NOT IN THE NATURAL

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God…” ~ II Corinthians 10:4

REFERENCE: 

II Corinthians 10:1-6

The Corinthian church perceived Apostle Paul as weak, perhaps because of his mildness of manner, gentle speech, and his miniature stature. He often spoke with them gently and in meekness, and whenever he was with them, he assumed no great honor but was lowly.

However, the church wondered why physically Paul was weak, but in his letters, he exuded an air of confidence, boldness, and much more, an authoritative power of conviction. The Living Bible says: “Paul’s letters are bold enough when he is far away, but when he gets here, he will be afraid to raise his voice!” (I Cor 10:1). They could not wrap their heads around this, until Paul himself seemed to answer the question for them.

He told them, “My strength is not in the natural and I don’t have what it takes to impress you there. I have no weapons to fight there, so I don’t win my battles there.” He said, “I engage with you all in the spiritual; what I want to achieve, I achieve in the spiritual realm. In that realm, you are powerless against me, satan fears me, and God answers me. My strength is not in my pen; it is in my prayers. So, what makes my writings potent and result-producing is what I do in the spiritual, not in the natural. That is where I gain victory, that is where I lead you from.”

That is instructive. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal (fleshly, physical, or human).” It means that we have no weapons in the natural; in the natural we are weak, exposed to temptation, easily tripped, and deceived by satan. We can’t live our lives solely in the natural, nor can we win battles against the enemy there. That is why satan likes to keep our eyes and mind on natural things. He will manipulate events so as to get you to respond in the flesh – fear, the wrong confession, worry, defeat, or sin by doing something you shouldn’t.

Our weapons are not natural; they look weak to men but are mighty through God. They include (all kinds of) prayers, praise, declaring the word, love, forgiveness, generosity, etc. They appear weak and counter-intelligent, but they offer us the only way to defeat satan – his tricks and strategies. Paul said these weapons pull down satanic strongholds, cast down arguments, or anything that resists the knowledge of God. They will arrest negative thoughts, making them obey Christ. You can never win against the devil in the natural (or in the sense realm), you must go spiritual. That which is from above is above all. You are victorious through Jesus Christ.

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ADDITIONAL TEXTS:

Judges 15:14-16, I Samuel 17:45-50, and II Corinthians 4:7-9

PRAYERS:

+ Lord, help me to take my eyes off the manipulations of satan in the natural.

+ Father, grant me the wisdom to learn to wield my spiritual weapons and respond in the spirit to all satanic assaults, manipulations, or deceptions. I will not be a victim of my senses.

+ David was a skillful man of war. Make me skillful in spiritual battles with my spiritual weapons.