By Bruce Hehl
ED: Breaking Familiar Patterns, Strongholds, and Spirits is a teaching Bruce wrote years ago and we are just now placing on the web.
The texts used in the teaching are found in Ephesians 6: 10-17 and II Corinthians 10:3-6.
In this text we see a garment or covering against the attack of the Prince of Darkness. Paul calls this garment spiritual armor. This spiritual covering is used for protection against the wiles of the enemy.
Spiritual armor is used for defensive purposes in warfare against the mind or soul realm. Since we are in Christ, we need to see that this armor is already in place. Our activity in spiritual warfare is to exercise faith through divine grace for the pulling down of strongholds within us. By exercising faith through grace we put into practice principles that break old familiar patters that hinder us from attaining, “the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phillipians 3:14).”
Sanctifying the Mind and Pulling Down Strongholds
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Paul states that man is made up of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. The word sanctify means to set apart. When we come to Christ, our natural thinking processes need to be set apart, set aside and sanctified, in order to receive a renewed mind in Christ. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).” The heat of our greatest conflict takes place in the mind or soul realm.
We can never enter into true spiritual warfare, such as casting out evil spirits or pulling down principalities in heavenly places until we close off the soul from the attack of our own thought processes. We must first learn to exercise dominion over the Lord’s territory by breaking ourselves free from familiar patterns within us that develop into strongholds and familiar spirits.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6
We pull down strongholds in our own mind by turning to Jesus Christ. When a thought enters our mind that is contrary, we set it apart from the mind of Christ and cast it away.
The act of sin first develops in the mind or soul. If we entertain a sinful thought in our mind long enough, it soon becomes easy to act it out in our body. If we pull and cast it down through the exercising of faith by grace, we gain strength and overcome temptation.
We cast down vain imaginations that are contrary to the mind of Jesus Christ. The Greek word for vain means empty. The Greek word for imagination is logismos, meaning reasoning. The prefix logis means eloquent. So we cast down or set apart empty, eloquent reasoning that is contrary to the renewed mind of Christ. We cannot use the instrument of the mind to cast our familiar patterns such as rage, gossip, drinking smoking, anger, lust of the flesh, and so on, apart from a renewed mind in Jesus Christ. We must see that our own thinking process is nothing more than empty, eloquent reasoning. We must not even try to plan our own future apart from Jesus Christ. This is why Paul says that the weapons we fight with are not carnal, but mighty in the pulling down of strongholds. They have divine power or ability.
Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The Greek word for transformed is Metamorphoo. We derive our English word metamorphosis from this. Paul is saying that our mind needs to go through a transformation in order to have the mind of Christ.
The English word metamorphosis means to transform a thing or object from one state of being to another. A good example of this transformation is turning a solid object into a liquid state or a caterpillar transforming itself into a butterfly. Our greatest example of this is in Romans 8:19, which tells us, the creation groans in expectation to be transformed into the sons of God.
Ephesians 6:10 begins with the phrase “Be strong.” The Greek word for “strong” is endunamis. We see the prefix en together with dunamis. En means to exercise and dunamis means ability or might. This means to exercise ability or might inwardly by faith through grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Greek word for Grace is “Charis,” the root word for gift. The gift of grace is given by the Father as He shows mercy and favor to you at His pleasure. You must see that grace is necessary before you can exercise ability or might by faith.
Ephesians 6:16 says, “Take up the shield of faith.” The Greek word for shield is thureous. In its earliest meaning it meant to close the entrance of a cave with a large rock. We must close the entrance of the soul or mind before we can have our mind renewed in Jesus Christ.
Law and Familiar Patterns
A law is established in relationship between cause and effect. If we repeat a bad or familiar habit pattern often enough a law is established. Over the course of time it becomes a stronghold within us. As the established law of this new stronghold is built within us. The enemy becomes the law enforcement agency acting against us as a type of sheriff enforcing this new law pattern. The chief law enforcer is called a familiar spirit.
Familiar spirits can only be cast out or walked out by closing off the entrance of the soul and renewing our mind in Jesus Christ and recognizing our authority in Him. As Jesus said in Mark 3:27: “In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house.”
This is what the enforcing familiar spirit does. He ties up the strong man (the mind or soul) and then robs the house of all valued possessions. People who have been subjected to a break-in to their home will tell you the worst feeling they experience is having their privacy invaded. The enemy invades our thought processes and takes them captive. We are then forced to uphold the law of this new stronghold within us because our soul and mind have been invaded. The enemy thus places us in a type of spiritual prison.
The only way to break free from this prison is to use these principles of the Kingdom, seeing ourselves as in Christ. Look how alcoholism and drug addiction can rob a person of a happy and productive life. Soon, that person’s whole life is governed around an addiction, thus robbing them of their family, their job, their friends and everything else that person cares about.
