VICTORY OUT OF DEFEAT
INTRODUCTION
Each and every Christian is involved in a warfare situation. We have an enemy called Satan or the devil. He is the opposition and he is very subtle and very clever, but the Lord Jesus Christ is on our side.
It is difficult for us to realize that our God is not the God of this world. He is Lord of all the earth, but Satan is the god of this world. It should not be so difficult because we can see from so many of the terrible and ugly things that happen that our God of love could not be responsible for them.
2 Corinthians 4:4 Because the god of this world has made blind the minds of those who have not faith, so that the light of the good news of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not be shining on them. (Modern King James Version)
STAND YOUR GROUND
As a bible believer you have to learn to stand your ground. You must believe what you believe from the Word of God and then do something about it. Far too many of us are being pushed about by the world, the flesh and the devil. We look like the loser of a boxing match with Mike Tyson. It is as if we are under the control of those forces. But we are not supposed to be.
The devil is actually terrified of what would happen if we learned the truth of who we are in Christ and what we could do with the Lord’s strength. One of his biggest challenges is to deceive us into believing that we are little nobodies without any power.
Jesus set aside natural laws so as to bless God’s people. And he made sure that we would not need to surrender to the enemy by providing us with what we need to overcome. We will talk of these things a little later.
Remember that the Lord is not going to oppose Himself, or be divided against Himself. But He certainly opposes the devil and his ways:
Mark 3:24-26 If there is division in a kingdom, that kingdom will come to destruction; And if there is division in a house, that house will come to destruction; And if Satan is at war with himself, and there is division in him, he will not keep his place but will come to an end. (Modern King James Version)
JESUS HIMSELF SAID IT: A KINGDOM DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND!
The works and the activities of the Lord Jesus are very easily contrasted with those of our enemy the devil:
John 10:10 The thief comes only to take the sheep and to put them to death: he comes for their destruction: I have come so that they may have life and have it in greater measure. (Modern King James Version)
The Lord Jesus told us why He came to this earth:
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. (KJV)
His main mission was to go to Calvary so that He could replace our empty existence with the resurrection life of God.
Her also said:
John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. (KJV)
When you look at the activity of Jesus you see the works of God. He said that He only did what the father told Him, and thus He fulfilled the perfect will of His father:
John 14:9b-10 he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (KJV)
When you look at and meditate on the Word of God, if you give it the time, and if you trust God, then it will help you to renew your thinking.
Notice that God says that it is always your responsibility to renew or change your mind; God will not do it for you. No matter how much you ask Him, you must do it for yourself. You need to almost command your mind to line up with the Word of God. It is a matter of self-discipline. You have to deliberately think the right thoughts rather than let your mind wander all over the place.
Whatever you are thinking stop and ask yourself, “Is this what I should be thinking?” and, “What does the Word of God say?”
SATAN: A THIEF AND A LIAR
Satan is a thief. Jesus said so. The devil acts like a thief. He is always looking to rob you of what is rightfully yours. If he can keep you from knowing what you have in Christ then he doesn’t need to rob you because you cannot use what you don’t know that you have. The devil did this right from the beginning.
Adam was originally to have taken dominion over this world. God had made the world good, and He had given instructions to His man, Adam to dress and keep the garden and to take dominion:
Genesis 1:26-28 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (American Standard Version)
Sadly, Adam went and committed high treason and gave that dominion over to the devil. Satan had no rights in the earth until Adam foolishly relinquished his authority to him. Satan became the god of this world, (but NOT the Lord of the earth). Adam had not resisted the temptation and so Satan would be able to cause havoc in the world. Had Adam resisted then the history of this planet would have been totally different.
In the New Testament we see that the Lord Jesus was tempted by our enemy, the devil, but for the first time ever a MAN (the man, Christ Jesus) was able to totally resist the schemes of the enemy.
The temptation of Jesus was very real. Jesus was a man and could not use His divinity to defeat the enemy. He had to use the same powers that are available to you and me to win the battle. In other words He received His empowerment in the River Jordan when the Spirit of God came down onto Him and the Father declared Him to be a Person who pleased Him.
JESUS WAS FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (The Webster Bible)
Now, we do not get filled with the Spirit because we make a lot of effort. We ask for the Holy Spirit and we receive the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised us. The wilderness means “wildness”. It could sustain wildlife. But Jesus chose to fast there in order to become more sensitive to the things of the Spirit. This would have also made it more likely that He would recognize the person of the enemy.
