The Battle is the Lord’s
There are many battles we may face during the course of our lifetime.
What battles are you facing today? In the future, there will be battles that
come along. These battles could include things like:
·
Family battles
·
Child custody battles
·
Relationships (in general)
battles
·
Health battles
·
Addiction battles
·
Financial and economic battles
·
Workplace and employment battles
·
Legal battles
·
Battle with depression and
anxiety
·
Emotional battles in the heart
·
Mental warfare in the mind
·
Grief and loss battles that will
happen when loved ones pass on, or it could be any kind of loss we encounter …
not only death
·
Spiritual battles (assaults from
our enemy the devil)
·
The threat of literal war and
terrorism in our country, and for some, the battles they face daily as their
sons and daughters, loved ones and friends are in combat overseas in dangerous
territory
Sometimes these battles can be overwhelming and the warfare is intense.
Sometimes we are faced with more than one battle at the same time, and it
becomes too enormous for us to handle on our own.
We can turn to the Lord for help in our time of need. He is our refuge
and strength, an ever present help in the time of trouble (Psalms 46:1). We
don’t have to rely on our own strength or power. When we turn these battles
over to the Lord, He promised He would be there to fight our battles for us.
“The battle is the Lord’s” was the prophetic message that Jahaziel
prophesied over King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:14. The kingdom of Judah
was faced with three powerful nations, who had joined alliances, coming against
them to attack.
The odds were not stacked in the kingdom of
Judah’s favor. The Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites were too powerful for them
to subdue. And other nations had more sophisticated weapons and were more
skillful in warfare tactics. It looked like Judah would be defeated unless God
supernaturally intervened.
King Jehoshaphat rallied the people together and they fasted and sought
the Lord. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, a Levite (the tribe
of priests and musicians/psalmists who ministered to the Lord daily in the
temple).
Jahaziel said, “Hearken, all Judah, you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
you King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says this to you: Be not afraid or dismayed at
this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
Tomorrow go down to them. Behold, they will come up by the Ascent of
Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the ravine before the Wilderness of
Jeruel.
You shall not need to
fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and
see the deliverance of the Lord who is with you, O Judah and
Jerusalem. Fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord
is with you.”
In Exodus 14:14 (in reference to a different battle), the Lord said to
His people: “The Lord will fight for you and you won’t have to lift a
finger!” (Living Bible)
The Message Bible words it this way:
“God will fight the
battle for you. And you, you keep your mouth shut!”
Psalms 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted in
the earth.”
God is saying that this battle is His, not yours. He will fight this
battle and you won’t have to lift a finger. God is saying to get out of His way
and let Him take over. He’s saying to watch what you say … to keep quiet … and
don’t interfere with what He’s doing.
God has sent angels to help you and to intervene in your behalf. Often
we get in God’s way, and in the way of His angels doing their job, by the
negative doubt-filled words we say (or getting into verbal fights with people)
and trying to do something in our own strength He didn’t tell us to do. Then
things are messed up more than before, and God has to unravel those added
complications.
God wants us to follow the Spirit’s leading, and not do things out of
haste from the flesh. The flesh is human reasoning or acting on impulse. God’s
way of handling the matter may be different than your way of thinking or doing.
It’s a matter of relinquishing control and letting God fight your battles in
His way. His way is always the perfect way that brings lasting desirable
results and peace.
When someone does something to hurt us, the natural response is to seek
revenge. But then, there is never any peace or resolvement. It’s always
constant strife. God has His own way of dealing with these matters, which would
lead to paths of peace and rest, and closure to the matter so you can move
forward with your life.
Getting back to the story of King Jehoshaphat, when he had consulted
with the people, he appointed singers to sing to the Lord and praise Him in
their holy [priestly] garments as they went out before the army, saying, “Give
thanks to the Lord, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!”
That would sound like an odd battle plan to send out the singers and
musicians to march in the forefront of the army! All they wore were priestly
garments (no armor or natural weapons). The priests were not trained as
soldiers to do combat.
And when the priests began to sing and to praise the Lord, the Lord set
ambushments against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against
Judah, and they were self-slaughtered. For suspecting betrayal, the men of
Ammon and Moab rose against those of Mount Seir, utterly destroying them. And
when they had made an end of the men of Seir, they all helped to destroy one
another.
And when King Jehoshaphat’s army came to the watchtower of the
wilderness, they looked at the multitude of their enemies, and to their
astonishment, there were dead bodies everywhere that had fallen to the ground,
and none had escaped! The Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites had all turned on
each other, and every single one of them was slaughtered.
Not one priest, nor one man from Judah’s army, were harmed. When
Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil, they found among them much
cattle, goods, garments, and precious things which they took for themselves,
more than they could carry away, so much that it took three days in gathering
the spoil.
Praise and worship is one of God’s mighty weapons in His arsenal. Psalms
149:6-9 says:
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword
in their hand,
7 To execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of
iron;
9 To execute on them the written judgment — this honor have all His
saints. Praise the Lord!
