2 Chronicles 20:6, 9, 12, 15-17 NLT
He prayed, “O lord , God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’
O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”
He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! 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.
Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. But you will not even need to fight.
Take your positions; then stand still and watch the lord ’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the lord is with you!”
PERSONAL COMMENTARY
——————————————–
The Lord has offered us this free gift of grace, made us promises that if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, and believe in Him, that He has already won the battle for us.
And if we are His children, once we cry out to Him in HOPE during our times of trial or suffering or tribulation, He promises that He will be there – and HE WILL RESCUE US.
However, without FAITH, without relying on this gift of the Holy Spirit daily and even moment to moment – how do we expect to defeat an army under our own power? This is why He is so important – we need Christ in us, changing our lives and winning our battles – not a religion on a shelf that we use to try and learn how to be a better person. We need Him fighting and winning these battles, because if we are trying to fight an army by ourselves – the future is not bright.
And if we have Christ in us, if we have this LOVE living in us that changes and cleanses us on the inside, growing and bearing these fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives –
Galatians 5:22-25 NLT
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
If we are walking with Christ, letting Him live in us and through us in our daily lives – we are trapped into the vine of life – we are under the care of the Good Shepherd – we are hearing the voice of the one true God – we are unveiled to the love, mercy, and forgiveness that He has for His children.
And His Way is TRUTH – it is BOTH receiving grace, and mercy, and forgiveness, and it is repentance, serving, and loving.
Then, we – the children of God – the ones that He loves and cares for – wewillwatch as He will crush His enemies before Him. Those that are not His, they do not hear His voice of love, mercy, and forgiveness – no, they are not calling to Him to win their battles. No, they are trying to win these battles against God’s will on their own. I know because I was living as His enemy.
And because they are His enemies, because they are not His children – They only hear His voice of wrath, of judgement, of accusation, of condemnation – because they hate His true children and they are blinded by their own sins and darkness and hardened hearts – and all because they will not come to Him and surrender to Him and accept that He has won the battle – and that it is His battle to win.
We are in one side of the battle or the other.
If we are trying to fight this battle on our own, it either looks like a life filled with sin and lawlessness, or it looks like someone trying to earn it through their own actions who is being a religious practicer of law but bearing no love, no fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
It is when we are surrendered to Christ that we are walking this narrow path of HOPE, FAITH, LOVE, and TRUTH. It is when we believe and trust Him when He says that our faith is counted as righteousness – and when we rely on Him to fight and win our battles, it is then that we are on His side and He is working through us, and that we know His love and His power and His honor and His glory – because we see Him in action each day. We see Him loving and serving and touching the lives of others – and we see Him softening our hearts and growing and bearing these fruits of the spirit inside us – and we know that this work is not our own, but it is Him changing us, molding us into a vessel fit for His use.
But if we are the enemy. If we are trying to do this on our own. We have no power. We have no fruit. We only know about a dead an empty religion, that has no love and no power. We only know about a law, a book of rules that shows us our own darkness.
Come out of the darkness. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Believe and follow Him. See past the religions and get tapped into a surrendered life and relationship with Christ alive in your life, friend. Seek Him daily and you will find Him.
I love you, friend.
Have a blessed day.
Harold J. Ballinger 