Tag: knowledge of God
Powerful spiritual weapons
Scripture reading for August 11: 2 Corinthians 10
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
Paul desired that those he had led to a relationship with Jesus Christ would live a life of holiness and victory over Satan and their sinful flesh. He plainly told them that each believer was in warfare, not against other people but evil forces of darkness. The wicked spiritual forces came to kill them, steal from them, and ultimately destroy them. Satan uses our fleshly appetites and desires and our worldly thinking to accomplish his destructive plans. All believers are in the world and live in a body of flesh that can be manipulated by our evil enemy to hold us in sin and disobedience.
But God has not left us without spiritual weapons to combat the forces of darkness and our flesh. These weapons have divine power to destroy strongholds of sin and fleshly thinking. God’s Word brings a knowledge of God and truth that sets us free. God’s Gift of the Holy Spirit living in us brings power to recognize sin and flee temptation and to live by faith in Christ’s righteousness. Through the Word and Spirit, we destroy arguments and prideful thinking that tries to exalt the flesh and block God’s knowledge. We are enabled to bring our thought life under God’s control. God’s power through the Holy Spirit destroys Satan’s strongholds of fear, addiction, and bondage to flesh. Understanding the warfare and our powerful weapons allows us to walk in victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Have you ever felt pushed around by thoughts, feelings, and emotions that demand actions that are selfish, hateful, or harmful? Have you discovered the spiritual weapons that God has provided to give you victory? What excuses have you made to accommodate your flesh and worldly thinking?
Prayer: Father God, thank You for giving me powerful weapons of truth and righteousness through faith. Thank You for giving me the ability to recognize spiritual attacks in my flesh and mind through the indwelling Holy Spirit. By faith, I bring every thought captive into the obedience of Christ. Amen.
Healed instantly by Jesus!
Scripture reading for August 9th: Hosea 4-6, Psalm 58, Matthew 17
Matthew 17: 14-18 “And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to Him and kneeling before Him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.”
Matthew told the story of Jesus, Peter, James and John returning from the Mount of Transfiguration. There was a crowd gathered and Jesus was approached humbly by a man whose son was an epileptic and had seizures that sought to destroy him. This man had gone to the other disciples but they were unable to help the child. Jesus rebuked them and the people for their lack of faith and twisted thinking. Even though Jesus had taught His disciples to pray for the sick and believe God for miracles, these men were not believing God to see the needed healing. Jesus simply rebuked the evil spirit behind the sickness and immediate healing was the result. Oh that as followers of Jesus, we walked continuously by faith in God’s Holy Word and the knowledge of God’s compassionate heart to heal and deliver.
Hosea 6:2-3 “After two days he will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; His going out is sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”
Prayer: Father God, forgive me when I only see life through my own eyes and don’t know You or Your Word as I should. As a follower of Jesus Christ, fill me with Your Holy Spirit and grace to truly heal and deliver those suffering under Satan’s bondage and darkness. Send the rain of Your Spirit to water the earth and bring reward to the righteous and escape from judgment.
Psalm 58:10-11 “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God Who judges on earth.”
Empowering prayer for others!
Scripture reading for March 5th: Numbers 8-11, Colossians 1
Key Scriptures: Colossians 1:9-12 “And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
Paul prayed for the believers he had been told about, asking God for spiritual gifting and increased understanding and knowledge of God. He knew God was glorified when they would produce fruit as a result of knowing His will and doing it. Growth spiritually is not always instantaneous, but requires patience and endurance through many setbacks and obstacles. Prayer is the best thing we can do for new believers–and older saints!
Numbers 11:24-25 “So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. As soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.”
Faith Confession and prayer: Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit and wisdom today that I might speak Your Word with boldness and understanding. Thank You for the prayers of Paul that inspire me to pray for myself and others.