“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed — 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”- 2 Corinthians 4:8-10
The books of 1st and 2nd Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul, who we all know went through some of the most horrendous acts of persecution the Early Church had ever seen. So, when Paul said, “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus...” we can vouch that he had experienced it first-hand. This verse is a prime example of the paradoxes of the Kingdom. The first will be last, and the last will be first. You forsake your life to find it, and you carry death so that you can have life. But directly after this, Paul says... “So then death is working in us, but life in you.” This is the upside-down Kingdom of God. The only way you can begin to produce life in somebody else’s life is when death is evident in yours.
When you go through a season where all hell seems to be breaking loose against you — perhaps you go through persecution, false- accusation, betrayal, infirmities, etc. — this is your flesh being put to death. Now, when you go through these things, you can say, “But wait, God has something bigger for me, and He is lifting me into a higher dimension.”
Maybe you’re experiencing sickness so that another may be healed. Maybe you’re fighting the demon of poverty so that another can receive prosperity. Maybe you’re facing demonic attack so that another can receive deliverance. Death is working in you so that life can be worked in somebody else, and so that you can play a role in destinies being fulfilled in the lives of others.
Prophetic Declaration
The death that is working in me shall be the life-giving force for those who are yet to inherit salvation. By the power of Christ, greatness is being cultivated within me. God is preparing a higher dimension for me. Amen!
