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Fight! Fight! Fight!
Fight to be in the presence of God
Fight –Take part in a violent struggle involving the exchange of physical blows or the use of weapons.
If you didn’t know it , you are in a fight. Every single moment of your life you are in a spiritual warfare (deathmatch)
The devil is after you soul, he want to control you, he wants to destroy, kill an steal everything good that you have.
he is looking to destroy your will power, your self-esteem, your joy. he is attacking your work, your marriage, your kids, your spouse…he is attacking everything.
We must be prepared
Why would the bible tell you to put the whole armor of God? And this is a daily commission.
Ephesian 6:10 –18 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we[a] 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 against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.[b] 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.[c] 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.[d]
-Stand firm against the strategies of the devil, he has plans over plan- 30-60-90 …5 years/10/15/20…lifetime plan against you!
– Fight against unseen world, against mighty powers – evil spirits in the heavenly places
– Then after the battle- You like it or you don’t you will fight- And you either going to still be standing or not.
– Put on every piece – Don’t leave any out
– Salvation as your helmet – Super important
This verse does not say put the armor and fight. Put this armor and then pray in the spirit at all times and stay alert and persistent.
This armor is to protect you from being pulled away from the presence of the Lord – Because the bible says in:
2 Chronicles 20:15 “Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. #thisaintyourbattle
2 Corinthians 10:4- We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ
- There are so many obstacles – the devil uses obstacles to keep us away from knowing God
- Obstacles to delay or completely stop you from being in the presence of God.
- You cannot overcome this obstacles by yourself
Stop relying on your own power, you do not know what tomorrow holds- fight to stay close to the one that knows it all.
Stop fighting to attain stuff, stop fighting for your marriage, stop fighting for your kids- instead fight to be in the presence of God, fight to be so close to God that He will whisper instructions on how to pray – Not fight – for your kids, for your spouse, for you job. …..for the battle is not yours, but God’s. #thisaintyourbattle
Clearly the Lord is telling us, stop fighting. You are tired, you have been trying to hold this life together, to keep your marriage working, to keep a job, to please your boss, to just have one good day-God is saying – Stop fighting, come to me “
Matthew 11: 28 – 29” Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
You gotta go to Jesus- Your only requirement is to GO- to fight all the things that holds you back from God. Those things (obstacles) that are taking God time from you.
The enemy is not going to come to you and say stop praying or reading your bible. No, he will allow you to schedule it, make a plan, then he will call his army to do all they can to take you slowly away from you prayer time.
“ as I prepare for this sermon I am getting distracted – , a text just came in and I am struggling to not read it ….but I have to fight to stay in the presence of God”
A few minutes later – I start to write The bible say that “—— – I looked at my phone and I totally lost the point I was going to write – I got distracted and missed on what God was about to say to you – because I allowed the obstacle – phone in this case to win.
This is such a big deal people. We think that these are minor things, but they are not, oh well, I missed my bedtime, oh I got lost “in Facebook”, I forgot to pray.
This are well crafted spiritual battles that are geared towards, taking you as far as possible from the Lord
What are those distraction/obstacles in your life that are taking you away from the presence of God-
Staying up to late, that you do not have time for God in the morning “ in the morning when I rise , give me Jesus”…
Facebook, social media, – How much time are you on it compared to the time you are in the bible. It’s an app too ?
Is work, keeping you away from you leading your family in a Godly way- Having time to minister with your spouse?
What are those distractions/obstacles? God is saying to you to fight! fight! Fight! To be in His presence
When I am in the store with my kids, there is one thing that I make sure that if they don’t remember anything else that they remember this “if you can’t see me, then I can’t see you
And if I can’t see you, I cannot protect you. The minute they are outside my presence they are vulnerable to all kinds of dangers. They need to fight the temptation to go to the toy section, the shiny stuff department, because there is danger there if they are not with me!
God is saying, if you can’t see me – If you can’t be in my presence – then you will be destroyed – That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour (eat (food or prey) hungrily or quickly.).
As I look around, I see some very tired people, looks like you just survived the day- and you can’t even catch a breath, tomorrow is knocking at the door to knock you down., and that just half of it. Then comes the bills, then comes the mortgage, then come …etc.
These things are just a distraction, Stop fighting these things. The bible says that “
Psalms 139: 16 – You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
God had a plan for you. You were not just born. He had a purpose for you and once that purpose was established, He created you to fulfill it.
The porter knows the need for the clay pot. Fight! Fight! Fight! To be in the presence of God, so that He can reveal to you what He created you for.
Psalms 119:133 – Establish my footsteps in Your word. Do not let any human weakness have power over me (causing me to be separated from You)
Don’t just survive this day! Be victorious by doing what God created you for.
If you were created to be a hammer, then you will be victoriously hammering – but if you are trying to be a nail, when you should be a hammer, then you will be miserable trying to change yourself to be what you were NOT created to be. Be a happy hammer, and the only way to know for sure you are hammer is to be in the presence of the maker. Constantly – coz phase 1 of your life you could be a hammer but phase two you might be a power tool- and if you don’t constantly fight to be in the presence of God, you will miss it all.
Stop being distracted- All this stuff even though its good- is just the smoke screen. The real deal is fighting to be in the presence of God.
What is easier my brothers and sisters? To pray every morning and seeking the council of the Holy Spirit All day so that you can do what you were naturally created to do? to fast and pray for breakthrough in life and a clear directed path ….
Or – To fight to stay relevant is you job, marriage, you kids life, to keep up with you bills.
What is easier?
Man, the first sounds easy- God knows how important fighting to be in His presence is – that he created armored suit for you. Head to toe
Life events , marriage, job, kids – all these things we are trying to fix- Those are side effects of walking away from God.
Arameans plan on capturing Elisha after he would tell of their plans to attack Israel
2 Kings 7: 15 – …15 The servant of the man of God got up early and went out, and behold, there was an army with horses and chariots encircling the city. Elisha’s servant said to him, “Oh no, my master! What are we to do?” 16 Elisha answered, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “Lord, please, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servants eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha
Often, we have the servants mind set, we are thinking of how we can in our own power be able to fight and push through the day and at least have small wins that will compound to a bigger win.
But God is saying – Fight! Fight! Fight! To be in my presence and I will open your eyes, I will whisper to you, I will make you aware of your surroundings.
Chariots and horse of fire are on guard for you. (“Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”) You have to fight! x3 To be in the presence of God. Elisha knew the secret- It wasn’t by his power. It was who he had in his side!
Tonight you do not need to worry about who is going to fix your life, your marriage, to pay the past due bills, to change your kids life, to mend broken relationship, to make your job better… (Yes we do have personal responsibilities – but our no.1 goal should be to seek God – so that everything else can be added to us.
I pray that your eyes will be open, that you may see the Vast army fighting alongside you. Put on your armor – and fight! fight! fight!
Fight! Fight! Fight! To be in the presence of God!!!
Take a moment to talk to you who hasn’t given your life to Christ completely. The only way you get this privilege of God fighting for you is to surrender completely to Him. This evening He is saying I have been ready for you since before you were born. I have been waiting to take your heavy load, come to me and get rest. I will show you how to fight to be in my presence.
For the rest of us, if you have been fighting for the wrong things- This is your moment to start a new battle – To fight to be in the presence of the Lord constantly. You might not know how to start, since the physical day to day battle is all you know. The good news is that God is here- come and get restoration.