Pray It Through: A Loving God’s Response to Our Requests

What are you asking of God today? What is He giving you? Do your requests match His responses? If so, have you noticed that He gives beyond what you asked for? And if they don’t match, have you noticed that He gives you even better things than you asked?

We live in a world of want. Whether it is the homeless man starving on the street or the CEO desiring a larger yacht, we all feel a desire for more than we have. I find this to be true of all humans at all times, independent of social status or upbringing, independent of life experience or education, independent even of character. Though some display and may even feel more want than others, I find this base desire to be present in even the holiest of mortal men. They may conquer it through the Holy Spirit, but it is still an intrinsic part of our flesh.

The root of this want is likely our separation from our holy Creator God. The homeless, starving man does not know he is starving in the pure presence of God (which will only be experienced by men in Heaven), and furthermore, he no longer is homeless or starving in the pure presence of God. Regardless of your perspective, the want is gone. The same is true for the CEO who wants even more, if he is so blessed to be brought to a place in which he turns to Jesus as his Savior. “It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven…” (Matt 19:23). There is much to this truth that I will not indulge in tonight, but one aspect of the rich man’s difficulty is that he has distanced himself from his most basic neediness that gets man in touch with his only true need, God Himself.

The same is true in the Church. And in fact, God has beckoned His children to ask things of Him throughout time. One of the greatest examples is Solomon. Solomon had the opportunity to ask of God whatever he wanted and receive it. Let me stop right now, and ask the question of you: If God told you He would grant you one thing, in addition to the salvation that you have already received as a child of God, what one thing would you ask of Him?

1 Kings 3:9-13 – “Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.”

Those who know Solomon’s story might jump into the question above with the idea of answering just as Solomon did. I would caution that although Solomon asked for a great thing, that is not necessarily specifically what God would prefer that you as an individual ask of Him. Treat the question seriously: What one thing will you ask of God? Seek His face, seek to be transformed into righteousness, and ask in sincerity with faith, and He will give you what your heart truly desires.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4

I would like to build upon the prayer request that we just formulated by examining the interaction of God and Solomon and seeing its application to us this very day. You see, Solomon did not ask for earthly wealth and riches, but that is what he received. He did not ask for greatness, but that is what he received. And in addition, he received a greater gift, that which he asked for: God’s wisdom. In this I see the generosity of God to give “exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or imagine” (Eph 3:20). And in addition, I see the power of a prayer when our hearts are truly set on God and not ourselves, delighting ourselves in the Lord, and therefore receiving the desires of our hearts: God Himself. (For more thoughts on this, see “Delight yourself in the Lord, and…”)

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added to you.” – Matt 6:33

I challenge you: whatever physical thing you are asking from God, take the request to the next level, just as Solomon did. Solomon likely desired riches and greatness, but he took his request to the next level, asking for Godly wisdom, and God responded by giving him all of these things. God’s response shows that He knows the heart of men! He knows that Solomon and every other man and woman desires well-being, greatness, and good and pleasant things. And so He poured out His kingdom on Solomon, giving him Godly wisdom as a main course or centerpiece, and adding to it the side dishes or garnishes of earthly riches and greatness.

Do you seek physical healing? I encourage you to take your request to the next level and ask for healing of your sinful heart and unrighteousness. Do you seek relationship with others, whether it be a spouse, friends, or family? I encourage you to take your request to the next level and ask for deeper knowledge and intimate relationship with Christ Himself. Do you seek to excel in your career? In encourage you to seek and request of God the highest position in heaven, which is the lowest of positions on earth as servant (“The last shall be first and the first shall be last,” Matt 19:30). Do you seek wealth? In encourage you to request of God heavenly riches stored up through trial and suffering and perseverance in Christ. I have a rare guarantee for you: God will absolutely answer these prayers with a resounding “Yes!” and you will please your Father in Heaven so abundantly! How then will He hold back the Kingdom of Heaven from you, His sincere servant after His own heart?

