Struggles

I want to dedicate this portion of my blog to the struggles we face as Christians. Life is hard enough as it is and has its many challenges, but the struggle is real…but so is God! As Christians, we are redeemed from the sinful nature that we once possessed. Galatians 5:24 tells us, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” What are these affections and lusts? Colossians 3:5 answers that as, “Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.” All of these things are sins of the flesh, our physical nature. In Christ, He has crucified our physical nature onto the cross and so we are now able to receive a new physical body one day, when we are glorified as Jesus is and will be with Him. We have struggles, but we must remember (as painful as it may be) what we are commanded to do. A command is not a suggestion. It is an order. God is our boss and any parent can relate to this…it can be extremely frustrating when we are telling a child what they need to do and that child takes it lightly. Every parent has once said, “I’m not asking, I’m telling!” The same applies with God. We need to realize, as children of God, when He is telling or commanding us to do something. Struggles are an area where He commands us to fight.

Our struggles consist of us having to battle the same three sins that Adam and Eve caved into at the garden of Eden. Those sins are the lust of the flesh, the pride of life and lust of the eyes. These are daily battles that we all face. Some, we have been able to conquer, but others we struggle with. I will be writing articles about common struggles and equipping scriptures that help fight against that struggle. As Christians, we forget that although God won the war against sin and the devil, we still have small individual (spiritual) battles. Satan and his minions are the enemy and we need to put on the armor of God to fight these battles. The beauty in these battles, is that it is victory through God, through Jesus and through the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t just leave us to battle alone and I love that! Throughout the Old Testament, we see manifestations of Jesus before He came in human flesh, called Christophonies. He is referred to as “the Angel of the LORD” when He showed up for battles to help the Israelites. That is the illusion-because we cannot physically “see” God, we make the assumption that we are alone in our struggles. We are never alone. Matthew 28:20 is one of God’s most precious promises that says, “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus showed up to battle for me in the most horrific trials I have ever faced in my life! So now that I have experienced this truth, I am going to share it. I will go into more detail throughout my posts, but I want everyone to KNOW that Jesus still shows up – today! Often times, we make the wrong assumption -again -that this was only an Old Testament occurrence, but that is far from the truth! Jesus still shows up to battle today and I can attest to it. I had a battle that was manifested both in the physical and spiritual, without using names or specifics, it was a HUGE giant in my life (just like the story of David and Goliath). It was very real and I was out numbered by the enemies that surrounded me. At the climax of this trial/tribulation, I wanted “out.” I begged the Lord to please get me out and allow me to run from this situation. He wanted me to stand up against an evil act that involved the saving of a life and the salvation of another, at the end of it all. I was shocked at His answer, God was asking me to face my enemies head on, just like David did with Goliath. He told me that the battle was His and not to worry.

I begged the Lord to reconsider and that I wasn’t strong enough to face these people alone, not alone. I can relate to Deuteronomy 3:23, “At that time I also pleaded with the LORD.” God spoke to me (in the Spirit) again and asked me why I felt I was alone, He had been with me the entire time and would NOT leave my side. The chaos was so thick, that I had failed to even sense His presence because the evil and dark situation was so intense. I obeyed, but was literally shaking as I faced these enemies. I was despised for being a Christian and the spiritual warfare was very apparent. I was obeying God, but could not see or even imagine a positive outcome. It was because I was not trusting in God. I was too busy focusing on my “giant” instead of my Amazing God and Savior!

In the brutal end, the Lord did everything and allowed for me to watch them be conquered by the Almighty! I seriously believed that I was going to end up at the bottom of this mess, conquered, disillusioned and destroyed because I believed the lies that I was being told by our enemy (Satan). I was being told this would be the case, by many threats I received, on my end. As I look back, I reflect on David and Goliath and now I can totally relate! My giant was real and HUGE. I was not brave like David, but God completely fought my battle and I was exonerated and came out a victor along with God. God receives ALL the credit for this and I bless His name for being my champion!

If you are in a serious spiritual battle, do NOT lose sight because God knows everything you are facing. He is with you. He will NOT leave you and now is the time to trust in Him. I failed to trust Him at that time, but when I took that step of obedience, God worked in a miraculous way! He will do the same for you. If you simply struggle with a “small sin” just know that the fact that you can identify it, is a great thing and is the first step to your desire to please God. Stay anchored. Keep reading the Word of God to conquer anything. It is my hope that my posts will help with fighting those spiritual battles because God is the one that must receive ALL the glory! Here are the scriptures that I now dote on with passion because of the intensity of the battle I faced. They now are a treasure to me, I hope they bless you today as well. God bless you!

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14

“For the LORD your God is He who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” Deuteronomy 20:4

“Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God Himself will fight for you.” Deuteronomy 3:22