The Battle is the Lord's

In a war, the soldiers sometimes surrender a battle, but sometimes they actually surrender the whole war. Spiritual warfare is very similar to a physical battle.

If we surrender in a battle, we live to fight another day. If we surrender the war, we leave the outcome to a higher power. God is our Higher Power, and He desires that we completely surrender our life, love and will to Him.

Our Father knows best, and He wants only the best for us. He will never leave or forsake us, and He provides for our every need as we trust exclusively in His provision and care (Hebrews 13:5; 1 Peter 5:7).

The alternative is to fight the war from our own strength. This predictably ends in us suffering from battle fatigue with no more strategy to win the war.

Even if we surrender temporarily, with aspirations to return to the war in our own strength once we recoup, we end up right back where we are now…exhausted, discouraged and feeling overwhelmed.

We must come to the end of our self at some point in our life and totally surrender to God every thought, word and deed - led by His Spirit in everything we think, say and do.

We accomplish so much more with our remaining life than we ever did during all of the years on our own recognizance. We waste so much time when we live life our way instead of God's (Ephesians 2:20).

It is never too late to surrender, however, no matter how old we are. Sometimes, it takes us a while to learn to "let go and let God". The point is to totally surrender every battle to the Lord and we will eventually win the war as well.

Prayer:

Father remind us to trust only in You with our whole heart, not to rely on our human intuition or wisdom, to totally surrender to Your will and purpose for our life, and to allow You to direct every battle of the spiritual warfare in which we are embroiled (Proverbs 3:5-6).

We cannot trust our heart or our mind to safely lead us (Jeremiah 17:9). Only in Christ do we have half a chance of making a lasting difference in this world (Philippians 4:13). You give us Your wisdom and Your Word, directed by Your Spirit with a fail-safe battle plan every time (James 1:5; Psalm 119:105).

Thought for the Day:

True power and wisdom come from Christ in us, not from our own resources; so the wise will totally surrender to Him each moment of life and wait expectantly on Him alone. 

-  John 15:5; Psalm 46:10

The Joy of the Lord

 

God gives us several commands throughout His Word to rejoice in Him. When God thinks a concept is worth repeating, it is definitely worthy of our consideration (Psalm 32:11, 35:9, 64:10, 97:12, 104:34; Isaiah 29:10, 41:16; Joel 2:23; Habakkuk 3:18; Zechariah 10:7; Philippians 3:1, 4:4).

When the joy of the Lord fills our spirit, it also affects our body and soul - our thoughts, choices and feelings. It influences our words and actions and how we relate to our self and to other people.

It affects our relationship with the Lord and helps us to sing the praises to Him that He is worthy to receive (Psalm 147:1). We pray about everything and give thanks in everything, even in the negative aspects of our life (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

The Lord puts a hymn of praise, a new song, in our heart (Psalm 40:3). We come before His presence with thanksgiving as we make a joyful noise to Him in song (Psalm 100). His joy is our continual source of strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

God's Word is living and powerful and teaches us to abide in our spirit rather than in our body and our soul (Hebrews 4:12; John 15:11; Galatians 2:20). He opens the eyes of our understanding to the opportunities we have to walk and live in His Spirit.

God helps us to discern between the desires of our flesh and the leading of His Spirit. We no longer allow the appetites of our body, considerations of our mind or fickleness of our emotions to dictate our thoughts, words or behavior.

Instead we seek the Lord to reveal the root source of any negative impulses we experience and to free us from any dictates of our flesh, any influence of the world and any tyranny of the devil over our life.

Prayer:

Father God, we submit our spirit, body and soul - our every thought, choice and emotion - to Your Spirit. Our union with You consumes our every waking moment, and we want nothing more than for You to live Your life in and through us. Remind us not to worry about anything, but to seek Your will in ceaseless prayer. 

We want to live a life of continual joy, prayer and thanksgiving to You through Christ in us (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). We thank You for meeting all of our needs, and for giving us Your peace, which is not dependent on our human reasoning and understanding, and which guards our hearts and minds as we live, move and have our being in Christ alone (Philippians 4:4-6; Acts 17:28).

Thought for the Day:

The Lord loves us so much that He actually takes delight in us and rejoices over us with singing. - Zephaniah 3:17

Many thanks to Matt Milligan for the use of his photo.

Entering God's Rest

 

When we enter our rest in Christ (Hebrews 4:10), we do not cease from activity, but enter a state of perfect tranquility as we perform only those works, which God prepared for us before we were born (Ephesians 2:10). We live, move and have our being in Christ (Acts 17:28); therefore we live in mental, emotional and physical harmony with His divine will. We discover His will by quieting our soul and listening through ceaseless prayer to His voice in our spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

 

Ignoring human reasoning, we live in the Spirit rather than in the flesh (Galatians 5:16,25). Our labor ceases to be work because we carry out the will of God and work in the power of God’s Spirit. Our employment is no longer for our employer, but for our Holy God. We give our employer our very best efforts, because we serving a Higher Power. God holds us up and inspires our weary labors. We do not bear our burdens alone. He gives us joy in our work.

 

We think only about concepts, which are true, gracious, honest, authentic, undeniable and courteous. We focus on the best rather than the worst scenarios, on the beautiful instead of the ugly and on good news, which deserves praise, rather on evil and damning information. As we put Biblical principles into practice, God works out everything for our good in peace and harmony (Philippians 4:8; Romans 8:28). Buried with Christ, we are alive in God (Acts 17:11).

 

Functioning with clarity of mind, rather than thoughts fueled by panic and anxiety, we prosper. The Bible is no longer a closed book to us. We understand its precepts and its words are life to our spirit and soul. When a carnal desire or thought disturbs our peace, we know that from anywhere on the earth we can run to the Rock of Christ. He is our towering Rock of safety (Psalm 61:2). It is better to wait on God than to manufacture any solution from our flesh (Matthew 6:28:30; Psalm 37:3; Isaiah 30:7).

 

Prayer:

Father God, we are pressed within and without by adversity, but not crushed or broken. We are confused and do not understand why life treats us as it does, but we trust in You. We are abandoned and abused, but you never leave or forsake us. Life shoves us down, but by Your Spirit we get up and keep on serving you. We are persecuted and ridiculed, but You use it to show Your Power through our suffering. We face fears within and without, but You, our living Lord, keep us safe always. Even when we die, we live on eternally with you (2 Corinthians 4:8-12).

 

Thought for the Day:

Our troubles will soon be over, but our joys in the Lord will last forever. - 2 Corinthians 4:18