* A Winning Strategy

 

 

We’re on the battlefield, but we have a winning strategy all because of Jesus!  When we don’t understand God's purpose and plan, we may be tempted to become discouraged in the conflicts of life. This is why so many fail in spiritual warfare: They do not understand the divine purpose behind the battle.  Oftentimes we fight against God when we don’t understand His purpose or plan for our life.

 

And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.   Acts 5:38-39

This scripture is talking about those fighting against the disciples but what about when we fight against what God has for us?  We’re too busy trying to do things our own way, listening to others instead of to God, fighting unnecessary battles with our self and with others all because we’re not understanding the purpose of God for our life.

God works through our life to accomplish His purposes:  So, then part of the winning strategy is we have to refuse to answer the call to surrender our body as a tool for the enemy.     

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.  (Romans 6:13)

When we yield ourself to become "instruments of righteousness unto God," it means we bring our life and ministry including our heart, soul and mind into harmony or agreement with His purpose and plans. By doing this, we automatically become a target for God's enemy, Satan.

Fortunately, we don’t have to be discouraged by this.  All we have to do is look at our perfect example, Jesus; He is our winning strategy!

Besides being the final sacrifice for our sins, Jesus came into the world to destroy the works of Satan. This immediately set Him in opposition to the enemy:  While the enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy, Jesus came to give us abundant life.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.              (John 10:10)

From the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus set about destroying the works of Satan:

·         He revealed the bondage of sin (John 8:34).

·         He forgave sins (Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12,17; Luke 4:17-32).

·         He stressed the heart condition rather than the deception of outward appearance (Matthew 15:16-20; Mark 7:20-23; Luke 6:45; 11:39).

·         He healed the sick (Matthew 11:5).

·         He raised people from the dead (Mark 5:35-43; Luke 8:49- 56; John 11).

·         He released people from demonic powers (Matthew 8:16).

In short, He destroyed the works of Satan in the hearts, souls, minds, and bodies of men and women.  He caused:

 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. (Matthew 11:5)

And He didn’t stop there, he also destroyed the works of Satan, and He exposed the devious strategies of the enemy:

·         He taught on the deception of Satan which increases as the last days nears (Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 17:22-37; 21:8-36; Matthew 24-25).

·         He warned of Satan who was able to destroy the soul (Matthew 10:28).

·         He spoke of the necessity of binding the strong man (Satan) before spoiling his goods (Matthew 12:26-30; Mark 3:23-27; Luke 11:17-24).

·         He revealed how Satan tries to prevent the Word of God from being effective in the hearts of men and women (Matthew 13:38; Mark 4:15; Luke 8:12).

·         He exposed those who were not right with God as being of their "father, the devil" (John 8:44-47).

·         He revealed Satan as the "prince of the world"; the ruler of darkness (John 14:30).

Not only that, Jesus faced every temptation of the enemy which we face, but He overcame these temptations without sin.   The bible tells us:

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

Because He was an integral part in the arena of spiritual warfare, He understands our battles and He strengthens us:

While He was still wrapped in flesh He was tempted in every way just as we are, and He conquered sin.  Because He emerged victorious, we can also be a victor if we utilize the strategies given us by Him:

For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)

He suffered and endured every test and temptation, so that He can help us every time we pass through the storms of our life.

We read the various accounts of the death and resurrection of Jesus in

·         Matthew 26-28;    Mark 14-16;  Luke 22-24; and   John 18-21.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the greatest confrontation that ever occurred between the power of Satan and the power of God.

Through the death of Jesus, Satan thought he had destroyed God's plan because he had killed God's only Son. He had destroyed the King who was to reign over God's Kingdom. But Jesus said It’s withing my power to call on my Father to deliver me – but I know my purpose – which is to fulfill the scriptures.

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?  But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?  (Matthew 26:53-54)

He let it be known that there was no power on earth greater than He when he explained to Pilate:    “You wouldn’t have any  power over me at all, unless it was given to you from above.

...Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above...  (John 19:11)

Jesus didn’t die because His power was less than that of the enemy. His death didn’t end the plan for God's Kingdom. It was not time for His Kingdom to be visibly established in the world.

The death of Jesus actually fulfilled the plan of God. Men could now be saved from the bondage of sin and the penalty of the "second death" (eternal separation from God because of sin).

Great though it was, salvation from sin was not the only victory gained by Jesus through His death on the cross. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated all the power of the enemy:

 ...When He ascended up on high (was resurrected) He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.  (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all Heavens, that He might fill all things.) (Ephesians 4:8-10 )

And having spoiled principalities and powers. He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:15)

He was the victor, not the victim!  Jesus defeated every power of the enemy, including death. He also passed judgment upon Satan and from that moment on, everything in this world changed because the ruler of this world, the prince of darkness was overthrown.

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world (Satan) be cast out. (John 12:31)

Jesus paved the way to salvation. He defeated death and the principalities and powers of the enemy. He restored to man dominion over all things. He pronounced judgment on Satan which will be fulfilled in the future.

