Have you ever woken up just to find that you have a scratchy throat and a stuffy nose? This morning i woke up feeling as if someone drop-kicked me last night as i was sleeping and unleashed a hive of bacteria over my face. In other words, spring allergies came for a visit! Now if you are like me you don't get sick often but when you do it is as if you are paying for all the missed sickness for the whole year. If you are anything like me you know that on a sick day you wont be very productive and your day might simply consist of cheerios, Gatorade, cup of noodles, and a 18-hour marathon of nothing to watch on TV.
As i took the first dose of medicine for the day i reflected on how i wish Jesus was still involved in his 3 year ministry so that i could instantly be healed. I quickly realized that when Jesus left he told the disciples that they would receive POWER when the holy spirit came upon them. I wondered if my faith was great enough to heal me. I realized that my faith was something that was in a constant battle with my flesh. A humans mind would tell them that being instantly healed by an act of believing is supernatural and quite impossible. Though i have faith in Jesus Christ, it is sometimes hard to have faith that we have the power and authority over principalities of this world. God was listening as all these things were going on in my head. I began to listen to a sermon called "Faith that Fights" by Pastor Judah Smith from City Church in Seattle, Washington.
He took me to scripture and read Timothy 6:12 which said "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."
During his sermons he said a lot of powerful things. This is what i caught that impacted me.
"I want emphasis on what Paul says to Timothy 'the good fight of faith'.
Now folks the only kinda 'good fight' i know is the kind of fight you win. Its not 'good' if you tie and it certainly isn't 'good' if it was a 'moral victory'. A moral victory is saying 'well we were within a few points of winning'.
Why does Paul call it a good fight? Because Paul knows that its FIXED! The whole fight is fixed, kinda like professional boxing. Its already over before it even starts. We have power and authority that has been given to us as believers which gives us a guaranteed victory. That is why its called a good fight because we win.
Genuine faith is always actively resisting and opposing the enemy. Our faith must be a faith that fights. We must be believers that understand there IS a fight and we have already won it.
You may say 'well, I'm not a fighter I'm just a lover and I just want everyone to get along' and as you read the bible more you learn that that is not the case. Often times you have to fight to get peace. 'Well I don't wanna fight', well then you should not have become a christian because the moment that you became a christian you got a target on your chest, your on the devil's cross hairs, and the devil is gonna fight you whether you want a fight or not."
After hearing this i was able to understand that...well i think he kinda said it all.
You see, God loves to protect us. He loves to keep us safe. But God also rejoices when He sees that we use the authority that He has given us. I began to just shout "In the name of Jesus Christ i command this sickness to depart from my body" Why would i shout? Why would i command? Why in the name of Jesus?
The word says that the demons tremble at the sound of Jesus name. I command to this sickness because my Father has given me the authority over it. We need to have faith that is much more than just simple words. We need to have a kind of faith that threatens the plans of our enemy.
I don't know about you but i do not want to have the kind of faith that only consists of words and hope. I want to have the kind of faith that fights. Like Pastor Judah said "the fight is fixed". We have ALREADY won. We must not try to defeat our enemy for he is ALREADY defeated. All we need to do is cooperate with the one that has already defeated him, Jesus.
How is your faith? Do you fully understand God's desires to empower you? Do you want to increase your faith?
Verses to Read
James 1:3, Hebrews 11:1, I John 5:4, Hebrews 11:6, Mark 11:23-24
So one of my friend is the director of a non-profit in Silver Spring and when I went to her office (to talk about college stuff) and after I explained my whole situation, she closed the door of her office. I didnt know what was going on.. but then I realized there was a huge fist on a poster. and underneath it it said: "Faith Fights". She proceeded to explain to me that this was her motto. Whenever she was faced with adversity, she remembered what a mighty God she served and had faith in Him. And that faith was not passive. Faith was to take action on things that looked difficult trusting that God will work it out on her favor.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is exactly what you did, you were sick but you remembered the God that you served and proceeded to speak to your situation trusting that God can do what no one else can. That God is your healer!
Deff man! Thats really the concept. We kinda forget that we are in a constant fight within ourselves. We are constantly fightin doubt with us. BUT we ALREADY won the war! all we gotta do is celebrate the victory!
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