A note about sincerity. The above is certainly no formula. Take this as a formulaic approach without sincerity and you will by no means receive the greatest blessings that God wishes for you to ask and receive. However, if you are sincere, these things are yours. Perhaps with that conviction, you and I should start with the same prayer and ask for a heart that would change such that these prayers would actually be sincere. I believe this will please God, as well, and begin us both down the path of His good and pleasing will.

You see, I know something as your Christian brother. When we ask for physical healing or meaningful earthly relationships, when we ask for success and wealth, we attempt to express our deepest needs to God, but we do so inadequately. How great is our God, though?! Because in our meager attempts to dig at the root of our desires, failing to see that what we really want is Him, He sees and knows what we really need and want deepest in our souls…and that is just what He gives.

Luke 11:9-13 - “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

You see, when you ask God for a good thing that pleases Him, He gives it. And I see it one step further, especially as it relates to the rest of this conviction: We know that if we ask for bread (a good thing in God’s sight), He doesn’t give us a stone (a lesser thing in God’s sight). But I submit to you that when we are so blind in our humanness apart from God, such that we ask for a stone, He knows that we really need the bread, and that is what He gives anyway! Now, perhaps we are not ready to receive it just yet and we would actually reject the delicious heavenly bread, in whatever form it appears in our lives. But God continues to work in our hearts until we can receive that bread. His work is ongoing and He never ceases to do good work in you and me. It is simple, yet essential that He has given us the power to reject Him, and in that the power to choose Him. This is the essence of love: to choose someone when you have the power to reject them. After all, this is exactly what God has done for us in His love and grace in the wake of our sin. Without this choice given to us, there is no love to be shared and we are just robots. Though many will call the concept of freewill problematic, we can see clearly that freewill presents both extremes: eternal separation from God, or eternal closeness to God in love…in both cases, the result of our choosing. To eliminate the possibility of Hell is to eliminate the possibility of Heaven as it exists and has been designed as our dwelling place—love with God, of God, from God, and all because of the ability to choose Him and be chosen.

And so I implore you: choose God through His Son Jesus, seek His face in sincerity through the Word and prayer, search the desires of your heart and elevate them to a standard of righteousness. Take your physical needs and examine their parallels with your spiritual needs, then focus on the spiritual, attacking your deficiency in prayer. I know what awaits any man or woman who is in this place: the powerful, sweeping arm of God granting His will in the life of His servants in the most pleasing of ways. I pray that God’s power is so displayed in your life this very year, "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6). Amen.

Do I Pray With God On My Side?

Have I really realized that God is on my side? Honestly, strangely, too often, no.

I became aware of this during my small group discussion tonight. We started in Zechariah 6, began discussing God’s sovereignty, and ended up engaging in prayer and discussion about hard things we were praying through. Someone made the astute comment that God was angry alongside my brother in Christ, angry at the same thing. Someone else astutely commented that God is interested in character, not comfort, holiness not happiness…but also that He seeks to bless us in the here and now, “in the land of the living.”

Psalm 27:13 – “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

Psalm 27:13 has been a special verse to me since I discovered it during the darkest time of my life. I was literally dying of an incurable disease, dealing with a recently broken relationship, and I was in physical and emotional pain on a daily, hourly, minutely basis. The physical pain gripped me and I could not escape it…even in periods of relief, I was gripped with dread of the next minute when it would strike again. In the middle of all this, I could see the fruit of the Holy Spirit being revived in me, for I had accepted Christ at a young age but had since not chosen Him as first in my life. I could see 2 Cor 4:16 coming to life:

2 Cor 4:16 - “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”

This was me. The outward man was dying and would soon be dead. And in fact, I beckoned that day. I found myself crying to God as Job did, asking for His mercy in the form of death, so that I could come to Heaven where there is "no more crying or pain" (Rev 21:4).

