Christian Living

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I believe that the Bible is God’s infallible, inerrant Word. It is through His dictates to His anointed scribes that His personage and character is displayed. (II Timothy 3:16a, II Peter 1:21) As the Believer opens up the Word, the supernatural becomes a natural experience. We see God in a personal way. God, known as I AM (Exodus 3:14), has become approachable. God’s Grace, shown through Jesus’ life and finished work at Calvary, has rent the veil of separation between God and man. The way is now opened for us to come boldly before Him in worship and adoration. When we can grasp this truth, there should never be a situation where there is a contemplation of defeat. (Romans 8:31b) Sure there will be difficult times, but God will never let that situation get out of hand if we let Him “handle” it. It is only when we decide to be our own “commander and chief” that the outcome will be in doubt. Depression in Believers is a carnal sin. Depression is a result of questioning God’s ability to carry us through the challenge. When we begin to express the negative and its potential influence, we have shifted from faith to reason. Reasoning magnifies the negative while faith eliminates the negative!

King Jehoshaphat of Judah displayed a working model on how to overcome life’s challenges. When his land was being invaded by an army that far out numbered his own people, he first acknowledged God’s sovereignty and that He was their God. He then declared a countrywide fast and called upon God. He expressed how hopeless the situation was and that without His intervention all would be lost. He closed his prayer by saying, “…our eyes are upon thee.” Shortly after that, a prophet stood up in their midst and spoke words of encouragement to the King and the people. He basically said that the battle was God’s and not theirs. The prophet then told them that they were to go out to the battlefield the next day and see what God was going to do. What Jehoshaphat and his people did next was a life-lifting experience. They fell to their faces and worshipped the Lord. Then the Levites led a praise gathering where they lifted up their voices in loud praise to God. The next morning the King challenged his people by saying to “…believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” He then assigned singers to precede their army. They would go forth praising the Lord and singing at the top of their lungs. As a result of their trust and faith in God, their enemies were smitten! (II Chronciles 20)

The next time the gauntlet is dropped and the clouds of darkness begin to invade the outer banks of our minds, let us acknowledge God’s supreme rule. Depending on the severity of the situation, let us fast to bring our body under submission to our spirit and soul. Let us acknowledge our limited resources and visualize Him instead of the problem. Let us watch and listen for Biblical encouragement through the written and spoken Word. Sometimes God speaks to us through the Pastor’s message. (I wonder how many times God was using that message to encourage us, but due to a headache or over sleeping, etc. we missed it!) When we receive the Word, let us immediately begin to worship Him for who He is and praise Him for what He is about to do. Let us encourage others who are facing, or will face, similar situations by singing or speaking with uplifted words. The people of Jerusalem began to acknowledge their vertical praises in a horizontal fashion. They let everyone hear their victory choruses as they marched out to victory. What a simply formula for victory, yet countless Believers don’t call for help until they have used their own resources to no avail. Oh, what needless things we suffer because we do not seek God early!

It is time we either acknowledge and trust Him, or continue to exhibit a life that accentuates our human frailty. The world watches us to see if what we confess really works. When our crisis situations fail to compliment our confession, we are doing more damage to the Kingdom of God than we are by being a silent Believer. If we claim we are more than conquerors, let us live like it.

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