The Sword of the LORD

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life..."   (1 Timothy 6:12) When we as Christians think of spiritual warfare, we usually think of our struggle with the devil for the salvation of our souls.   Scripture tells us that we are wrestling against principalities, powers, the rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places.   In the face of such resistance, it is very natural for us to forget that this battle is not ours, but the Lord's, and it has already been settled once and for all.   The words of God to Jehoshaphat, King of Judah and his people, are as true today as they were in 896 B.C., "Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s."   (2 Chronicles 20:15b)   Our challenge, then, is simply to stand in the victory already purchased for us by the Lord Jesus Christ.   The devil's most effective tactic is to convince us that we are powerless against his superior s

Recently, I heard a brother share some verses from John 11 - the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. I was struck all over again by this amazing story, but the more I thought about it later, the more I was impressed by its relevance for me today. We talk a lot about the spiritual warfare that we are engaged in as Christians.   We understand that our battle is not against flesh and blood foes, but against principalities, powers, and spiritual darkness in high places that seek to destroy us, and our testimony for Christ.   We face opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil, but our focus must never be on trying to survive against such formidable enemies by our own strength, grit, or determination.   You see, our real battle is to believe.   The Apostle Paul told Timothy to, " Fight the good fight of faith , lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called."   (1 Timothy 6:12)   Later, he testified that, "I have fought a good fight , I have fin

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."    (2 Corinthians 11:3). We humans often have the tendency to make things harder than they need to be.  It is often the simplest ways that are the best ways.  Christians especially are in danger of being beguiled by the devil's oldest temptation.  You see, it wasn't fruit that enticed Eve in the beginning, but the desire to possess the knowledge of good and evil.  To take matters into our own hands, to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, and to be like gods - this was Satan's fatal error, and he would like for it to be ours as well. Adam and Eve had it easy.  They merely had to trust their heavenly Father, and receive from Him all that they needed to sustain their spiritual lives.  God worked for six days and rested the seventh.  Adam and Eve, however, were created on the sixth day, which made the

"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.   Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins."   (Isaiah 40:1,2). The covenant that God made with His people in the Old Testament was often marked by His wrath being poured out upon them for some misdeed or another.   He that despised Moses' law often died without mercy.   Of course, this is because the law was all about works.   "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, 'That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.' "   (Romans 10:5).   How extraordinary, then, are the words of Isaiah.   God wanted to comfort His people, and speak to their very hearts and their inner man with tender words of hope. What were these words of comfort that God wished to speak - no, that He wished to cry out - to His people?   That her warfare was

"He must increase, but I must decrease."   (John 2:30). If I were to pick one book (other than the Bible of course) that has influenced my Christian walk more dramatically than any other, it would probably be The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee.   It is truly a Christian classic and should be required reading for any child of God as it lays a solid foundation upon which believers can build their faith.   It clearly defines the necessity of being "in Christ," and explains important concepts such as justification, sanctification, the blood of Jesus, baptism into Christ, being dead to the law, walking in the Spirit, etc.   I have found its message to be of enormous practical help as I have endeavored to fight the good fight of faith.   I would like to share the following two excerpts from Mr. Nee's book: ·         "God's normal for a Christian can be summarized as follows: I no longer live!   Now it is Christ Who lives His life in m

One thing that every man or woman of faith has in common is that their lives in many ways will reflect the One on Whom they believe.   Because Jesus is the Living Word, then as we place our faith in Him, the Word becomes manifested in our mortal flesh, and folks begin to see Jesus in us.   The apostle Paul expressed it in an interesting way when he said that we are living letters from Christ which have been written, not with ink on paper or carved on tablets of stone, but written by the Spirit of God on the tables of our hearts.   (2 Corinthians 3:2,3).   Even those who walked by faith under the old covenant witnessed of the grace that God would bestow through His Son.   King David, the ancient King of Israel, was one such man.   His life in many ways reveals the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. The prophet Ezekiel clearly revealed the connection between David and Christ when he foretold the coming of the Messiah, saying, " And David My servant shall be king over them; and the

"And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them?   And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.   And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations."   (Exodus 3:13-15). When Moses encountered God on the backside of the wilderness of Sinai, he asked Him what name he should use when the children of Israel asked who had sent him to them.   The name by which God referred to Himself was, in the Hebrew, "hayaw," I AM THAT I AM.   This name has been interpreted in various ways such as "I am what

When our first child was born, my wife, Terry, and I had not yet been converted to Christianity.   We were both very young, having been married the summer after we graduated from high school.   On the night that Terry went into labor we were still unclear about what we were going to name our new child.   At that time, there were no ultrasound images to reveal the gender of the child, and the fathers were not allowed in the labor or delivery room to support their wives.   So, I was delegated to a waiting room and anxious to hear any news of what was happening with my wife.   As I waited, I picked up a Reader's Digest condensed book that contained the story of Christopher Columbus' life and the discovery of the New World.   When the nurse came to inform me that I was the father of a healthy baby boy, I was overjoyed, and couldn't wait to see my new son and his mama.   While Terry and I were admiring our boy, it suddenly came to me what we should call him: Christopher.   Of co