Even still, as God refused to honor my short sighted, yet sincere request, knowing what was even better for me and His Kingdom, I did not yet know how to go on. And so, when God revealed Psalm 27:13 to me it was encouragement beyond description because I was faced with a life of pain and could not foresee any relief, and He would not let me die. To realize that I can have the same hope as David the psalmist that I would see the goodness of the Lord and His blessing as I live on earth. It and a new, real relationship with Jesus Christ sustained me throughout my trial, and I am excited to report that He has continued to heal and restore me from that day forward. I have no more pain and the disease is well controlled (auto-immune), as he has brought healing to my body, mind, heart, and soul. Praise God!

And so throughout the conversation with my brothers tonight, I was hit with a sound conviction: I often forget that God is actually on my side, He is for me, and “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31) I realized that when praying hard for a loved one, whether it be salvation for a friend, restoration for a family member, or healing for myself, I often feel the burden of convincing God. I almost chuckle at my immaturity, for what man can convince God of anything? God made that man and knows his thoughts before he thinks them! And if I could “convince” God of anything—meaning that He was then inclined to act in a different manner than he would otherwise—I would be doing a terrible thing…for God is perfect without me and tells us that “My ways are higher” and “My ways are not your ways” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Going further, I realize that the root of much of my attitude of combating or convincing God comes from a life of rebellion. I have spent much of my life rebelling against Him, desiring the minimal legalistic belief in God, asking for things that were against His will in my own foolishness, and in a state of confusion for what is good in God’s sight…and as a reborn soul, I have forgotten that He replaces those old desires with the Holy Spirit. That although we once prayed very much against God, He has been patient, and once restored to Him, we can ask in confidence in single mindedness with our God and fellow believers.

And even with this knowledge, I find myself praying with a burden to turn God’s ear when praying for very pure things that are obviously part of His will (any prayer for salvation is in line with His will, for starters). But what resistance am I feeling? It is not God’s resistance. My epiphany is that God is absolutely for you and me in much of our prayers, once we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. If you believe in Christ for your salvation, you have the Holy Spirit, and many of your prayers and desires are the same as God’s! (As a side note, always submit to His will and do not be so arrogant as to think that any and all of your desires are His…but realize that some of your desires as a regenerated soul, and truthfully, more and more of your desires as you are sanctified by Him will be His very will.)

What a comfort that God is looking down and saying “Yes! Yes, I am angry with injustice. Yes, I am jealous for my church. Yes, I am pursuing that lost, loved soul. Yes, I will heal you for my glory. Yes, I will never let go of you and will bring you closer every day.” At this moment, I lose the disposition of praying in a position facing God, sitting opposed to Him. Instead, I pray with Him, alongside Him, looking at the same things and desiring the same righteousness for His glory. He has his arm around you and me as we pray…He needs no convincing…He is for us, so who can be against us?

I pray in agreement with God Himself through Jesus Christ that you would feel how awesome, how powerful, how deep, how wide is the love of God for you, and that you will begin to pray with confidence, assurance, and peace alongside your Savior and Father God, for the building up of His church and for the glory of His name. Amen.

Do You Believe, or Don’t You? 5 Responses to the Gospel

Belief in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, equals eternal life in Heaven. Denial of the Son of God equals eternal death in Hell. There is nothing in between. In which place do you make your eternal dwelling?

John 3:16-18 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

I have a friend who recently lost his mother. Understandably, he took it pretty hard, and I felt blessed that he spoke with me about it and was able to grieve and heal just a little bit in that way. In our conversation, his main comfort was that he knew his mom was now in Heaven, which I was pleased and comforted to hear, for his sake. One of the things he said did not strike me until later. It is something I have heard countless times when grieving a loved one, as he stated that his confidence in his mother’s entrance to Heaven was that she “was strong in her faith” or a “great woman of faith.” I of course nodded in encouragement, belief, and thankfulness.

