God wins the battle, but we have to take our position
By Pastor David Heath
2 Chronicle 20:17 (NLT)
But you will not even need to fight. Take up your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Don’t be afraid or discourage. Go out against them tomorrow, for The Lord is with you!”
Take up your positions!
We all have a position to take up in the body of Christ.
When one is missing it leaves a space in the battle line,
A crack that the enemy can use.
When one is an injury, the line becomes weaker.
Stand still and watch
The Lord’s victory!
Don’t be afraid,
Don’t get discouraged,
March out against them!
The church is on the front line.
The church is the last line of defense for humanity.
We each make up the body of Christ.
Each one of us is important!
Hebrew 10:23-24 (NLT)
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
24. Let us think about ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
25. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Hold tightly without wavering in our faith!
Motivate one another!
Encourage one another!
Love one another!
Bear fruit.
Colossians 1:9-10 (NLT)
So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We asked God to give you complete knowledge of his will and give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.
10. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
We are in a spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of the people.
It’s not a time to submit!
It’s not the time to quit!
It is time to take up our positions.
It’s time to encourage the downtrodden, the broken, the lost, and give them the Good News! Jesus came to set the captive free!
This is what the Lord says: do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
This war started in the garden of Eden.
This war is between darkness and light.
The darkness was defeated on the cross!
God has the victory!
The church of Jesus Christ will prevail!
But you have to believe this,
You are the one to put faith into action!
Matthew 16:18-19 (NLT)
Now I say to you that you are Peter( which means ‘rock’) I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
19. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in Heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be allowed in Heaven.
Christ had asked the disciples “who do people say that the son of man is?
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
Then Jesus got personal!
15. Then he asked, ” But who do you say I am?”
16. Simon Peter answers,” You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.”
17. Jesus replied,” you are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in Heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.
Notice what Jesus has revealed to us here.
The people said he was one of the old prophets
ThenJesus asked, ” who do you say that I am?”
He not only made it personal, but he wanted to see their faith.
Were they thinking with human reasoning or kingdom?
As long as we stay with human reasoning, we will remain earthbound.
Our battles are fought in the heavenly, fought with faith and prayer.
Until we release our faith, God cannot reveal his strategy for the battle that we are fighting.
2 Corinthians 10:3 (NLT)
We are humans, but we don’t wage war as humans do.
Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and evil spirits in heavenly places.
The church will only prevail against darkness if you believe. The church cannot become what you are not.
The church foundation is standing on faith!
The church foundation was not on Peter but Peter’s faith.
It was Peter’s faith that allows God to reveal this to him.
Ephesians 6:10 (NLT)
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
Do not depend on your understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
And he will show you the path to take.
In 2 Chronicles 20:1-22 (NLT), we read the story of Jehoshaphat and how he turned the battle over to the Lord.
Jehoshaphat was terrified by the news and begged the Lord for guidance.
He did not go to his officers, to his cabinet, or his war generals.
He took his fear to The Lord of the Heaven armies!
Then he fasted!
He had all the people to begin fasting.
And the people came to Jerusalem where the temple was located to seek God’s help.
The church came together with one purpose, to defeat the enemy.
They were gathered for no other purpose but to defeat the enemy.
Then Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the courtyard at the temple of the Lord.
He prayed!
We fight our battles through fasting and prayer!
Our war room is our prayer closet.
Our war position is on our knees.
Prayer released faith,
It reminds us of who we are.
We are not alone!
We don’t give up!
We don’t give in!
We keep pushing in until we have the victory.
This alter is our war room; it is our release from our fears, our troubles, we prepare for our battles here.
We take our position here. The church has the keys to unlock, to lock, to release, to bind.
But you have to believe that! Let God release this kind of active faith in your life.
So take up your positions!
