Tearing Down Strongholds Part Two

“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10: 4-5 KJV

All sinful, evil, and fearful thoughts, feelings and imaginations are strongholds in our mind and life. Therefore, it stands to reason that it is very important to take authority over and control those thoughts, feelings and imaginations. Whether good or evil, the things we are exposed to, through our five senses, influence our thoughts and are stored in our minds. The goal of the enemy is to bring us into bondage and destroy us and he uses our own mind to do this.

Genesis 6:5 AMP says, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually.” Before you knew Christ, you were a child of the devil and your mind was only carnal and sinful. You knew no other way. 2 Corinthians 4:4 AMP says, “For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers’ minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God.”

Proverbs 15:26a AMP says “The thoughts of the wicked are shamefully vile and exceedingly offensive to the Lord” and Romans 8:7 says that the carnal mind is enmity against God. The AMP says, “That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot.”

The carnal, sinful mind is blind to the truth and hostile to God and His laws. God is against all forms of sin and carnality. Why—because He is a party-pooper? No, because He loves you and sin brings nothing with it but bondage and death and destruction! If your mind is carnal, then you can’t and won’t submit to God and His commands. If your thoughts, feelings and imaginations are yielded to the flesh and the devil, then you will continue on in the strongholds of wickedness, bondage and fear. You are a product of your thought life—you are what you think about—which is why the devil tries to erect and maintain these strongholds in your mind.

And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” Mark 7:20-23 NKJV

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21

Nothing good comes from the carnal nature. Before we are born again we are completely carnal, wicked and ruled by our flesh. Our thoughts are carnal, our actions are carnal and our works are carnal. All these works of the flesh do nothing, but hurt us and others. When the Gospel is preached to us, the light of God’s word and His truth shines into our heart and mind ( 2 Corinthians 4:6)

Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:7 NKJV

You were taught to leave your old self. This means that you must stop living the evil way you lived before. That old self becomes worse and worse, because people are fooled by the evil things they want to do. 23 You must be made new in your hearts and in your thinking. 24 You must become a new person, made to be like God–made to be truly good and holy. Ephesians 4:22-24

The moment you are born again, you are washed in His blood, you are forgiven and you are made a new creature in Christ, by the work of the precious Holy Spirit. Your mind, however, needs to be renewed and that is your job! The difference, now, is that you have His power to change the way you think and to walk free from the devil’s strongholds.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8

Good things make a positive contribution and evil things make a negative contribution to your mental outlook, that why it is so important to regulate what you hear and see. You have to begin to think differently before you can expect to act and live differently. You must take your thoughts captive by submitting to the Word of God and the will of God, through Jesus Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit. From now on, if you see or hear anything that is not pure or wholesome or that is contrary to the Word of God, you must immediately throw it out. You must make a daily effort to keep your thoughts and imaginations godly and pure. If your thoughts, feelings and imaginations are submitted to God, then you will walk in His life and freedom, now and in eternity.

Jesus Birth Foretold in Prophecy – Part I

“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

As we celebrate Christmas once again, we should remember that we are actually celebrating Jesus. We are celebrating the fact that the Father sent His only begotten Son, born as a baby into the body of a man, to die on the cross and to be raised up again for our justification and salvation. Revelation 13:8 says that Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God had a plan to rescue man even before Adam sinned. The coming of Jesus, the Messiah, was foretold thousands of years before He was born and recorded in the Old Testament. Here are some of the prophetic scriptures together with the scriptures of fulfillment.

He was the Seed of a woman:
-Genesis 3:15 NKJV – And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.
-Galatians 4:4-5 NKJV – But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

He was a descendant of Abraham:
-Genesis 12:3 NKJV – I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
-Matthew 1:1 NKJV – The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

He was a descendant of Isaac:
-Genesis 17:19 NKJV – Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
-Luke 3:34 NKJV – the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham…

He was a descendant of Jacob:
-Numbers 24:17 KJV – I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
-Matthew 1:2 NKJV – Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.

He was from the tribe of Judah:
-Genesis 49:10 NKJV – The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
-Luke 3:33 NKJV – …the son of Perez, the son of Judah.

He was the descendant of Jesse:
-Isaiah 11:10 NKJV – “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.”
-Romans 15:12 NKJV – And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”

He was a descendant of David:
-Jeremiah 23:5-6 NKJV – “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called.
-Matthew 1:1 NKJV – The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

He will shepherd His people:
-Ezekiel 37:24 NKJV – David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.
-Matthew 2:6 NKJV – “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.”

He was heir to the throne of David:
-Isaiah 9:7 NKJV – Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
-Luke 1:32-33 NKJV – He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.

He was born in Bethlehem:
-Micah 5:2 NKJV – “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”
-Luke 2:4-7 NKJV – Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The timing of His birth:
-Daniel 9:25 NKJV – “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.
-Luke 2:1-7 NKJV – And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world
should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed
wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And
she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.