Praise helps us to live in the right place. God is our inheritance – his nature is irrepressible and indomitable. He cannot be overcome. Our confession of faith must be in line with these truths about God’s strength and provision, not our present condition. Our confession should revolve around who he is, not with who we are. We have to see ourselves as God sees us if we are going to be everything he wants us to be.
At first, Moses offered every excuse in the book as to why he couldn’t possibly be the one to lead Israel out of bondage. In Exodus 7:1, God ended the debate: see, I have made you as God to Pharaoh.
True to his word, Pharaoh was so bewildered by the power Moses welded that he didn’t know what to do or think. In the Egyptian kings limited understanding of the spiritual realm, he had no alternative but to conclude that Moses was some sort of God.
Gideon offered the same excuses at first. His self-image was a mess: oh, my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least of my father’s house, he said in Judges 6:15.
What did God see when he looked at Gideon? verse 12: the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!
Obviously, a significant gap existed between who Gideon thought he was, and what the Lord had laid out for him to do.
God bypassed every objection that Moses and Gideon gave him. They were present to adjust to his perception of them. After all, he knew them better than they knew themselves. Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? God said to Gideon in verse 14.
A spiritual warrior lives in this strength and weakness paradox. God always puts our weaknesses together with his strength. He does not ask us to be strong; in fact, our weakness is what attracts him. He is strong enough for both himself and us. He couples our inability with his provision.
This should be a rule in every believer’s life: never talk about your own limitations without, in the same breath, magnifying the Lord that he is all – sufficient in his greatness. It is okay to be a grasshopper when we have a vision of how big God is.
Magnifying God is not an option; it is an antidote to poor self-esteem. Our weakness is no longer a hindrance, for God sees it as an asset. This is not a logical concept, it is one rooted in intimacy and wisdom. The wisdom from above is spiritual not intellectual. It impacts our heart and enlightens us so that we know what we can trust the Lord for in each situation. It is vital that our understanding is based upon God’s nature and his way of perceiving.
Living out of the soul is a lower order of engagement because we are the prime focus. When we allow logic and emotion to lead us, fear grips us. But when we manifest our spirit, we have agreement and alignment with God. The Holy Spirit is not interested in what we cannot do; he is interested in what we are willing to do. If our heart is right before God, no present weakness can prevent us from overcoming the challenges before us.
God has given believers the gift of discernment of spirits. This ability enables us to determine what God has put into the spirit of his people and helps us determine the location of the enemy. Whatever God has put in us must be developed. I know that when I walk into a room in my church, the level of faith arises. Why? Because I want to be a man who manifests his spirit, and I want to fight the enemy. When difficult situations are discussed in my church, I can raise the faith level by simply walking into a room.
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life – 1 Timothy 6:12 God puts that fighting spirit inside of us.
A spiritual warrior’s life, attitude, and perspective must be drawn from an internal source. If it’s not, we end up looking for external stimulus at the time when we should be looking at who God is in our spirit. We cannot build a life by trying to correct weakness. Instead, we build our life by defining and redefining the gifts, strengths, and Revelation God has given us. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands, Paul told his young protégé in 2 Timothy 1:6 – 7. For god has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. This is our starting point. do this well, and by the end of the process, we will have trouble even remembering our area of weakness.
These strengths are the weapons that God will use in the warfare that swirls around us. They are the vehicle to victory that God wants to bestow upon us. When we focus on our weaknesses, we cannot make a difference in a critical moment. In fact, we may tip in the wrong direction! No one can inherit or possess a gift from God when they focus only on their weakness.
Every believer already possesses the things they need to both get free and stay free. It’s already in us, put there by God himself. We simply need to take inventory of our gifts and use that Arsenal God is given us.
In acts 3, Peter did not dwell on his weakness when confronted with a crippled man at the gate beautiful. Instead, he gave out of the strength God had put in him: silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk – verse 6. The same principle was echoed by Paul twice in Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Verse 19 – in my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus
When we pour out the blessing God has given us, another door opens for us in heaven. We do not live out of a finite pool of anointing; God has more than enough to give us. He opens up realm after realm after realm of increase as we grow in him. Prosperity then is about giving, not receiving. When we sow, God gives us both a massive harvest to reap and more seed with which to plant. We never eat our seed: this is a simple principle of life in Christ. We always sow and are lifted to another level of excellence. The sharing of your faith may become effective by the knowledge men of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus, says Philemon 6.
What has God put inside you? What has he already given you? This is the starting place towards becoming a spiritual warrior. Mature Christians know both what God is doing in them, and what he is doing through them. They do not confuse the two.
What our souls see as crisis is actually an opportunity for expansion. It may have come in a strange way or a difficult time, but it is always an opportunity. Will we allow our soul to dominate in this time, or our spirit? Will we resolve to live from the right place? Are we determined to stand fast and rest in the Lord? These are the questions we will face over and over again in our lives.
Assignment – make a list of your weaknesses and a corresponding list of the strengths of God. Meditate on who God is for you. What must change in your mind set so that you may stand joyfully in the place of weakness and receive God’s strength?
Commission – rejoice in your weakness! Let God come to you and be your strength. Do not try to grab strength from him. Let him be your strength. Begin to thank him for who he is for you. Step out and trust his strength to materialize as you walk. Trust him for it. Describe the process and what you learned from it.