The Battle

"From the Word: 1 Chron 5:20, 22 the people are said to have cried out to God in battle. God hears their prayer because they trusted in him. Then it says that many men fell because the war was God's. At the point of our trust God hear's our prayer and takes on the battle."

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend. I know our celebrations of the resurrection were well attended and left a lasting impact on our church and on our lives personally. What a time we had! 

It was sad to come home after such joy and celebration to news that Christians were being targeted by a suicide bomber in Pakistan. Our hearts were grieved and we mourned and prayed for our brothers and sisters who were suffering on the other side of the world. We continue to pray that in the wake of such tragedy that the hope and healing power of the gospel shines in these dark times. 

This morning my wife and I were talking and she said she woke up with the song we sang at the beginning of our church service in her heart with the people of Pakistan on her mind. She commented that if it were us we would happy because we would get to be with the Lord. It's true. You will find the martyrs in Revelation asking the Lord how long and He comforts them. This is good news. With terrorist activity on the rise we need some good news. 

If we look at loss and pain we will get depressed and end up questioning God in the wrong way. God is open to questions but not to unbelief. We can ask why with a heart that believes God is good. We can ask God what He is doing without doubting His motive. 

If you are going through a personal battle, physical, spiritual, emotional, financial or whatever else, cry out to God. Give God your questions but also your faith and trust. He will meet you there. God knows our limits and the battles we face. He also is ready and willing to fight for us. When you trust Him and bring Him into your battle you can rest and know that you will come out victorious. 

I would encourage you to go back and read 1 Chronicles 5:20-22 and also study the battles of the Bible. What did the people who trust God do? What were their prayers like? How did they act in faith? What did they speak about with God and other people? As you see these things incorporate them into your life and your battle plan. 

Be encouraged that God loves you. He will fight for you! When God gets involved the battle is already won. 

What battles are you facing? What scriptures help to overcome in these battles? 

Day 346 - For The Win

"I must have been healed because this morning I got up early and went to pray without any difficulty like the past two days."

Yesterday's post was about The Fight. We do our part with all we have. The great thing is that all we have is not enough. Why is that great? Because that is where the grace of God comes in and makes up the difference. 

Much has been said about grace over the years. I learned a simple definition of God's riches at Christ's expense" when I was young in the faith. I also learned the even simpler definition of "unmerited favor" when I got a little older. What really opened my eyes was when I leaned that grace is "God's sovereign Divine ability to get the job done on my behalf when I can't do it." It is "God's power in me to do what His truth demands of me."

All of those definitions add up to the fact that we cannot make it in life without a supernatural God. He alone makes up the difference. We may pray and fight and give but it will always be short. If we are to be more than a conqueror in life it will only be through Christ. Going for the win without Christ won't make it. Jesus is the ultimate victor and He gives us the victory. 

If you are at the end of your rope then realize that you can't do it on your own. Have you ever hear the expression "Let go and let God"? There is something to that. Tap into the grace of God. You do all you can and pray and ask God to work in and through you to make up the difference for the win. 

Have you seen the grace of God at work in your life? What scriptures deal with grace?

Day 345 - The Fight

"I am fighting physically a sickness. But the weapons of my warfare are not carnal but mighty through God. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. In Jesus name me and my household are healed!" 

The Fight. You have it. You may have lost it. You can get it back. 

You have a fight in you. Life will try to beat you down. The devil is always looking for a cheap shot when your not looking. He fights dirty and swings below the belt. He may leave you alone for a while but he will be looking for an opportune time. The problem is the devil has already lost. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. God will soon crush Satan under your feet. You don't have to fear the devil or the daily fight just for life. Jesus is your victor. You are just gathering the results and enforcing the victory. It just takes a fight. 

You may have lost the fight. Small losses over time or the continuous beatings have wore you down like the waves on the shore. Continuous repetitious hammering. And so you finally threw in the towel. It is time to pick it up again. It is time to fight. 

You can get it back. Call on God and ask for the power of the Holy Spirit. Take up the authority of the name of Jesus and shout at the devil. Don't sit there and take what he is dishing out. God will make you to stand. Put on your armor, speak the word of God and get in the fight. 

I mentioned sickness in my journal entry from last year; what other fights do we encounter? Are there specific scriptures we can use to fight with? 

Day 298 - You Win Some You Lose Some

"No responses to the altar call but that is okay, I won't cast away my confidence (as I preached today!)."

This day last year was quite a contrast. As I read over my day I realized that I did some things well and other things not so well. Even with all that it wasn't a loss. We still had family time despite my bad attitude at one point. Even though the altar call had no responses I read several miraculous answers to prayer in the church service. 

As I look over the past year I see that there are tough days and great days. Highs and lows and everything in-between. Life in this world is designed to bring us down. Strength is limited by age, there will always be more need than resource and we are warring with our own flesh and the spiritual host of evil we don't see. 

With all that we desperately need to realize that we should never give up. On our worst day when we have fought and lost we are still more than conquerors. When things don't turn out in our favor or we did everything right and everything went terribly wrong God is still working all things together for our good. 

Just yesterday there was a huge cyclone headed for Mexico. We got the word from one of our pastors to pray and we did! This morning my wife told me that the cyclone had downgraded overnight to be a tropical storm and even though there could be some flooding there would be no loss of lives. 

Be encouraged. God is good continually and He never changes. The circumstances good or bad while we are here on the earth are subject to change. We will have the mountaintop experiences and the valley seasons. Don't ever give up or cast away your confidence.

Have you seen days like this? What keeps you going through the tough times?

Day 33 - Just Ask

"Just before Chloe was born when Jess was still pregnant the church staff had a raffle to win a overnight stay at a time share on Coronado island. Jess prayed and asked God for it so when they drew my name she was jumping up and down praising God. We got it because she was the one that asked."

This thought from last year actually is a memory from over a decade ago. What brought it on was that a lady in our church had prayed to receive a free overnight stay at a resort our church was giving away as a prize for people who came every week to our marriage series. That night she won. She jumped up and down praising God. Her husband told me later that she prayed for it and then practiced her praise dance she was going to do when she got the prize. He also shared she did the same thing when they won a trip to Hawaii. I remembered how My wife Jessica had done the same thing with the timeshare stay on Coronado island. 

The point off all of this is that we need to ask. Even if it is petty or silly in our thinking. Just ask! The Bible says we have not because we ask not. Don't be shy, God knows you want it. Just ask! How many things have we missed out on because we thought God was too big to ask? Just ask! 

Have you had an experience like this where you asked in prayer and God handed it to you against the odds? Taking some time to pray and ask right now!