"Now watch this process. For years, I almost ignored the last part of this.
2 Cor 10:3
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare, are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of (what?) strongholds. (Now He elaborates on that.) Casting down imaginations. (Do you know why that's so important? Imaginations are reasonings all right.. They're reasonings that are empowered by emotions. These things are the pictures of who you are. This is who you are on the inside. And it's hard to change those.)"
I grew up in the construction business. My whole life I had pickups. And there was this identity factor with Gary and a pickup. I know it, but I'm telling you it's the truth. Gary - pickup. PIckup - Gary. That's just part of who Gary is. To the point, there was a time in my life, God was changing how I saw myself. And He told me, "I want you to give your pickup to that guy." And I go: "What pickup?" You know, I'm exaggerating a little. "The pickup that thou lovest." "Thy pickup. The only one you have. Give it to that guy." Lord, that guy doesn't even like me! That guy says really bad things about me and my family. And He says, "Yeah, that's the one!" "Give your pickup to him!" (Oh!) We're talking about strongholds. Well, I immediately went into "sowing and reaping" mode. I'm not kidding you. I'm telling you the truth. Now God didn't say nothing about sow no pickup! But in my thinking, because I could not imagine Gary without a pickup. There's just no such thing as Gary without a pickup."
"So I'm thinking, "He must be wanting to bless me with a better truck!" That's how I could get away with this in my mind. I'm going to sow this pickup and I'm going to reap a better pickup. (Can you tell this was early on?) Well, I gave the pickup. To be honest, he felt real awkward taking it. But he did. I kept expecting my hundred-fold pickup. I called in my hundred-fold pickup. I can tell you what, it was a Dodge Ram, red in color. I'm telling you, I knew exactly what it was. I had it all, "Whatsoever things you desire, brother. I mean, I had... Pickup didn't come. Pickup didn't come. Pickup didn't come. Pickup - Did not come! Finally, one day, God got it across to me, "When it doesn't matter to you anymore, I'll let you have one." "I'm changing who you are."
"He did eventually get another one. To me, it was a toy pickup. All my life, I always had full-size, manly pickups. He let me buy this little... I was almost embarrassed to drive the thing. It was a good little truck. And I'm driving around going, "God, I'd almost rather not have a pickup than drive around in this one!" He said, "Well, that's the reason I'm letting you have this one."
Changing who I am. Changing the stronghold. Eventually He had me give that one away, and I've never wanted a pickup since. I don't even want one anymore! It's not part of who I am anymore... But boy, I'm telling you. My identity is changed. Do you understand that?
Now we still haven't got to the part He wants me to get to tonight in this passage. That's why imaginations is there. It's not... That pickup - it's not just a reasoning. "I need a pickup." No, my emotions were all wrapped up in that thing. That's part of who I am. Don't mess with that. That's part of who I am. If you mess with that, I don't know who I am anymore. See.. and that's why it's hard to pull down strongholds.. these imaginations. Especially patterns that you've had for a long time.
Now the scary thing about that is, you're blind to it, and most of your friends aren't. And what's really said, if they're a good friend, they'll love you anyway. But if you ask 'em, they'll try and tell you, and they'll make you mad! You absolutely can't see it. That's why it's a good thing God is God! Only He has this capacity. Thank God for praying in other tongues. He the capacity, He has the ability to get in, and actually bring the wall down where you can see the problem.
Now watch this though... Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. This is the part... And bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Let's talk about that for a minute, because that's the part I was not doing. Understand this.. strongholds, in that vision I gave you a while ago, there was the big wall; and there was me, and there was the people. Who built the walls? The people. Isn't that right? What's the analogy? Strongholds are built by thought patterns.That's why you can get deliverance and get real deliverance in a lie. Somebody with the anointing of God. They can tear that stronghold down, and you can really walk free for a while. Whatever it is. But if you don't take into captivity, if you don't do something to take into captivity, the thought processes that built that stronghold in the first place, you'll be right back in that same stronghold...
...If you don't do something, and that's the part I was missing. God would show me things about myself. I mean, I saw it. I really didn't understand this so much, back when I told you about this, "calling in the lost" Sunday night, but it's a good one everyone can relate to."
