Day 5

Deuteronomy 18-20

READY FOR BATTLE

Today you are on the verge of battle – Deut. 20:3

            Does it seem you go from one battle to another?  It’s because you have an ever present enemy who seeks to destroy your peace, disrupt your relationship with God and devour your soul.  We never know when the next ambush will come.  It seems we are always on the verge of a battle.  When you think about it, if we are not encountering conflicts on a fairly regular basis we probably are being left alone by the enemy.  That is a far greater problem.  When we live in the armor we hear from the Devil frequently.  Remember, he seeks to devour us.  He comes looking for those who have a sterling testimony, like Job.

            You might be on the verge of battle today.  God says, don’t faint…don’t be afraid…don’t tremble or be terrified.  Why?  The Lord…goes with you to fight for you against your enemies.  God has promised to deliver you (v.4) – if you fight!  We are combatants not pacifists in a spiritual warfare.  We are a part of the cosmic conflict between God and Satan.  When we choose God we choose His struggle against the powers of evil.  We are not only participants in the war; we are the battleground for a host of dark hosts who wrestle against us.  We truly are always on the verge of battle.

            What will you do about it?  Non combatants are the first ones taken hostage.  Not to fight is to compromise.  Gideon had an army of 32,000.  All but 300 were compromisers –  They were either afraid or careless.  They weren’t on the verge of battle.  They were on the verge of failure.  I guess it’s better to go home than get in the way.  Who wants to worry about 31,700 hostages?  I keep hoping the odds will go up in these last days.  Probably the percentage of early retirees is about the same.  The small band that followed Gideon amounted to .009%. of his total army.  That sounds about right.

            The truth is we are all on the verge of battle.  Very few are on the verge of victory.  We have to fight to win.   And God fights for us.  We at least have to show up.

Battle fatigue means you’re putting up a fight.