Tues.’s Devo - How to Minister

Read: 2 Corinthians 6:14-10:18
Paul described his ministry in chapter six with so many words: in patience, in tribulation, in need, in distress, in stripes, in jail, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fasting. Then he told us how he ministered: by living purely, having knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word to truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. Sometimes he and his team were honored, and other times they were dishonored. Some thought they were deceivers and yet they knew they had the truth. Some people thought they were good and others thought they were bad. They were famous in places and unknown in others. They counted themselves dead to themselves and alive to Jesus. They were beat and persecuted yet spared. Many times they were filled with sorrow over the people’s response but they rejoiced in the Lord. The world would call them poor yet they were rich in the Lord. The world would say they had nothing to show for their lives yet they possessed all things. They opened their hearts wide to love one another but they warned against being unequally yoked with an unbeliever. There is truly no fellowship with darkness if you are walking in the light. We walk in the flesh but we don’t fight in the flesh.
I have been praying for the trouble in our nation. When the world is mad and upset they turn to violence and rioting. When we get upset, we send the army of God to fight our battles. Our weapons are not clubs or guns or mace but they are strong in God and they pull down strongholds. There are strongholds over our nation of perversity, lies, pride, envy, error, witchcraft, slumber and fear. We can bring them down by the Spirit. It starts with bringing down the imaginations in our minds. If we would take every negative thought captive and change them to positive ones of the victory of God, then half the battle is won. As a man thinks, so is he. Our thought life flows out of our mouths and then we become powerful because our mouths are weapons of good or evil.
Lord, help us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. May our words be weapons of destruction against the enemy and bring peace and life to our troubled nation.