Don’t Shy Away from a Fighting Spirit 

One day recently I attended “Grandparents Day” at the Christian school where a couple of my grandsons are students. At one point during this gathering, the school used the occasion to premier its new fight song. Many educational institutions have such songs that are played to inspire loyalty to the school and to spur their sports teams to strive for victory. This particular song not only was appropriate for those purposes, but its words also pointed to the spiritual battles we face as followers of Jesus, encouraging us to strive against the enemies of our souls.

There is a place for a fighting spirit among believers. The church has recognized that over the years with its various fight songs. I won’t take the time to quote them all here, but you may be familiar with many of them. They are the songs with upbeat tunes whose lyrics speak in terms of battles, conquests, marching to war, and following our eternal King as He leads us to victory. While some people have contended that such songs are inappropriate and incompatible with the true spirit of Christianity, the Bible itself suggests otherwise. Many of those songs are making use of scriptural language and principles. God’s Word reminds us that we are fighting spiritual foes. Within its pages are found admonitions to “fight the good fight”, “wage the good warfare”, and “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”.

While we need to sing those wonderful songs about grace, love, the goodness of God, peace, and joy, we also need to be motivated by these other songs to stand up and march forward as we do battle against evil. We aren’t just to roll over and let evil win the day. We are to resist the devil. We are to fight against sin, injustice, corruption, immorality, and other evils, both in our own lives and in the society in which we live. We need to stir up and maintain a fighting mentality.  

At the same time, we need to guard against letting such a spirit so overtake us that we lose the spirit of love that Jesus declared to be the main quality found in His followers. We need to keep the true enemy in mind, the unseen spiritual forces at work. The people who are being directed by those forces are often victims themselves, deceived and blinded to the truth. They are lost souls for whom Jesus died. We may need to stand against them too at times, but always with the hope of their coming to see the truth and with their potential salvation in mind. We can stand against our enemies and still fulfill Jesus’ command to love our enemies. Let’s not get so set on fighting that we forsake opportunities to pursue peace, love, mercy, and reconciliation.

I read a story about a little boy who was attacked by one of the family’s roosters. Afterwards, his father took the frightened child back out in the yard to confront his attacker. He told the boy to kick the rooster. The boy did what he was told. And because the father was standing there, the rooster ran off and never attacked the boy again. I am not advocating animal cruelty. However, there are times when we need to kick back. With our heavenly Father standing with us and empowering us, we need to strike back at the enemy. We need to kick back at the fear, the worry, the pride, the lust, or whatever the sin or temptation might be. We need to kick back at the immorality and injustices in our world.

Maybe some of us need to revisit some of those old Christian fight songs and get inspired to do battle with the unseen enemy attacking us and our world today.    

 

The Mighty God Can Give You Strength 

I received another vivid reminder of the power of nature recently. I arrived at our church building one morning after a storm to find what I originally thought was the usual debris of twigs and small limbs in the yard. However, I quickly realized this was different. It was actually splinters of wood scattered across the area. As I investigated further, I discovered that lightning had struck a large tree on our property, peeling a strip of bark from top to bottom on its trunk. Additionally, it had blown some of its large roots out of the ground. Our security camera revealed quite a powerful explosion. The great force of that event was manifested in other ways as the bolt had entered the ground and shot toward our building, leaving a couple of small trenches in its wake. As it reached the church, it knocked out a box of wiring on the outside wall, cracked a metal frame on a door, and did significant damage on the inside where those wires entered the building. We are grateful to God that there was no fire and that our building is still intact.

Nature is powerful. We see it in lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. If God’s creation carries such a mighty force, what does that say about the One who created it? He must be even more powerful. In our heads we acknowledge that fact. When we list the attributes of God, we affirm that He is omnipotent. However, we tend to lose sight of that truth as we face the trials of everyday life, including dealing with the evil that is in the world we live in. Sometimes we overrate the power of Satan, sin, and wickedness while not giving enough credit to the all-powerful God whom we serve.

In that familiar portion of scripture in the book of Ephesians where we are warned that we are wrestling against evil spiritual forces in the world, it begins by telling us to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). It goes on to instruct us to “take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). I am afraid that too often we just hear the words “be strong” and “put on the armor”. We try to stand up to the evil around us in our own strength. As attacks come our way, we simply encourage ourselves to “be strong” and to “hang in there”. And there can be a place for that.

However, we need to remember that we can only keep standing as we depend on the Lord. We are to be strong in Him and “in the power of His might”. And the armor we are given is not ours – it is the armor of God. He has provided it and He empowers it. When you think about how great His power is, that is a tremendous resource for us to draw from. The One who can deliver more force than a bolt of lightning is the One who is giving us strength. Satan, sin, and evil may be manifesting their strength and influence in the world these days, and even in the circumstances of our own lives, but we know that “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (I John 4:4).

