{"id":11801,"date":"2025-01-17T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=11801"},"modified":"2025-01-05T07:21:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-05T12:21:53","slug":"whom-shall-i-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2025\/01\/17\/whom-shall-i-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"Whom Shall I Fear?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stronghold has two interpretations, one positive and one negative.  The word means \u201cfortified place.\u201d[1]<\/a>  In today\u2019s verse, the psalmist calls the Lord the stronghold of his life.  In this sense, God provides a place of refuge and protection that no one can break, a very positive use of the word, and one we want and need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At other times, a stronghold means a person has a bondage to sin that they often can\u2019t see and don\u2019t realize its negative impact upon them.  In other words, sin has become a fortified place where they take refuge instead of the Lord.  My anger had a stronghold on me for years until I did the hard work to overcome it and lay it at the foot of the cross, taking refuge in the Lord instead of anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more we take refuge in the Lord, the less we will find ourselves in bondage to sin.  As God leads us through life, He will reveal the areas where sin has a stronghold and help us overcome it, just as the Savior did with my anger, making me aware of a significant blind spot in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we take refuge in the Lord and live in His stronghold, we needn’t fear anything. He protects us from the enemy\u2019s attacks and saves us from our sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Lord,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank You for providing a stronghold for us to take refuge.  Please help us see our blind spots and overcome them with Your help.  Let us honor and serve You in everything we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IJNIP. Amen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/stronghold<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One-minute read. Stronghold has two interpretations, one positive and one negative.  The word means \u201cfortified place.\u201d[1]  In today\u2019s verse, the psalmist calls the Lord the stronghold of his life.  In this sense, God provides a place of refuge and protection that no one can break, a very positive use of the word, and one we… Continue reading Whom Shall I Fear?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11803,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11801\/revisions\/11803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}