Stronghold.
The word could define itself in that it is a strong hold.
But let us look at the definition from Webster’s Dictionary.
STRONGHOLD
-A fortified place
-A place of security or survival
-A place dominated by a particular group or marked by a characteristic
As we can see, the word ‘stronghold’ has three different definitions with similar connotations.
This month in Cambodia has been a crazy month for me. I have experienced all three of these definitions of ‘stronghold’ in Cambodia.
As the Unsung Hero team we have been meeting with various groups of ministries to come alongside them to help them and see what they are about. One of these places in particular is called Stronghold Cambodia.
Stronghold Cambodia is a program partnered alongside Mission of Christ Network. They work to teach the children in the community English but also bring the Gospel to them. The founder of Stronghold Cambodia and his wife both came to Christ through the desire to learn English. They want to continue that with their kids.
They are now up to 92 kids with their program. God has blessed them so much and continues to do so. The children in the area now have Bibles and have a grasp on what God has done for the world.
We got to celebrate this Christmas season with them at their Christmas Gospel Rally. The majority of the parents of the students have not heard the Gospel and so we were privileged to be able to take part in this Gospel Rally as we sang songs unto the Lord proclaiming His Goodness and Love to the world.
Looking upon the smiling faces of all the children as we worshiped the King together put a smile on my face.
This brings me to another stronghold that I have seen in Cambodia.
The children in the area are not promised education. If they want to be educated then they choose to go to school and when they do some of the parents don’t even know that’s what their child is doing.
There is a stronghold here that brings children into a place they shouldn’t have to go. The children have to grow up really fast.
The kids of the area are taught to beg on the streets. If they don’t bring any money home then they get beat. If they are a boy and they don’t go to school then they end up becoming a pick pocket, a sex trader, a lady boy selling his self for money, or even a drug dealer.
If you are a girl who doesn’t go to school then you end up selling your body for money for the family and eventually yourself. There are girls that prostitute themselves even at age eight. It’s sickening. You can even go to karaoke bars and buy a girl for $2 for two hours and reserve a room.
There is a stronghold. A stronghold of sex. A stronghold of addictions. A stronghold of the enemy. I feel it not only in the atmosphere but the pressure of it bearing down upon my heart, mind, and soul.
I’m going to get real for a second. I’m not going to hide under a religious guise and say I don’t struggle. I’m not going to tell you that I’m doing good. I’m not going to tell you that I’m fine. I’m not even going to tell you that I’m blessed. This month has been a trying time for me. In the past I struggled with sexual addiction and Satan has been fighting me non-stop since we landed in Cambodia.
I felt the enemy try to put chains of guilt, shame, and rejection upon me again. I felt the enemy whisper in my ear that I didn’t matter, that all I was good for was a sexual punching bag.
The enemy told me that no one would love me and that if people knew what I had done in my past that no one would want to be with me. The enemy told me that I didn’t belong in ministry, that I wasn’t worth it that God couldn’t forgive me for continually living in sin like I did.
The enemy even began to quote scripture to me telling me that “Do you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?…”If you were really walking in the Spirit then you would not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
The thing about scripture is that it’s a sword. Satan used scripture against Jesus in His time of temptation but Jesus used scripture back and that is exactly what I had to do.
Every day I had to fight and I still have to. I feel at sometimes that I lose and get beaten to a pulp for Satan doesn’t just fight with lies but he sends many temptations my way. By the grace of God He has kept me in His hands. “Though he falls, he will not be hurled down, for the Lord supports him with His hand.” Psalm 37:24
As you walk through the town there is a bar everywhere you turn. There is also an opportunity to have sex with many women. I have had women approach me and ask to have sex with me. I have had women approach me and ask to give me hand job or blow job.
If you wanted to you could party all night, get drunk, sleep around, and live the life that the majority of people here approve of. There’s a stronghold.
We talk of strongholds in different places of the world. Some people say that there isn’t a stronghold unless you make there to be and they say they have no power unless you give them power. This may be true but I also know that there are dispatches of the enemy in other places of the world putting up strongholds. Gabriel and Michael had to fight the prince of Persia. “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.” Daniel 10:13
In a kingdom there are strongholds to protect the kingdom’s people. As Christians we know that our Stronghold is God our Father. He is our shelter. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.'” Psalm 91:1-2
There is a stronghold of darkness here but we have a Stronghold that is mightier. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is complete.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-6
As I sat with the Lord and confessed my struggles with Him and how I wish I didn’t have to endure this. He brought me to two passages.
The first being 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 “I asked the Lord three times that this thing might depart from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. So I take pleasure in my weaknesses, in reproaches, in hardships, in persecutions, and in distresses for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
And so I boast that I am weak and that I struggle and so in that God strengthens me but I also asked God how long I would have to fight this and what I have to do. He then brought me to the second passage.
This passage of Scripture hit me like a ton of bricks and really made me realize how apathetic I had been in my walk with God. We can be raised knowing a thing but if we don’t really act on it then what’s the use? The passage God showed me came from Hebrews 12:1-4.
“Therefore, since we are encompassed with such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility fro sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and your hearts give up. You have no yet resisted to bloodshed while striving against sin.“
I have not resisted to bloodshed while striving against sin.
We put our armor of God on every day and when we’ve done all we can we must still stand against the enemy. Pray without ceasing.
This month has been rough and if you still don’t understand how rough it’s been let me describe to you using a couple of famous movies.
In Prince of Egypt Moses goes to ask Pharaoh to let God’s people go. By what authority can Moses do this? Moses talks about God but two of the Pharaoh’s magicians come against Moses and sing a song called, “Playing with the Big Boys.” I felt Satan tell me that I was playing with the big boys now. That I think that God is going to watch out for me but I was just a screw up coming to show people a false light that I didn’t carry.
Lies.
Satan tries to play mind games. Sometimes I let him get the better of me. I still am learning. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter is being trained to guard his mind so the enemy can’t get into it. This tires Harry out emotionally, physically, and mentally. I felt the same way this month but God is good.
Even though I have had a battle this month, I am reminded of words that my Father spoke to my father a couple of years ago. “It’s not battle to battle but it’s victory to victory.”
I choose victory and not defeat. I choose God and not my evil desires. I choose life and not death. I choose the Stronghold instead of being bound by a stronghold. I choose freedom instead of chains. If we want to be free we must choose. Jesus died for us and gave us freedom on the cross, to break every chain, and tear down strongholds. “He who the Son sets free is free indeed.” John 8:36
Life gets hard. Our walk with God isn’t sunshine and rainbows. People lead you astray. Satan tries to lead you astray. But we must continue to fight even if it gets hard. We have a Father who fights for us for the battle is the Lord’s.
Let’s pray for one another, lift one another up, and love one another. Let’s pray against strongholds. Let’s pray that the Stronghold will take over the strongholds of Cambodia. Join with me in this fight for the kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of God.
“Now fear the Lord, and serve Him with sincerity and faithfulness. Put away the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. If it is displeasing to you to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve, if it should be the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites’ land where you are now living. Yet as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15
“Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, to which you are called and have professed a good profession before many witness.” 1 Timothy 6:12
