Two strongholds

Acts 16:23 Paul and Silas were in a stronghold. There are natural prisons and spiritual prisons.
By faith they swapped prisons, becoming prisoners of hope (Zechariah 9:12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope). Q. Who put them in jail? God, the devil, the Romans, the jailer. Ans = Probably all of those.

THE STRONGHOLD OF IMAGINATION – We can be imprisoned by the conflicting thoughts we have about ourselves. Which of those thoughts are true?
2Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; We do away with all the internal debates between our conflicting thoughts (imaginations - logismos – argument/debate of conflicting thoughts - Romans 2:16), and every lofty opinion that raises itself up against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience (attentive hearing) of Christ;
Stronghold means exactly what it says – Something that has a strong hold upon a person – either for safety or for bondage.
Our internal debates (imaginations) hold us in the power of our emotional involvement with our conflicting thoughts (Romans 2:16). These thoughts take on a life of their own. If we put one hopeful proposition to ourselves our mind will think of something that could go wrong to dash those hopes. It is conditioned to debate with itself. ‘If only my circumstances could change. Why is this happening to me?’ could become a stronghold of hopelessness, but ‘If only my thinking could change. You are happening to me’ could become a stronghold of hope

THE STRONGHOLD OF HOPE Zechariah 9:12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
We put our trust in the most trustworthy and loving of truths – God himself. Anything else is an argument/debate (imagination) against this. Jeremiah 29:11. Decision making can now have freedom and confidence. Prov 16:9

EXPECTATIONS AND ACCEPTANCE
What are our expectations of a) God and the devil, b) our circumstances, other people, and c) ourselves? What do I know is true, what is uncertain, what can I be in control of? a) God (Rom 3:4) and devil Eph 2:1, b) circumstances and others, c) my thinking – These things are what they are. God gives us an ORDERED mind 2Timothy 1:7.
My future depends on my bank account, having what I want, controlling my circumstances.
Our stress or discomfort or frustration etc. is the wake up call to listen to God. Our future depends upon how we are responding to what is – now. Then miracles become commonplace. We don’t seek them, we expect them/surrendered to God. He is in this and he is with me in this. It is not the circumstances that defeat us. It is our reactions to them and our thinking that defeat us. Why did God let IT happen? (IT happens a lot). IT is a trial of faith… Without IT Abraham would not have been Abraham.1Corinthians 10:13 1Peter 1:6

WHAT ABOUT SPIRITUAL WARFARE? Why did God let the devil do that to me? (God does that a lot – Job, Jesus, Peter Luke 22:31, Paul 2Cor 12:7, you, me…) But I rebuked the devil and he still did it. Ans = The devil will not do what we tell him to do. He doesn’t do what God tells him, so why us. Just remember that he is a limited being! SO spiritual warfare is more about us not doing what the devil tells us to think and to do, rather than us telling him what to do. He gets into our heads and tells us we are not worth thinking about, victims, not loved, cheated… He is the liar (John 10:10). We recover ourselves out of the snare of the devil… (2Timothy 2:24-26)

GOD’S IDEA OF US IS WRITTEN IN A BOOK Ps 139
Psalm 139:13 You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book! How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can't even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me