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GOOD FIGHT!
1 Timothy 6:12 (KJV) - 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called,
2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV) - 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
- A GOOD FIGHT is one that you know you've won before you even enter the boxing ring, and before the match starts. The Judge and Ump are on YOUR SIDE!
- Dropped Behind Enemy Lines in Hostile Territory like the 101st Airborne.
- The whole world lieth in wickedness. (1 John 5:19)
- We are swimming upstream against the evil flow of this fallen world.
- Blessedness on this Earth, but no Blissfulness until we get to glory. Blessedness for now - Blissfulness in Glory!
- Battle is the RULE of the fallen earth we live in. Victory is only secured AFTER BATTLE in ANY context of life!
- Ecclesiastes 3: A time for peace, a time for war.
- We are NOT pessimists. Jesus was NOT a pessimist. But Jesus was a REALIST! Jesus stated a fact: "In this world ye shall have tribulation..." But then he gave an OPTIMISTIC PROMISE: "...but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!" The Amplified Bible says "I have deprived the world of its power to harm you!"
GOOD FIGHT!
FOUR STRATEGIES TO USE IN FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH:
1. WE FIGHT BY SPEAKING THE WORD OF GOD IN OUR MOUTHS... ALOUD! Jesus said, "It is written!" over and over again!
1 Samuel 2:1 (KJV) - 2:1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.
MY MOUTH IS ENLARGED OVER MY ENEMIES!
(NOT my emotions are enlarged over my enemies.)
(NOT my thinking is enlarged over my enemies.)
IF WE WISH TO CONQUER OUR ENEMIES, WE MUST USE OUR MOUTHS!
GOOD FIGHT!
2. WE FIGHT BY OBEYING GOD TO PRAISE HIM NIGHT AND DAY, DAY AND NIGHT.
Psalms 34:1-10 (KJV) - 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. 3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. 10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
GOOD FIGHT!
3. WE FIGHT WITH PRAYER AND FASTING WHEN ALL LOOKS HOPELESS OR A BREAKTHROUGH IS SLOW OR DIFFICULT IN COMING.
Jesus said "WHEN my disciples fast," not "IF my disciples fast."
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (KJV) - 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
Fasting, combined with extra prayer, is one of the secret weapons we can pull out of our arsenal. It is our BIG BERTHA to defeat the enemy!
GOOD FIGHT!
4. WE FIGHT BY DYING AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN TO OUR FLESH.
Luke 9:23 (KJV) - 23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
John the Baptist said: "I MUST DECREASE AND HE MUST INCREASE."
Oswald Chambers on process of Continuous Conversion:
Except ye be converted, and become as little children. . . . — Matthew 18:3
These words of Our Lord are true of our initial conversion, but we have to be continuously converted all the days of our lives, continually to turn to God as children. If we trust to our wits instead of to God, we produce consequences for which God will hold us responsible. Immediately our bodies are brought into new conditions by the providence of God, we have to see that our natural life obeys the dictates of the Spirit of God. Because we have done it once is no proof that we shall do it again. The relation of the natural to the spiritual is one of continuous conversion, and it is the one thing we object to. In every setting in which we are put, the Spirit of God remains unchanged and His salvation unaltered, but we have to "put on the new man." God holds us responsible every time we refuse to convert ourselves, our reason for refusing is wilful obstinacy. Our natural life must not rule, God must rule in us.
GOOD FIGHT!
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