Victory in the Battle

Psalm 144:1-2

 1 Praise the LORD! He is my Rock. He prepares me for war. He trains me for battle.

2 He loves me and protects me. He is my safe place high on the mountain. He rescues me. He is my shield. I trust in him. He helps me rule my people.

No matter where we are in life, God is preparing us. God is preparing for a battle of some kind. Sometimes part of the training for battle is a smaller battle. God is preparing and guiding us to fight the good fight. (1 Timothy 6:12) 

This Christian walk is not an easy one. We are constantly in one kind of battle or another. The battle may be a physical affliction (just as Paul was in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10) , a conflict with someone, or overcoming our past. Whatever our battle, God loves us and prepares us. Because He loves us, He does not leave us nor forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:6) Even when we rejected God's own son (Jesus Christ), He did not leave us. It was for our own sake that God does not leave us. (Leviticus 26:44-45) Instead of leaving us, God loves us greatly and prepares us for the battle. 

The battle may seem like it is all downhill and we are failures, but we must remember that as long as we are fighting--we are winning. We are winning as long as we have Jesus Christ by our side giving us the strength to fight. Even when we do not have the strength left to fight, we still have all we need. We have Jesus Christ. When we are weak, He is then made strong (2 Corinthians 12:10) ! He is our strength when we have nothing left. 

God is the reason I can keep on fighting. There are many days of a rough battle when I feel like I have lost the battle. I am reminded that God is my strength, my song, my victory, (Exodus 15:2) my everything!

In this particular Psalm, the Psalmist (David) reflects with thankfulness that God has prepared him to fight the battle. God has given him the ability to fight the battle. I think this battle goes beyond fighting with a bronze bow (2 Samuel 22:35). God gives us the shield of victory (2 Samuel 22:36). It may be preparing us for the battle of a conflicting decision we must face, an illness that makes us feel defeated, or living in a world of busyness that makes us lack peace. Whatever situation we may find ourselves in, we know who brings the victory. 

God sent his son Jesus to give us the victory! We were once sinner and enemies of God, and God give us victory in the biggest way we can imagine. God won the biggest battle of them all. God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus was sinless, but paid the price that we could not pay. Many of us face debt every day. We know how demanding and how much it brings hopelessness into our lives, and these are trivial things in comparison of the debt that would leave us without eternal life. God sent his son to pay the great price for our disobedience!

We face battles every day, and if God took care of the biggest battle of all---why wouldn't he take care of the earthly battles we face daily and even hourly? God is preparing us for the battles that we are in right now. Whatever they may be: illness, finances, relationships, dilemmas of all sorts. God is capable of handling them all. We have victory, because of God's redeeming love for us when we are incapable of deserving his great love..

When we choose to follow him and trust in Jesus Christ, we win. We have the victory, because of Him!

My own battle is not all smiles, but at least I know who wins in the end.. It makes it worth the difficulties that must be overcome. I am a child of God. It doesn't mean that life is without battles or pain, but it means that God will continue to prepare me for everything that I must face. The battles still hurt. Suffering still takes place, but it is a different kind of suffering---it is a different kind of battle. God gets all the glory. Even when the battle is rough and I feel inadequate to handle it, I can rely on God to carry me through it. It is about the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8: 18) as we are prepared for and overcome the battles of this world!

1 Corinthians 15:57

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:4

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

Examining Ourselves

The Bible speaks about the significant importance of examining ourselves. In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul says: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?" We need to examine ourselves to make sure we are still in the faith. Examining ourselves affirms if we are truly His, by the fruit of the Spirit we are showing. It also shows us where we have slipped up, so we can get back on track---leaning on His everlasting arms and amazing grace to help us to continue to live for Him alone!

In the Bible, there is one place of great significance about examining ourselves. We are instructed to examine ourselves before we take the Lord's Supper. In 1 Corinthians 11:28, it says: "Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup." This is done, because taking the Lord's Supper is pure joy, but also a very serious thing. We do not want to go through the Lord's Supper with our hearts not right. We do not want to abuse the Lord's Supper. We do not want to eat and drink judgment as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 11:29. Paul continues to say that this is why so many have fallen asleep and are weak. Taking the Lord's Supper wrongly, but also not examining ourselves. Examining ourselves is essential to our walk with God! We must continue to examine ourselves. Christ dying on the cross for our sins is something that should cause us to seriously reflect our lives. "Is what we are living for worth Christ dying for?"

Also, Lamentations teaches that we need to examine ourselves. Why examine ourselves? We are able to see where we are in our walk with God, and return to where we once were if we have strayed. We can also be bold to continue in our walk with God, and deepen our walk with God when we are aware of where we are spiritually. In Lamentations 3:40, it says: "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD."

Finally, Romans teaches that we should think of ourselves with sober judgment. This can only come from examining ourselves. Romans 12:3 says: "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned."

This is a weekly evaluation worksheet found in "Becoming a Vessel God Can Use" by Donna Partow, and gives us a format to examine ourselves on a weekly basis.

1. Am I listening for and hearing God's voice? What is He saying to me?

2. Am I increasingly manifesting the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? What areas look encouraging? What needs prayer? 

3. What did God teach me in my quiet times? 

4. Which priorities did I live by? 

5. Which priorities did I neglect? 

6. What new thing did I learn--about life, God, my family, and the people around me? 

7. What are my specific priorities (where is God directing me) for the coming week?