Month: August 2021

Three Tools To Fight The Good Fight Of Faith…

How do we fight the good fight of faith? What is the good fight of faith? What does the Apostle Paul mean when he tells Timothy to fight the good fight of faith? Obviously, it is not a physical fight but a moral, spiritual and emotional fight. Our scripture reference is 1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

The reader needs to review 1 Timothy chapter six because the context is important to understanding the good fight of faith that the apostle Paul is writing to Timothy about. He tells him in verse six “godliness with contentment is great gain.” What ever place we are in God supplies our need. Being content with what you have is essential to peace. When we are focused on what we do not have we become frustrated and fretful with life.

Fighting the good fight is a moral, emotional and spiritual fight. When we get to focused on getting things or having what we do not have, we become focused on ourselves. This can open the door to greed, lust, self-pity, and bitterness. The Apostle Paul understood this and said in Philippians 3:12 “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  He understood the harm of letting our situations consume our mind, will and emotions. He understood that Christ strength empowers us to endure and wait, and to press on and persevere. Which is part of “the fighting the good fight of faith.”

First tool for fighting the good fight of faith is God’s Word. Speaking God’s Word to overcome in any area is the best tool to fight with. His word is effective and powerful.

One way in using God’s Word is to knock down the thoughts and imaginations that are contrary to God’s word and His peace. Be mindful of your thoughts they generate consequences on your emotions, health and wellness and eventually will cause spiritual issues. It is good training to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help recognize what kind of thinking you are doing. Recognizing your positive and negative thoughts clarifies what type of self-talk you are thinking about. Both men and women talk to them selves and how we talk to ourselves has an influence on us.

This scripture tells us how to pull down our thoughts that exult against the knowledge God. Anything contrary to God’s word, will and ways should be taken down in our thoughts. 2 Corinthians 10: 3-6 states, “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 exalt itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to obedience of Christ, 6) and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”

How by verbally saying I tear down the thought…be specific and speak the thought out loud and loose it off your mind in the Name of Jesus. If it comes back loose it from your mind again.

The second tool to “fight the good fight of faith” is prayer and fasting. This tool keeps your flesh in submission to your spirit. We fast and pray because God’s word is telling us too. It’s a good tool to discipline your self and a training tool to focus your mind, heart and spirit on God Almighty. Some of us have health issues so don’t get caught up in the word fasting. If you have health issue and cannot go with out eating you can always give up something for example, Facebook, tv, treats etc. My husband just did a 10-week challenge for fight club and gave up Facebook. It was a way to sacrifice and focus on scripture and prayer.

In 1 Timothy 6:11 it says, “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” Fleeing what is harmful to you and your walk with God and pursuing the character traits of Jesus.  

The third tool to fight the good fight of faith is humility. When we walk in humility God gives us grace. Humility produces a teachableness and dependence on God. When your humble you are not relying on your own instincts and modes you depend on God’s word, will and ways. God provides us with wisdom and knowledge. Fighting the good fight of faith is daily living focused and dependent on the word, will and ways of God.

Three Things Required To Be An Overcomer

OVERCOMER

I was thinking today of what it takes to overcome obstacles in our lives, to achieve our goals and carry out our dreams.

For the last five months I have been studying for a large test. On Saturday 21st I passed the test. Praise God!  What is success to you? What is the cost of success and what motivates you to carry out your goals? These are a few of the questions we will look at along with the three things needed to be an overcomer.

To overcome something there must be a fight to push on. What motivates you to push on in life? For me it is my faith in God. He gives me the grace to go on.  What motivates a person to carry out their goals I believe is perseverance, faithfulness and a steadfast spirit.

When you want to finish a task what is your mindset? We can make choices to discipline ourselves in whatever we are working for. The test I passed took discipline to study, it took time to read, study, memorize and reread, study and memorize. I had to change my routine so that I could prioritize my time and I put studying first.

I had to overcome my feelings on the days I did not feel like studying I did it anyways, I chose to study when I could have been out with friends etc. My husband has been doing The Fight Club he has been memorizing scripture and doing all the different requirements to do the goals. It is ten weeks of a lot of different requirements, and he is in the 10th week. I am proud of him for continuing and he will finish Sunday!