However, while listening to a song on the radio today (“Stonger” by Mandisa) that said “if only you believe it,” you can be saved and God is faithful to complete the good work started in you (Phil 1:6), I recalled my friend’s words in a slightly different way. I realized that we place our faith in loved ones’ salvation in the word “strong” or “great” in the phrase “was strong in their faith” or “great person of faith,” when our confidence should simply come in the word “faith” alone.

There is much to be said about someone strong and great in their faith, and Jesus often distinguished between great and small faith with statements such as “ye of little faith” (Matt 8:26, 16:8, 17:20) or “you have great faith” (Matt 15:28). Yet, we see the power of even the smallest faith as Jesus pointed out in Matt 17:20, addressing the disciples’ question of why they could not drive out a demon that Jesus did:

Matt 17:19-21 – “Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Furthermore, Jesus says to anyone who believes that He is the Son of God:

John 14:11-12 – “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

This is a most powerful belief! To do things even greater than the miracles Jesus performed?! Simply because we believe He is the Son of God? Yes. Jesus said so; therefore, I repeat it to you.

I see in this the simplicity and truth of the Gospel; that it begins and ends with belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died in our place for our sin, conquered death by rising from the grave, and ascended to Heaven to the right hand of the throne of God to rule, reign, and judge forever; and that if we believe and ask to be saved by His name and His blood, we are assured of eternal salvation and entry to Heaven with Him.

So let me ask you, do you believe or don’t you? If you say “no,” you might be much more honest than many who say “yes,” and there is hope for you. It is my prayer that you die saying “yes” to Jesus Christ, so that we may live together forever with Him in Heaven. To those who say “yes,” I encourage you to take a moment and examine your inner self to see if you really believe in Christ. Here is a litmus test:

Upon hearing the good news that those with the tiniest faith in Jesus are granted Heaven and that a “great faith” or “strong faith” is not required, what is your response? Most will respond in one of 5 ways:

1. Relief and rest that you are going to Heaven, even though you know your faith is small and inconsistent.

2. Questioning if that is really true and desiring to know the real answer.

3. Disappointment because you believe that you have great faith and think that those with small, inconsistent faith should not be granted the same reward as you.

4. Happy because you don’t have to worry about doing anything the Bible instructs, as long as you say you believe in Jesus. You have the smallest faith that is necessary, that’s all you desire, and what you do next is irrelevant to that faith.

5. Rejecting the entire idea as hogwash with no desire to have any faith in this “Jesus.”

First, the good news: There is hope for you, no matter which of these responses you have (or a 6^th that I have not captured). Especially for responses 1 and 2, God has you in a good place to be closest to Him.

If you have the first response, you are indeed ready to receive grace, which is the simple necessity for the child of God. There is no pride in receiving grace, only gratitude, and that is a pure heart that God loves and is pleasing in His sight. Take heart #1, you are loved and precious in the Kingdom of God!

If you have the second response, you are a person that desires truth and are pursuing God’s very heart and Spirit, which is truth. Search the scriptures and you will find this truth. Start with John, read the Gospels, and go from there. Take heart #2, you are pursued as a son by a loving God as you pursue Him and His truth.

Here’s the bad news: Responses 3-5 need immediate revision and are not consistent with the heart of God and Holy Spirit that indwells the believer.

Eph 2:8-10 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

If you have the third response, that is actually quite despicable. There is no grace in that response—it is only by the grace of a perfect God that you have even a mustard seed of faith, let alone strength in that faith. And if this is your response, I wonder how strong and close to your Savior you really are. Pay close attention to this parable of Jesus:

Matt 20:1-16 – ““For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ 13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.””

Salvation is granted to the man who asks Jesus in his final breath the same as the man who is baptized at an early age. And so we see that there is to be no comparison and salvation is not obtained by works “so that no man can boast,” but instead I humbly proclaim the graciousness of God to save a sinner such as me. Be convicted number 3, and then take heart, for God is faithful when we are not.

