Instructions From God In Your Battle

2Chronicles 20: 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.' "

There is an enemy to your soul. The Bible describes him as roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and he has devoured many in his hunt against the children of God. He is relentless in his attacks, which is why we must be relentless in our awareness and vigilant in our defense. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and have a personal relationship with Him today then the devil has already lost the war for your soul. You have the eternal hope of glory, Christ in you and the eternal life now. I say now because too often we can allow the enemy to rob of us of our joy, our strength, or even our peace. In doing so, he makes us ineffectual for the kingdom of God and reduces our lives to misery instead of the full abundant life Christ promised us. We see it all the time and every day. Christians who are just as miserable as those in the world, despite already having overcome the world through Christ! We are in a battle beloved:

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6: 10-12

In the Book of 2Chronicles, there is a story about a vast army from different countries set to attack the people of God. King Jehoshaphat was about to be beset on all sides. This is also how we are at times in our walk before the Lord. Forces gather against us and we too can feel as King Jehoshaphat surrounded and besieged. We also need to react as the King did with fasting and prayer to seek the will of God. We should not lean upon our own understanding or react in our flesh. Seek the face of God and be prepared to follow His instructions to defeat the plans the enemy has set up against us. The answer would come to the King in one of the more popular verses in the Old Testament:

He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. 2Chronicles 20: 15

And this remains a crucial lesson for us all to learn as Christians. The battles we face are the Lord's. If God is on your side, it matters not the size of the enemy on the other side. Sometimes it is too easy to read such a great verse and forget what follows and the key verse today is found two more verses away, at verse 17. In it are the actual instructions to King Jehoshaphat for what his responsibilities were in that battle as well as our responsibilities for engaging the enemy today.

The first lesson from the key verse is we must take up our positions. In open warfare this refers to making sure your armies were properly positioned to defend the territory the enemy was seeking to invade. In King Jehoshaphat's days this was referring to actual land but for believers today it takes on a different meaning. The territory the enemy seeks to gain a strategic advantage in, is your mind. That is where he establishes his footholds in your thinking, which he then seeks to expand upon into strongholds. We cannot allow the enemy into the territory of our minds because that is where the battle is won and lost. We need to take up our positions strategically to protect the territories in our thinking. With what? The Word of God!

There is a reason why the Bible is the only offensive weapon listed in the armor of God verses in Ephesians. Here is how it is described in Hebrews:

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12

Cutting between the soul and spirit. The enemy knows he cannot attack your spirit because that is where God resides in you. Your soul however is still attached to the world. It is where we can doubt and fear. It is where our feelings take on a life of their own. It is where we need to take up our positions against the schemes of the enemy using the mighty weapon God has given us His Word!

I know how some might react. The Bible is just words how can words defeat the enemy? As long as the Bible is just words to you it cannot defeat the enemy in your life. This Hebrews verse tells us that the Word of God is alive and powerful but it is only such if we believe it in our lives. We need to hide the Word in our heart as David did. Then when the enemy attacks, we have taken up our position and are ready to combat the attacks. Remember, this is how the Bible describes the enemy:

... He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

Deception is his primary means of attack against us. Contrast that with what we know about the Word of God:

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17

It would thus make sense that of we are to combat the attack of deception, we must do so with the truth. This is why the instruction to Jehoshaphat and to us today is to take up our positions. We must know the Word and hide it in our hearts so that we can know the lies of the enemy when he seeks to gain a foothold in our mind. When he says we are worthless we respond that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139: 14). When the enemy says that our past disqualifies us from the love of God we respond that He has already forgiven us (Ephesians 1:7). When the enemy tells us we are lost we say that His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Psalm 119: 105). When the enemy tells us to worry about our future or how we are going to make it we respond that God works all things out for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28) and that God has plans for our future to give us hope (Jeremiah 29:11). We must realize that when the enemy whispers into our ears he is merely offering us something to consider believing. We need to respond with what we already know that God has told us. That is how we take up our positions. For every lie the enemy can possibly tell you there is at least one verse in the Bible that assures you he is lying. It is always our choice to decide who to believe.