Luke 4:1-2 Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit as he left the Jordan River. The Spirit led him while he was in the desert, where he was tempted by the devil for 40 days. During those days Jesus ate nothing, so when they were over, he was hungry. (God’s Word Bible)
The Bible is very matter-of-fact. Jesus was hungry after forty days. His belly may have been empty but His heart and His Spirit were full. He was filled with the Person of the Holy Spirit. He was filled with the awesome power of God Almighty. That is the major prerequisite to fighting the devil. It cannot be done successfully in our own strength. We have to be fighting with the armour of God upon us.
Luke 4:3-4 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "Scripture says, ’A person cannot live on bread alone.’" (God’s Word Bible)
The devil begins with the word, “IF”. The last words Jesus had heard from the Father were just after He had been baptised, “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22)
The devil always wants us to doubt the truth. He will suggest to us that we are not the children of God. Perhaps he will suggest that the Lord cannot or will not hear our prayers. He has a strategy for each of us, because he knows that which makes us tick. He knows what will make life more difficult for us. His suggestions to you may be quite different to his suggestions for me.
The devil will often try to make us doubt the truth of what the Word of God has said. The Father had declared unequivocally that Jesus “IS my beloved Son,” and so there really was no question. But where there is no question, the devil will try to manufacture one. How many times do we believers question our own salvation and entertain doubts about it?
Now, the rocks which were lying around in that wilderness area would have looked a lot like bread. And the temptation was very real because the Lord Jesus was really hungry. It would be very easy for Jesus to do this thing. He could have easily satisfied His hunger pangs in many ways that day. As a miracle worker He could have used His divine power to remove the hunger pangs anyway He chose, but no. He made sure that He used no more power than we have. He did nothing other than what we can do. He used the materials we have been given:
The Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit who was dwelling in Him.
Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God." (Modern King James Bible)
The Lord Jesus knew the Word of God. He had learned it from an early age, but He also knew it in context. He knew it wasn’t to be trifled with. He used it to combat the temptation. So often, some of us believers will simply grit our teeth and try to outlast the temptation. It works sometimes. But not all the time. But if we use the Word of God properly then we will be guaranteed a victory. The devil had to move on to something else.
Luke 4:5-7 And the Devil, leading Him up into a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the Devil said to Him, All this power I will give you, and the glory of them; for it has been delivered to me. And I give it to whomever I will. Therefore if you will worship me, all shall be yours. (Modern King James Version)
What these kingdoms were is open to some speculation. Some people say they were all the kingdoms of that particular time. Others say that the devil showed the Lord Jesus all the kingdoms which were to come in the future, from the Roman Empire to the modern day. Whatever it was the temptation was truly real.
It would have been easy for Jesus to have taken a short cut and become King of the Earth without going to die on the Cross of Calvary. It would have been ok for Him, but it would have been a disaster for us. Jesus would have been King of kings and Lord of lords, but we would still have been subject to death and hell and all that go with them. But Jesus never looked on His own things He always looked on the things of others.
Satan said that these kingdoms had been delivered unto him. That had been done in the Garden of Eden. Adam was the rightful king, but he handed over his kingship to the devil when he took of the forbidden fruit.
Luke 4:8 Jesus answered, "The scripture says, ’Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’ "(Good News Bible)
The Lord was unwilling to compromise for anything. We need to make sure that we are not trying for the quick fix, the quick buck or the fast track to hell. If we are those who worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth then we will be true to Him in all areas of our lives. Put everything down to worship of the Lord and life will be successful.
Luke 4:9-11 And he brought Him to Jerusalem and sat Him on a pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here. For it is written, "He shall give His angels charge over You, to keep You; and in their hands they shall bear You up, lest at any time You dash Your foot against a stone." (Modern King James Version)
Again the devil tries to make Jesus doubt the truth of who He is and what His position is in the great scheme of things. Whilst we need to remain humble we also need to understand just who we are. I am a Prince in God’s family. That gives me many rights and some privileges. It also makes me very special. If I get into serious trouble the Lord will do His best to come to my rescue. He has set angels around me to keep me safe, so long as I surrender to His claims on my life.
Notice that Satan knew how to misappropriate the Word of God. He had done so when he was in heaven, in the Garden of Eden, and now in the wilderness with Jesus. But Jesus knew how to use the word of God correctly.
Luke 4:12 And Jesus answering said to him, It has been said, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." (Modern King James Version)
God does not want us to mess about with holy things. We are to treat them as holy, because we are also holy.
