OK…You Want to Fight!

1 Samuel 8; 1 Samuel 9; 1 Samuel 10; 2 Corinthians 10
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Scripture

Paul's Defense of His Ministry

2 Corinthians 10:1-11

“By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

7 You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. 8 For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." 11 Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.”


Observation

Paul is once again under attack by a group of Christians and he responds with power! He says that if you think that I am only strong in my letters just wait until I see you. Then he reminds them of the kind of power he has from God, a divine power that can demolish strongholds. He is not going to fight like the world does he is going to use weapons that are out of this world. Look out! We have that same divine arsenal and we can use it too! Don’t let anyone bully you around. Don’t let any sin take you captive!


Application

All of us come under attack it is normal as we live out the Christian life. How we fight back is what is important. Do we call on Divine power or do we fight just like the world does? The choice will be ours today. How will you choose to fight?


Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to rely on your power to meet today’s challenges. Help me to depend on all the resources you have for me to use. Thank you for guiding me today. I want to hear your voice today and be obedient to everything you desire. I pray for our people that they would draw from you today and that they would be strong and courageous as they encounter today’s battles.



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