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.
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
- Isaiah 14:12-14
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
- Ephesians 1:13-14
I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feed them.
- Hosea 11:4
The Boilerplate
My wife took a Bible Study in 2011. (There was a note in the study guide that identified September 2 and that the study was being held on Friday mornings, or I might not have ever figured out what year.) My wife had become a Christian in 2000. She greatly respected the pastor’s wife who was also a pastor. The pastor’s wife spent time as the interim associate pastor, and this Bible study might have been during that time.
My wife passed away in March 2023, and I found this study guide as I was cleaning up. It is a Beth Moore study guide. Most of the questions are close-ended, mostly fill-in-the-blank. But my wife was eager to learn. She wrote her thoughts in the margins, sometimes encouraged to do so by Beth Moore. I will use her comments as I did once before, calling this a “with a little help” series in that my wife contributes. There is more to follow in that she wrote Scriptures and prayers in a notebook. Probably what she found in her personal Bible study, giving her encouragement through the long illness that took her life.
So, instead of writing about a topic at random, I am going to write on my wife’s comments in the Study Guide. It may follow the study guide topics, but it may not.
Discussion on this topic
Last week, the discussion was on keeping the mind steadfast, or in other words, maintaining a stronghold, but only God can make a stronghold strong. The focus in this entire study has been on Isaiah, but this time the focus verses are from 2 Corinthians 10.
Have you ever tried to break down a stronghold on your own?
“Right now – circumstances in life – I couldn’t control or do because someone else was in control.”
- My wife’s response
This answer confused me. We always had the ability to discuss things. If I ever made a decision without checking it with her and a lot of discussion, I would be in trouble. But she was the driver for a three-lady weekly meeting that became every other week about that time and then once per month. One of those ladies, who preceded my wife in passing away, had to have her way or life would be made miserable to all others. The same thing could be said of my mother, but by this time, she was gone, having passed away only about two months before this Bible study started.
When you faced a stronghold, why did you have trouble with it?
“My own self-worth, not believing and trusting in God to pull me through.”
- My wife’s response
My wife was very strong, if she felt she had just a little control, but with my mother and the lady that I am thinking about, you had to do their bidding, and you paid dearly if you even gave input in the decision that had long ago been made.
If either of those ladies had listened, just once, they would have known that my wife had good ideas and worth.
The answer to this next question solves the mystery. Do you have a rationalization to know that this power of oppression is lifted?
“Trying to understand that when someone who caused you so much pain – died – buried – no longer is a need to be obligated to them.”
- My wife’s response
There it is. The other woman died nearly ten years later. My mother hated my wife from before we ever married. A quote before we were ever married: “Don’t marry a half-breed. Your children will grow up to look like circus freaks.” My wife was Eurasian. Her mother was Eurasian, a blend of Bali princess, Javanese, French (maybe Belgian), Dutch, and Chinese. Her father was roughly half Dutch, half German (which he denied due to having uncles who were in the Nazi party at one time), and a little gypsy. But my mother used the “N” word to describe her. Other than being able to tan until she had vitiligo, her skin tone passed as Caucasian. She had only a hint of the Chinese in her face, but that was watered down. But when it was learned that I was unwanted from the beginning, we both were abused, but I do not know of a circumstance that nullifies the Commandment about honoring your mother and father. My Dad and my wife had such a good relationship, they playfully teased each other and gave each other little gifts, just between the two of them. But then again, my Dad had worked on three different continents, and he was more accepting of differences.
How has pride been a factor in destroying strongholds?
“Failure to accept my short comings and asking for forgiveness.”
- My wife’s response
There are several standup comedians that talk about how the wife is always right. My wife was like that. I would often say “yes, dear” when I knew she was wrong. I weighed the options, risking being right and getting the backlash or saying she was right because the consequences were not that terrible with her way of thinking. Funny, I quickly learned how to have a happy wife, happy life, but I failed at learning which battles to fight with the children. She was a lot better at that.
How do you think God desires to guide His children?
“By gently nurturing us and loving us abundantly.”
- My wife’s response
But sometimes, with pride on one side and low self-worth on the other side, it was hard to feel God’s love.
This was a short Bible study. There are still eight lessons in the book, and they are all fairly short.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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