Perhaps response number 4 is the most dangerous of all. At least the man with response number 5 is not lukewarm. The Lord God says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:15-16)

If you are one with the fifth response, I understand, and I pray for you with great concern. Be afraid, number 5, for you are lost and facing Hell in this moment; but also take heart, for you are not beyond the reach of your all-powerful Creator God, and you can still be saved if you will repent and call on the name of Jesus. It is my prayer that you turn to Him, whatever it takes.

And so, back to number 4. This is the most dangerous of mindsets because if truly felt, it proclaims that your “belief” in Jesus Christ is only lip service and you do not truly believe. That may seem like a bold statement, but it could not be a simpler truth. Jesus states that those who believe seek to follow Him. He never makes the statement that those who believe will never sin again…He commands that we don’t (John 5:14, 8:11, 15:10)…but the distinction is that those who believe in a Savior, acknowledging and comprehending what that means, seek to serve and worship Him for the rest of their lives. That is still somewhat ambiguous, so let me make is very plain and simple: those who believe in Jesus Christ experience change in their hearts that leads to change in their actions. This is the work and empowerment of the Holy Spirit that is beyond ourselves. If you declare to believe in Christ and your behaviors as well as your motivations have not changed, and even worse, if you say that you “believe in Christ” and therefore it does not matter what you do now because those with the smallest faith reach the Kingdom of God, I say to you, Wake Up! You have been deceived! For you do not truly believe and are the farthest from Him, for He spews the lukewarm from His mouth! If at any point, you or I strive for the minimum, we strive for the absence of God in our lives…that is the exact essence of sin.

The Greek word for sin (as translated in the New Testament) is hamartano, which literally means to miss the mark or “to be without a share in.” It could often be used to describe an archer who did not hit the target’s bullseye no matter how close he may have come. We must strive for the center, the bullseye, and if we do, although we cannot live perfectly on our own and reach the Kingdom of Heaven, God assures us through Jesus Christ that declaring our intent and smallest seed of real faith and belief in Him, He will bring us to the bullseye, the place of sinless Heaven, upon the conclusion of our lives. We must have genuine intent and genuine belief that Jesus is the Way and the only Way. That is it. Number 4, I encourage you, take heart, for God replaces the heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26)…cry out for Him to create a pure heart within you and He will (Psalm 51:10).

Ezekiel 36:26 – “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Psalm 51:10 – “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

And so I ask you one more time, do you believe or don’t you? Do you have “great faith” or “strong faith.” No matter…do you have any faith that is real in your Savior Jesus Christ? That is the principle question and nothing further. If you answer “yes” in truth, then I look forward to seeing you in Heaven forever. Amen.

The War Over My Soul

Wars have been fought, lost, and won hundreds of times and with thousands upon thousands of individual battles since the beginning of time. We have the advantage of post-outcome perspectives to remove ourselves in a 3^rd-party, birdseye view of these wars with the ability to identify turning points. Points at which the wars changed and were virtually won. Yet, after each of these turning points, there was still war to wage…for the job had to be finished, even if “the war was over” from the historian’s perspective.

I believe that this is an applicable analogy to the war over your soul and mine, and the war over every soul from Adam to present day. It certainly is a war, and to call it anything less is to diminish the severity of the fight, the fierceness of the struggle, and the weight of the outcome.

Gal 6:10-18 – “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

There is a macro and micro view of this war, or series of wars over our souls. The macro view, which is sound, is that humanity in its entirety since Creation and until the Apocalypse and end of time, is one major war, with many strategic battles throughout time, including the battle over our individual souls, yours and mine. There is much to this accurate view in my opinion, but tonight I will focus on the micro view that sees the battle over your single soul as a war of its own, and one that is lifelong.

