Go Ahead: It’s A Great Fight

The only good fight I know about is when you’re fighting a foe that’s already been defeated.

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John 16:33 – 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.

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Our Text for Today is one of those passages in God’s truth that both inspires and motivates the believer.  Today’s world is, to say the least, a horrible mess.  It is truly Biblical; people are eating and drinking, not for survival and living, but for pleasure and personal fulfillment.  They are marrying and giving in marriage, and freely exercising themselves in marital level relationships with no thought at all for covenant, but only for personal satisfaction.  Pre-marital nuptial agreements have made the marriage union a business deal for profit in which one partner seeks to take advantage of the other if the marriage is ever ended.  And in today’s world, the marriage contract is not even considered in the majority of cases.  More people are simply choosing to live together in in physical union with no consideration of the spiritual or soulish aspects of such a union.  And we can include this addendum – the earth is filled with violence; religious groups, gangs, domestic, drug cartels, and other organized crime, wars and rumors of wars, terrorism and violence such has never been seen in such a broad spectrum.  That’s the world in which we live.  But fret not.  Read our Text for Today once again.  Jesus said, “In this world you shall have tribulation (troubles, temptations, tests, trials): but be of good cheer (take heart); I have overcome the world.”  In other words, the war is already won, and has given us all His weaponry so we can live in victory.  If you believe that, how can you not be inspired, encouraged, of good cheer, and excited about each day before you?

If you hold these words of our Lord foremost in your thinking and meditation as you encounter each new day before you, the idea of fighting “the good fight of faith” takes on an entirely new meaning with depth of understanding so great that you will fear for and be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and thanksgiving, make your requests known to the Lord, fully expecting and knowing that what you ask, you shall receive.

So go ahead, my friend.  Engage the enemy; fight the good fight.  Don’t be afraid.  Yes, when you’re in a fight, you might get a bruise or two, but bruises from a good fight go away, but the victory won belongs to you for eternity.  May the words spoken by the demons confronted by the seven sons of Sceva be said of believers today.  Those demons said, “Jesus we know (intimately), and Paul we know (we’ve heard of).”  When you fight the “good fight,” that is the report that will be heard of you by every demonic force of hell.  So go ahead; build your reputation by fighting “the good fight.” 

Manna for Today – John 16:25-33; 1 John 5:4; Hebrews 11:1-6; Romans 10:6-17; 1 Timothy 6:12

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He’ll Do It Again!

Never forget that “No word from God shall be void of the power required to bring it to pass.”

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John 16:28 – I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.

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Today I want to our primary focus to be on one word; “again.”  It is from the Greek word, “palin,” and its meaning is truly significant.  According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of Bible, it means “(through the idea of oscillatory repetition); (adverbially) anew, that is, (of place) back, (of time) once more, or (conjugationally) furthermore or on the other hand: – again.”  This is the same word used in Hebrews 1 concerning the work of Father in bringing Jesus forth in resurrection in which Father He would be a Father to Jesus, His first-born Son, again.  The indication is clear.  Jehovah had been Father to Jesus at His birth in Bethlehem, and He would be a Father to Jesus again from the point of His resurrection.

We see this same word, “again,” (palin) being used by Jesus in Matthew18:19 in reference to the power of agreement.  This referred to a principle of Bible faith that Jesus had shared with His disciples at some prior time, and here references it once more.  Each time this word, palin, is used it speaks to a matter of repetition of something that had happened previously, and at the same time, because it was taking place in that current establishment of God’s kingdom, it was fresh, new again, new once more.  The point we must receive here is that regardless of how often we have read a passage, heard an anointed word from the Lord, or had the Lord cause us to focus on a particular point, though it may have happened many times previously, and though it may at this moment be happening again, we should always embrace that which God is doing as fresh, new, and alive NOW.

Once again, consider our Text for Today.  It seems that Jesus was always moving, always carrying out redemption’s plan, always pressing forward, always demonstrating Father’s love, always showing how faith works, always saying and doing those things that pleased the Father.  Whenever He came to points of completion, He was already aware of what was before Him.  At age 12 He was aware He should be about His Father’s business.  At age 30 He was aware it was time to “fulfill all of righteousness” in water baptism and being infilled with Holy Spirit.  He knew when it was time to walk on water, go to Bethany to finish a work for Lazarus, to be in the garden, and when to say, “It is finished.”  And in out Text for Today, He knew it was time to move once “again.”   What is He about to do for you that He’s already done?  What is His next “again” for you? 

Manna for Today – John 16:25-33; Hebrews 1:1-8; Hebrews 13:8; Malachi 3:6; John 14:12-17; Ecclesiastes 3:15; Luke 1:37 (Amplified Bible); Matthew 18:18-20

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