We also need to recognize that familiar spirits can be passed down from one generation to the next. Familiar spirits can actually gain strength as they pass from father to son, sometimes lying dormant within us for years, until some crisis in life triggers them off. Why do we battle against lust of the flesh, anger, rage, alcoholism, smoking, depression, incest and many other problems in our society? Because of familiar spirits. Our society calls these demons sicknesses, but they are not. They are demons and familiar spirits passed down from generation to generation because of man’s original fall from grace.
Society battles against these demons and familiar spirits with the use of drugs, education and counseling, trying to solve the problem of man’s original sin. II Corinthians 2:15 says, “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature.” Only by embracing Jesus Christ and having our mind renewed in Him and seeing we are a new creature in Christ, can we begin to break the law of sin and death that has been established.
“Because through Christ Jesus the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.”
Romans 8:2-3
Familiar Spirits
You need to realize the only way Satan can procreate himself is through the sexual union of men and women. This is why our society displays so much graphic sex. Our television sets, billboards, movie theaters and reading literature of the day are loaded with sexual connotations.
Each time a man and woman join together, apart from a renewed mind in Christ, familiar spirits are transferred from one generation to the next. This transferring of spirits is also possible in a loving relationship between husband and wife. To see that this is true, look at your own children. Do you see your own weaknesses developing within them? It is not the act of sexual relations that is bad in and of itself. God forbid! It is when we have so called unprotected sexual relations apart from a renewed mind in Christ that familiar spirits pass down from father to son.
Think of all the children born out of acts of lawless rebellion. Teenage pregnancy is a growing concern among parents these days. How many parents of these same teenagers committed the same lawless acts? What can we expect from children conceived in rebellion? Lawlessness! This is one of the reasons believers experience problems with their own children.
We must break the pattern of lawlessness by allowing the Lord Jesus Christ to invade every fiber of our being. We cannot expect to change lawlessness in our children until we allow the Lord to change us completely.
Remember Proverbs 13:24? “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” I remember several years ago when I was dealing with one of my daughters. I was applying the switch to her and praying at the same time asking the Lord to drive the rebellion out of her. The Lord spoke something to me I will never forget. He said, “Go ahead switch her all you want, but you will never drive the rebellion out of her until you allow me to drive rebellion out of you. Just as you use the rod upon her I am going to use a rod against you.”
Why would the Lord speak something like that to me? Because she is the sum of my own parts. What is in her originated within me. She not only receives gifts and talent traits from me, but she also receives many of my own weaknesses. This is why we must allow the Lord to break familiar patterns, strongholds and familiar spirits within us. In Christ we can drive these things out of our family blood line once and for all if we will only allow the Lord access within us. This doesn’t mean we can produce born-again children, but it does mean we can purify our own blood line for posterity’s sake.
Let us look at the issue of AIDS. How is AIDS transmitted? AIDS is transmitted by having unprotected sexual relations between homosexuals and now between men and women. The same can be said with alcoholism, drug addiction, hate, murder, incest, and so on. What we see at work in our society, through the cause and effect of legal binding sin are familiar spirits that have been passed down from father to son.
How can we have protected sexual relations in Christ? If we are in Christ, we are a new creature by having our mind renewed in Christ. We close off the entrance of the soul realm to the practice of familiar patterns and exercise strength in the Lord’s ability or might to pull down vain, empty reasoning. We will speak more about this in a moment.
Let us take a look at another issue of today in our society–abortion. Look at the ignorance of those calling themselves Christians who kill doctors and blow up abortion clinics. Are these people using their full potential in Christ to the pulling down of these strongholds? No! Is abortion a sin? Yes! Can the practice of abortion cease by waging war as the world does? No! Remember 2nd Corinthians 10:3-6? Can we stop the practice of abortion by legislation with the support of Congress and the Senate? No! Can we stop the practice of abortion by holding up a sign and protesting abortion clinics. No! Should we even care if laws pass that make the practice of abortion illegal. No! Why? Because the practice of abortion will not stop with passing laws or holding up a sign in protest.
How many times have we driven 60 or 65 miles per hour when the speed limit sign says 55? Rarely do we get caught for breaking the speed limit. If we do get caught we end up paying a small fine. It isn’t long before we forget about the cost of the fine and once again we return to driving faster than the speed limit allows. The same is said of our troubled society. Natural laws created by man can and will always be broken. The only law established that can never change nor be broken is the law of the administration of God’s divine grace.
Putting the Cart before the Horse
The one thing we as believers in Christ are constantly guilty of is, “putting the cart before the horse.” We are more likely to try and exercise spiritual authority over society’s problems than we are to exercise spiritual authority over our own strongholds. We presume to pull down strongholds over territories and cities when the same enemy is found lurking about within our own thoughts and souls. Can we presume to cast down or out of someone else a spirit of rejection, drug addiction, or anything else for that matter, if we have the same spirit lurking within us?