Rom 8:35-39 – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The thought of lifelong war may be discouraging, but realize that we were made for continuous battle and are fortified by God Himself to fight, and after having withstood all, to stand. To stand in victory as more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. Truthfully, as many souls have ever lived, there are as many wars for those souls, and just as truthfully, some of those wars have been lost, some won, and if you’re alive to read this post today, then yours is still ongoing.

I would like you to focus on yourself and the war over your very own soul, as I do the same. Where is the battle currently? Do you even recognize that you are in the middle of a war? The man worst off in the middle of a ferocious battle, is the one who walks out in the middle unknowingly, for he will surely be caught in the crossfire. Don’t be that man! Look up, open your eyes, open your ears, read the Word and have fellowship with your fellow believers—you will soon discover that you are standing in a war zone for your very own soul. When you have embraced this truth, you can then choose your side, pick up your weapons and defenses, and fight the good fight—the only way to victory, for there will be no peace treaty with Satan, I can assure you.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, then I have the greatest news and encouragement for you—the turning point has already been reached, and the rest of your life will prove that the war is already won. Much like the historian who can see that WWII was effectively won after D-Day--the largest turning point in the largest war with the greatest implications--if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, D-Day has come and the day has been won for your soul. The stage is now set for the counter-attack on our Enemy until he is vanquished forever. Yet, there is still fighting to do and casualties will still be incurred.

This is the nature of war, even post-turning point war. There is still much fighting to do and a job to finish. Let me ask you, have you experienced spiritual “casualties” in your life so far? I know that I have. The enemy’s casualties have been idol worship in my heart, lust, selfishness, and non-righteous anger, just to name a few. The casualties on our side have included physical setbacks, mental anguish, and lost relationships. Yet, God even redeems these casualties. Afterall, He has raised men from the dead, the greatest of which His Son Jesus Christ, and conquered death of all sorts. He can resurrect your body, your mind, your circumstances, and your relationships. But only if they will serve Him in the battle and not the enemy. Remember, the enemy’s casualties were idol worship, lust, selfishness, anger, etc in my life, and likely similar sins in your life. There is no resurrection for those things. Sin is to die and stay dead, so any resurrection of circumstances, relationships, etc will only be possible through the power of Christ for His purpose.

And so after D-Day for our souls' salvation, the battle still rages and casualties are felt. Have you not experienced this, too? I’m sure that you have. Ask the men who fought across Europe on the march to Berlin after D-Day if the war felt easier. There were still smaller, yet important turning points ahead and to finish winning the war, they could at no point quit, and many more brave men and women gave their lives to win the war and fight that good fight. The same will be true in the spiritual war over our souls. We will still need to finish the post-turning point, post-Salvation march to victory. This is sanctification, when we continue to be purified to completion. The turning point has been reached and we have received the reinforcements and pivotal ”air support” provided by God and His Holy Spirit! The victory is ours and we are assured it! Is this cause to quit? No, it is cause to fight with all the more fervor!

So I encourage you if you feel that your battle has gotten too fierce and you cannot conquer it, continue to fight. D-day has already been won, if you are a believer. Recognize the battle…the battle with exterior circumstances will be fierce, but the hottest part of any battle is over that which is valued most, and that will be within you, for your soul. Begin to recognize the battle there. It is present with every sin and backslide, it is present with every temptation, it is present with every thought not taken captive on behalf of God and even in the taking captive of those thoughts.

2 Cor 10:3-5 – “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 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.”