The two-edged sword is talking about the Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God
is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet
of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Praise and speaking God’s Word has the power to bind the enemy (devil)
with chains and fetters of iron. The power of praise causes confusion among the
enemy camp so that the battle you are facing is won by God and you are
victorious.
God has a different strategy for each battle you will encounter, and so
it’s vitally important to hear His voice. Seek Him with your whole heart on
each and every situation that comes along. He will speak to you and show you
what to do or what not to do.
God said that if you lack wisdom, that all you have to do is to ask Him
for it in faith and He would give it to you liberally (James 1:5-8). Just don’t
doubt or waver, as the person who does so can’t expect to receive anything from
the Lord. God works through faith. Wavering kills faith. God says that a
double-minded (wavering, doubtful, wishy-washy) person is unstable in all of
their ways (James 1:8).
We can be assured that we can hear, and do hear, from God (even when we
don’t think so or aren’t for sure). In John 10:3-5, it says that His sheep hear
His voice and the voice of a stranger they will not follow. If you are one of
His sheep, then you can and will hear His voice. It takes practice in learning
to hear God speak.
The primary ways God speaks are:
1. The Word of God. Anything you hear, it has to agree with Scripture or the basic
principles of Scripture if it’s truly God. If something you hear contradicts
God’s Word, then it’s not from the Lord. God’s Word is His will.
2. An inward witness in your
spirit; perceptions; impressions; feeling a check in your spirit; inward
intuition; your deepest gut-level feelings. A
Scripture is “quickened” to us (comes alive to your Spirit), or something
someone says is quickened to us.
The mind can fool us often times, as the mind can use logic to reason
out and override your deepest gut-level impressions about something or someone,
then later on we discover that what we sensed was correct. And often we have
regret for our mistake in not following the inward witness (inward intuition).
God doesn’t speak directly to our mind. He speaks to our spirit, which
is our deep gut level part of us. Then our spirit relates the information to
our mind. The mind operates in logic, but our spirit picks up on the Holy
Spirit.
3. God’s still small voice. His voice is often very quiet. That’s why it’s important to be still
before the Lord to hear Him speak. God’s still small voice is an inward
“knowing” about something. Sometimes a word, phrase, person’s name, Scripture,
idea, insight or understanding may come to us and we just “know” something …
whether or not our logical mind can prove it out or not.
4. Ephesians 1:17-18 is a prayer.
We can pray that same prayer and personalize it.
17 [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory, that He may grant me a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight
into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,
18 By having the eyes of my heart flooded with light, so that I can know
and understand the hope to which He has called me, and how rich is His glorious
inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones). Amplified Version
5. Inward Authoritative Voice of
God
Sometimes God’s voice sounds louder and more authoritative. Sometimes a
word or phrase He says will sound almost audible, yet not audible (it’s audible
on the inside in our mind or heart). He often speaks through seeing
pictures/visions in our mind/spirit.
Hearing God in this way takes more practice, as Satan often uses this
avenue to deceive people. The devil’s voice is usually loud, forceful, pushy
and demanding. Some people mistake it, thinking it was God speaking. God is
never pushy.
Conversely, the enemy often deceives through subtle means. If you find
yourself starting to veer off the track by straying from His Word, then it’s
probably the enemy. If someone gives a prophecy, or you feel you received a
revelation or a vision … it has to agree with Scripture 100% to be from God.
Satan knows the Bible backwards and forwards, as he is likened to a shrewd
lawyer. The devil even uses Scriptures to deceive us (like He tempted Jesus in
the wilderness with Scriptures), or beat us up with. However, he always uses
partial Scriptures and not the whole counsel of God.
For God so loved this world that He gave His only begotton Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God did not send His Son into this world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him would be saved.
The thief (Satan the devil) comes only for to kill, steal and destroy. But Jesus has come to give us life, and life more abundantly, until it overflows.
I urge you to come to the Cross today and receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord. He will wash away all your sins and make you as clean and white as fresh snow.
Just pray this prayer and mean it with your heart:
Dear Lord Jesus (if you are not able to call him Lord yet, then just say "Jesus")
I receive You as my Savior and Lord. I give my life over to You. I believe that You died and rose again, and that if I call on the Name of the Lord I shall be saved.
I accept you into my heart right now, and confess that You are Lord and have risen from the dead and forever live to make intercession for me.
Thank You for washing my heart pure and clean and making me whole, and for giving me peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Thank You that now I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. The old has gone and the new has come.
And there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh (carnality and sin), but walk after the Spirit. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
If you prayed this prayer, I believe you got born again and are now heaven bound and will be with the Lord forever and have eternal life. Your sins are now forgiven. You are accepted in the Beloved.
I would encourage you to find a good Bible based local church to help you grow in your faith, to learn the Word of God, to praise and worship Him, and to have fellowship with the saints.
Serving Christ is the best decision you will ever make.
God bless you!!!