"There was an incident that happened years before I got saved. That, in my mind, at that time, hurt me so bad, that I really hated two people. I hated... None of us were saved at the time, don't be trying to figure it out. Forget it, that's years and years and years ago. But in my mind it hurt me. It hurt me really bad. And I carried that hurt with me, and I didn't even want the hurt. I wanted the hurt to go away, but I only knew I was upset with these people. Well then, I get saved a few years later. I get filled with the Holy Ghost, I'm reading the Bible. And I'm just reading it and crying; and I love the Lord... I had this stronghold I carried for years. I mean, I hated these people. So I get saved; I get filled with the Holy Ghost, and I'm reading through the New Testament, and boy, there it is, just as plain as anything. "If you do not from your heart forgive your brother every tresspass, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you your tresspasses. And I'm going, "God! There's got to be a way out of this!" He says, "No, you've got to forgive them." And it's in there more than once. Wouldn't you know? And I said, "God, I don't... There's nothing in me that even wants to forgive them. I mean, Lord, if I could do it without going to prison, I'd kill them myself." (This is after I'm saved and Spirit filled.) Don't tell me you can't carry strongholds. You know what God said? "You're not going anywhere with Me. You're not going any further in this promised land until you deal with this unforgiveness."
Man! I'm just freshly saved. I'm freshly filled with the Holy Ghost. I love God. I'm so glad I'm going to Heaven. I'm not going to Hell. I want to go on with God, but just like Allan said, God now has brought me right over to a stronghold. He's touching me in probably the most sensitive area in my life where, I mean, I really got hurt there. I do not want to go back there. He said, "You're going to have to forgive them." I said, "I don't want to. I don't even want to!" He said, "Would you be willing to be made willing?" I've never heard anything like that in my life. Would I be willing... If He could make me willing, then I guess I would be. Well, I guess so. I guess I would be willing! I remember mulling it over in my mind. If you have some way of making me willing, then yes, I guess I would be willing. But right now, I'm not willing."
"Can y'all see this is a stronghold? This is just one. We could pick all kinds of things. I could talk to you about Krispy Creme donuts as a stronghold. There's all kinds of strongholds. Like there's all kinds of stuff. But everyone can relate with this one. So, He said, "Would you be willing to be made willing?" Now watch this, because if you can remember Jericho. Remember God gave them a strategy? He told them what to do. How to.. What to do with that city to bring the walls down. Do you remember Ai was different?
Listen, you have a living God who knows everything about you and if you will listen to Him, He will strategy to bring down your personal, individual strongholds.
So I said, "I'm willing to be made willing". He gave me the strategy. Here's what He said. He said, "I want you to, every time you think of them during the day. I just want you to pray that I would bless them. That's all! Just pray that I would bless them." And He says, "I don't want you getting weird about it, but if you think of them, if they come to your mind, I want you to just pray a simple prayer that I would bless them." Now, I'm not exaggerating with you people. I'm telling you the exact truth. This is the way it was. The first time that I thought of them after that, I said "Father (I'm not gonna mention their names), I'm asking you to bless them. Pour out your blessings on them. I pray it in Jesus' name. And Father, you know I don't mean it!" I did. I said it out loud, because I knew He knew anyway. I knew He knew I was doing this because I was told to do it. And because that was my strategy. That's what He told me to do. And that's all He told me to do. I said, "You know that I don't mean it!"
A couple of hours, two or three hours go by, I think of them again. I'm trying not to think of them. Aw man! "Father I ask you that you bless them. Just pour out your blessings on them Father. Just bless their socks off, and you know I still don't mean it! That went on that day. I don't know how many times the next day. You see, there's really no point conning God. You do know that He knows you've got this stronghold... I'm trying not to be a hypocrite. But the strangest thing. Because as I would do that, and it wasn't a whole lot. It was probably maybe... in the beginning it was everyday. Two, three, four, five times a day. That's all there was to it. But over time. Over time something began to happen in my heart. I don't even know when it happened. I don't remember consciously dropping that last part. "You know I don't mean it." I don't remember when that left, but it did. Then over time, as I continued to do that, God began showing me (I didn't ask for this)... But He began showing me my part in what caused that to happen. See, up until then, I thought I was just the innocent little lamb. Oh, how dare these horrible people do what they did to me. By the time He got done with me, I was the one crying out for mercy. And I was praying for them from the depths of my heart.
And I'm telling you, I don't care how bad you've been hurt. That stronghold can go. Those people today, are two of our closest friends. When we get together, we all remember everything. We all know what happened, the history is there. But it's like a movie that you saw. Well yeah, I saw that movie, but it didn't happen to me. What I'm saying is there's no hurt, no pain at all. Now only God can do that... He had me use that as an example. I'm just trying to be transparent. He's using that as an example, because everyone can relate with un-forgiveness. Does that tell you that it doesn't matter what they did to you? You can be free.
But, taking into captivity. Even today, if I was to allow myself to start thinking, to go back into my mind and start thinking about things; allowing thoughts. That stronghold could still to this day be rebuilt. I don't allow those kind of thoughts. It's like, I see it almost as these little rebellious thoughts are going to have an uprising in the land that my God has given me; and I find rebellion.
