AUGUST 8 READING…2 CORINTHIANS 10
Satan is the accuser…Jesus is our Advocate. It is Satan’s modus operandi, along with his disciples, to try to shut down followers of Christ through accusations and intimidation. He did this against Paul, and he does this today against us. Paul shares three common fronts of attack that Satan and his followers use against the followers of Jesus. The first is fear…they literally attempt to frighten us to silence. They hope that we would cower from their intimidation attempts. Satan knows that fear paralyses people…so we are called to fear not. Paul tells us our boldness is found in Christ. It is not by our strength that we will overcome…it is by the power of Christ within us. The second way the enemy attempts to intimidate us is by tempting us to get in the flesh. We must always remember that if we Christians walk in the flesh it will always lead us into sin. We are new creations in Christ, and as such, we were re-created in Him to walk only in the Spirit. Paul reminds us that though we are in the flesh, we don’t live in the flesh. We battle not with weapons of this world, but our weapons are “mighty in God”. The Holy Spirit allows us to see things as they actually are, and to see the source of those who oppose our Savior. Finally, we are told Satan loves to point out our personal weaknesses in order to intimidate us into silence and retreating. So how do we defend ourselves against charges that we are personally weak? We don’t! When they accuse us of using Jesus as a crutch…we proclaim the truth that Jesus is not our crutch, He is our hospital bed. We don’t lean upon Jesus…we are laid out before Him, and can do nothing apart from Him. We never boast that we have overcome…but that Jesus has overcome for us. And when Satan throws up these personal weaknesses to condemn you and me…we respond with the biblical truth that…”There is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!”
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TOMORROW’S READING…2 CORINTHIANS 11
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