Our present situation; conditions which exists almost everywhere in the world where we see the catastrophic climatic events with these mega, out-of-control fires, and floods in Germany and China. We see civil unrest, for example, what’s happening right here in the United States, Cuba, Africa, Afghanistan and other places.  The powers of rebel forces within the government still at large and under the influence of the ruler of this world.  Resistance forces under Satan’s direction still war in the land; and all of these things impact us in one way or another; either physically or naturally or mentally and emotionally:  Fear, resignation, depression, anger, anxiety trip to grip us.  But don’t lose sight – we have the winning strategy.

Despite all of this, know that Jesus has conquered Satan and set his judgment. It doesn’t matter that Satan is still at large and his forces of demonic powers, the flesh, and the world are still at war in the land. These satanic forces attempt to control territory that is rightfully that of the Conqueror, Jesus. They try to blind men to the fact that Satan has been defeated and is under judgment. They try to control our homes, churches, and nations.  But our Lord and Savior is the conqueror, the sovereign one; He is victorious and through Him, so are we! 

Despite all that is going on in our life and in the world, Jesus has the final say.  In this dark world, Jesus is our light and through Him, we are the light to the world!  Never lose site of that, Jesus is our light and He is the source of light with is!

This is where the warfare of the believer comes into focus. Jesus has defeated the enemy but Satan remains at large in the world. It’s our task to open the eyes of men and women to his deception and regain control of territory that is rightfully ours. Talking about territory, this reminds me of Satan’s effort to stop Jesus from coming into territory that he had claimed for himself (Luke 8:22-29).  Jesus came to take it back and, like Jesus, we need not be afraid when we have Jesus on our side.  In that account, the disciples were fearful, Jesus was not.  The enemy started off with scare tactics – while they were at sea on their way to the territory to be claimed, a fierce wind rose and became a violent storm that threatened to overtake their boat.  From the account, we see that Jesus did not give up and did not back down.  He commanded the wind to be still.  When they reached the territory, because Jesus had met His enemy face to face on the waters; without fear or intimidation, the enemy that had overtaken a man, begged Him not to be cast out.  Jesus stood in all power and authority and cast the demons out!  There’s a lesson for you, stand your ground against the enemy!  Don’t give up and certainly don’t compromise.  This wasn’t His first battle and definitely not His last.  Just know that our personal battles will continue on in one form or another until judgment on Satan is executed or until we go to be with Jesus through sleep, whichever comes first but until then, we have victory right here on earth through Jesus:

We Only need be strong and very courageous . . . Joshua 1:7

Everything that Jesus teaches us by example and through His word is so the peace which is in Him will be in us and give us great confidence; particularly as we remember that in this unbelieving world, we’ll experience trouble and sorrows, but we can be just as courageous as Joshua; knowing that Jesus has already conquered the world!”  We are victorious in Jesus!  He tells us this:

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.  John 16:33

Because we have Jesus, the conqueror, on our side, we are VICTORS, not victims

And just like Jesus, we can call on our heavenly Father!

Through Jesus, we’re a victor over the enemy rather than a victim of the enemy:

Jesus alone is the leader and source of everything we need to be victorious.  God put everything beneath the authority of Jesus and gave him the highest rank above all others.  (That includes the enemy!)  [Ephesians 1:22-23]

All things are "under the feet" of Jesus. This means He has conquered them. He is the head of the Church, and we are the body. And as part of the body, we have victory because Jesus has victory.  The bible says all things are under His feet, which means under His body, the Church.   We have power; the body has power because of and through our head, Jesus Christ.  This means we are victors, not victims.

We can be kept from the power of Satan, and self also for that matter, kept from their power to buffet us, cause us to stumble, cause us to lose our footing.   The enemy desires to sift us as wheat.  But, Jesus Himself prayed for us to be kept from the power of the enemy:  He prayed that God not remove us from the world, but that He guard our hearts from evil.  He didn’t just pray that for His present disciples but for all of us who would one day believe in Him through the message of His word.  [John 17:15,20]

We’re conquerors, not through our own power, but through the powers of a greater One.  No matter what is going on in our life, remember:

. . . In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. (Romans 8:37)

When the spiritual battle gets rough, even when the circumstances of life is spiraling out of control, just remember that the Bible assures us of victory; it assures us that God will fight our battles, because we belong to Him through Christ Jesus.  Did He not fight for the Israelites at a time when the Assyrians had oppressed them to the point that God himself stepped in and went to battle for them?   

The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:  That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. (Isaiah 14:24-25)

This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.  For the Lord of hosts hath purposed and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? (Isaiah 14:26-27)

The Lord of Hosts has a purpose, and no force of the world, flesh, demons, Hell, or Satan himself can disannul it.  Because we are attached to the head, Jesus, we are assured of our victory in Christ!  Because of Him, we can stand and be victorious!

Jesus did not leave us defenseless, He sent us power through His spirit to help us along the way.  He opened up a communication channel so that we can call Him in our time of need.  He equipped us to stand – when we’ve done all that we can, stand and let God fight for you.  Jesus is our winning strategy!  Align yourself with Him and become the victor!

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your word today.  It is my prayer that this reading empowered, enlightened and encouraged every reader to know that we are victors and not the victims!