“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” (2 Corinthians 10:4)
Some thought David was “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22). But David struggled with a weakness in his life. What was it? A lustful spirit that surfaced from time to time, and the people closest to him knew about it. When he grew old and couldn’t get warmed, they brought a young girl to lie beside him in bed so that he “may get heat” (1 Kings 1:1-2). They figured if that didn’t get David’s circulation moving he had to be dying! But there’s something sad here. David passed on his weakness to his son Amnon, who ended up raping his sister. And although David was angry about it, he didn’t confront or punish him. After all, what could he say? Like father, like son! Lust isn’t just a whim or a passing fancy, it’s a sin. And when it passes from one generation to the next it becomes a “stronghold”.
Today psychologists refer to it as “a genetic predisposition”. Maybe somewhere in your family tree there’s a workaholic father, a mother who was emotionally unavailable, or a brother or sister who drank too much, and now you’re wrestling with the same issues. Don’t be discouraged; Paul says, “The weapons we fight with … have … power to demolish strongholds.” So before you run off to a divorce court or a rehab center, name your stronghold, then pray, believing God to break its stranglehold on your life. Do it before it infects the next generation. Don’t pass it on — pass it back to where it came from.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me remember that the sins of one generation do not have to be the sins of the next generation, because of Your power to heal and give new life! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Stay encouraged!
Pastor Mike
