“Why would you attempt to complete anything in the flesh when all spiritual power and authority have been won for you on the cross? On Calvary, all fleshly wisdom and power were destroyed for all eternity. Every weapon of the enemy was shown for what it really is. Hatred, anger, and murder were defeated by love and submission to My will. They no longer have any power over you because you are Mine. In the spiritual authority won for you, no weapon formed against you can prosper.
"The weapons of the enemy are antiquated and have no real power. Don’t submit to their lies. Walk in love - it is an undefeatable weapon against schemes against you. Practice forgiveness - it destroys hatred and malice. Stand in faith - fear then has no stronghold. Live as Jesus lived. Love as He did, and you will prosper no matter what challenges may come your way.”
Matthew 5:23-24 NIV
23) “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24) leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
I Cor. 13:4-7 AMP
4) Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
Gal. 2:20 AMP
I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
With Jesus as our example, and with the Father’s love flowing through us, we are to walk as advocates for our Lord, each other as believers, and then on behalf of those who have need. Our adoption into the family of God, our sonship, gives each of us the heritage and ability to do so through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Those walking as advocates delight in seeing others become all that they can be in Christ. Seeing any less motivates them to respond for the good of those individuals, even at a loss to themselves.
When someone comes against the advocate heart, there is a godly desire to have the offender eventually walk in all of the wealth of the Lord, for the sake of the Lord. To respond in any form of retaliation would be unthinkable. Advocates will love deeper than any argument. In fact, any accusation or injustice only causes them to desire that the other is forgiven and restored before the Father, never from a position of loftiness, but from the heart of lowliness.
Recognizing their acceptance with God, their heritage, their rights, and their privileges (which come via the work on the cross,) but esteeming others more significantly than themselves or their own needs, people walking with the heart of an advocate are wonderfully free. Jealousy, loss of reputation, perceptions of others, fear, and pride have no hold on them.
They are the leaders who serve, the advocates of their accusers, the servants of those who wrong them; and the comforters of those who are against them. Because they are confident and comfortable in their position with God, there is no negative response when falsely accused, no need to be right when wronged; and no desire to be lifted up in any way…
Teach me to live Your way, Lord,
Jim Corbett
