Armed and Dangerous
Do you ever feel like the power of God is just not evident anymore? Do you feel like God has taken His hand off you and that you are just lifeless? Praise God for Jesus and His great lovingkindness and the security that we have in God’s grace. But what about the continued disobedience that we see and sometimes experience in our own lives. It kind of shakes you at your core. In Isaiah 54 We see that God is restoring His relationship with the children of Israel and that He is once again giving them another chance to make things right with their obedience to Him. In verse 8 Isaiah writes ““In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the Lord your Redeemer.” God was so angry with the children of Israel for their disobedience. In the midst of God favoring them in everything they did they turned their hearts to other things…other gods. It is not good to turn your back on the very one who gives you life and sustains that life in you!! In verse 9 Isaiah writes “For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah Would not flood the earth again; So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you.”
God is reaching out with His great love and patience to His people and promises His Spirit will dwell with them again. God even sets them up militarily for any foe coming their way and prepares generations to come for the onslaught of the evil one. He is preparing them now and for in the future and His great lovingkindness is empowering them to be great again. Then through Isaiah God throws down the big promise in verse 17 “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.”
The difference between the children of Israel at that moment in time and us is they were fighting physical battles against real armies to keep their identity. God would go out before them and equip them to fight these battles as He does even today. His great promise in verse 17 still works today and we see it in real time when we see how He is protecting His people Israel. Our battles are also fought by God through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. The difference with that battle is that the victory was for eternity and the only one involved in the physical part of that battle was Jesus, when He was scourged and beaten, and nailed to the cross. But in the reality the physical part of that battle was not where our eternal victory came from. It was the spiritual war that Jesus won that made the eternal difference for all who come to know Him. 1 Corinthians 15:20-26 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in [a]Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
The battle has been won and through Christ we are victorious. End of story, right? Not so my quick my friend. We live on this earth as “people out of place.” Our home is heaven now that we have been given eternal life through Jesus Christ, but we still have to live and function here. Paul knew first hand about this battle and stated where this battle is fought in Ephesians 6:12 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” The great thing about this battle is that God is fighting it for us and with us through the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is in each of us making us “Armed and Dangerous.”
So, the next time you feel overwhelmed in a situation in your life, immediately turn to your power source, Jesus Christ, and He will give you overcoming power to handle any situation that comes your way. Romans 8:31 and 37 says, “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” That is strength in numbers and the number we rely on is ONE and He is God. We are armed with the Holy Spirit Power and dangerous to the evil one at every turn. In Isaiah we read about God giving them another chance and arming them for battle against all foes. Through Jesus we have been given eternal grace and armed with the power of the Holy Spirit to fight the battles in life. Time to take up arms and become satan’s worse nightmare. Time to be ARMED AND DANGEROUS!! Maybe this verse will help you realize what our battle raiment looks like Ephesians 6:15-17 “15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 [a]in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The Pilgrimage continues…
David Warren