Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The Roots of Courage


For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.  There is a time for a Season of Retreat, to prepare our hearts for the spiritual battle:  God's Recreation (re-creation) on the new day...  morning has broken, like a new morning...  In the journey of life, retreat is necessary in order to advance. We need to be re-created newly each day:  be not conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds...  therefore walk in the newness of life.  Today is the dawning of a new day.

Having been strengthened in the Lord, when faced with a crisis God's call to his men is in Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” The world tempts us to fold under the pressure.  Those who fold are not prepared for the challenge.  Casual Christians become casualties of spiritual warfare.  They are not disciplined to rise to the occasion for God to deliver. What do you want? What price are you willing to pay? What are you doing to prepare for the challenge?

1 Samuel chapter 17 illustrates lessons in the roots of courage from the story of David's confrontation with Goliath. God had anointed David to be king long before he became king.  David had prepared his heart to serve God by serving his father's flock...  his calling was to care for the lambs who would be offered to God as a sacrifice without spot and without blemish.  He that is faithful in that which is least shall be faithful also in much.  As a lowly shepherd, David prepared his heart to become a man after God's own heart. When David heard Goliath's taunt against the armies of Israel, his heart filled with indignation:  "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who would dare to defy the Armies of the living God?" Goliath was a mighty man of war; a champion, an impressive giant in the eyes of man.  However, compared with the mighty hand of Almighty God whom David served, Goliath was a minuscule puppet in the hand of the devil and his minions. David understood the spiritual battle behind the physical battle:  for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness... against spiritual wickedness from on high. King Saul could not see the challenge from God's spiritual perspective.  Neither could Israel's armies...  they had been corrupted by the things of this world.  They cowered from the battle that they saw from the vantage point of the world's perspective. David's training as a shepherd taught him to trust God in the battles of life...  to kill the lion and the bear that threatened his flock...  not of his own power but in the power of God.

Action is always motivated by either faith or fear.  How do you turn from fear to faith?  You rise to the challenge by turning to God for strength and deliverance...  Did we in our own strength confide, our battle would be loosing, were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing...  Doth ask who that may be?  Christ Jesus it is he, and he must win the battle. Trust in God is the result of obedience...  believing action upon the Word of God.  Only then can we witness God's deliverance.  When God delivers from the  paw of the bear and the mouth of the lion, the result is trust. Trust and obey, for there's no other way. In the face of the battle, we can either be cowards, victims, or conquerers.  This can be our greatest defeat or the moment of God's victory in us and through us.

1Samuel 17:45- 47 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands.” The armor is not the armor of man, the weapon is not a worldly sword.

Eph 6:12-17 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God...

Our God is able to deliver his men who trust in the power of his might.  Whether the deliverance comes in this life or the next, God will deliver. Despite the darkness of this world and the corruptness of our culture, the battle is the  Lord's and not ours.  The greater darkness, the brighter the light shines.  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. The world will "spin" the story to cover the "worst case scenario"  of defeat.  However, God is a God of deliverance.  We must prepare our hearts and minds to believe God for deliverance in times of tribulation.  Our prayer is not that God will deliver us from the storm, but through the storm.  Do not tell God how big the storm is, rather tell the storm how big your God is. David did not cower from the challenge.  David ran to the battle.  This is the moment of our finest hour.  God has called men of God for such a time as this.

Your brother in Christ,
Michael Low

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