Taken from "Pulling Down Strongholds" - Gary Carpenter 3 of 3
2 Cor 10:3
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare, are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of (what?) strongholds. (Now He elaborates on that.) Casting down imaginations. (Do you know why that's so important? Imaginations are reasonings all right.. They're reasonings that are empowered by emotions. These things are the pictures of who you are. This is who you are on the inside. And it's hard to change those.)"
I grew up in the construction business. My whole life I had pickups. And there was this identity factor with Gary and a pickup. I know it, but I'm telling you it's the truth. Gary - pickup. PIckup - Gary. That's just part of who Gary is. To the point, there was a time in my life, God was changing how I saw myself. And He told me, "I want you to give your pickup to that guy." And I go: "What pickup?" You know, I'm exaggerating a little. "The pickup that thou lovest." "Thy pickup. The only one you have. Give it to that guy." Lord, that guy doesn't even like me! That guy says really bad things about me and my family. And He says, "Yeah, that's the one!" "Give your pickup to him!" (Oh!) We're talking about strongholds. Well, I immediately went into "sowing and reaping" mode. I'm not kidding you. I'm telling you the truth. Now God didn't say nothing about sow no pickup! But in my thinking, because I could not imagine Gary without a pickup. There's just no such thing as Gary without a pickup."
"So I'm thinking, "He must be wanting to bless me with a better truck!" That's how I could get away with this in my mind. I'm going to sow this pickup and I'm going to reap a better pickup. (Can you tell this was early on?) Well, I gave the pickup. To be honest, he felt real awkward taking it. But he did. I kept expecting my hundred-fold pickup. I called in my hundred-fold pickup. I can tell you what, it was a Dodge Ram, red in color. I'm telling you, I knew exactly what it was. I had it all, "Whatsoever things you desire, brother. I mean, I had... Pickup didn't come. Pickup didn't come. Pickup didn't come. Pickup - Did not come! Finally, one day, God got it across to me, "When it doesn't matter to you anymore, I'll let you have one." "I'm changing who you are."
"He did eventually get another one. To me, it was a toy pickup. All my life, I always had full-size, manly pickups. He let me buy this little... I was almost embarrassed to drive the thing. It was a good little truck. And I'm driving around going, "God, I'd almost rather not have a pickup than drive around in this one!" He said, "Well, that's the reason I'm letting you have this one."
Changing who I am. Changing the stronghold. Eventually He had me give that one away, and I've never wanted a pickup since. I don't even want one anymore! It's not part of who I am anymore... But boy, I'm telling you. My identity is changed. Do you understand that?
Now we still haven't got to the part He wants me to get to tonight in this passage. That's why imaginations is there. It's not... That pickup - it's not just a reasoning. "I need a pickup." No, my emotions were all wrapped up in that thing. That's part of who I am. Don't mess with that. That's part of who I am. If you mess with that, I don't know who I am anymore. See.. and that's why it's hard to pull down strongholds.. these imaginations. Especially patterns that you've had for a long time.
Now the scary thing about that is, you're blind to it, and most of your friends aren't. And what's really said, if they're a good friend, they'll love you anyway. But if you ask 'em, they'll try and tell you, and they'll make you mad! You absolutely can't see it. That's why it's a good thing God is God! Only He has this capacity. Thank God for praying in other tongues. He the capacity, He has the ability to get in, and actually bring the wall down where you can see the problem.
Now watch this though... Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. This is the part... And bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Let's talk about that for a minute, because that's the part I was not doing. Understand this.. strongholds, in that vision I gave you a while ago, there was the big wall; and there was me, and there was the people. Who built the walls? The people. Isn't that right? What's the analogy? Strongholds are built by thought patterns.That's why you can get deliverance and get real deliverance in a lie. Somebody with the anointing of God. They can tear that stronghold down, and you can really walk free for a while. Whatever it is. But if you don't take into captivity, if you don't do something to take into captivity, the thought processes that built that stronghold in the first place, you'll be right back in that same stronghold...
...If you don't do something, and that's the part I was missing. God would show me things about myself. I mean, I saw it. I really didn't understand this so much, back when I told you about this, "calling in the lost" Sunday night, but it's a good one everyone can relate to."