As I have said before, some familiar spirits can lay dormant within us for years before we realize they are even there. We must ask the Lord to bind up the strong man until we are in a place to wage war against any dormant familiar spirits within us.
Binding up the Strong Man
Jesus said in Matthew 18:18, I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. One of the other abilities we have in Christ is to bind up dormant familiar spirits within us until the Lord exposes them to us in secret. By keeping these dormant familiar spirits bound within us, the Lord’s grace protects us until such a time we are ready to wage spiritual warfare against them. As the Lord reveals them to us, we can deal with one issue at a time until our total mind is renewed in Christ.
Repenting and turning to the Lord Jesus is just the beginning of the process of salvation. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” The word salvation means; the act of being saved. This means that salvation is a continuing process until we reach a place of perfection in Jesus Christ. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes into our lives He only has access to the areas we turn over to Him. Yes, we are a new creature in Christ, but this means only in the areas we allow Him to invade. We are a new creature in the way our thought processes work, but this is only the beginning of our salvation. We have only a portion of a renewed mind and new way of thinking.
We saw earlier how no man enters a strong man’s house until he first binds up the strong man thus invading the strong man’s privacy. The same can be said of the Lord. We need to allow the Lord to invade the privacy of our thoughts, our heart and our soul, so that every fiber of our being is invaded by Jesus Christ.
The Lord doesn’t want to carry away our possessions as a robber would, but wants to re-decorate the house using precious gold and silver furnishings. He wants to remove the wood, hay and stubble. This is what Paul is saying in 1st Corinthians 3:10-16. We are the temple or house of the Lord. We will become a pleasing sacrifice before the Lord by putting into practice the renewing our mind in Christ. We will cast down every familiar pattern and stronghold that is contrary to a renewed mind in Christ using spiritual weapons, waging war with faith through divine grace.
The God of heaven will answer this sacrifice by fire. We find Old Testament examples of this with Abraham, Elijah and the prophets of Baal, Moses and the pillar of fire, David’s Tabernacle, and the Temple of Solomon. We have a New Testament example of this too. Acts 2: 1-3 says, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” Once again we see that the God of heaven answers a pleasing sacrifice by providing the fire.
When we allow the Lord to invade every fiber of our being the fire of YAHWEH will consume us and everyone with whom we come in contact. Revelation 12:10, 11 says, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony, they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
Ephesians 6:10-17 Our Spiritual Covering in Christ Jesus
Let us close by reading this passage of scripture. I have taken this passage from the King James Version. I did a word study on this passage of scripture and replaced much of the King James with the new word meanings.
Finally, my brethren, exercise ability or might inwardly in the Lord, and in the ability of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to make covenant against the wiles of the enemy. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the estate and jurisdiction of the Prince of Darkness in this world, against spiritual malignant forces in heavenly and celestial places. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist this present malicious age. Having done all to stand, stand and make covenant with the Lord having your loins gird about with truth. (In the loins is found the seed of man. If our spiritual loins are renewed in Christ then the seed of our spiritual loins will produce truth in the inward parts instead of sin and death.) Having on the breastplate of righteousness, (meaning having a pure and righteous heart) and having your feet bound in preparation with the Gospel of Peace. (Romans 3:14, 15 says, “The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood.” But Romans 10:15 says, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring Good News.” The word Gospel translates into Good News.) Above all, through faith, close the entrance of the soul, wherewith you will be able to quench the fiery missiles of malicious, malignant wickedness. Be wrapped around the head, spirit, soul and body, with the salvation of the Lord (The head is where the soul or mind is. The mind sends messages to the rest of the body. If the mind or soul is renewed in Christ then the whole body is pure.) and take up the sword of the spirit which is the [Rhema] word of God.”
Ephesians 6:10-17
Breaking Familiar Patterns, Strongholds, and Spirits
I believe we are in preparation for the final hour. It is most important that we are free from all attack of the enemy within the mind. If we will approach the Lord, He will be faithful to deliver us in all areas of weakness. As darkness closes in and around us one small area of weakness within could hinder us from reaching our highest potential in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must be free from fear, rejection, and all attack from the enemy.
In these last days, we will be assaulted and accused by all enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ. We must cast all care upon Him for He has born our rejection and shame upon Himself before the Father. He has risen in victory. Therefore we must arise and see ourselves seated in heavenly places with Him.
May the Lord Jesus Christ be lifted up in you. May the offspring of the women clothed in the sun be faithful to stand and give testimony concerning Our Father, YAHWEH and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in all the earth until His coming to gather us unto our fathers which have run the race before us.
Breaking Familiar Patterns, Strongholds, and Spirits
Bruce Hehl April 12th, 1995