Got Cracks?

A few years ago Dwayne built us a sidewalk by laying flat stone and adding cement between the stones. I love the appearance of it; it matches the rock on our home. A few months after he finished the sidewalk, the cows got out of the pasture on the connecting property and took a stroll down the new sidewalk. Their weight broke and cracked the cement! Though I was mad at the cows (Dwayne:  I guarantee you I was!), I can live with a few cracks. Well, I can until the weeds and grass start coming up those cracks in the walk. They are impossible to pull up and to pull up the roots! The only way to really remove the weeds and grass is to kill it and seal up the cracks.
     We see the term ‘stronghold’ used many times in Scripture. It's used to describe the Lord as the  stronghold of our salvation and also that He tears down the strongholds the enemy builds in our life. A stronghold is a fortress. In reality, it is like a castle. A place one can go and be safe. One of my favorite verses states that the name of the Lord is like a tower, the righteous run into it and a safe. Often I envision that verse when I need comfort from the attacks of Satan. Outside the tower, Satan can come at me in full force, but inside the tower I am safe. However, never think that he gives up easily. He searches for 'cracks', weak areas in our life or a sin we have kept in our life and he comes through that crack like a weed through the crack in the cement.
     We need to make sure we do not give Satan an opening into our life through a 'crack', no matter how tiny we think it is. If a weed can find the smallest crack, so can Satan. Jesus can fill in any crack we have. He will help us let go of the sin that can entangle us and fill the crack with his grace. Satan tries to find the smallest way in to our life so he can build a stronghold. Then we have to go and ask Jesus to knock the stronghold down! It is so much easier to deal with the cracks!
     Do you have cracks Jesus needs to fill? Or do you have strongholds that He needs to destroy?

After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways!

2 Corinthians 2:11