2 Corinthians 2:14(NKJV)
14Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
Permit me to take one more opportunity in this space to focus on Living Word Christian Center’s 2011 theme. We have been looking at the process revealed by the Lord in Exodus 14. When they were confronted with an impossible situation at the banks of the Red Sea, the people of Israel were given a 3 fold directive. Fear not, Stand still and go forward. As we have looked at these three commands, we have learned that they are a formula for winning any and all faith wars against the devil.
The more I have gone over this, the more I believe that it is the will of God for us to win both personal and corporate wars in 2011. By that I mean we can once and for all defeat certain problems that have been reccurring in our lives. All of us have things that we fight against repeatedly. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could overcome them this year and never face them the same way again? I believe we can.
Let me give you an example. My wife and I began fulltime ministry in April of 1978. For the first 10 years of our ministry we lived in financial bondage. We never had enough money. We had 5 children by the end of this period and I am sure we would have been eligible for some kind of public assistance. We just never asked for it. I remember one holiday when we had no money for dinner. Thankfully someone gave us the groceries to make it.
Around 1988 something changed. We were given a prophetic word that said our days of financial bondage were over. This was part of a process in which God was moving to change our situation. From that time on we were never in bondage financially again. Praise God!
That does not mean we have always had all we needed. There have still been battles, but never bondage. That war was won. We never dealt with it again. God has always provided abundantly for us.
I believe that’s what God wants for you in 2011. I was praying about a scripture to represent this thought and 2 Corinthians 2 came to mind. God always causes me to triumph in Christ. It is God’s will for you to have victory in all things through Christ Jesus. I want you to look at your life and pick one thing that you need victory over in 2011. God will cause you to triumph over that.
You may have many areas that could apply this to. You might need financial victory. You might need victory where you health is concerned. Maybe you need victory over fear, depression or discouragement. Maybe there is some sin that you have tried to overcome and have never won the war over that particular thing. Pick one. You can’t fight them all at once. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to the one that will produce the greatest benefit in your life. Then get ready winning the war this year.
We have been talking about this process for months, but I felt God gave me a specific way to apply it as I was praying this week. First, fear not. What in this specific thing you are going to defeat is the root of the fear. There is always fear. It may be fear of running out of time. It may be fear of losing something or someone. It may be the fear of death itself. Whatever the root of the fear relating to this specific battle might be, attack that fear. Get it out of the equation.
How? First of all by defining it. One of the sources of fear’s power is to be ambiguous. If the devil can keep our fear unfocused we don’t know what to attack. The fear grows in power because we can’t get a handle on it. The greatest fear there is, is fear of the unknown. Once the fear is defined it can be specifically attacked with the word.
For instance, if I am afraid of not having enough, I can turn specifically to Philippians 4:19. That tells me that God will supply all my need according to his riches in Glory by Christ Jesus. The more I meditate on that the less I will fear lack. The fear is not ambiguous and so the attack against it is precise and effective.
Second, stand still or firm on the promise of God. Find 1 or 2 specific promises that relate to your war. You cannot stand on what you think the word says. You must know what it says. Find a promise or two and read them specifically. Study them. This means read the whole chapter surrounding them. Make sure you understand the context of the promises and whatever conditions may be attached. Look up the words and make sure you understand them.
Then write them out, begin to speak them over your life and stand on them until you see them come to pass. As the process plays out the Lord may give you more to stand on. Keep the word in your mind, you mouth and your heart until you win the war. You may ask, “How long?” Kenneth Hagin once said, “If you’re willing to wait forever it won’t take very long.”
Finally be in a position to hear the Lord say, “Go forward.” This implies acting on the promise you are standing on. This is not something you do on your own. It is something God directs, however you will have to do the going forward. There may be some risk involved in the natural. As long as God is directing you there is no real risk because God is with you.
How can you know when God is saying, “Go forward.”? You must be in a position to hear. You must cultivate times of prayer, worship and praise before God. You must spend time in his Word. In this way you cultivate the ability to hear his voice.
Obviously, this is just a short teaching on a long subject, however I believe if you will give this process some thought and further study on your own, you can win some major wars in 2011. As you do, we will be better able to win our corporate wars because you will be ready to move beyond the personal things you face to greater battles for the kingdom of God.
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