THE BATTLE IS NOT OURS TO WIN...
IT IS OURS TO LOSE
by Graham Cooke
Jesus
has disarmed both rulers and authorities, making a mockery of their
power in the process and celebrating His own triumph over them by the
cross (Colossians 2:15). Now as ever the battle is not ours but the
Lord’s (2 Chronicles 20:15).
We serve a powerful King who loves to fight! He laughs
at those who oppose him (Psalms 2:4; 37:13). In the Kingdom, we fight
from victory; not towards it. Jesus has already won. In Him we partake
of His overcoming. We are more than conquerors because we know the
outcome before we enter the fray.
In Christ, our posture before the enemy must reflect
our status in the Kingdom. We are an heir of God and a joint heir with
Christ. We have been given power and authority through the Holy Spirit.
In warfare, we rejoice before we pray. We give thanks for His majesty
and supremacy. We are not overcome by our circumstances, we are
overwhelmed by sovereignty. We are too busy being fascinated by Jesus to
be intimidated by the enemy. We rejoice so that our praying can be
powerful and effective. We praise because we occupy the position of an
overcomer.
We stand in this space and we occupy our standing in
Jesus through praise of His Majesty. The battle is won already; it is
our partnering with victory that guarantees the outcome. We have the
capacity to lose this battle only by default.
Lack of true rejoicing and thanksgiving will always
embolden the enemy at our expense. The power of wickedness may increase
in our perception if our worship is diminished and our focus on
sovereignty reduced.
The only viable answer to intimidation is an increase
in intimacy with the Lord. David was a “man after God’s own heart;”
i.e., a worshipper. His intimacy gave him power over the intimidation of
Goliath. He became a giant killer.
We can lose every fight if we have no focus. If our
lives display a lack of worship we will never even show up for the
fight. We will lose because we do not know how to stand. We will
petition God for power when He has already given us authority in Jesus’
name. In rejoicing we receive revelation concerning the particulars of
our overcoming.
Decide who you want to be and the Holy Spirit will empower you to become it.
-Graham
------------- In passionate pursuit of Him always....( I am my Beloved's and He is mine!)
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