THE CRUSHING BLOW
I wonder what it indicates about my personality that I like to watch a good fight or that most of the movies I enjoy are high adventure often involving lots of conflict. But I am encouraged when I read the letters from the apostle Paul since he often uses the language of a battle between right and wrong. He challenges us to put on the whole armor of God so we can stand. He said, "we don't wrestle with flesh and blood but with the powers of the darkness of this age. He challenged the Corinthians not to be like one who is "beating the air" or shadow boxing. One of my favorite of this kind of statement from Paul is in Romans 16:20. He had just told them he wanted them to be wise in what is good, yet innocent about what is evil. Then he said, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." It is amazing to try to picture what he declares. He sees God as the God of peace. Yet the God of peace is going to crush Satan under our feet. Then he wants grace to be with us.
I must admit that most of the time it seems more like Satan is crushing me under his feet than that God is crushing him under mine. The context of Paul's statement indicate that it was their obedience of faith which would lead to their abiltity to walk over Satan and take him down. He gives us more insight into how we have the victory over Satan in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 where he said, "For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way, since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."
The battle of our lives won't be fought with weapons of mass destruction. They will be fought with the mind, by bringing every thought captive. When we allow God to work through us in crushing Satan there is no limit to the power that is available. When we try to defeat evil and its source on our own power we are destined to complete failure.
Who is winning the battle in your mind?
Leon Barnes
I must admit that most of the time it seems more like Satan is crushing me under his feet than that God is crushing him under mine. The context of Paul's statement indicate that it was their obedience of faith which would lead to their abiltity to walk over Satan and take him down. He gives us more insight into how we have the victory over Satan in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 where he said, "For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way, since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."
The battle of our lives won't be fought with weapons of mass destruction. They will be fought with the mind, by bringing every thought captive. When we allow God to work through us in crushing Satan there is no limit to the power that is available. When we try to defeat evil and its source on our own power we are destined to complete failure.
Who is winning the battle in your mind?
Leon Barnes
posted by Leon Barnes at 10:50 AM
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