We must not allow the world, the flesh or the devil to dominate us. We do this when we meekly fall into the traps set for us. It is so easy to participate in gossip. It is not so easy to keep your mouth shut is it? When we fall into these snares we cut ourselves off from the fullness of the blessings God has for us.
THE ARMOUR OF GOD
Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (KJV)
It says “be strong in the Lord”. Not in our own efforts. It means to stand fast in the completed work of Christ. I can resist temptation because Jesus already did so. Strength in the Lord comes from remaining joyful no matter what circumstances we are facing. That is why the Bible tells us:
Nehemiah 8:10: “Don’t be sad because the joy you have in the LORD is your strength." (God’s Word)
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (KJV)
When we put on the whole or complete armour of God we are putting on the Lord’s clothing. It is not armour in the usual sense. It is not something that is apart from us. This armour is something which has become a part of our person as spiritual beings. We have become righteous, we have become peacemakers, we have become gospel carriers. The Lord’s clothing is actually the Lord’s personality. The Lord’s clothing is actually a part of who He is.. for it is His glory! It was that glory which Adam lost when he so easily surrendered his position to the devil in the Garden of Eden.
I like the way this version say it:
Eph 6:11 Take up God’s instruments of war, so that you may be able to keep your position against all the deceits of the Evil One. (Bible in Basic English 1965)
God’s instruments of war are not knives and swords and guns. They are love and joy and peace. We defeat the enemy by having a godly attitude. We do not win by being negatively aggressive. We win by being aggressive in love. We have to be determined to live how God has lived in Christ.
The evil one wants you to lose your position. And if he can’t do that, because he can’t, he will try to make you feel as if you have lost it. So often after we have fallen into temptation we feel unworthy of coming into God’s presence. We FEEL that God doesn’t want to hear from us. We FEEL cut off from Him. All of that is the devils deceit. If we needed to be worthy to come into God’s presence then none of us would ever have been there. We are worthy in Christ.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (KJV)
It says, “We are not fighting against humans.” (Contemporary English Version).
That man at work who harasses you so badly is not your real enemy. Do not curse him! (That would be witchcraft). The bible clearly says that we should love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us. Use the weapons of your warfare which are love and peace and salvation.
Principalities. “Chief rulers; beings of the first rank and order in their own kingdom.”(Adam Clarke) These are often the demonic powers behind human government. To a greater or lesser extent the leaders of the demonic forces will influence government so as to do great damage to the peace of the earth.
Powers. “Authorities, derived from, and constituted by the above.” (Clarke) Wicked laws and wicked people who hide behind the excuse “just obeying orders”. They have been heavily influenced by these “powers”. They are being empowered by them. But we should remember that “greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
The rulers of the darkness of this world. “The rulers of the world; the emperors of the darkness of this state of things.” (Clarke) Satan is the ruler of this world (John_12:31) and the god of this world (2 Cor_4:4). He uses for his dominion not only evil spirits, but wicked men, and he brings darkness rather than light.
Spiritual wickedness in high places. “The spiritual things of wickedness; or, the spiritualities of wickedness; highly refined and sublimed evil; disguised falsehood in the garb of truth; Antinomianism (lawlessness) in the guise of religion.” (Clarke) These appear to come in the cloak of spirituality, when in fact, they are false teachers and false teachings.
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (KJV)
Taking the whole armour of God means becoming like God in all of our ways. It means allowing the fruit of the Spirit to manifest. It means destroying the works of the evil one by acting in love.
The victory we move into may not always be what others would expect. We may actually appear to lose a human battle, but gain a spiritual victory. Let me try to explain:
A Christian is struggling with some guys at work. They are tormenting him, they use every opportunity to belittle him. He could use the law of the land to deal with it, but he does not regard this as Christ-like. So, he prays. He rejoices. And he tries to show love to his fellow workers. One of them is convicted by the Holy Spirit and gives his life to Christ. The others, however, become even worse now they have lost one of their number. Our friend is harassed even more. It appears that he has lost the battle. But, actually the Kingdom of God has grown and a spiritual battle has been won.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; (KJV)
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth (English Standard Version).
The belt protects a man from nakedness and embarrassment. Keep true and you will never embarrass yourself spiritually.
Put on God’s approval as your breastplate. (God’s Word)
You have become righteous because God has declared it. Others may say all manner of stuff, but when you know what God has said then you are ok. He says you are “ALL RIGHT”. Keep that in your heart and you will not face defeat at all.
