January 24, 2019 FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
1 Timothy 6:11-12 “But you man of God, flee from all of this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Who said or implied that living the Christian life was easy? Who said that all we have to do is confess Jesus as Savior and then go our merry way? And who said that now that Jesus is our Savior, there is nothing else we have to do? As believers, we live in a world system that rejects the things of God and we are constantly being called to follow the ways of the world. This world system is the territory of Satan. 1 Peter 5:8 is a warning, or a ‘heads up’ to believers: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Yes, we have an adversary; we do not have to live in fear of our adversary, but we are to be alert to his ways and his schemes. Jesus defeated Satan and set us free from the power of sin, but did not destroy Satan at that time. Instead, God has allowed Satan to exist for the time being and is actually using Satan to further the purposes and plans of God. Part of the reason that God allows Satan to “prowl around like a roaring lion” is to train us in being overcomers by the Spirit of God that lives in us. Satan does not care one bit about us; he desires to attack and harm believers only as a means of getting back at God who cast him out of heaven when he rebelled against God, wanting to be God. In light of all the forces that would distract us from the ways of God, we must be diligent to flee the things that are not of God, and pursue the things that are of the kingdom of God. In Jude 1:3 we are told to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to all the saints.” Dennis Peacock says that we need to see this world as a gym, a place where we work-out, a place of training in how to live victoriously, triumphing over our enemy. Our faith is not passive, and it’s not all up to God. You and I must make the choice to pursue the things that are found operable in the kingdom of God-faith, hope, love, righteousness, godliness, faith, endurance, gentleness, and etc. We cannot pursue both the ways of the world and the ways of God simultaneously. Again, we are to have no fear of the world system or of Satan, but as we go about our daily routines of life, let us be fighting the good fight, laying hold of the faith that has been handed down to us. No matter what we face, let us be living demonstrations of the kingdom of God. When we come to the end of our life on earth, may we be able to say as Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Blessings,
Buddy
1 Timothy 6:11-12 “But you man of God, flee from all of this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Who said or implied that living the Christian life was easy? Who said that all we have to do is confess Jesus as Savior and then go our merry way? And who said that now that Jesus is our Savior, there is nothing else we have to do? As believers, we live in a world system that rejects the things of God and we are constantly being called to follow the ways of the world. This world system is the territory of Satan. 1 Peter 5:8 is a warning, or a ‘heads up’ to believers: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Yes, we have an adversary; we do not have to live in fear of our adversary, but we are to be alert to his ways and his schemes. Jesus defeated Satan and set us free from the power of sin, but did not destroy Satan at that time. Instead, God has allowed Satan to exist for the time being and is actually using Satan to further the purposes and plans of God. Part of the reason that God allows Satan to “prowl around like a roaring lion” is to train us in being overcomers by the Spirit of God that lives in us. Satan does not care one bit about us; he desires to attack and harm believers only as a means of getting back at God who cast him out of heaven when he rebelled against God, wanting to be God. In light of all the forces that would distract us from the ways of God, we must be diligent to flee the things that are not of God, and pursue the things that are of the kingdom of God. In Jude 1:3 we are told to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to all the saints.” Dennis Peacock says that we need to see this world as a gym, a place where we work-out, a place of training in how to live victoriously, triumphing over our enemy. Our faith is not passive, and it’s not all up to God. You and I must make the choice to pursue the things that are found operable in the kingdom of God-faith, hope, love, righteousness, godliness, faith, endurance, gentleness, and etc. We cannot pursue both the ways of the world and the ways of God simultaneously. Again, we are to have no fear of the world system or of Satan, but as we go about our daily routines of life, let us be fighting the good fight, laying hold of the faith that has been handed down to us. No matter what we face, let us be living demonstrations of the kingdom of God. When we come to the end of our life on earth, may we be able to say as Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed