From this Scripture we see that we are in a war.A careful
study of this verse informs us that our warfare is not with
other human beings but with the devil and his demons.Our
enemy,Satan,attempts to defeat us with strategy and
deceit,through well-laid plans and deliberate deception.

The devil is a liar.Jesus called him...the father of lies
and of all that is false (John 8:44)He lies to you and me.
He tells us things about ourselves,
about other people and about circumstances that are just not
true.He does not,however,tell us the entire lie all at one
time.

He begins by bombarding our mind with a cleverly devised
pattern of little nagging
thoughts,suspicions,doubts,fears,wonderings,reasonings and
theories.He moves slowly and cautiously (after all,well-laid
plans take time).Remember,he has a strategy for his
warfare.He has stuied us for a long time.

He knows what we like and what we don't like.He knows our
insecurities,our weaknesses and our fears.He knows what
bothers us most. He is willing to invest any amount of time
it takes to defeat us.One of the devil's strong points is
patience.

       TEARING DOWN STRONGHOLDS

For the weapons of our warfare are not physical[weapons of
flesh and blood],but they are mighty before God for the
overthrow and destruction of strongholds.
[Inasmuch as we]refute arguments and theories and resaonings
and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against
the [true]knowledge of God;and we lead every thought and
purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the
Messiah,the Anointed One).
                                  2 Corinthians 10:4,5
Through careful strategy and cunning deceit,Satan attempts
to set up "strongholds"in our mind.A stronghold is an area
in which we are held in bondage(in prison)due to a certain
way of thinking.

In this passage,the Apostle Paul tells us that we have the
weapons we need to overcome Satan's strongholds.We will
learn more about these weapons later,but right now,please
notice that once again we see that we are engaged in
warfare, spiritual warfare.
Verse 5 shows us clearly the location of the battlefield on
which this warfare is waged.

The Amplified Bible translation of this verse says that we
are to take these weapons and refute arguments.The devil
argues with us;he offers us theories and reasonings.All of
this activity goes on in the mind. 
    The mind is the battlefield.

Thus,so far we have seen that:

1.We are engaged in a war.
2.Our enemy is Satan.
3.The mind is the battlefield.
4.The devil works diligently to set up strongholds in our
mind.
5.He does it through strategy and deceit(through well-laid
plans and deliberate deceotion).
6.He is in no hurry;he takes his time to work out his plan.

Let's examine his plan more clearly through a parable.

                   MARY"S SIDE
Mary and her husband,John,are not enjoying a happy
marriage.There is strife between them all the time.They are
both angry,bitter and resentful.They have two children who
are being affected by the problems in the home.The strife is
showing up in their school work and behavior.One of the
children is having stomach problems caused by nerves.

Mary's problemis that she doesn't know how to let John be
the head of their home.She is bossy- she wants to make all
the decisions,handle the finances and discipline the
children.She wants to work so she will have her "own"
money.
She is independent,loud,demanding and an nag.

About now you may be thinking,"I've got her answer. She
needs to know Jesus."

She does know Him!Mary received Jesus as her Savior five
years ago-three years after she and John were married.

"Do you mean there hasn't been a change in Mary since
receiving Jesus as Savior?"

Yes, there has been change.She believes she is going to
heaven even though her bad behavior causes her to feel
constant condemnation.She has hope now. Before she met
Jesus,she was miserable and hopeless;now she is just
miserable.

Mary knows that her attitude is wrong.She wants to
change.She has received counseling from two people,and she
gets in almost every prayer line asking for victory over
anger,rebellion,unforgiveness,resentment and bitterness.Why
hasn't she seen more improvement?

The answer is found in Romans12:2:Do not be conformed to
this world(this age),[fashioned after and adapted to its
external,superficial customs],but be transformed(changed)by
the [entire]renewal of your mind [by its new ideas and its
new attitude],so that you may prove[for yourselves] what is
the good and acceptable and perfect will of God,even the
thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight
for you].

Mary has strongholds in her mind. They have been there for
years.She doesn't even understand how they got there.She
knows she shouldn't be rebellious,bossy,nagging,etc.,but she
doesn't know what to do to change her nature.It seems that
she simply reacts in certain situations in an unseemly way
because she can't control her actions.

Mary can't control her actions because she doesn't control
her thoughts. she doesn't control her thoughts because there
are strongholds in her mind that the devil set up early in
her life.

Satan begins to initiate his well-laid plans and to sow his
deliberate deception at a very young age.In Mary's case,her
problems started long ago,in childhood.

AS a child Mary had an extremely domineering father who
often spanked her just because he was in a bad mood.
If she made one wrong move,he would vent his anger on
her.For years,she suffered helplessly as her father
mistreated her and her mother. He was disrespectful in all
his ways toward his wife and daughter. Mary's
brother,however,could do no wrong.It seemed as if he was
favored just because he was a boy.

By the time she was sixteen,Mary had been brain-washed for
years by Satan who had told her lies that went something
like this: "Men really think they are something. They are
all alike;you can't trust them. They will hurt you and take
advantage of you.If you're a man,you've got it made in
life.You can do anything you want. You can order people
around,be the boss,treat people any way you please and
nobody (especially not wives or daughers)can do anything
about it."

As a result,Mary's mind was resolved:"When I get away from
here,nobody is ever going to push me around again!"

Satan was already waging war on the battlefield of her
mind.Play those thoughts over and over in your head a
hundred thousand times or more over a period of ten
years,and see if you're ready to get married and become a
sweet,submissive,adoring wife.Even if by some miracle you
should want to be,you won't know how.This is the kind of
mess in which Mary finds herself today.What can she do? What
can any of us do in such a situation?