If you’re not experiencing triumph over problems and living a life beyond limitations, it’s important that you understand that God wants to answer your prayers. He wants to renew your mind with His word and change your mind for the better, thinking His thoughts and walking in His ways. He wants you to learn to fight the good fight of faith.
1st Timothy 6:12 says, “Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Paul wrote this in a letter to Timothy, his son in the faith and fellow preacher of the gospel. By the Spirit of God he was urging Timothy (and you and I today) to fight the good fight of faith.
Notice that Paul called it a “good” fight of faith. The fight of faith is a good fight because it’s a fight we always win! When you walk by faith in God’s Word, you are guaranteed to win in life’s struggles and challenges. Real faith, Bible faith, always ends in the realization of victory, leaving defeat and despair in its dust!
You might ask, “Well, that sounds too good to be true. Aren’t you afraid of giving people too much hope?”
No! God said that He would always cause us to triumph in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14). He also said that the just shall live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17). Therefore we can fight the good fight of faith and obtain or appropriate the victory that Christ won for us in redemption. God’s Word is good and it is true! He holds out hope to us in His Word; we only have to take hold of it.
Now, I never said that walking by faith would be easy. I didn’t say it would not take any effort on our part. Paul called it the good fight of faith. This fight is a part of faith. Too many folks want to fight with other people, but the Bible says that our fight is not with flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). Our fight is to stand our ground against the fear, doubt, and unbelief of Satan and the world, and to believe, say, and do God’s Word so that we will experience victory over life’s trials.
I just said three things about the good fight of faith. 1. believing, 2. saying, 3. doing.. To walk by faith successfully, you have to do those three things. You must believe God’s word; you must say God’s word; and you must do or act upon God’s word.
BELIEVE
Staying positive in a negative world will require that you continually fight to believe the Word, because the enemy will steal the Word from you if he can. He will come at you through thoughts to try to get you into doubt and unbelief concerning God’s Word. In the Garden of Eden, the enemy tempted Eve to disobey God by saying, “Has God really said that you must not eat of that tree?” (Genesis 3:1).
The enemy can even use others to steal the Word of God from your heart if you allow them. For example, much of modern theology tries to do away with the supernatural, saying, “Those things are not for us today. Those experiences were for a day gone by.”
Others will say, “Well, yes, I believe God wants us to bless us, but we won’t get those blessing until the sweet by and by.”
How sad that these dear hearts haven’t understood Hebrews 13:8, which says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” You can’t get much plainer than that! Jesus is the same Jesus today that He’s always been, and He will continue to be the same forever!
Then in Malachi 3:6, God said, “I the Lord do not change.” God is unchanging, and His Word is unchanging. God’s Word is a Rock that we can stand on forever! IT will hold us up when nothing else will. To those who believe, God’s Word is His power unto salvation (Romans 1:16).
We still have to fight the good fight to hold on the what we believe. To do that, we will need to feed and meditate upon the Word of God continually until it is so strong in us that nothing can move us from it; no one can talk us out of it. No circumstance can shake us, because we’re holding on to the Rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God!
SEEING AS GOD SEES
See yourself well. See yourself doing what you couldn’t do before. For example, if you’re a minister of the gospel and you’re facing a challenge in your body, see yourself well, ministering to others. IF you’re an evangelist see yourself preaching to thousands and winning multitudes to Christ.
If you’re a school teacher, see yourself as a gifted teacher. IF you’re in the medical profession, see yourself caring for patients with great skill and compassion.
As we take hold of God’s word with our heart, we should begin to see ourselves with the same manifestation of that word in our lives. We should envision our answer coming to pass. With the eyes of our spirit, we should see it as done.
At this time you may not have a penny to your name, but when the revelation of divine prosperity dawns on your, you will see yourself with plenty of money to meet your needs and the needs of others. You will see yourself with money in your pocket.
I’m not just talking about positive thinking or mental power. I’m talking about believing in the power of God’s Word. I’m talking about being fully persuaded that what He promised, He is able to perform (Romans 4:21).. Jesus said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” (Mark 9:23).