The second lesson from the key verse is that if we are to see the deliverance of the Lord then we must stand firm. Sounds simple enough but far too often we can run and hide when the attacks come. We can turn to our friends, or even the experts of this world to try and get some relief from the lies the enemy has whispered into our ears. Remember, the world will always have a solution for you too you have to choose which one to believe in God's solution or the world's. The Gospel of Mark tells the story of the woman who suffered from the issue of blood. The Bible tells us of how she fared with the solutions the world offered:

She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. Mark 5: 26

Yet, it was not until she pressed through her circumstances to touch Jesus did she find the healing she so desperately sought. We too can suffer for many years and seek all of the answers the world has to offer only to watch as we grow worse and the world takes everything from us as well. Taking up position in the Word of God is not enough we must stand firm upon that Word. We must not give up when the problem or the attack intensifies. So many Christians need deliverance but are not willing to stand firm upon the Word of God. Our key verse is imploring us that if we want to see that deliverance in our lives then we must stand firm upon the positions we have set up. Jesus once spoke about people who took up positions but did not stand firm. They heard His Word but did not put them into practice they did not believe His Word in their own lives; in their own battles. The result is when the storms intensified the house they had built fell with a mighty crash. But those who had taken up their positions and stood firm under attack their house withstood the storms and the attacks (see Matthew 7).

The next thing we must learn from the key verse is that we cannot be afraid or discouraged. Why? Because these things are not of God, show a lack of faith, and are ultimately just the soil the enemy is looking for to plant his seed of doubt in your mind. Whatever fear or anxiety we might experience, we must always remember:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2Timothy 1: 7 (NKJV)

The enemy seeks the opposite in you. He seeks to give you a spirit of fear and anxiety to strip you of your power, make you feel unloved and to disrupt the soundness of your mind by establishing his foothold in it. Just as fear leads to anxiety, discouragement leads to despair (depression). Anxiety and depression are inward focused. The scheme of the enemy is to get you to be focused on yourself, your problems, your past, your future, and your feelings. We need to be upward focused; on the answer to all of those issues Jesus. God is your problem solver; He has forgiven your past, has secured your future, and is bigger than your feelings. It is not enough to take up your positions through the Word of God and stand firm in your beliefs against the attacks of the enemy we must also do so in a spirit that is of God and not the enemy. We must do so as the Psalmist directs:

The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

The devil seeks a stronghold in your mind through fear and discouragement but if the Lord is the stronghold of your life there is no fear. There is no discouragement.

Lastly from the key verse we learn that we still must face the attacks. We still must face the enemy. We take up our positions through the Word of God and stand firm in our beliefs when the attacks come. We do not fear nor do we get discouraged. And even though the battle is not ours we still must face the enemy. Why? It shows the rest of the world that faith is stronger. God is stronger. Jehoshaphat would send out worshippers ahead of his armies. God would confuse the various armies and they would attack each other and destroy each other. God will also confuse your enemies before you and your deliverance will come. And here is what we can expect afterward:

The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side. 2Chronicles 20: 29-30

Peace. Rest on every side. What every child of the living God is promised. But just as there were enemies of the children of God in the days of Jehoshaphat, there are also today enemies against us. We must take up our positions against the enemy by learning the Word of God and the promises God has for us. We must stand firm in those promises and not waver in our belief. We must approach this with the Spirit of God devoid of fear and discouragement, which are playgrounds for the enemy to work in our mind. Lastly, we still must face the attack not shy away from it. We do so knowing that as our key verse promises the Lord will be with us.

The world will see how the Lord has fought for us. They will see us in our storm, under our attack and yet at peace with rest at every side. They will want what we have. They will want this mighty God fighting for them too. The world wants a reason to believe. They are desperately seeking a reason to believe. You might be that reason. Follow the instructions of God today.

Reverend Anthony Wade March 30, 2010