1- We are part of the army of the Lord
II Samuel 22:29-40 NKJV (See also in Psalm 18 and Habakkuk 3:18-19)
“For You are my lamp, O LORD; The LORD shall enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. “For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarged my path under me; So my feet did not slip. “I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them; Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. And I have destroyed them and wounded them, So that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet. For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose against me.”
Psalms 144:1 NKJV
“Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands, And my fingers for battle—”
POINT TO DISCUSS:
As we read these Scriptures, we can see the protection of the Almighty and His wisdom. He actually teaches us and trains us for war, He trains our arms, fingers and feet, but remember the fight is in the spirit and not against people. (See Eph 6:17)
Ephesians 6:12 NKJV
“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.”
2- The armour of God.
Ephesians 6:11 and 13-17 NKJV
11 “Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”
POINT TO DISCUSS:
The Lord has provided us with an armour to keep us safe from the wiles and darts of the enemy. The enemy is going to fire at us but we will be safe as long as we have the armour securely put on.
3- The weapons of our Warfare.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6
3 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
POINT TO DISCUSS:
We have been equipped with not only with an armour but also with powerful weapons. The Word of God, the Blood of Jesus, the Name of Jesus, the Spirit language and the Praises of Israel (Praise and Worship). These weapon are so powerful that pulls down strongholds, wow!
4- A wounded soldier
You can have the best armour and most powerful weapons and even done advanced training in battle but you will not be able to fight any battle if you are wounded, especially if you are wounded on the head. Many of us come to the Kingdom with many wounds and need to receive healing. The sad thing is when we receive wounds while being a Christian, because we didn’t know about the spiritual warfare or we knew about it but dropped the guard. We were not wearing the armour appropriately and use the correct weapons and it caused us pain and loss.
The Bible tells us clearly that the Lord has given us a protective armour to cover us from wounds. Today we will focus on the head wounds.
Ephesians 6:17
NKJV
“And take the helmet of salvation…”
TPT
“Embrace the power of salvation’s full deliverance, like a helmet to protect your thoughts from lies…”
1 Thessalonians 5:8 AMP
“But since we [believers] belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope and confident assurance of salvation.”
POINT TO DISCUSS:
The biggest battle a soldier of Christ can face is to think he/she lost her salvation. Let’s establish one thing first, if you are worried and concerned thinking you lost your salvation, then you haven’t, otherwise you wouldn’t care about it. Recognise these are lies of the enemy because he wants you out. If you sinned repent and get up again.
Many wounds at the head can be prevented when you know and recognise who you are in Christ. The past is gone and in Christ you are new, and like Ephesians 2: 8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
The helmet of salvation is part of the armour of God to protect your thoughts from lies. When you know God’s truth, the truth found in God’s Word that tells us that salvation is a gift from God, we cannot earn it with our good behaviour or good works or our perfection but simply accepting the gift offered to us by Jesus, then we will be free.
Another thing that can cause you wounds, is to think people are the evil one. Even though people do evil things, the source of evil is Satan and your battle is against his forces and powers that influence people to do terrible things. Forgiveness sets us free from those wounds of rejection and betrayals.
5- Example of people who overcame in the Bible
A- HANNAH’s Story
I Samuel 1:18 NKJV
“And she said, “Let your maidservant find favour in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.”
After she gave her hurt to the Lord, she cried no more.
B- JOSEPH’s Story
Genesis 45:1-8 NKJV
“Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”
So many years of injustice, growing up, as a slave, and in prison but Joseph released forgiveness to his brothers for he saw God’s greater purpose.
WARNING
Don’t take the counsel and the wisdom of the world about injustice and prejudice. But fight injustice with God’s Word. God is against all prejudices since the beginning of time. Don’t bow down to the spirit of the world because it causes more division, do it God’s way. Let Him change your heart so you can think like Him and love like He does.
Galatians 3:26-29 NKJV
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
6- Promises of Victory
Psalms 140:7 AMP
“O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.”
Isaiah 58:6 NKJV
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?”
Psalms 147:3 NKJV
“He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.”
Psalms 23:3 NKJV
“He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”
Philippians 1:6 NKJV
“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
-He never gives up on us. Don’t give up on yourself! Keep fighting the good fight of faith.
Karina Maile