2 Corinthians 10:5 (The Message)

^3-6The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

This passage is so powerful for me... because I can see the demeanor of a princess lived out in the verses. This is the case with royalty... and rightfully so, for they represent what is best about their country. It is their duty to be as upright and dignified as possible. Human kings and royals always have and always will fall morally from time to time because they are human, but Jesus Christ... our King of Kings never has and never will fail to walk uprightly.

I know the Lord gave me this to share with you. Here are some thoughts from Oswald Chamber's devotional "My Utmost for His Highest":

"Sept. 9th-We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible and accountable to Jesus Christ's view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to "be transformed by the renewing of [her] mind...(Romans 12:2)"

and "Sept. 8th-The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices."

All of the above says to me that as Christ's princess, my duty is to represent the interests of the throne. Scripture tells us we are not our own... Jesus, our Redeemer, bought us with His lifeblood... and we are not our own... we are to become more like Christ with each day that passes. This is not an easy task. There are deep-seeded issues in all of our lives that we have to deal with ... plus the daily grind of the culture... these things keep us from being able to focus on living that spiritual life... and that is why we must renew our minds daily by using our God tools (being in the Word... memorizing scripture (even if it takes forever to get down one verse)... being in Bible study and any other ways you can think of... The Israelites tied a blue ribbon into the tassels on their garments ,at God's command, to remind them of their good God who had brought them out of Egypt... tie a piece of blue yarn around a finger... or wear something blue each day... just to help you think on His praises, listen to praise music... the list goes on and on of ways to train our minds) These ideas are the moral choices that, I think, Oswald Chambers was talking about. The God-tools from The Message as well... but they take discipline on our part...

How are you and I walking differently than the world, princess? What is one God-tool we can start using today to help fit us from obedience into spiritual maturity?