Laura Ingle

Key scripture- “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).

Did you know that you are under the attack of Satan when these five things happen:

1. When something comes out of nowhere and tempts you.

2. When what you are thinking is so irrational that if you told a good friend or a brother or sister in Christ what you were thinking they would say, “You’re thinking what? That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”

3. When it is unrelenting. It is there and it won’t go away. You can’t get it off of your mind. It is that sense of you cannot shake it or get away from it.

4. When it is dangerous. If you did what you are thinking about it would have very serious serious consequences in your life.

The enemy, Satan, is not looking to tickle you, or trap you, or just knock you off balance and get you in the ditch for a couple of days, he is out to destroy you. He wants to devour you like a lion that’s why he’s described as a roaring lion. He wants to destroy you and your family in the worst most Christ dishonoring way that he can come up with. That is how the enemy works.

5. When what Satan is using against you falls to God’s Word. Satan cannot stand against the Word of God. So you know it is Satan when you throw the Word of God at him, and whatever he is trying to use to destroy you, he flees from you. He will run from you when you are under the power of God’s Word. This is why we need to know God’s Word and stand on God’s Word. If you do not know God’s Word, you are at a major disadvantage because you can’t quote it and use it against your biggest enemy, which is Satan.

You are probably thinking, “Ok, we have established that I am under attack, now what do I do?”

Today’s Key Scripture is a go to verse when you are under attack by Satan. There are four things that we need to get from this verse and we will break it down and look at each one separately.

1. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.” When you are backed in a corner God is there. When this verse says “we are afflicted in every way but not crushed”, it literally means you are in a narrow closed in space. That’s why the King James version says hard-pressed. It is when you are in a spot that you cannot get out of.

It’s like being in a boxing match and you’ve taken some blows and to avoid being hit anymore you keep backing up and backing up, until you find yourself in a corner and there is no where else to go. The corner that you are in may be: a family problem, work problem, financial problem, or serious health problem. You have seen your situation go quickly from having a few clouds on the horizon to a major storm with thunder and lightning in your life. It all comes about so fast and you start to feel hard-pressed. You are troubled, afflicted, boxed in on every side and it looks like you don’t have any options.

Even though you may be afflicted, God says “you are not crushed”. This is God’s promise, that when you are hard pressed, when you are afflicted, when you are cornered, God will allow that to go to a point but he will not allow it to go so far as to crush you. He will never have it to where there is not a way out, that is why He says in His Word, “we are afflicted, but not crushed.” There will be no knockout blow. You are going to get through this. You will live to see another day that is full of comfort, joy and peace. You will live to fight another day.

If you are in that corner right now, and you just don’t know what to do, then do this: get alone, get down on your knees, and lay that burden at the throne of the Lord, lay it at the feet of Jesus. Then talk to him about it until you can’t talk anymore. Talk to him until you can’t think of anything else to say. I promise you that that time in prayer will be followed by a time of refreshing. That will be followed by a provision from the Lord.

2. “Perplexed, but not driven to despair.”
Perplexed means there is no passageway and you can’t find the way out. It’s like being lost in a strange city and you just don’t know which way to go. Every turn you take takes you to a different wrong place and you just seem to be going in circles.

Sometimes it’s not the circumstances that we have to come to grips with it, but it is our wrestling with, “Why did this happen to me?” This is when we are wrestling with God for information, for understanding, for insight. We are saying, “It is so dark here I need some light, some insight from God.” “Why” is the question that hits the hardest, and lingers the longest.

However, even though you may be perplexed, you are not driven to despair. We need to learn to say things like this to God, “I don’t understand, I’m confused. I don’t know what to do next. I am completely at a loss to know what I should do.”

James 1:5 tells us that if you lack wisdom, ask God. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

God loves to give us wisdom. He will give it to you generously and without reproach. That means he won’t sink his teeth into you when you ask. He won’t act disgusted and put out because you asked for wisdom. Instead, He will be loving, kind, and generous when He gives wisdom to you. God is waiting for, longing for, looking for the moment you come to him and say, “I don’t know what to do. I need wisdom God.”