"There was an incident that happened years before I got saved. That, in my mind, at that time, hurt me so bad, that I really hated two people. I hated... None of us were saved at the time, don't be trying to figure it out. Forget it, that's years and years and years ago. But in my mind it hurt me. It hurt me really bad. And I carried that hurt with me, and I didn't even want the hurt. I wanted the hurt to go away, but I only knew I was upset with these people. Well then, I get saved a few years later. I get filled with the Holy Ghost, I'm reading the Bible. And I'm just reading it and crying; and I love the Lord... I had this stronghold I carried for years. I mean, I hated these people. So I get saved; I get filled with the Holy Ghost, and I'm reading through the New Testament, and boy, there it is, just as plain as anything. "If you do not from your heart forgive your brother every tresspass, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you your tresspasses. And I'm going, "God! There's got to be a way out of this!" He says, "No, you've got to forgive them." And it's in there more than once. Wouldn't you know? And I said, "God, I don't... There's nothing in me that even wants to forgive them. I mean, Lord, if I could do it without going to prison, I'd kill them myself." (This is after I'm saved and Spirit filled.) Don't tell me you can't carry strongholds. You know what God said? "You're not going anywhere with Me. You're not going any further in this promised land until you deal with this unforgiveness."
Man! I'm just freshly saved. I'm freshly filled with the Holy Ghost. I love God. I'm so glad I'm going to Heaven. I'm not going to Hell. I want to go on with God, but just like Allan said, God now has brought me right over to a stronghold. He's touching me in probably the most sensitive area in my life where, I mean, I really got hurt there. I do not want to go back there. He said, "You're going to have to forgive them." I said, "I don't want to. I don't even want to!" He said, "Would you be willing to be made willing?" I've never heard anything like that in my life. Would I be willing... If He could make me willing, then I guess I would be. Well, I guess so. I guess I would be willing! I remember mulling it over in my mind. If you have some way of making me willing, then yes, I guess I would be willing. But right now, I'm not willing."
"Can y'all see this is a stronghold? This is just one. We could pick all kinds of things. I could talk to you about Krispy Creme donuts as a stronghold. There's all kinds of strongholds. Like there's all kinds of stuff. But everyone can relate with this one. So, He said, "Would you be willing to be made willing?" Now watch this, because if you can remember Jericho. Remember God gave them a strategy? He told them what to do. How to.. What to do with that city to bring the walls down. Do you remember Ai was different?
Listen, you have a living God who knows everything about you and if you will listen to Him, He will strategy to bring down your personal, individual strongholds.
So I said, "I'm willing to be made willing". He gave me the strategy. Here's what He said. He said, "I want you to, every time you think of them during the day. I just want you to pray that I would bless them. That's all! Just pray that I would bless them." And He says, "I don't want you getting weird about it, but if you think of them, if they come to your mind, I want you to just pray a simple prayer that I would bless them." Now, I'm not exaggerating with you people. I'm telling you the exact truth. This is the way it was. The first time that I thought of them after that, I said "Father (I'm not gonna mention their names), I'm asking you to bless them. Pour out your blessings on them. I pray it in Jesus' name. And Father, you know I don't mean it!" I did. I said it out loud, because I knew He knew anyway. I knew He knew I was doing this because I was told to do it. And because that was my strategy. That's what He told me to do. And that's all He told me to do. I said, "You know that I don't mean it!"
A couple of hours, two or three hours go by, I think of them again. I'm trying not to think of them. Aw man! "Father I ask you that you bless them. Just pour out your blessings on them Father. Just bless their socks off, and you know I still don't mean it! That went on that day. I don't know how many times the next day. You see, there's really no point conning God. You do know that He knows you've got this stronghold... I'm trying not to be a hypocrite. But the strangest thing. Because as I would do that, and it wasn't a whole lot. It was probably maybe... in the beginning it was everyday. Two, three, four, five times a day. That's all there was to it. But over time. Over time something began to happen in my heart. I don't even know when it happened. I don't remember consciously dropping that last part. "You know I don't mean it." I don't remember when that left, but it did. Then over time, as I continued to do that, God began showing me (I didn't ask for this)... But He began showing me my part in what caused that to happen. See, up until then, I thought I was just the innocent little lamb. Oh, how dare these horrible people do what they did to me. By the time He got done with me, I was the one crying out for mercy. And I was praying for them from the depths of my heart.
And I'm telling you, I don't care how bad you've been hurt. That stronghold can go. Those people today, are two of our closest friends. When we get together, we all remember everything. We all know what happened, the history is there. But it's like a movie that you saw. Well yeah, I saw that movie, but it didn't happen to me. What I'm saying is there's no hurt, no pain at all. Now only God can do that... He had me use that as an example. I'm just trying to be transparent. He's using that as an example, because everyone can relate with un-forgiveness. Does that tell you that it doesn't matter what they did to you? You can be free.
But, taking into captivity. Even today, if I was to allow myself to start thinking, to go back into my mind and start thinking about things; allowing thoughts. That stronghold could still to this day be rebuilt. I don't allow those kind of thoughts. It's like, I see it almost as these little rebellious thoughts are going to have an uprising in the land that my God has given me; and I find rebellion.
Taken from "Pulling Down Strongholds" - Gary Carpenter 3 of 3