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (KJV)
Be ready with the good news of peace as shoes on your feet (Bible in Basic English 1965)
You have peace with God which cannot be taken away. And you offer this peace to anybody else who will receive it. This is very much to do with the way you walk your spiritual walk. You are walking in the counsel of the godly rather than the ungodly. And the best godly counsel is found in the New Testament. The best counselor being the Holy Spirit using the Word of God.
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (KJV)
And most of all, using faith as a cover to keep off all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. (Bible in Basic English 1965)
This version says we are to USE our faith. It is an active thing. You will be conscious of using your faith. It is no good expecting God to do it for you. He has told us to do it.
How do you use your faith? Simply you do it when you are obedient to the Word of God. He says “pray” so you pray. He says “give” so you give. He tells us to love our neighbour as ourselves so we do it and then we are living by faith.
Faith can be both passive and active. Mostly God wants us to activate it by obeying Him because we love and trust Him that knows best.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (KJV)
Think about who you are in Christ, and what He has done for you and you will not be thinking wicked thoughts.
Let God’s saving power be like a helmet, and for a sword use God’s message that comes from the Spirit. (Contemporary English Version)
The Lord is looking for you to be fanatical about His Word and His Person. We should be captivated by the things He has said, and they should rule our lives. We should enjoy spiritual activity because we were created for it. (Perhaps we are not excited about it, because we have made it religious rather than spiritual.)
Again, we are to USE God’s word:
Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; (KJV)
A modern version says: Pray in the Spirit in every situation. Use every kind of prayer and request there is. For the same reason be alert. Use every kind of effort and make every kind of request for all of God’s people. (God’s Word)
Doubt is evil. It is wickedness, and it comes from the enemy. Notice that the twelve spies who were sent into the Promised Land came back with an evil report. They allowed what they saw to dominate what they knew to be true. The strange thing is that these men knew how God had defeated a far greater foe in the Egyptians. It is sad for many of us, because we have already been the recipient of the greatest miracle, our salvation, and then we find it hard to believe God for something far less.
We need to resist doubt, and we need to resist fear. Sadly many of us let it take over our lives. Of course, we will be tempted to doubt and fear, but that is when we need to be alert and get back into faith. To actively resist we may need to actually talk to these fears and doubts and tell them to leave.
FIND GOD’S PROMISES
When you pray you are far more certain to receive positive answers if you use the Word of God. What is it you want? Find a promise from the word and speak it out.
Faith must always be based in the Word of God. It is useless to have faith in anything else. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, so say and believe it. Never try to reach out for something in faith when you do not have a promise of God for it.
Isaiah said something very interesting:
If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land. (Isaiah 1:19, God’s Word) If you will give ear to my word and do it, the good things of the land will be yours; (Basic Bible in English 1965).
For us in the New Testament era we are obedient out of love for God, not because of fear. And what a promise of true prosperity this is.
Psalm 119:130a Your word is a doorway that lets in light (God’s Word)
The light of the Lord deals with fear. The light shows us the reality of the situation. When you were a child were you afraid of the dark. Did you sometimes see strange things in the dimness of your bedroom? I know I did. It looked like there was someone or something in the room which should not have been there. And then we turned on the light and what did we find? The person was just a cloak or coat. The strange object was just a chair. We saw the reality and it wasn’t bad at all. When the Lord’s light is shone into the situation we see that we are safe. We are not weak but strong. Not poor but rich, not defeated but victorious.
FORGIVE
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (KJV)
The forgiveness must also pass onto others. We need to be quick to forgive those who have hurt or offended us. It keeps our communication with the Lord free and easy. It also keeps our communication with each other free and easy.
Walking in the light of the Lord means that we have exposed and dealt with our own guilt. We have confessed our sins and He has been faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.
Mar 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. (KJV)
It is imperative that we keep a short list with God and that we keep a short list with our friends and acquaintances. As we said, we must be quick to repent and quick to repent. If we do then those lists won’t be short, they will be non-existent. We may think that it is very difficult to forgive those who have hurt and offended us, but we can do it if we use the power of God which is in us. That power is actually the love of God which has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (see Romans 5:5).
Matt 5:44-45a But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven (KJV)
Again some of this would seem impossible if we tried to do it by ourselves. But we CAN love our enemies because we have the same Spirit dwelling in us who dwelt in Jesus. We see Him forgiving those who were actually nailing Him to a cross. Doing good and blessing a person means the same thing. It is seeking their highest good. Trying to help them to benefit from what is happening.
We see Joseph blessing just about everybody who came into contact with him:
His brothers who sold him into Egypt were forgiven and blessed with good food and a place to live.
