As always, the LORD either gives me a title for my newsletter, or He gives me chapter and verse.  Today I heard the words “IN READINESS”.  So here we go. I looked and those word READINESS appears three times in the Bible, being Acts 17:11, 2Corinthians 8:11, and 2 Corinthians 10:6.  So just to be sure, I will use all three, however 2 Co 10:6 in my opinion is the one for me to focus on. Here we go:

Acts 17:11, These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

            It makes me wonder, how ready are we to receive the Word of God, to hunger for it so much that we search the scriptures daily, to search out if these things written are so?  Or are we satisfied to dust our Bible off and drag it to church once a week?  Do we even LOOK at our Bible during the week?  You know, where our heart is, there is our treasure.  So, where is YOUR treasure? The things of the world, or the things of God?  I can’t answer that for you, but  you need to have a hard look at that, as do I.

2 Corinthians 8:11, but I will start in verse 7 to keep the context of Paul’s thought.

 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

 8  I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.

 9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

 10  And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. 

 11  Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.

            Here, in the following verses after these, it is apparent that Paul was telling the disciples to take up an offering to ease the burdens of those brethren who were in lack.  You see, sometimes we have a WILLINGNESS to give, but following through with the actual giving is where the problem is.  How many times has your heart been moved to give to a good cause, but you put it off, and ended up not giving?  It has happened to me, and I’m a ready giver, so I’m assuming it can happen to others.  Let me tell you, Paul hit the nail on the head in verse 11.  God wants us to be obedient to that which He lays on our heart.  “Now therefore PERFORM the doing of it..”  Yes, you had a readiness to WILL to do it, so now let’s see the PERFORMANCE of that willingness.  So often the heart is willing, but the flesh gets in the way.

NEVER will our flesh agree with our spirit, God created us that way so that when we receive His Holy Spirit, they are constantly in opposition with one another, and God made it so, it is not an oddity that only YOU are experiencing.  No, I suffer with that malady as well.  I have to fight my flesh to obey God, even after all these years, the flesh still wants its way.  And sometimes the flesh wins.  But that’s when we must REPENT and ask forgiveness from our LORD.  Thankfully, He is merciful and quick to forgive, but hey, that’s not an excuse to let your flesh have its way.  The idea is to obey the Holy Spirit ALL the time, not just when the flesh isn’t fighting us too hard.  Now, let’s go to the verse I believe God wants us to focus on today, which is 2 Corinthians 10:6.  For clarity, I will use verses 1 through 7,

 1  Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: 

 2  But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. 

 3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

 4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 

 5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 

 6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

 7  Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s.

            WOW! What a powerful section of scripture!  You see, there is a battle in the spirit realm for the control of our mind.  Our battlefield is not with people of differing opinions than ours.  I see on Facebook how ugly people can get when you don’t agree with them.  But people are not our enemy, even though it may appear so.  Our enemy is SATAN, and he uses his power to influence people to do his bidding. Our battlefield our own mind!  And as it says in verse 4, our weapons are MIGHTY through God to the pulling down of strong holds.  What are those strong holds?  Glad you asked!

Our flesh may want to retaliate against those who speak badly of us or treat us badly.  Our flesh is not our friend when it comes to things of God.  As the Apostle Paul wrote, we have to cast down EVERY thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of or our obedience to Christ.  And believe me, that’s a lot of stuff that hits us daily.  The devil tries to wear us down, and he also tempts us with stuff to disrupt our walk with the LORD.  We must be in readiness 24/7 to cast all the devil’s junk down, and never let our guard down.  Remember,  to be IN READINESS 24/7.  If you can remember that, you will do well.

The heavenly Father loves you, Jesus loves you, and I love you.  God bless!