Life is a Battle!

 

Dennis Edwards

Life is a continual battle, friend. It's not easy. We are tempted to give up when we see all our failures and mistakes. But giving up is not the solution. It is not an option. The solution is looking up. Jesus Himself when talking about the future time of His coming said that upon the earth there would be “distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring: men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth…And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.” (Luke 21:25b, 26ª, 28) We need lift up our heads and look up to Jesus and He will save us, for our redemption draws nigh.

In the psalms we find a similar thought. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted (worried or uneasy) in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.”(Psalm 42:5) We need to rebuke that discouragement, that worry, and find hope in God.

The author of the book of Hebrews also says the answer is, "Looking unto to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."(Hebrews 12:2) Remembering how Jesus suffered unjustly out of His love for the Father and us, should give us the courage to keep fighting and not quit. Hebrews chapter twelve shows us the road to victory is in endurance and in praise. Let us read some of it together.

Hebrews 12 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.

7 If ye endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

11 Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.

We see in verses 12 and 13 that the Lord wants us to lift up our hands and straighten up our backs or feeble knees and stand up in praise, lifting up are arms in praise to Him, and He promises to heal us. Like Apostle Paul says elsewhere, "Lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting."[1 Timothy 2:8] We need to fight the good fight of faith by entering into His court with praise and into His gates with thanksgiving. We need to make a joyful noise with praise lest we forsake His mercy like Jonah in the belly of the whale said.

Jonah 2 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heard my voice. 3 For thou had cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. 10 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

In verse seven Jonah said, "When my soul fainted within me....(then)....I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto Thee, into Thine holy temple." When he got to his lowest point, then he cried with all his might unto the Lord and the Lord heard him. In the next verse he says, "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy." If we listen to the lies of the Devil and believe his lies that all hope is lost and that God cannot forgive us, and that their is no sense in trying any more, and life is not worth living, and we will never have the victory, then, by believing those lies, we forsake the mercy that God in His love is constantly offering us. We need to say "no" to the devil’s lies and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all our heart, mind, soul, and body.

Jesus tells us, "Ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full."(John 15:11) Jesus wants us to have fulness of joy and it is ours to receive, because the joy of the Lord is our strength! We just need to go through the breakings so that He can get the idols out of our hearts. Then He can live and reign in us. But the Devil doesn't want to lose any of his captives and will tempt us to give up just when the victory is just around the corner. The greatest darkness is just before the dawn. The greatest desperation attacks us, just before rescue. If we could have held on just one more day, one more hour, one more minute, one more second, there could have been marvellous victory, but by giving up prematurely we suffer all those things in vain and forsake the mercy God is offering us. Like Jonah, we need to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise unto God by faith and let the Lord cause us to be vomited out of the mouth of the enemy.

At the end of Isaiah 40 we find some other beautiful promises. Let us read together.

25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high (to the stars), and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: he calls them (the stars) all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one fails. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

In other words, God is saying, “Why do you say I am not watching and caring over you?”

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Do you understand those last four verses? If we spend time with the Lord. If we spend time in prayer and reading His word, He will strengthen us so that we faint not! We need to "wait on the Lord." We need to wait in His presence by reading His word, by listening and singing songs of praise to Him, by lifting up our heads and hands and praising Him with all our might even when we don't feel like it. In Psalm 27:14, David proclaims, “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

In Psalm 100 we read, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with singing…Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good and His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations.” In Psalm 42 we see, “for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” We need to praise Him even when we do not feel like it.

Isaiah 41 starts, "Keep silence before me, oh islands, and let the people renew their strength: let them come near." God wants to renew our strength, but we need to come near to Him and keep silent before Him and listen to His sweet, soft voice of love that is encouraging us not to give up, not to be faint, but to believe and be strengthened. In verse six we read, "They helped everyone his neighbour; and everyone said to his brother, Be of good courage!"

Friend, we all need to be of good courage. We all need to fight actively to put down, or resist with everything that is within us, the lies of the enemy. Just like Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "Casting down imaginations (or thoughts and ideas) and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (everything that contradicts God's good Word and nature), and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Apostle Paul wrote, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." (2 Corinthians 10:3-4) Later in his letter to the Ephesians, he explains about our spiritual armour.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

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. 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. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

We need to put on the whole armour and take the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God. Jesus was the Word made flesh. Through the power of Jesus within us, through the power of His Word, we can cut the Devil to the heart. "It is written," Jesus replied to the Devil, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."(Matthew 4:4)

Our spiritual feeding on God's Word is more important than our necessary food. Like Job, also confessed, "Neither have I gone back from the commandments of His lips, but have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."(Job 23:12) There is victory in the Word of God. Read it, eat it, drink it, live in it, believe it, obey it, and victory will be yours. It's a done deal, because Jesus has paid the price and He cannot be defeated. He has already defeated Satan on Calvary and it only remains for us to believe. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved."(Acts 16:31a)

Do you believe, friend? Then put down your own righteousness and take on the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus Christ. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy has He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost."(Titus 3:5) Let the Holy Spirit wash our hearts and minds of the lies of the enemy and be renewed in the Spirit. Memorize Scripture and rebuke the enemy.

Psalm 23 may be a good chapter to put to memory. We need to fill our minds with positive, faith-building thoughts from God's Word and He will not fail us. His Word is sure, the more sure Word of prophecy as Apostle Peter wrote, "We have a more sure word of prophecy (God's written recorded Word); whereunto you do well to take heed (to read, meditate upon, and keep), as unto a light in a dark place." (2 Peter 1:19a)

In other words, if we were in a dark place and we are as great darkness covers the nations, we should take heed to the light, or we should go toward the light for guidance, in order to find our way out of the darkness. God's Word is that light. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path,” (Psalm 119:105) if we take heed to it. Peter continues and says, "until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts."(2 Peter 1:19b)

Apostle Peter is saying that we should read, study, meditate on, and follow God's Word, just as we would follow or concentrate on a light in the darkness, until the dawn comes and the Day Star arises in our hearts. In other words, we should walk by faith holding on to God's good Word as a light, until we have the personal experience with Christ Himself, the Day Star. Then our hearts will be illuminated with His love and light, and the dawn will rise in our life of faith and we will see more clearly, because we have His presence abiding in us, and have heard His voice clearly.

Read Psalm 119 and put some of those verses to memory or those ones from Isaiah, or Jonah, or Ephesians or Corinthians. A wealth of knowledge and spiritual strength is found in God's Word. Read it, study it, memorize it and put it into practice. God Himself promises to help us and manifest Himself to us. But we need to do our part and take our prescription daily, which is a good feeding and feasting on God's good Word.

Then we need to abide in Him, or wait on His presence, to hear His personal words of comfort to us. “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”(Isaiah 30:21) “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”(Isaiah 30:15b) “Their strength is to sit still,”(Isaiah 30:7b) and to listen for His “still small voice.”(1 Kings 19:12b) God bless us as we put our hope in Him, and praise Him who is the health of our countenance, and our God!