What challenges are you facing? How is your spiritual enemy attacking you? What evil are you dealing with? Remember that the all-powerful God is with you to help you and give you strength. If lightning can do what it does, think what the Creator of lightning can do for you today.

 

What Are We Leaning on for Support? 

We found out that my elderly dad had been using a towel rack in the bathroom to hold onto and to steady himself as he recovers from a fracture in one of his legs. We recognized that this was not a good thing. Towel racks were not made to hold the full weight of a person. They were meant to support the weight of towels, even heavier wet towels, but not the burden of a human being pulling on it or leaning on it. Such pressure on that wooden bar might cause it to snap or might result in the brackets pulling loose from the wall. Therefore we made arrangements to replace that rack with a grab bar – a device that could still be used to hang a towel over if desired, but was also strong enough to support someone’s weight.

It reminds me of how people lean on various things for support when they are going through life’s journey, especially when they are facing overwhelming challenges and obstacles, or in a time of weakness. We often tend to grab hold of things that can easily break or let us down. They might hold us up at times, but at any moment they could crumble or simply disappear and not be there anymore. It could be a person, even a family member or friend on whom we have depended in the past. It might be an institution or a government agency. It might be a savings account or a job or some other entity we hope will provide the support we need. While some of those may be helpful at times, we often discover how unreliable they can be.

The Bible tells us about a time when the Assyrian army was besieging the city of Jerusalem. The Assyrian leader accused Hezekiah, the king of Judah, of relying on the ruler of Egypt to come to their rescue. He said, “You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed of Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it.” In other words, Pharoah was like a towel rack that will break and not hold him up. This official continued on to point out how other nations who had depended on their various gods had succumbed to the Assyrian army. None of those so-called gods were able to save their worshipers who relied on them for help.

However, in his distress and time of need Hezekiah didn’t try to lean on another king or some other god. He reached out to take hold of the one true God. He earnestly prayed to the Lord for help. And in this case, God responded by miraculously defending His people. We are told that He sent an angel into the camp of the Assyrians, killing 185,000 of their soldiers, and resulting in the withdrawal of their army.

We can depend on God to hold us up too. He may not do something as dramatic or spectacular as He did in Hezekiah’s situation, but He will not let us down. He may choose to miraculously deliver us or change our circumstances. Or He might simply give us the strength to endure whatever hardships come our way. If we put our trust in Him, He will be with us, support us, and keep us from falling.

May we have the same spirit as the psalmist who declared: “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help…Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help” (Psalm 146:3-5).

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).

 

Do You Have a Before-and-After? 

Our youngest grandson recently received his first haircut. Such an event is often viewed as a milestone as it can seemingly transform the appearance of a youngster from that of an infant to boyhood. It tends to make the child look older, which can be an occasion for both a little nostalgic sadness and a measure of joy. So my daughter made sure to get some before-and-after photos of the event. Beforehand you could see his rather shaggy, long curls flowing on the back of his head. Afterwards it was replaced with a neatly-groomed shorter hairstyle. He looked great, especially as he posed for the picture with one of his cute facial expressions.

Hopefully we all have experienced a before-and-after transformation, not just in having some kind of physical makeover, but in our hearts and lives. I am referring to the change that Jesus makes in us when we come to put our trust in Him as our Savior. It constitutes a much greater milestone than a first haircut. It goes much deeper, affecting not only how we look outwardly but the kind of person we are inwardly.

The Apostle Paul makes reference to this significant change in our lives. “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another, But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7).

Notice that Paul didn’t just point to the “before” picture of others but of himself too. This description fits all of us to some degree before we came to know the Lord. Maybe some of us were more foolish than others. Some may have sunk into deeper disobedience and immorality than others did. Some may have given in more to the lusts and the hatred. However we all were guilty of sin and needed to be delivered from its bondage. And it was something we could not remedy through our attempts to be good or, as Paul describes it, by our “works of righteousness.”

I am thankful that the word “but” is in that passage. It signifies a change. God showed His love and mercy toward us in sending Jesus into this world to be our Savior. Through Him, we can be saved. It isn’t a haircut or makeover. It is a cleansing that takes place in our souls. And it is accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit. It is referred to in this scripture in terms of being a regeneration and renewal. Jesus called it a new birth. It is a significant change in our relationship with God, being forgiven of our sins, received into His family, and having the assurance of eternal life.

Can you point to such a before-and-after experience in your life? It will be more dramatic for some people than for others. However, for all of us there should be some recognition of a time when we experienced a transformation in our hearts and in our relationship with the Lord. It was more than simply joining the church, getting baptized, or going through a confirmation class. It involved an actual change in our inner being that affected the kind of person we were and how we would live our lives. Let’s make sure we have been saved and cleansed by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.