Potiphar’s house was richer for the presence of Joseph.
Even the prison was a better place when Joseph was a prisoner there.
Egypt was saved through his ministry and Pharaoh became exceedingly rich as a result of his honouring of God’s man.
Joseph could easily have had a poor attitude and cursed those who had mistreated him. But instead He glorified God and blessed those around him. He is a wonderful example to us as we seek to live with the proper Christian attitude.
1 John 3:21 Dear friends, if we feel at ease in the presence of God, we will have the courage to come near him. (Contemporary English Version)
Ah! But do we? So many of us are fearful of the true presence of God. Like the Israelites who were afraid to go close to the mountain of God, we are not bold to come into His presence. We would rather have a relationship with a man who has a relationship with God. But we fail to realize that having a relationship with God who is our Father is the greatest and most wonderful thing we could have.
We need to learn when true conviction from the Holy Spirit is taking place. You see the devil will try to imitate conviction, by making you feel guilty about something when it is either not really a sin, or it is a sin, but it has been dealt with. If you are still living in regret over something which you repented of then you are making a serious error. I am not suggesting that we take sin lightly, far from it. Jesus died a very ugly death to deal with that sin. But that is the point isn’t it? He died so that you could live with no regrets.
The Apostle Paul said an amazing thing to the Corinthian church:
2 Cor 7:2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
This was the man who had persecuted the church of Jesus Christ. He had dragged believers off to prison, and maybe even death. He had agreed whole-heartedly with Stephen’s murder. But now he says, “we have wronged no man”! What was he doing when he said such a thing? Well, many things, but one was that he fully understood the gospel. He knew that these things were forgiven and forgotten. Those sins belonged to another man who was long dead. He believed that he was truly a new creature in Christ.
So, if your HEART doesn’t condemn you.. forget it!
We need to learn to judge ourselves, but Jesus said to judge with right (or righteous) judgement.
DON’T ALLOW DOUBT OR UNBELIEF.
This is an act of your will. You decide whether you will live in fear, and you decide whether you will live in faith.
Anything good you can find in the Word of God is for you, if you choose to take it. Of course, the enemy doesn’t even want you to know that you CAN have it, far less actually have it. He will try to make you persuade yourself out of it, so that you live in defeat.
Your job is to believe the Word of God and let it do you good.
Once you have prayed it may take some time for the answer to MANIFEST but that doesn’t mean that God has not answered your prayer. There is an interesting story in the book of Daniel.
Daniel prayed, but it took the angel twenty-one days to come to Daniel:
Dan 10:12-13 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. (KJV)
God had responded immediately to the prayer of His man, but the manifestation was subject to a battle. So don’t let doubt come in between the answer and the manifestation.
When you pray confess and confirm that the Word of God is true and that the prayer which you prayed is answered.
Do you remember the story of Paul on the ship which was in the midst of a storm? Paul, before they even set sail, knew or perceived that there would be a serious problem. When that problem came Paul continued to believe God without any doubt.
Acts 27:21-25 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. (KJV)
Paul believed something that was actually SAID by God. We also must ensure that we believe something which God has said. How do we know what He has said? Open the Bible. There are enough of His thoughts and words there to know what His position is regarding most of the things which we will face.
The Apostle Paul made three positive statements:
“Whose I am”.. or I BELONG TO GOD, I am His child
“Whom I serve”.. or I am His servant
“I believe God”.. or I am faithful to His Word
We should be able to say similar things. When we know these three things are true in our experiences then we will be positive about the outcomes of our adventures and experiences.
When Jesus came to the conclusion of His sermon on the mount He said these words:
Matt 7:24-27 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (KJV)
Notice His emphasis is on hearing and DOING the Words. He does not just bless us because we hear His word. That is all very well, but if we don’t do something about them we have wasted our time.
Sometimes we leave it too late. When the crisis comes we are flurrying around trying to get our act together and find some words from the bible which will help us to overcome the problem. We need to do the word when things are going ok, and then we will have some material to overcome the difficulties when they arise.
Why do so many of us need so much counselling? Some of it is because we have paid no attention to the ministry of the word of God. We have been taught how to pray. We have been taught to praise God in all situations. We have been instructed how to overcome. But we have not been doers of the word, and as a result we need extra instruction like naughty children who didn’t listen in class. James tells us:
James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (KJV)
We listen to a lot of preaching, but that in itself does little for us. We have to LISTEN, OBSERVE, ANANLYSE AND DO. (We have to be doing our LOAD).