The first shot rings out in traffic as you look with anger at the driver who has wronged you. The first shot rings out as you look at that person of the opposite gender in public for a half-second too long with only the slightest hint of lust in your heart. The first shot rings out when you delight in someone else’s possessions and begin comparing with yourself. The first shot rings out when you are confronted with a truth about yourself by another and first consider whether to be honest or not. You’ll notice that at the first shot, you may very well not have even sinned. But if someone is beginning to shoot bullets in your direction and you are on a battlefield, if you decide to ignore those bullets, they will begin to hit you. And if you ignore them further, they will begin to rip you apart and you will take on casualties. And if you continue to refuse to take up defense and fight back, you will eventually be killed and lose the war. Recognize the first shot and respond and crush your enemy, the Evil One. He is most easily crushed at the onset of the battle, for that is when He is most vulnerable. His bullets and flaming arrows cannot strike us, except for when we have put down our shield of faith, which "extinguishes all the fiery arrows of the Devil." Keep your shield up in faith in God.

If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, I wish I could provide you comfort, but I cannot. If you are not a believer, then Satan is still on the march in your life, D-day has not come, and in fact you are losing the war, and without Jesus Christ, there is nothing you can do about it. I encourage you, seek Jesus, win D-day, and set out in a life of conquest with an all-powerful Savior. The greatest conquest experienced by any man is the war over his own soul, for it requires reaching out for a Savior God, followed by an entire lifetime of continuous battle. But a battle that we win.

To fight without Jesus as Savior is to lose and realize the terrors of eternal Hell fire. To not fight is to be occupied without any resistance and realize the terrors of eternal Hell fire. But to fight with Jesus is the only victory…sweeping, certain victory. Which of these three will you choose?

Lastly, we are not isolated as lone warriors. The Holy Spirit and armor of God is sufficient to win the battle decisively if we were lone warriors, which makes it an all the more decisive victory when we stand and fight together. Prayer is our weapon, and when we come beside each other in prayer, we fall into battle formation. One of the most powerful battle formations of its time, the time when Paul wrote of the armor of God, was the phalanx, perfected by the Romans. In the phalanx, soldiers would get close together, interlocking their shields, such that no weapon or enemy could penetrate. With their shields interlocked, their strength was multiplied, and they were protected from all sides and angles (even from above!). Here is the point: when we band together in sincere fellowship and prayer, we are interlocking our shields of faith and multiplying our strength supernaturally. When a single soldier might fall in a given battle, a phalanx prevails, and likewise it is true with prayer. Find the strength of community and praying for one another in all things, and you will find the ability to fight and win battles that you could not win alone.

Repent and cry out to your Savior. Win the turning point. Fight the good fight. Join the phalanx of fellow believers in prayer. Never stop. Always conquer. Through the power and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, victory is ours. Amen and Oo-rah!

Year in Review: August

Continuing with the Year in Review, here are the top posts from August 2010:

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010

"Love your neighbor as yourself." An Inconvenient Conviction

"Think about Jesus' statement: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 10:31) It can only be meaningful if the love of ourselves is quite extensive. If we did not love ourselves, then the command would be to not love others, or love them only so much, only as much as we love ourselves..." (read more)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2010

A Psalm to My God

"I feel so alone. Yet I am not alone. Lord, You turn loneliness into inspiration for action. I feel helpless, but I am not. I am more than helped—by my Father I am carried when I cannot stand and watched with joy when I can..." (read more)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2010

The Spirit Manifested: Belief and Discernment at Once

"...God’s Holy Spirit needs no embellishment. The Holy Spirit is God and God has never needed human embellishment, only obedience and confession of the Source. For those of us who have experienced such a raw, amazing touch of the supernatural, we can easily stray when we embellish His natural moving..." (read more)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 22, 2010

The Best for the Journey

"Imagine you have a son who is 18 years old. You have plans to buy him a reliable car that is also extremely pleasing to him in every way—aesthetically, performance, interior, reliable, easy to maintain, fuel efficient. Now you’re on your way to go get the car..." (read more)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 29, 2010

Acknowledging the Inner Conflict – Time with God

"...There is an elementary concept in chemistry called “activation energy.” Simply put, it is the minimum energy input required to induce a given chemical reaction. It’s almost like an investment—you put money in a good investment, then you get even more back. Many chemical reactions take an initial “boost” of energy..." (read more)