INTRODUCTION
• Many people are facing challenges and issues in this day and age. • Just this week I have received over 1000 prayer requests detailing tremendous issues and obstacles. As I read these request my heart was stirred by the magnitude of the things people are facing. • Life is not always easy and often the battle can be more than we ever thought possible. • Perhaps you are in just such a position or perhaps you know someone going through something challenging right now. • Do you know how to cope with the challenge you are facing? • Do you know how to advise others and encourage them in the process? • The truth is we all face things in the course of life. • We must always remember that we live in two realms. The material world and the spiritual world. The visible realm and the invisible realm. • And God wants to bring us to a place of overwhelming victory and He wants us to be more than conquerors. SCRIPTURE READING Romans 8:35-37 ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ (NLB) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 1. OUR FAITH WALK CAN BE COMPARED TO..... • Our faith walk is not a mere stroll in the park, nor is it a bed of roses. • The Bible compares it to: 1. A Race – Hebrews 12:1 ‘And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’ In the Amplified Bible it says: ‘and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us!’ The term RACE speaks of an athletic contest, but the Greek original is wider than this and it speaks of a ‘struggle in the soul’. The original Greek word is ‘agon’ and we get the English word agony from this word. We are given some keys in handling the race! We must run with PATIENT ENDURANCE. We must run with STEADY AND ACTIVE PERSISTANCE. We must run THE APPOINTED COURSE SET BEFORE US. We can’t and should not try to run someone else’s race. 2. A Building That Is Under Construction – 1 Corinthians 3:10 ‘By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.’ None of us are there yet. We are building and our lives can be compared to a building that is still under construction. We all would prefer the finished product. But GOD is not finished with us yet. I remember reading a quote some years ago and it said: ‘Be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet!’ Your life is a building that is still under construction. 3. A Fight – 1 Timothy 6:12 ‘Fight the good fight of the faith.’ Again the original Greek word for this term ‘fight’ is ‘agon’ meaning a struggle in the soul from which we get the English word agony or agonize. And we should handle the fight as one who recognizes that he has an adversary. It is not just a matter of the ‘road being steep’ but we have an adversary – the devil, and we must fight on. We must never surrender and we must never throw in the towel. Our faith walk can be compared to a fight. 4. A Wrestling Match – Ephesians 6:12 ‘We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.’ A wrestling match is a very intense picture of a struggle. God’s Word translation: ‘This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent.’Wrestling is a form of combat. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two (occasionally more) competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position. God wants to give you and I the upper hand and we must realize we are in this fight and our battle is not against flesh and blood. The odds are much higher. Our faith walk can be compared to a wrestling match. 5. Our Faith Walk Is Warfare - 2 Timothy 2:3-4 ‘Take your share of the hardships and suffering [which you are called to endure] as a good (first-class) soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of [civilian] life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him.’ The analogy the Bible uses is that we are soldiers. You and I are soldiers, soldiers of Christ. He is our commander and the battle is His. We can’t just coast through the challenges of life. Our faith walk is warfare and we are soldiers. There is a great old hymn with the following words: Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle see His banners go! Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. 2. GOD'S PLAN - OVERWHELMING VICTORY • This is God’s plan for your life. • Your situation may look far from this, but God wants to bring you to this point. • Romans 8:35+37 ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ • (NLB) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. • What is a conqueror? • A conqueror is someone who overcomes. • It is someone who gains the upper hand. • It is someone who defeats that which would like to defeat him! • It is someone who prevails. • It is someone who is completely and overwhelmingly victorious. • This is God’s plan and purpose for you. 3. WE HAVE POWERFUL WEAPONS AT OUR DISPOSAL • We have not been left to fight the battle with no weapons. • God has given us what we need in order to stand firm and fight any onslaught that may come against us. • 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 ‘For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’ • What are these weapons that we have access too? • 1. The Word Of God – Psalm 119:50 ‘This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.’ The old translation says: ‘Thy word hath quickened me.’ As believers we have the Word Of God and it is a powerful tool. As believers we have a peculiar source of strength. Others may think it strange, but God’s word is living and powerful and His word can overcome the greatest hurdle. The word quickened means to ‘make alive’. That is exactly what God wants to do for you and His Word is that powerful tool in your arsenal. Look to His Word, no matter what trial you may be facing, it will never fail you! Ralph Erskine said the following: ‘I can trust the words of God; but when they are the words of men, it costs me an effort to think whether I may trust to them.’ Charles Spurgeon said: ‘There is more in one divine sentence than in huge folios of human composition.’ Let your soul leap at the very sound of the Word of God. It is by every word of God that men and women are made to live and are kept alive. Feed on God’s word no matter what your fight may be. • 2. The Name Of Jesus – Philippians 2:10 ‘that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth!’ The name of Jesus is another weapon in our arsenal. His name is powerful. I recently heard a song with the following words: ‘When you don’t know what to say, just say Jesus!’ Just say Jesus! Just say Jesus! Call out to the Way, the Truth and the Life. Speak out His name. There is just one name! Acts 4:12 ‘No one else can save us. Indeed, we can be saved only by the power of the one named Jesus and not by any other person.’ • 3. The Blood Of Jesus – Revelation 12:11 ‘They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb!’ The original Greek word for the word we translate as ‘triumphed’ includes coming off victorious from the battle. To conquer, prevail and overcome. Apply the blood of Jesus to all areas of your life. There is another old song that captures this: ‘Oh, the blood of Jesus! x3 It washes white as snow. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. x2’ • 4. Our Confession – Romans 10:10 ‘For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.’ Watch what comes out of your mouth. Don’t allow negativity and doubt to come out of your mouth. Speak life, speak hope, speak purpose, speak His Word. Romans 10:9 ‘If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ What we say and our confession is vital. Proverbs 18:21 ‘The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.’ • 5. Praise and Worship – 2 Chronicles 20:22 ‘As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.’ Praise and worship is a powerful key to overcoming and conquering. You may say; but this is a silly thing to do? It may seem silly, but it is a powerful tool. When we praise and worship we focus on God and His greatness and the focus moves off our problems and challenges and sets us up for success. Get some good praise and worship cd’s and fill your heart and mind with it. If you can’t afford that, just take some of your favorite praise and worship songs or some of the great hymns and start singing them. Praise is most unconventional warfare. Get ready for a turnaround for your victory is in your praise. • 6. Prayer – Philippians 4:6 ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.’ Turn your worries and cares into prayer. When we pray, we open the door for God to come into our problems and situations and work on them. John Bunyan said the following: ‘Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God and a scourge for satan.’ Corrie Ten Boom, who survived the holocaust said the following: ‘Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.’ Arthur Hopkins: 'Our prayer and God’s mercy are like two buckets in a well; while one ascends, the other descends.' Psalm 107:28-30 ‘Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and He brought them to their desired haven.’ PRAYER Lord Jesus I acknowledge that You are my God. I submit myself to Your Lordship in my life – rule in my life Lord Jesus. And now, Satan and every evil spirit that is attacking me, I resist you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I refuse you access to my life, my body, my family, my finances, my mind and my possessions. All that I have and am belongs to Jesus, the Son of the living God. Satan I break any hold you have on me. I have been washed in the blood of Jesus and I declare that you have no authority or right over me. Jesus lives in me and greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. Satan, I cast you out of my life. I break any influence you may have had over me and declare you to be the loser. You are totally defeated by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says: Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Flee in Jesus’ name. Thank you Jesus. Amen 2 Corinthians 2:14 ‘But I thank God, who always leads us in victory (triumph and Victory) because of Christ. Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ. It's like a fragrance that fills the air.’ By: Andrew W Roebert These notes may be shared with others Comments are closed.
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Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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