The idea of despair is to be hopeless. But you are a child of God, so you are not hopeless. Instead you can say, “I might be at the end of my wits, but I am not at the end of my rope. I am not without hope. Hope is what causes me to turn to God. There will be a better day. Things will change.”

God is so faithful when we are humble enough to say, “I just don’t have it, I just don’t have it Lord.” God will always make a way, when there seems to be no way.

3. “Persecuted but not forsaken.” When you are under attack God is right there with you. Persecuted means to be pursued or chased with an evil intent.

Have you ever had a dream where you’re being chased but you’re unable to run. If so, then you understand what it’s like to be persecuted where something is after you and you just can’t get away from it.

Have you ever felt the enemy, Satan, just coming after you with everything that he can throw at you. Do you sometime sense the attack of the enemy in your life? Do you sense the enemy in your life like 1 Peter 5:8-9 describes Satan as a roaring lion. Seeking whom he may devour. He’s stalking you trying to devour you.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Satan leads his army of evil spirits on a continual attack of the people and the purposes of God. He does not attack sinners, because they are already on his team, instead he is attacking the children of God. Satan and his evil minions agitate, irritate, and disrupt our lives. He is a devious liar. The Bible says we have three enemies, the world system, our flesh, and Satan. But we can live in victory over all three, because God will never ever forsake us or abandon us.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

4 “Struck down, but not destroyed.” Struck down is like when a boxer has been knocked down and the other guy is on top of him, and if the boxer tries to get up the one on top is ready to strike once again to get in a few more punches just to make sure he’s out.

That is a picture of struck down, lying on the canvas as the referee counts 1, 2… You wish the referee would just hurry up and finish the count so that it would all be over. Everyone is shouting at you, “Stay down, stay down, you are done. You can’t recover from this”. But God’s Word is telling you, “you may be struck down but you are not destroyed.” God is telling you, “You can get up, you may fall, but you are not going to stay down, because I will pick you up, and when I pick you up, no one can keep you down. Get up, I am right here with you. Don’t give up.”

“Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.”
(Psalm 37:24).

Now we come to the best part, because God tells us in verse 10 how all this happens – “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” Since we carry in our bodies the death of Jesus our Savior, our Lord, the life of Jesus is manifested in our bodies. When you have the awareness that Christ is always with you then you know, that you know, that you know, that: you can’t be struck down, you can’t be destroyed, you will never be left or forsaken, you will never be driven to despair, that absolutely nothing, I mean nothing, can take you out. We need to live each day knowing that no matter what we face, Christ is in us and we have his strength and power and we cannot be defeated. Jesus is with you all the time. He never leaves you, because you are a child of God.

We need to always be mindful of the presence of the Lord. Jesus gave His life and we are giving our lives. Your old self is gone and He is making you into a new creation. This is the new you – your life in Christ, living for Him that is all that matters now. So as you move forward you are always carrying about in your body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be manifested in your body. Christ in you, the hope of glory.

God has made no provision for you to live the Christian life by yourself, He has only provided for Jesus to live His life through you. The Christian life is Jesus Christ in you. That is why Colossians 2:6 says, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” Every step you take for the rest of your life you need to remember this.

Pray this – My Precious Heavenly Father, I never ever want to take for granted what Jesus did in order to save me and give me eternal life. Father, I know how broken and lost I was until Jesus became my Lord and Savior. I am so very very thankful for His sacrifice on the cross. Father, thank You for this Key scripture which gives us so much hope, courage and strength. I know that
when I am under attack, You are always right there. I will not listen to Satan because he is a liar and all that he wants to do is put lies in my head. I will take every one of Satan’s lies captive and put them under the obedience of Christ and I will replace those lies with the Word of God. The way I will defeat Satan is do what Jesus did, name the lie and then insert the truth. I will only believe what You say about me and my situation. I will plant Your Word in my heart. No matter what I am facing, I will always remember that – God is with me. God is my refuge. Greater is He that is in me, than he who is in the world. ” Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4). The same power that Jesus used to defeat death and sin, lives in me, and that is why I live in victory not defeat and I am free from the grip of sin. Jesus lives in me and I will walk each step in Him so that He is manifested in me. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.