I want to talk for a moment about something that I call our “stuff”. By our stuff I mean the various arguments and opinions and beliefs and practices that we hold in our mind.  If these are negative thought patterns, I believe the Bible calls these areas of our mind strongholds or arguments or lofty opinions or pretensions or high places . II Corinthians 10:3-5

In the context of this post, I’m talking about those beliefs we have that are negative in nature. My definition for negative would mean anything that causes us to think or believe things that disagree with God.

It seems that often to compensate for something we think we are lacking, or because of some mistreatment or perceived mistreatment, we build up a story offense, a reason to be angry or hurt; bitterness, hatred, sourness, etc. often result.  Here is how one woman described that type of mindset becoming a part of her thinking and ultimately her character and her personality:  “She (my grandmother)  infected my mother with this violent acrimony, and I, the grand child, also became horribly contaminated by it.  It is as if a venomous liturgy were composed among us, and we recited it day after day, religiously. It became to us larger than the real world. Our entire focus is upon the bitterness and anger felt toward the perpetrator and any associated things.”

I believe the quotation stated above describes one way that strongholds are planted in our mind. They are put there liturgically when a story of offensive treatment is steadily repeated.  I believe these liturgically planted  thought bases become a strong hold in us where all the bitter thoughts and conclusions can remain secure and festering in us and then sally forth from time to time to cause us to react in the flesh and tear and wound our relationships.

They are liturgically planted and they can be overwhelmed (made to obey Jesus words) by liturgically planting the word of God in our mind.  The word of God brings life and the light to our thinking and ultimately to our feelings.