Divine Demolition

"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.

For though we live in the world,

we do not wage war as the world does.

The weapons we fight with are not the 

weapons of the world.

On the contrary,

they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

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.

And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience,

once your obedience is complete."

2 Corinthians 10:2-6

Dust scattered everywhere, laying a fine layer of silt over everything within a half-a-mile radius.  Every time the wrecking ball launched another attack on the concrete structure, it weakened a little bit more until finally, with a deep groan, the building gave up it's integrity and fell to the ground in a heap.  Now it was time for the bulldozer to come in and clean up the debris.

Tearing something down takes less effort and time than creating it.  While it may take months to build a house, it can be destroyed in less than a day.  Waging war against that which sets itself up against the Kingdom of God, however, is not so easy to tackle.  For this kind of demolition, we need divine power.

Strongholds

The young man was given a critical yet frightening mission: To deliver the warnings and prophecies of God to His disobedient and wayward people.  The Northern Tribes were already in exile at the hand of the Assyrians as punishment by God for their defiance and unfaithfulness, but they still weren't getting it.  (2 Kings 18:11-12)  

God's chosen people had been experiencing the consequences for their actions for a hundred years, but still insisted on living life their way instead of God's.  Out of God's great compassion for His own, however, He sent a messenger to petition them to repent and come back to their first Love.  (Jeremiah 3:11-15)

Unfortunately, most did not heed God's warnings for they were too set in their ways.  How much this is like me in this present age.  There are strongholds of all kinds in my own life like fear, doubt, sloth, apathy, hardness of heart and selfishness that keeps me from fully giving my life to Christ.  These areas of sin are so cemented into place that its like they become a part of my identity.  It takes power from above to demolish these fortresses that block the love of God from flowing freely in my life. 

The weapons God gives me with which to wage war in this world contains divine power to demolish the strongholds of sin in my life.

Arguments

It is said that the man who serves as his own attorney has a fool for a lawyer.  Anyone facing trial in this day and age would be wise to gain experienced counsel in order to give them the best chance against the charges brought against them.  This, however, is not the advice Jesus gave to His apostles.

When warning them that they would be arrested and brought before governors and kings, he said to not worry about their defense.  Instead, He said, "God will give you the right words at the right time.  For it is not you who will be speaking--it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."  (Matthew 10:19b-20)  Now that's what I call a good defense!

I need not worry when faced with opposition to the Gospel.  It is not necessary for me to study stock answers as preparation for facing every possible argument, like some cults train their followers to do.  Instead, I can believe that God will give me the words that will, ". . .destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent." (1 Corinthians 1:19)

The weapons God gives me with which to wage war in this world contains divine power to demolish arguments at odds with the Truth.

Disobedience

The people prone to waywardness and defiance listened to the words of their leader.  Moses said, "If you obey the LORD your God, you will experience many blessings such as in the success of your business efforts, in your families and general welfare, in the abundance of God's provision for you; pretty much everywhere you go and in everything you do you will find blessings from God." (paraphrased from Deuteronomy 28:2-6)

Things are no different today.  While following God's commands will not earn me eternal life, paying attention to how He wants me to live my life does bring a blessing with it.   As a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, I have the power to tear down my disobedient spirit and live with a desire to follow my Shepherd down the path where He leads me.

The weapons God gives me with which to wage war in this world contains divine power to demolish my disobedient heart and transform me into a woman who desires to go where He leads me.

Trying to live my life for Jesus is not always easy.  As I strive to dwell in the kingdom of God while still in this fallen world, I will need to wage war on that which sets itself up against God's ways.  For this, I will need God's power to demolish strongholds, arguments and my own disobedient spirit.  When I experience this divine demolition, I will truly understand that the battle belongs to the Lord. (1 Samuel 17:47)

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can let God fight my battles for me.

When do I hide behind certain strongholds of sin instead of letting God tear them down?

How do I attempt to use intellectual lines of reasoning instead of letting God demolish arguments that come up against the truth?