Worship Battle Plans

"Then the LORD said to Joshua, 'See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.'"-Joshua 6:2-5
 
When we're about to enter a battle in life, it's a good idea to put the armor on. Even more so, it's important to pray & worship to lay the spiritual groundwork for what we're about to encounter. Whether it's an important board meeting, an audition, a Sunday morning service, or what we know might be a challenging meeting with a boss or client, it's vitally important we have times with God where we ask Him to cover us with His mercy and grace, and exalt Him for all that He is in our lives. This is only partially for Him - He knows we need continued reminders of His nature, and an infilling of His presence and love regularly. 

Joshua and his army were about to attack the city Jericho. But God gave them very specific instructions for this battle. He said, "March around the city once every day for six days, and then march around the city seven times on the seventh day, with the priests blowing the trumpets. Have the people shout when they hear the trumpets. When they do, the walls will fall down." (paraphrase of Joshua 6) 

Can you imagine what that must've looked like? Wow!! An entire city's huge stone walls crumbling to the ground. And all they did was follow God's instructions. As they obeyed Him, blew the trumpets and shouted, they claimed the city on behalf of the nation of Israel. 

What instructions has God given you? It's it fervent prayer on your knees, worship and praise to your favorite worship CD, reading a certain passage of scripture, or all of the above? Whatever it is, make sure you listen to the still small voice to prepare your heart for the battle ahead. The battle is already won.

Fighting with Light

“for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?” -1 Cor 3:3

Have you ever been short or ill-tempered with somebody?  I know I have, and I am not proud of it. We can say we are Christians but we still have bad days - days where we’re tired or stressed out, days where it doesn’t seem like anything is going right.  It is during those days where we can easily succumb to our flesh, or we can choose to let God flow through us in the midst of the challenges we face. 

The Bible talks about the kind of weapons we use as the redeemed of God. Our weapons are not the same as the world’s.  “On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”  1 Cor 10:4  Every day, we have a choice to make - to fall back into the defenses of our flesh or deciding to trust God and let Him take over, letting ourselves be influenced by His Holy Spirit.  We realize it’s not up to us to change something - we just need to be obedient and let God work. 

The enemy wants nothing more than to get under our skin - to kick us into our flesh so that we will sin.  That is his ultimate goal - to keep you and me from the victory zone God intends for us! 

We can’t fight flesh with flesh if we are going to win a spiritual war.  We have to let the Spirit flow through us in order for the light to overcome darkness.  All that has to happen for darkness to flee is for true light to shine.

Are you fighting with God’s love and light today?  Let God’s spirit flow through you, so that every day you can walk in His wonderful mercy, grace, peace, love, truth and joy.