No child of God
should ever suffer any form of defeat because whatsoever is born of God
overcomes the world. “Every child
of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. No
one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.” (1Jn
5:4-5 CEV) So when you find a child of God, a believer in Christ suffering
defeat, you know something is wrong somewhere. What can make a child of God to
be defeated in battle?
Forsaken by his Ally.
No child of God can defeat his enemies by his personal strength. The
source of the believer’s victory is his Strong and Mighty Ally. When Joshua
faced Jericho, it was the Mighty Ally that pulled the walls down and gave
Israel victory. When they faced Ai, the Mighty Ally forsook them and they were
defeated. (Joshua 6, 7, 8). God forsook them because of sin. Any one that sins
cannot be defended by God in the battles of life.
In 1Samuel 4:17 the very ark of God was captured in battle by the Philistines!
I’ve always wondered why God would allow the enemy to gain such a victory. God
would not associate with sinning folks even if they are called by His name. God
was and is willing to be defeated if His children cannot represent Him in
Holiness. He said the gates of Hell cannot prevail against His Church. But if
His Church goes into sin, He will withdraw and let the gates of Hell take over!
Go to Turkey and see former Church buildings now being used as Mosques or
Museums! The Holy One forsook a sinning Church.
Will God not defend a sinning Child for His name’s sake? His eyes are
too holy to behold iniquity. He even turned His back of Jesus Christ when He
hung on the Cross carrying our sins prompting the ‘Boy’ to cry, ‘my God my God
why has thou forsaken me?’ If you want to defeat all contending enemies, you
must walk away from every appearance of sin.
Mind games.
When football teams are preparing for matches, you see their coaches
playing all kinds of mind games. They do that because they know that a win or a
defeat starts in the mind. Every battle of life is won or lost in the mind.
Even when your Mighty Ally is beside you, if you are defeated in your mind, you
will lose the battle. When the 12 spies returned from Canaan, 10 were already defeated in their minds, only Joshua and Caleb had a winning mentality. The same God that brought them out of Egypt was with them. The one who made away though the Red Sea, who brought water out of the Rock and fed them with manna and quails was with them yet He could only stamp what was on their minds – defeat for the 10 and victory for the 2!
On the day David faced Goliath, King Saul and the entire army had lost
the mind game (1 Samuel 17). Goliath won the battle without a fight by
intimidating the Israelites, until David came with a Champions mind. From the
moment David heard Goliath speak, he said ‘I am going to cut this man’s head
off’ and he did not even have a sword.
It is in your mind that fear or faith rules. It is in your heart that
discouragement or determination rules. Choose what you want to rule your mind
now!
Lifted Hands, Bended Knees!
The Mighty Ally is always waiting to be called into action and He
remains waiting until He is called. If you don’t call Him it means you don’t
need Him. He remains on standby but many children of God don’t call Him until
they are defeated. Your responsibility is to call Him. Peter was sinking right
in front of Jesus and the Master was just looking at him until he cried out.
Then Jesus held his hand and they both walked into the boat (Mathew 14:28-32).
If you don’t want to be defeated in life you must learn to pray to God always.
In Exodus17:10-13 we see this principle at work. Joshua defeated the
Amalekites as Moses interceded in prayer before God. When hands were lifted in
Prayer, Israel prevailed, when hands went down, Amalek prevailed! When we
intensify prayer, the enemy is defeated, when we slack in prayer, we are
defeated.
Bring it home.
If you don’t want to be defeated in life, don’t do anything that will
make your Mighty Ally (God Almighty) to forsake you. And if you have already
been forsaken, repent from the depth of your heart and He will return to you.
Never yield ground to the enemy in your mind (be full of faith) and learn to
pray intensely at all times.
