When i first began to reasearch the biblical history of captivity among God's people, i kept running into a conspicuous common denominator: idolatry. i don't know why it was such a news flash. God warned his people over and over that is they did not resist the false gods of the nations surrounding them they would be snared, and He would ultimately allow them to be taken captive. They didn't and He did. One sobering aspect of the faithfulness of God is that He keeps His promise, even promises of judgment and discipline. The book of Isaiah constantly seems to plead the question, "Why in the world would you worship idols when you are chosen by the sovereign God to be His own? (see Isaiah 43:10-12)
As believers in Christ, you and I also have been chosen to know, believe and understand that He is God. Our lives have been sanctified by the one true God. HEaven is His throne. Earth is His footstool. Awesome creatures never cease to sing, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!" Lightning flashes from His throne. The winds do His bidding. the clouds are His chariot. The earth trembles at the sound of His voice. When He stands to His feet, His enemies scattered. He is transcent over all things. Absolute. Uncontested. Omniscient. The Lord God omnipotent reigns. He is God and there is no other. And yet this very One is our Father. He demands, deserves, our respect.
Virtually every kind of stronghold, or unholy fortress of sin, involves the worship of an idol. For example, the stronghold of pride is associated with the worship of self. The stronghold of addiction is associated with the worship if a substance or habit. In one way or another, something else has become "god" in our lives, the object of our chief focus. Until we turn from our idols to the one true God, we will never find liberty, for "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17)
As long as our minds rehearse the strength of our stronghold more than the strength of our God, we will be impotent. We must believe that in our weakness He is strong, and that as we bend the knee to His lordship, God is more than able to deliver us.
- Beth Moore
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