Jesus told us to listen and to listen carefully. We need to take heed to what we hear and how we hear it. Listen to ministers who care about you more than they do about their own ministries. You do not need to be bullied or flayed by the ministry of the Word. If it is hectoring and condemning shut it out. If you believe that the ministry is being done in LOVE then receive it gladly. If the ministry has to correct you then be grateful and rejoice; it is better to be shown the right way before you have to do far more correction and pay a much higher price to get back on the right road.
We are to look at what the word says and then compare it to our own behaviour. Where readjustment needs to be made we get on with it and praise God for improvements in our lives.
We also need to ensure that we are following correct doctrines. That means that we are not actually being led astray by legalists who demand something from us which the Lord does not require from us. There is so little discernment among the people who belong to the Body of Christ. Too many of us accept what is said without any analysis, and looking for the truth.
Once we know that we are pursuing then we need to do our very best to get at it. Doing it is the requirement.
But we need to remember that it is a battle. The enemy is not going to let us get away with it lightly. He hates the idea of you being successful and becoming like God. Remember that his sin was that he wanted to be like God from a position. He hates the fact that you are going to become like God from a position of humility.
Paul tells Timothy not to get wrapped up with materialism but the fruit of the Spirit:
1 Tim 6:11-12 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. (KJV)
The fight we are called to participate in is a good fight. That is because as soon as we decide to properly fight in the power and might of God we are guaranteed to win. But it does take the effort of us being determined to see it through to a satisfactory conclusion. It is no good entering half-heartedly and expecting to win. We all know that when a sportsman is under prepared he is very likely to lose even against an inferior opponent That has been the bane of many top teams in games like football. Over confidence. We can do this easily without paying attention to detail. And when they fall short they are embarrassed. The devil is a distinctly inferior opponent but he can get the better of us if we don’t use the right armour and the correct weapons.
Paul continues to talk to his son in the gospel Timothy and says:
1 Tim 6:13-14 Now I ask you to make a promise. Make it in the presence of God, who gives life to all, and in the presence of Jesus Christ, who openly told Pontius Pilate about his faith. Promise to obey completely and fully all that you have been told until our Lord Jesus Christ returns. (Contemporary English Version)
“Obey” is a word we might shy away from because it seems so legalistic. In our minds we think that we know best for our own lives and that even God is trespassing into our territory by making demands upon us. However, that is not the case. God does know what is best for us, and He wants us to obey Him because we have come to that conclusion.
We want to maintain a “good report” or a good testimony. Faith in God always brings forth a good report. So, do not let faith or unbelief come into your life and bring a bad report. The promises of God are ours so we should believe in them and enjoy them.
Unbelief and fear and the opposites of faith and are also our enemy:
1 Peter 5:7 Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you. (Good News Bible)
Jesus told us to believe and not doubt:
Mark 11:23-24 If you have faith in God and don’t doubt, you can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will. Everything you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only have faith. (Contemporary English Version)
When we are men and women under authority we have the authority to defeat the enemy, and it will be easy:
James 4:7 So place yourselves under God’s authority. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. (God’s Word)
But fear will do the very opposite.
Job 3:25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. (KJV)
(But remember that you could replace fear with faith and then see how it reads: For the thing which I greatly believed is come upon me, and that which I was having faith for is come unto me!)
Job said, Everything I fear and dread comes true. (Good News Bible) But we should say. “Everything I have faith for comes true.”
What has God given to us?
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (KJV)
We need to believe it. Fear is believing the negative, faith is believing the positive.
Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (KJV)
We should not “believe what we see,” but “see what we believe.” One man said, “Stop saying what you have and start having what you say.”
James 1:5-7 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. (KJV)
Whatever we ask God for, we need to be unwavering. We need to believe that our prayer has favour with Him. That is because we are His children and when we believe what He believes we become irresistible.
2 Cor 10:5 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; (KJV)
But we have to resist thoughts which would come between us a positive answer to our prayer. It is all too easy that when we don’t see the manifestation immediately we begin to think unworthy thoughts. We can begin to judge ourselves wrongly, or even worse we begin to judge the Lord wrongly. Isn’t it interesting how you can actually believe God when you are praying and then, later, you begin to doubt even though you know what you did was right. Those are the thoughts and suggestions of the enemy. We must reject them and send them back to where they belong. Do not entertain them. As one man said, “Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts.”
Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (KJV)
If you practice thinking the right thing then you will not struggle to continue to think properly when the situation gets difficult. If your habit is to think right then it will still be right in any crisis. And your victory is guaranteed.