The first thing to be an overcomer you must have perseverance. Perseverance is “doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.” How we view our difficulties can help us or hinder us. I believe choosing to speak the truth to yourself that you can finish, the difficulty will come to an end, and you will succeed is essential to developing perseverance. I have learned through my disability that if I dwell on the pain or recount the hardship in my thoughts it is not productive for me it only pulls me down in my thoughts.

The second thing to be an overcomer you must have faithfulness. Faithfulness is “loyal, adhering firmly to a person or course.” Being faithful to your goal is essential. Being faithful in all situations produces maturity. When we are faithful it will come out in many different areas through our relationships, work, ministry etc. Being faithful to your word, is most important in developing faithfulness. It is an excellent character trait to develop. When you honor your word your being faithful to your own self and others. You follow through even when it hurts. Which means when it is inconvenient, or your feelings do not want to, with faithfulness you do what is needed to honor your word to complete the task.

The third thing to be an overcomer we need steadfastness. Steadfastness is “fixed or unchanging, steady” Being steadfast you stay fixed in your goal or plan. You do not change the plan when it is tough you push through and finish. For steadfastness to develop in your character one must keep the goal as the focus. The word steadfast means “resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.” Being loyal to your dream, goals or vision is so important to finish the course.

Those who overcome the obstacles, setbacks or delays will learn to develop patience. There is always a choice in life do we keep going or quit? Do we push through or let go? You must choose. Your will needs to be activated to choose wisely. Speak the truth to yourself you can finish what ever it is your facing.

We can ask the Holy Spirit for help every day. We can ask for the grace to finish the tasks and goals. Allow Him to develop in you the perseverance, faithfulness, and steadfastness and become an overcomer.

What is the Maturity Factor?

How do we develop maturity in our lives? What does it look, sound and feel like? Sometimes we think we are mature and then life throws curve ball on us and we realize we lack patience in our situation. You can tell where you’re at by your responses, although sometimes we respond correctly, we may still carry it internally. God knows what is in our hearts. We do not always sense where we are at because our own hearts can deceive us.

In the bible James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trails, 3-knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4-But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

The NIV states, “4-let the perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

How important is maturity to you? It’s important to God or he wouldn’t be perfecting us through patience. Trials come and go it’s something we all face. How we develop through it all depends on us. Here are three ways people face trials, delays or setbacks:

One way is to get upset, complain and grumble. Obviously, this is not the best way to handle life’s situations. It only makes you anxious and grumpy towards others and life in general. Will it produce anything to happen quicker? The answer is no it will not. Truthfully the more aggravated you get it feels like the trial will never end. When we speak the complaint out loud, we are producing with our own word’s negativity over our situations and life. Complaining brings you down mentally and emotionally. Yes, we can talk about the bad and discuss it to deal with our problems but complaining is not just discussing a situation. It takes on a self-pity attitude that if done enough will cause your mind and emotions to lean towards the negative. When we complain too much, we can become self-righteous without realizing we are doing it. The bible tells us to think on good things, things that are pure, lovely, and of a good report. I speak the word of God over my situations it produces faith and reminds me who is in control. God is for us when we are His child lean on Him and trust Him through any delays.

Another way to face it is avoidance. Pretend nothing is wrong just pretend life is good and repress your emotions. This causes internal emotional side effects. When we repress our emotions and thoughts etc. it doesn’t go away it goes down deep into our subconscious. You may think it’s gone but no it’s not it’s just hiding out till the day it explodes. If your responses become sudden outbursts, it’s a sign you have repressed something such as hurts, unforgiveness, resentments, bitterness etc. Traumas and hurts that have not been dealt with through healing will result in us having inner emotional, mental and physical problems of some type. The good news is that Jesus died for our life spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. There is hope!

The third way to handle trials, situations or delays is to go to God with them. Prayerfully read the Word of God and mediate on it. Process the frustrations, pains, hurts or delays through the guidance of The Holy Spirit. God is always working to make us whole, healed and healthy. Yes, He uses the trials we face. All our trials are not wasted but when you’re leaning on the grace of God as you go through it you will end up better off than when it started. No matter what you are faced with God wants to get through it with you and then use it for the development of your maturity.  

The maturity factor is God working within you to develop into a mature and complete person.