Are Your Using God's Weapons Against The Temptations Of The Flesh?

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 -  It is true that I am an ordinary, weak human being, but I don’t use human plans and methods to win my battles.  I use God’s mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil’s strongholds.  These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding him. With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God and change them into men whose hearts’ desire is obedience to Christ. 

Paul constantly dealt with false teachers and preachers that satan had planted everywhere God’s truth was taking hold. They tried to tear apart the teachings from God’s word and replace it with subtle changes…changes that would lead men just far enough from the truth to be more easily tricked into placing their trust in anything other than God.

Since we still face the arguments of many of these teachings in today’s world…Paul’s advice to be sure we are using God’s powerful weapons to protect our hearts from these false ideas is even more important. We are to be sure that we always place our hearts in God’s complete truth…by using His weapons of prayer….faith….hope….love…The Holy Spirit…and the Bible He gave us.  It is only by using these weapons that our hearts cannot be swayed by the thoughts that man tries to add to His truth….thoughts that help to justify living any way they want and calling it Godly.

Using these weapons to protect ourselves from false doctrine also builds our weak flesh into the kind of passionate believer that Paul was. We begin to see and claim the truth… that when we give our whole self over to the way of God…He fills us with everything we need to do the work He set as our destiny when He formed us in our mother’s womb. Our power is not of this world…the battle is not ours alone…God can use us to help others understand the power that God has to transform a lost heart into one more resident in Heaven.

I admit as usual that I do not claim that power near enough.  I let the darkness around me pull me into flesh mode and have to wait for God to rescue me more than once a day. I believe my weakness is compounded by the habit I have of trying to deal with things on my own. I need to learn to use those weapons with a lot more consistency….knowing in my heart that the one I use the least is prayer. And even though I read my Bible every day…and even reflect on how to apply its words better in my life…I have also prayed recently for God to help me memorize more of it. I recognize these days the value of reciting scripture back to the darkness…like Jesus did when the darkness tried to tempt Him in the wilderness.

Father….thank you for the reminder that you have given me the most powerful tools that exist to fight the darkness that satan uses to pull me into His way of thinking. Forgive me for be so easy a target for him….and letting Him win control over my flesh more than you. Help me to take the love you placed in my heart and use it to create a passion and commitment to replace any weapon in my current arsenal that is not from you…with a regenerated….stronger form of the weapons Paul reminded me of this morning. And God…don’t just let them be a thought in my mind…but help me learn to use each one to its fullest power…so that I can be the best vessel of service for you that I can.  Amen.