Ecclesiastes 3:8 NKJV A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
- A time of war
Ephesians 6:12 AMP For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.
- Instructions given to Moses to begin possessing the promised land.
- Romans 15:4 written for our learning,
- that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have
Deuteronomy 2:24-25 NKJV “‘Rise, take your journey, and cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle. [25] This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’
Notice that the Lord told Moses that He had given Sihon into their hand before the actual battle took place.
- It was already a done deal.
- However, they still had to “engage him in battle.”
Likewise, we already have the victory in Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57 NKJV But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
But we have to fight the battle, but victory is assured.
1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV 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.
Moses and the people had to do the following:
- “Rise…up”—If we are lazy, we will never possess the things that God has for us. We have to stir ourselves up, or we will sink to the bottom (1 Samuel 30:6).
- 1 Samuel 30:6 David strengthened himself in the Lord his God
The Israelites had been in a holding pattern for forty years. They had to change what they were expecting. Deuteronomy 2:3 says that they had compassed Mount Seir long enough.
Likewise, many Christians today have been stuck in a rut long enough. It’s time to rise up and take our journey
- 2 Kings 7:3 four leprous men Why are we sitting here until we die?
- “Take [their] journey” —We have to have direction about what the Lord wants us to do. We can’t take someone else’s journey. The Lord told Moses that He would not give them the land of the Edomites, the Moabites, or the Ammonites. They couldn’t take that journey; they had to take the journey that the Lord was leading them to take.
- Ephesians 4:1 Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.
- Matthew 28:19 Go preach.
- “Pass over the river Arnon”—This river, Arnon, was the border of Sihon’s kingdom. Moses was to venture into enemy territory and deal with all that came with that. We can’t wait until the battle is over to act. We have to take steps of faith that would get us in trouble if God wasn’t with us. This is where most of us miss it. We are afraid to act. We are playing it too safe.
- “Behold”—The Lord was telling Moses to see it with his heart before he saw it with his eyes. We have to see it on the inside before we see it on the outside.
- Imagination is the ability to see things in your heart that you can’t see with your eyes.
- Hebrews 11:1 NKJV Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
- Take all God’s promises on hope and confess them, hold on to them.
- Renew your mind in the Word of God.
- “I have given into your hand”—One of the greatest revelations we can receive from the Lord is that Jesus has already accomplished everything we will ever need through what He did 2,000 years ago.
- You’ve already got it
- I’m not the sick trying to get well but I’m the well that Satan is trying to make sick.
- There’s a difference
- John 10:10 Thief
- Christians are trying to when get healed when they’ve already been healed
- When I say that this is healing and I’m already here, how can I doubt that I’ll get where I already am
- Nebo – I’m already healed
- Nebo – I’m complete in Christ – Colossians 2:10
- Nebo – I’m not trying to get healed – 1 Peter 2:24
- Nebo – I’m blessed with everything – Ephesians 1:3
- Satan is trying to take from me my healing, steal my blessing and wholeness
- But I refuse to allow him to do it
- and I’m fighting the good fight, defending what God has already given me.
It’s not a matter of getting the Lord to do something; it’s a matter of resting in what He has already done (Hebrews 4:3-11).
The Lord has already moved by His grace, and we just appropriate by faith what is already ours (Ephesians 2:8).
- “Begin to possess it”—Deuteronomy 7:22 says that the Lord wouldn’t give the land all at once; they couldn’t possess it because the beasts of the field would multiply, or the fields would overgrow (see also Exodus 23:29). Likewise, we have to walk in the “good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). “First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” (Mark 4:28).
- “Contend, engage in battle, fight the good fight”—We have to contend with foes even though God has already given us the land. There will be a fight—the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12).
- The word “contend” in the KJV or engage in battle was translated from the Hebrew word GARAH, “properly, to grate, i.e. (figuratively) to anger”.
- We have to get angry with whatever is opposing us. As long as we can put up with our negative situations, we will.
- This was God instructing Israel to go to war. Some people wouldn’t go to war for anything. They are pacifistic to the max. Although war is always bad, there are things worth fighting for. And those who refuse to ever fight are destined to be enslaved.
- There can be no compromise with the devil.
2 Timothy 4:7 NKJV I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
- Peace — “I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations.”
Proverbs 16:7 NKJV When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
- A time of war, And a time of peace.
- War & peace – Spain & Islam – Romania Vlad Dracula.
- A time of peace, when all is well, Shalom.
- Rise up and begin to possess what is already yours in Christ Jesus,
- Engage your enemy in battle,
- Fight the good fight of faith,
- Pray in tongues, pray in the Holy Spirit.