RACE TO VICTORY

II Corinthians 10:1-5 “Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Verses 4 in emphasis, “For the weapons of our warfare are not canal, but mighty through God in the pulling down of strong holds”.

Literally, victory is described as a state of having won a race or battle.

Now, to be victorious really depends on the ground we stand to battle.  Victory doesn’t come so easily.  Victory is earned by our believe, commitment and hand works because to win a competition or race and be victorious, one must go through a rigorous training and must be found fit by some experts to compete in the competition that is one and your personal efforts, which are your hand working and believing in yourself also count and must determined to fight to defeat your other competitors to victory. Mark 4: 1-8, “And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred”.

Therefore, victory is not meant for weak minds, fearful hearts, lukewarm hearts or unstable minds. Victory is meant for prepared, qualified and determined mind to succeed. (See Matthew 25:14-26).  Let’s consider Hebrews 5:13-14 “For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is baby then verse 14 says “but strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised (trained) to discern what is good from evil”. To me these verses of the scripture points out inexperienced and unskillful of one and if one is unskillful or inexperienced in a race or competition for example, such ones can never earn victory because they are just like a babies. Verse 14 in says, but strong meat belongs to them that are full grown men i.e. full of age; that means also the trained, qualified and the determined minds that one ready to run the race to completion. May the Lord help us run

I also want you to know that as we are in this world we all in a competition or race and of course we have competitors competing with us the competition comprises two kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness (the children of God and the children of beliah).  May I ask this question which part of the race do you pledge allegiance is it to the kingdom of God or other?

Therefore brethren, the ones who by reason of use (solid foods); as it is written have their senses and mental faculties trained to discern or distinguish what is good from evil are the victorious.  Of course those that have stood the test of times and determined not to give in but rather choose right and stand firm no matter what, are the victorious. Jesus Christ, exercised the use of the solid food, He went through rigorous training during His earthly ministries, He was tempted of the devil, rejected by His own, He was called names, He was persecuted for His good deed, He was crucified among thieves, He was buried in the ground, He was not found guilty of any crime yet He died outside the city as criminals and buried but He was Victorious as He came out of the grave, resurrected because the grave could not contain Him and took the key of the kingdom  seen for 40 days and ascended into Heaven, seated at the right of His Father interceding for you and me.  Jesus left that victory at the cross for you and me to be victorious.

Conclusion: I want you to reflect on these: that every day of life we all are drawing near to the end of our competition here in earth when the Son of man shall come in His glory and all the Holy Angels with Him, may He found us worthy, then shall He sits upon the throne of His glory.  Mathew 25: 31-46 says “ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.⁴ Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal”.

Shalom

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BE ARMED FOR THE BATTLE

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,  and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;  praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—  and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,  for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Ephesians 6:11, 18 “Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints”.

Apostle Paul was admonishing the church at Ephesus of moral living and values and at his conclusion he said to them in verses 10 of Ephesians 6 says “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, which is talking about our faith in God and putting your total trust in His mighty power” (or of His mighty deeds).

For the scripture tell us that we are in a Spiritual battle and therefore we need to be fully armed with which God has made ready for us to use, that means to be heavily covered by the armour of God.

In the verses of emphasis states that we should put on the whole armour of God, which we may be able to stand against the wiles (devil’ schemes, interior motives or strategies).

Brethren I want you know that from the moment you choose to make a right choice in life; making a quality decision to become a believer in Christ Jesus and align yourself to the will of God and His purposes, the devil will wage war against your soul to harass, humiliate, slander, mock and trying all possible best to manipulate and control your life.  Because to him, am I going to lose this one to God? So he therefore brings all kinds of frustration on way to battle you to stupor.  But I want you to know that when one comes to this end or I will call it a dead end, the word of God still will remain.   Moses’ experience and the children of Israel was that they came face to face to the red sea behind them were Pharaoh and his chariot men, but the Lord parted the red sea for them and they walk through the dry ground. God still remain their ultimate saviour. For Jesus said in Mathew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass way but my words shall not pass away”

Though all the schemes, interior motives, evil strategies of the enemies may come at you but remember  that His words concerning you; your purpose and destiny still will remain. That’s why, James 4:7 says “so be subject to God i.e. submit to God, resist the devil (stand firm against him), do not be afraid or dismayed and he will flee from you” amen! He will run away from you when stand firm in Faith which you profess and you stand firm in the Truth which you believe, the devil and his co-horst will definitely run away in terror.

So in contrast one might be wondering maybe I should continue in my own understanding for the devil will not worry me.  But I tell you the truth he already have you and that way is the way to hell fire with devil and that’s the reason why he fights to take control over people’s emotions, corrupts their minds and win them against God’s promises for them through his evil schemes so that he can have a company in the same rebellion against God.

Also know this that evil may be perpetrated against you by human beings, but at the same time you must know and never forget that it is our ultimate enemy, the devil, that is behind it,  he is the one  behind their misbehaving and all manners wickedness toward us.

Honestly some people’s manners can be so disgusting, so disrespectful, humiliating, slanderous, frustrating and nauseating but remember we don’t have to be like them. amen

For it is written “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the ruler, the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12) NIV

1)   Eph 6:13 however, tells us on how to protect ourselves.  We are admonished to be strong in the Lord and in His power and these words to us is  that we cannot fight this battle by ourselves, by our own understanding physically for our human strength is totally inadequate that is,  is not enough to do battle with our number one enemy, but God power is  invisible that works behind the scene and His protection is seen and beautifully completed amen!

2)   The way we access the power and protection in this war the enemy is waging against us is to put on the whole amour of God.  Apostle Paul tells us the specific pieces of armour that each believer in Christ needs to consciously put on every day;

(1)  The belt of truth – to fight against satan’s lies.

 (2)  The breast plate of righteousness – to protect our own hearts

(3)Shoes – for firm footing in our walk with Christ

(4)The shield of faith – to repel satan’s accusations

(5)The helmet of salvation – to protection our minds

(6)And the Sword of the Spirit – the word of God – to give us knowledge, instruction and ever – increasing faith in God’s words we profess

(7)Most of all, we must pray! Know also very importantly that prayer strengthen us to stand against the enemy; our adversary, which also involves praying all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance for all saints .

In conclusion, the enemy of our soul will always try to keep us from moving into all God has for us.  Seriously, we can change or thwart his plans against us with prayers, our worship, and praise and by the Sword of the Spirit – which is the word of God.

These stands as our greatest weapon of warfare against the wiles of the devil;

-          Prayer; including  all prayers and supplication in the Spirit

-          Our worthy worships and praise to God

-          The Sword of the Spirit – which is the word of God, will demolish the kingdom of darkness.

Shalom.

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