A big welcome to our friend and supporter, Brandi, from over at Faith2Shine. Brandi’s faith and insight are only two of the many reasons we wanted her to read Stronghold before the general public…and we were blessed to hear she’d be blogging about her experiences with the book! Join us as we follow Brandi through her journey with Stronghold – her original post can be found here. We encourage you to drop by and see her at her home on the web – you won’t be sorry! Brandi’s words are doses of wisdom splashed with sunshine – you cannot help but love her.
I thought all along that I was “in”. I went to church. I prayed the prayers. I could even quote scriptures. From memory. And in context.
I was really living in the shadows, tucked far away from the light. You see, I hung out with the believers; I attended their meetings and called them friends. But I hid my tent on the other side of the wall. The wall of shame. Of doubt. Of fear.
And I was comfortable there.
I thought it was working for me; convinced I belonged and that this was a good life. In reality I was a prisoner allowed out only on work release; held captive by the long chains of perception. Weapons made of words had thwarted my worthiness, broken my faith’s foundation and bound me up in shame.
In “Stronghold” by Beth Kinder, she says “For everything good that comes from the Lord, the enemy places an evil counterfeit to ensnare God’s people.” And later says: “The stronghold of the mind will demand an allegiance of our affection and dedication. These fortresses encapsulate the mind and build a barrier that prevents us from ever finding the authentic refuge of the Living God.”
I was blinded by fears. And I poured affection over my shame.
But I was not lost.
Facades can only last so long. Mine came to a traumatic and bloody end, thankfully. And in the mess of all the rubble I opened my eyes for the first time in a long time. Light burst in and I finally saw truth, I’d been pitching my tent in the wrong camp.
“Where the Old Testament Stronghold was a literal place to keep the enemy out, the New Testament stronghold keeps the enemy in! It is a fortress designed by our adversary to keep us captive in the stronghold of our mind.” Beth Kinder
I had bound my self in absolute lies. Lies that I would never be enough, have enough faith, or strong enough to stand on my own. I hunkered into the falsities that I was unworthy of God’s attention, let alone His love. And I truly believed that I had nothing of any worth to offer Him. These lies kept me back from joy, held me captive from dreaming and pursuing. And the longer their fangs were gripping my limbs the more of a shell I became, retreating myself to the barren place of shame.
And when I finally bled out all the lies I’d been trying to hold in I realized in their void was a hunger unlike any I’d experienced before.
I longed for truth.
John 8:32 says “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
And I craved freedom, like the desert craves rain.
This process of discovering truth began only 4 short years ago. I still have 30+ years of lies to unravel. But here’s the beauty of it, it isn’t an injury in need of a bandaid. It is a relocation of the anchor of my soul. I have moved my belongings from the fortress of lies and settled into the Shelter of the Most High God. He is molding and shaping and reframing the wounded places of my heart and putting a new dance in my step.
“God’s plan for the authentic stronghold is that we would be so sure in Him, so grounded in Him so confident in Him, so close to Him that we would live in the ultimate life-sustaining power of the Holy Spirit” ~Beth Kinder
Maybe you have found yourself hiding behind the enemy’s false walls and are looking for a way back into the light?
Come, check out this book for yourself! I want to chat about it, maybe even meet over coffee about it! Click the picture below to be connected to the Book’s website. You can read chapter 1 and there may be a freebie or two! (who doesn’t love free?!)
