The Stronghold of Brilliant Lies

A brilliant lie is like a well-fortified castle—once you’ve entered its gates, it’s hard to escape. The greatest deception isn’t just what people believe, it’s how convinced they are that they’re right. And that is why it is harder to convince people they’ve been deceived than it is to deceive convincing people. Read that again and let it sink in.

That’s the power of a brilliant lie—it’s not just convincing, it’s captivating (pun intended). These brilliant lies are more than misinformation, they are strongholds that have a strong hold on minds. For example: People are so blinded by their hatred for the president that they are completely missing what is happening in the present. Welcome to the year of strong delusion.

But this isn’t just about politics, it’s about spiritual blindness. When truth is consistently rejected, deception isn’t just inevitable, it’s invited. The Bible warns us that when people resist truth long enough, they won’t just stumble into ignorance, they’ll be handed over to darkness: "...because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie..." (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).

This is the ultimate danger of rejecting truth: When truth is consistently resisted, deception becomes embraced. And the deception we’re seeing today isn’t random, it’s strategic. The enemy is using lies carefully crafted to sound loving, yet they ultimately lead to lawlessness.

Lies today aren’t blunt; they’re wrapped in compassion, cloaked in tolerance, and framed as progress. Consider how the redefinition of gender is packaged as ‘love’ and ‘inclusion,’ yet it denies God’s design and leads to confusion. That’s why these false narratives are so captivating—they appeal to the heart while bypassing the mind.

The Apostle Paul warned us about these kinds of deceptions and revealed the strategy for overcoming them. "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). In military terms, a stronghold is a fortified position; a defensive fortress designed to resist attack. Spiritually, strongholds are mental fortresses, belief systems so deeply embedded in people’s minds that they seem unshakable.

Consider the Battle of Monte Cassino during World War II. The Germans occupied a fortified mountain stronghold in Italy—seemingly impenetrable. Allied forces tried multiple direct assaults and failed. But victory finally came when the Allies employed a combination of diversion tactics, persistent pressure, and targeted strikes at the enemy's weak points. The stronghold collapsed when the enemy’s blind spots were exposed.

In the same way, today’s cultural strongholds—built on brilliant lies—won’t be torn down by force or arguments alone. Instead, we must rely on truth, prayer, and persistent faithfulness to expose the weak points in the enemy’s strategy. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh" (2 Corinthians 10:3).

Like the Allies learned, victory requires both strategy and spiritual weapons. Truth breaks deception; prayer breaks spiritual blindness; and unwavering persistence weakens the lies that hold people captive.

In addition, after World War II, some Japanese soldiers refused to surrender for decades, convinced the war was still ongoing. Leaflets, broadcasts, and even visits from their families couldn’t persuade them. Why? Because they were so committed to the lie they once believed that the truth seemed like deception.

This is why so many who cling to progressive lies appear irrational; they’ve invested too much of their identity in the false narrative.To abandon it would feel like losing themselves. Jeremiah captured this tragic delusion when he wrote, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)

This is the power of a brilliant lie that becomes a stronghold: it blinds eyes, bends minds, and binds the conscience to the prince of darkness. In a world consumed by the Marxist Mainstream Media and godless propaganda, true believers must “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them" (Ephesians 5:1).

When you meet someone clinging to deception, remember they’re not just believing a lie, they’ve been captivated by it. Pray for their hearts to soften, for the Holy Spirit to penetrate their defenses, and for truth to set them free. "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).