2 Corinthians 10: 1 – 10
No matter where you look, there seems to be a structure of hierarchy.
- in the animal kingdom
- among birds
- in organizations
- in business
- in the church
- in our jobs
- in families
It’s this concept of hierarchy, or putting things/people in order of importance, that has me struggling lately. It was tormenting me under the surface of everyday life for quite awhile. Then a combination of scripture readings and a video series called “gods at war” by Kyle Idleman, pierced my heart. As I watched the teaching video, tears came and I saw clearly the reason my heart had been hurting so much. And – I was wrecked – in a good way.
We think as Christians that we may break some of the commandments, but we certainly have not broken the first two. In reality, we have probably broken them more than any others.
The first commandment is to have no other gods (small g) before God. The second is to not make any kind of idol. In our minds we go immediately to Old Testament pictures of pagans with bizarre gods and gold, bronze, silver or wood idols. Of course we haven’t done anything like that – or have we?
It’s the hierarchy, or order, that God demands. He says in the first commandment that He must be at the top – no lesser gods before the One True God. And the second commandment goes along with that because any idol is something that comes before God. It doesn’t have to be an object, it can be good things that have gained too much importance. And that’s where I found myself – Yikes.
Gods……………..idols…………….
In the video series it addresses several gods – pleasure, love, power, money, me. None of them are awful, evil things. What we do with them and where our thoughts, money and time are spent tell a different story.
Where’s my focus? What is consuming my thoughts? Where am I stuck? What’s invading my heart and mind?
In the midst of all this I read 2 Corinthians 10 where I zero in on verses 3 – 5. I am living a life in the flesh in a flesh driven world. But, I have spiritual weapons at my disposal. I have the power of the Holy Spirit to recognize and take every “above God” thought and put it in the correct place or throw it out completely – whatever the Spirit prompts to do.
If you are struggling with this stuff like I am, take courage dear one. Don’t be discouraged when you can’t seem to get it right all the time. Me either !! Doesn’t it feel sometimes like we take 2 or 3 steps forward and one back? UGH! So frustrating. This is where I hold tightly to Philippians 1:6 – “I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” I am unfinished, in progress, under construction. You and I have to cut ourselves a bit of slack. It’s not condoning excuses. It’s acknowledging that we are but dust. We’re human, broken, imperfect. But God doesn’t throw us away when we mess up. He wants us to confess, accept His forgiveness (I John 1:9) and get back in the game with Him. He has more to do in and through our lives. He is NOT done with us yet. We are not failures. He loves when we come back to Him and put Him at the very top of our priorities and thoughts.
I’m doing this daily………………
Here’s what I have started to do and you are welcome to do this too. First of all I acknowledge every day in my morning prayers that it is my desire to put God first. I ask Him to help me identify and take captive every thought that competes for His place in my life. Another thing that has become automatic every day since the beginning of 2017 is praying the armor of God on myself. It goes like this. . .
Lord – I put on the helmet of salvation – Your salvation because there is salvation in no one else. I pray protection over my mind, my eyes and my ears. I put on the breastplate of righteousness to protect my heart and other vital parts – Your righteousness because I have none on my own. I put on the belt of truth. Your truth – not truth from the culture, the country, my church, my friends, or anything but Your Word. I take up the shield of faith to extinguish the enemy’s fiery darts – the ones I can see and the ones I can’t see coming (meaning I place the shield over my head, crouching down, becoming turtle-like). I take up the sword of the Spirit – God’s Word. I infuse my mind with Your Word that I can use as I battle each day. I put on shoes of peace. May I walk through my day in peace and bless others with peace. Above all, I cover with prayer – not just at that moment but conversationally through the whole day……………………….Amen.