Day 17 - Spiritual Weaponry
SCRIPTURE:
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog world out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way - never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. (The Message Version)
DEVOTIONAL:
We don’t fight as the world fights. It’s not about flesh and blood, it’s about spiritual strongholds and battles that shape eternity.
A traditional translation reminds us that the weapons of our warfare are wielded for the destruction of every thought that raises itself up against the will and purpose of God.
What transformed me: I realized behind the flesh and blood of my struggle, is a spiritual battle. Here is what has increased my ability to effectively fight a spiritual battle. When thoughts, discouragement, protectionism, fear, or any other thought attempts to invade my life, I must do four things:
Take it captive. I must stop these thoughts in their tracks and capture them.
Present it. Next, I must surrender every loose thought, emotion, and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. In other words, present it before the throne of Jesus. What does He have to say about it? What does a Kingdom perspective say about this?
Expose it. In the perfect light of Christ and under the inspection of Truth, these thoughts will be revealed for what they are. If they are true, He will reveal it and I will respond accordingly. If false, they are exposed as lies. They are cast aside.
Destroy it with scripture, and spoken words of faith.
How are you fighting the battle in your mind? Is the voice of the Holy Spirit winning, or is the voice of the world, or even that internal conversation winning? It’s time to do some spiritual warfare and beat back the lies!!