ESOCS Devotional 30 October 2023 – We Do Not War After Flesh
MEMORY VERSE: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapon of the world. On the other contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV
TEXT: 2 CORINTHIANS 10:1-END (KJV)
Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:
2 But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
7 Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? if any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s.
8 For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed:
9 That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.
10 For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.
11 Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.
12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
13 But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.
14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:
15 Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,
16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.
17 But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
18 For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
Man is made up of body soul and spirit. Any war a man must engage in must also be a war that has to do with defending these three things that make up a man.
War has to do with the struggle between good and bad (Revelation), man and devil (minister), and Christ and devil (gospel) over the soul of man.
All the wars we engage in as man, for Paul is not a war against flesh. Even though as a man with a body, there are times of conflict between what the body wants and what the spirit wants. In Romans 7:15, Paul was saying that he did not really understand himself, for he wanted to do what was right, but he could not do it. Instead, he did what he hated. In this statement, I see the war Paul went through just to keep his body under subjection. This is the way the war extends to the soul and the spirit of the man.
If a man must make mark and fulfill God’s purpose; he must have been one that has won all the battles before him and gain victory over every war. This war mostly starts as soon as one steps into the teenage years. For God; he is counting on you after releasing his grace to you, to win every battle that confronts you.
If we must win every war, we must first note that we live in the natural realm, but the war we are waging are not on natural things, and as such, do not need natural weapon but spiritual weapon which is energized with divine power, that has the ability to dismantle the defences behind which people hide.
Therefore, let’s take up the whole armour of God according to Ephesians 6:11-19, work in obedience to the Holy Spirit and always having faith on the fact that, it is no longer ‘us’ that lives; but Christ that lives in us, fights every war for us and wins every battle for us.
- Trust God, his son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to war and win for you.
- Oh Lord, help me to live my life in the spirit, handing over all my battle to you to fight.
FURTHER READING: Ecclesiastes 11:9-12; Luke 22:1-12; Obadiah 1:1-end
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ESOCS Devotional 30 October 2023
