Divine Power Destroys Strongholds

March 14

"Forget about the wrong things people do to you, and do not try to get even. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord," Leviticus 19:18.

People yearn for world peace. People yearn for peace within their homes, within their nation, within themselves, but peace is among the most elusive of commodities.

Regarding world peace, the Word tells us in I Thessalonians 5:3, that when we are crying, “peace and safety, then will sudden destruction come.” Perhaps the most important reason for the inability of the entirety of the planet to achieve peace is the reality that its inhabitants are so unable to attain it within themselves.

In Philippians 4:7 the Apostle Paul tells us, “The peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.” Can it be that world peace is ever-sought but never-found because we have not allowed the Prince of Peace to reign within our hearts?

Everyday people who lack the kind of authority required to implement national policy or to enact laws may not be able to transform the world through political or military means, but we do have an unfailing source of power that we can employ daily toward the pulling down of the strongholds that impact our lives.

II Corinthians 10:3, 4 tells us, “Though we live in the world we are not warring against the world, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”

Our focus must ever be on the hearts and souls of men. Certainly we care that the poor be fed and clothed, that the freedoms we hold dear be maintained, but if we do not invest ourselves in the transforming of souls from death to life in Christ, no other of our longings stand any chance of being fulfilled.

Until Christ is all and in all, our efforts will be vain and unfruitful. With Him, however, we can do all things—not in our own strength but in His, Philippians 4:13.