Our minds—our natural human reasoning—will fight us every step of the way as we fight to believe everything that Christ did for us in His death, burial and resurrection. Many have not fully grasped the reality of redemption. How do I know that? If they fully grasped the truth of what God did for them in Christ, they would be appropriating and experiencing more of His blessings and benefits. They would be living life beyond limitations.
THE ‘REST’ OF FAITH
We know that in the midst of a world of negativism and despair, we sometimes find ourselves facing some hard work. A fight is a struggle wouldn’t you agree? The Bible talks about laboring to enter into the “rest” of faith (Hebrews 4:11).
What is the “rest” of faith? When you’re walking by faith, you have peace in your heart as you rest upon the promises of God. You are fully persuaded that what God promised, He is able and willing to perform (Romans 4:21). You can rest, because you know the final outcome. You have “inside information”—information insides God’s Word! You are assured that God is at work in your situation and in your life, and there is a peacefulness about you that passes human understanding (Philippians 4:7).
In fact, others will wonder how you’re able to have such peace and joy in the midst of your storm. It’s because you’re fighting the good fight of faith—you’re laboring to believe, say, and do the Word of God, and you’re entering the “rest” of faith.
SAYING
The second aspect of the good fight of faith is saying. We must fight to continually say what the Word says instead of talking about our problems and circumstances. Some will try to tell you, “It’s not right to confess the Bible. That it is not traditional Christianity.”
But there isn’t anything more traditional in Christianity than saying what the Bible says! If you’re a Christian, you had to believe and say what the Bible says so that you could be saved. You had to believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and you had to confess, or say, that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9). So you see, Bible based confession is traditional Christianity. In fact, Christianity has often been called The Great Confession.
The Bible is God’s Word, and God and His Word are one. The Bible is God speaking to us. We need to continually say what God says. We will experience great victories in life if we do.
WHERE GOD’S WORD IS CONCERNED, DO NO KEEP QUIET!
You should never face the enemy, your trials, or your problems with your mouth shut. Instead, you should confront them and maintain the bold confession, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21) “By Jesus’ stripes, I was and am healed” (Isaiah 53:5; 1st Peter 2:24) “God meets all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19) “I am more than a conqueror through Him who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Romans 8:37) “By the blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus, I overcome” (Revelation 12:11).
It’s important to not only say what the Bible says, but also to maintain your confession. No matter what the obstacle, test, or trial, it’s vital to maintain your confession! No matter who or what tells you to stop confessing God’s Word, do not keep quiet!
If blind Bartimaeus had been quiet as he sat there by the road where Jesus was passing, he would not have received his sight. But he cried out, “JESUS, Have mercy on me!”
Others said, “Be quiet!” But Bartimaeus cried louder, “JESUS, Have mercy on me!” When others tried to stop him, he said in a sense, “Jesus is my answer, and I will not be denied!
The patter of “believing and saying” is not man’s idea. This is clearly God’s pattern’ it’s how He created the world to begin with (Hebrews 11:3). God said, “Let there be….and there was!”
The Bible says that we are created in the likeness of God and that we should imitate Him “ as dear children” (Genesis 1:26; Ephesians 5:1). Therefore, we should imitate this patter of believing and saying in our own lives. Does God believe His own words? Of course! God believes that what He says will come to pass. So what should we believe and say? Exactly what God says in His Word.
JESUS—THE WILL OF GOD IN ACTION
In His earth walk, Jesus was the will of God in action. He said, “He that has seen Me has see the Father” (John 14:9). And Jesus demonstrated this same pattern of believing and saying.
Mark 11:12-14 “And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, no man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
Verse 20-24 “And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up form the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, master, behold the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith..”
These verses clearly show us that our God uses the same spiritual principle—to believe and say. The man and woman of God should do the same to not limit God in their lives.
Notice Mark 11:23 that some form of the word “say” is found three times in connection with Jesus’ teaches, and the word “Believe” is there only once. That tells us that we need to emphasize the saying part of the good fight of faith.
