The Christian life takes a lot of investment. It takes time in prayer, focus in
worship, and energy in ministry. It can be a real struggle for believers to maintain their faith when they are making all
these sacrifices and still being hassled by lies from the Enemy. Something that I think we sometimes fail to recognize though
is the immense labor God is putting
in to save us. He is sitting on His throne with great peace, yet at the same time wrestling over our souls in a very active
way. He puts more effort into helping us than Satan can ever muster to discourage us.
Often the
reason we stumble in our pursuit of the Lord is not because we flat out want to reject Him, but because we have not recognized
how He is trying to assist us. In reality, we should not even be waging our own war. 1 Samuel 17:47 tells us, “the battle
is the LORD's,” and if we can learn to cooperate with Jesus as He fights on our behalf, He will deliver us from evil
every time. He loves us too much to ever give up, and because He is so much greater than the Devil, He will always win.
In Joshua
5:14 the Holy Spirit is called “the captain of the host of the Lord.” In other words, He leads the Father's armies.
God is literally commanding thousands of troops of angels, and they are striving non-stop to help us find rest. If we could
see in the spirit-realm there would not just be demons there trying to tempt us. There would be mighty warriors from Heaven
standing at our sides, swinging their swords with ferocious power. We have plenty of supernatural support!
The Bible
calls Lucifer “the accuser of the brethren,” because he is constantly criticizing God's people for their errors
and trying to point out weaknesses in them (Rev. 12:10). Yet on the contrary, it could be said that Jesus is “the affirmer
of the brethren!” He continually defends us against the claims of our failures. 1 John 2:1-2 reads, “if anyone
does sin, we have an advocate with the Father - Jesus, the Messiah, one who is righteous. It is He who is the atoning sacrifice
for our sins...” In other words, Christ Himself will stand up for all those who have given Him their hearts. We do not
have to rely upon our own ability to make up for all the wicked deeds we have done.
God understands
us even when we make the worst of choices, and He actually prays for us to be made stronger! Romans 8:27 states that, “He
who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's
will.” The Holy Ghost regularly pleads for us to be encouraged, and to fulfill the destinies He has planned for us.
He longs to see us established in godliness far more than we ever do, and He is moving behind the scenes to make sure it is
accomplished.
No matter
what we are facing, we can trust our Savior to lead us to victory. We are promised in Deuteronomy 31:8, “The LORD is
the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Positive changes are in our future! All we need to do is believe, and accept them.
