for himself and his families and emphasized his power base. As children we would sing a song: “Love is a flag flown high from the castle of my heart and the king is in residence there”.  Who is in residence in your life? 

Who are what are you afraid of?  What are the situations in your life that are causing you to tremble? Often times the situations around us get frightening.  Any form of change and personal transition brings with it unnecessary pressure.  

But the Word of God says “Do not be afraid”. Why? The Lord Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth is our stronghold. He is our power base that provides us with both protection and residence.  There is no place where we are that He cannot find us. The Lord wants us to turn to Him for refuge.  He wants us to know that there is no way we can survive in this hostile world without Him.  God wants us to do to open the doors of our hearts, souls and minds and invite Him to come in and live with us. 

When God is invited in He becomes our stronghold and defends us from the Accuser of the brethren who is seeking to destroy us.  This Accuser is seeking anyone to devour so he is searching hard for areas where we have let down our guards so he can insert a toehold.  A toehold can lead to a foothold, then eventually a stronghold. When the devil has a stronghold in our lives we are overcome by his world system that leads to death.  In Proverbs 14:12 it says “There is a way that seems right to a man but the end of it is death”. 

But God!!!

It does not have to be this way.  God wants to be our stronghold today, no matter what we are facing.  Let us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us any areas of our lives that need to be strengthened by the Heavenly Father.  Let us examine ourselves and see what areas we have been exposing ourselves to the devil’s influence. Jesus died and rose again so that the devil would no longer have power over us and his stronghold would be broken.  Therefore do not delay any longer, ‘resist the devil and he will flee you, draw near to God and he will draw near to you’ (James 4:7-8).  God wants to be our portion, our lot, our inheritance and our reward. Therefore no matter how the circumstances want come we have an anchor that keeps the soul: God our stronghold.

PRAYER

GOD I have been fooling myself and playing around with satan, giving him a toehold here and there and thinking nothing of it.  But right now in the name of Jesus I repent of my sins. I ask you to wash me in your blood and cover all of me so that no area remains hidden from you.  Every area of my life where satan is in residence through the power of your name, I resist him and put you firmly in place.  I release all my fears to you and believe you instead of the situation.  IN Jesus, Amen.

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