Ecclesiastes 4:12: A triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

During each election year we’re reminded that there is power in unity or agreement. The more people walk in agreement, the more confidence they’ll have that their endeavor will be successful. If this is true in the natural, how much greater do you suppose it is in the spiritual? Paul teaches us in Ephesians 6 that we do not wrestle with humans, but with spirits. Think about this for one moment. Most of your battles in the natural everyday life are with spirits and not with a person in your life. Therefore, we must learn how to fight our battles with the mind of Christ and not with our carnal mind. Our carnal mind only has the ability to see things as they appear, but the mind of Christ—addressing conflicts and storms the way Christ did—will give us the ability to see trials as spiritual battles. Too many Christians lose battles in the natural realm because they fight them in their own fleshly abilities and not by their faith in God’s Word or His will.

Jesus had many opportunities to do things according to what His flesh would have demanded of Him, but each and every time He chose to obey the Father’s will. Take, for instance, the time when Jesus was being tempted by Satan to turn the stones into bread. Was this a natural hunger or was this a spiritual battle? It was a spiritual battle between God’s will and Satan’s will, and Jesus had to make the decision. He chose to honor God and not His carnal desire to eat bread, even though He was hungry from the 40 day fast. He used the Word of God to overcome the conflict with Satan, and He defeated Satan’s plan through the Word. You have a choice today, you can either fight the enemy of your soul with your flesh nature and win sometimes or you can choose to fight the enemy with the Word of God and overcome all the time. Remember, Paul tells us in Romans 8 that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

When you face difficult trials that want to test your faith about God’s love for you, simply go to the Bible and find as many promises as you can on God’s love and faithfulness to His people and begin standing on those truths. Here’s a point worth mentioning: I’ve used the term “stand on the Word” a couple of times; did you catch that in the previous paragraphs? When you wrestle in the flesh, you’re the one who has to do the fighting, but when you go to God and His Word, you cease fighting and begin standing and God takes the battle from you. When the children of Israel were at the Red Sea, they thought it was all over for them. In fear, they turned to Moses and complained. God told Moses to tell the people, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord today.You will hold your peace and the Lord will fight for you.” Once Moses invited God into the battle, all the children had to do was stand still and watch God deliver them.

If you’re like me, you’re faced with many challenges that threaten your livelihood and peace of mind. Here are three passages of Scripture on which you can stand and resist fighting in your own ability.

“God is with us.” Matthew 19:26: Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

“God is for us.” Romans 8:31: If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

“The battle belongs to God.” 2 Chronicles 20:15: Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.  —submitted by Pastor Asa Dockery, US