The session called "The Elephant In The Room" was about getting us to honestly look at our lives, to recognize the strongholds in our lives, & to choose to put God first to eliminate the strongholds that rule our lives.
* “Strongholds” are:
...anything that exalts itself in our minds
...anything that we allow to be bigger and more powerful than our God.
...the idols of my heart.
* If something is an idol in my life, that means I have put it above God in my life.
* If something is an idol in my life, that means I have given it more importance than it deserves!
* I know it is a stronghold when it is demanded in my life.
For example: I must be shown respect!
For example: Saul’s ambition against David
For example: Annanias & Sappharia wanted to look good in the Christian community
* We can identify idols in our lives by examining these statements:
“I would be completely happy if only….”
“I don’t care how ________ feels about it, I will….”
“Please, don’t ask me to give up my __________.”
“You need to give me _(respect, etc…)_______ or I’ll be upset with you (or become angry with you, or act cold towards you).
“If only ____________ would change, I would be happy, content, joyful, or satisfied.”
* When I find myself having a huge negative emotion that wells up inside of me, then, that is a STRONG indicator that whatever caused that emotional reaction is an idol in my life!
* The ONLY way that we can be at PEACE and experience FREEDOM, is to lay down our idols!
For anyone who is reading THIS ~ I also wanted to share with you a friend's post that I just read TODAY about this very same issue ~ the idols of our lives. She is a missionary to Mexico, who is currently on "furlough" (home service). She's a great writer! So, go ahead & click HERE to read her honest thoughts about idols.
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