I came across a great passage in the Old Testament and I thought I would share some insight from it. The more I read in the Old Testament, the more I realize how much interesting and rich lessons there are for us modern day Christians. I encourage you to take more time in the OT and see for yourself how the Lord speaks to you through the ancient believers.
Battles, we all wage battles these days. Not just war time battles, but struggles that are all around us all the time.
Think about some different types of battles that we see play out in our culture around us. Here are a few that I came up with:
War movies, Violent video games, that Gladiator tv show, divorce court, celebrity "battles", political battles (duh!!)
Now think about some personal battles that you might wage-or are waged upon you:
battles of the mind, battles with weight, arguments with the people around you, marriage battles, battles with your children
side note-the endless battle with my 5 week old to go to sleep!!
You do not have to be defeated in these battles when you are in Christ!
Take a look at 2 Chronicles 32:1-23 or click here . This is a pretty long passage but it is important to get the context.
King Hezakiah is a pretty cool dude-definitely a lover of the LORD. He gives us a great example of what to do when confronted with a battle. We must be prepared and fortified. Verse 4-5
We too can fortify ourselves as we are up in arms. First, we MUST recognize God as Almighty and All Powerful. Hands down, this is Key. We have an almighty God on our side (more on this in a second) Second, it is imperative that we find ourselves in the Bible everyday reading what God would have us do in situations of conflict. Our all Mighty God give us guidance in the Word on everything that we come up against. We just have to make ouselves open to hear what He wants to say to us!
Back to the concept of our all powerful God. Take a look at what King Hezzy said to his men as they were preparing for battle:
7 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. 8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles."
Our God is greater than any fleshly and worldly battle that we face. Why? Because He is the creator of the universe for goodness sake! If He created it, then He is obviously bigger than His creation. Think about kids playing with play-dough. They create a little object with the dough and then, because the child is bigger than his created object, he can smash that play dough anytime he wants. Its just like that with God, our Lord can smash our enemies any old time He wants. So, be strong and courageous and put your confidence in the All Mighty Creator.
Finally, Jesus tells us that we have overcome:
4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4
This is why we can have confidence, we are children of God and have already overcome if we put our trust in Christ alone. Hear that again: WE HAVE ALREADY OVERCOME BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.
No need to be afraid, no need to run in fear from the enemy. Enough Said!
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Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]. Hebrews 4:16