DOING
The third aspect of the good fight of faith is doing. Some people are confused about what it means to act on the Word of God. Simply translated, it means to act like the Bible is so—because it is!
What would you do if the battle you’re facing were already won—if you saw the answer manifest before your very eyes? How would you react? Let’s say you were on a TV game show. Suppose in our “supposing” that you won the game and went to the “bonus” round and won the grand prize. Your total winnings are several thousand dollars and some great packages of prizes!
You would most likely bet at least a little excited. You would probably jump, shout, scream or hug the emcee. Then your family member would run up from the audience to the stage to congratulate you and hug you.
Through Christ, we have won much more than money or prizes. We have won eternal life! We have won fellowship and companionship with the Father and His Son the Savior. We’ve won help in time of need. We’ve won health and prosperity!
OUR ROD OF AUTHORITY
In Exodus, we can read about the great host of God’s people fleeing Egypt’s bondage under Moses. Helpless and distressed as slaves to Pharaoh, they were supernaturally delivered from Egypt by the hand of God.
After ten curses that plagued Egypt, including the death of all the firstborn, Pharaoh finally relented and set the people free. Then they came to the Red Sea. After he let the Israelite slaves go, Pharaoh’s heart became hardened and he took off with his army in pursuit of the newly freed Israelites. With the Red Sea in front of them, and the Egyptians in hot pursuit behind them, the Israelites had no where to go!
Moses cried out to God and God said, “Why are you crying to be? Tell the people to go forward!”
Moses obeyed and stretched for his rod and the sea parted and they walked across on dry ground. (Exodus 14:5-31).
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you were “between a rock and a hard place?” Moses found himself in that position. He cried to God to do something, and God replied, “You do something!”
You may be between the enemy and the sea in whatever you’re facing. God is saying to you, “stretch forth thy rod and go forward!’
Moses’ rod was a symbol of God’s spoken word. Today, the rod is our speaking forth the revelation of God’s word that is in our heart. We don’t have a literal rod to stretch out over our problem, but we do have the Word of God. we don’t have a rod in our hand, but we do have the Word in our mouth.
Romans 10:8 says, “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.”
Moses’ rod was a rod of authority. We as believing have been given spiritual authority. The Lord Jesus Christ gave us our authority (Luke 10:19). We have been authorized to use His name and His word of power over all the power of the enemy! We have commanding power over what the enemy tries to do in our lives.
Yet many will cry, “I need someone to pray for me. The devil has been after me.”
The Bible does not say you should have someone else pray that the devil will stop attacking you. It says “. . . resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
We don’t have to live our life” down and out.” Jesus won the victory, and He won the ability for us to say in the midst of every trial, “Thanks be to God who always give me the victory!”
Don’t take the attitude that you’re going to wait until you see your answer before you start believing. Start right now believing that God’s word is true. Start saying right now, “In Christ, I’m a winner.” Start acting victorious, because that’s how God sees you.
The devil will try to keep you in the arena of the senses and human reasoning. He will even try to accuse you of past mistakes and wrongdoing to try to condemn you and weaken your faith.
You’re going to have to stand your ground against him. You’re going to have to fight to believe God’s Word and to hold on to your beliefs. You’re going to have to fight to say continually what the word says. In the midst of turmoil, you’re going to have to say, “Yes, devil, I know what I did, but I’ve been forgiven! Christ has delivered me and I’m going to stay free in the name of Jesus!
God is a God of victory and triumph. God is good all the time. He has designed you for success. He created you to triumph over trials and live beyond limitations. HE created you to live in a positive environment.
“But I don’t feel very victorious,” you may say. Thank God that you don’t have to rely on feelings to know whether you’re victorious or not. You can determine in your heart: “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.” You can rely on the faithfulness of God and His love for you. You can say with Paul, “Nothing can separate me from the love of my limitless God” (Romans 8:29) “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). You can “believe, say, and do” your way to victory!
