The Quest For Truth

If we want to move from faith to faith and from perfection to perfection, we have to open up ourselves to the surgery of God on our lives. The imperfections that we have have to be carefully cut by the divine knife of God. So we need to have an attitude where God is free to work in us. We have to open up ourselves and surrender ourselves to the hands of God to do whatever He sees fit. When we do this God arranges situations in our lives to perfect us and bring us to maturity. We have to see the hand of God in every situation whether good or bad. Nothing comes to us unless it is allowed by God Himself. And all things are for our good and for His glory. During times of trial we need to search the word of God and respond accordingly. We need to seek godly counsel and we need to accept whatever God is trying to teach us even though it may be painful. As you surrender and become quite, God Himself will speak to you through His Holy Spirit and will guide you.

So many times we think that we need to struggle to overcome our environment and our surroundings. We feel that the day will come when we will overcome. But that is not what we are supposed to believe. Jesus said, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” That means that we too have overcome the world through Christ. Because He lives in us we share in His victory. We have to accept this blessed fact by faith. Praise God that you have overcome the world. It may not seem to be true but nevertheless God’s word stands. As you apply faith this fact will become clearer to you and you will enjoy the victory of Christ over the world. Now we don’t need to fight to overcome the world. We put on the whole armor of God to withstand the enemy and stand on our ground as victors over the world and over every circumstance that comes against us.

The Christian life is not a fight to overcome any foe or enemy. It is not a struggle wherein the victory lies in the future. Our fight is a fight to hold the ground that Christ won for us on the cross. The victory has already been won and now our job is to maintain that victory at any cost. So before we start out to wrestle the enemy we have to find out what is the ground that we are supposed to hold. The victory that we have to hold on to is the finished work of Christ on the cross. We have to realize our new identity as Christians. We are now saints. We are righteous in Christ. We are more than conquerors. Because Christ has overcome the world we also have overcome the world. Sin, disease and sickeness are now underneath us. We have to accept these things by faith because the Bible says that the just shall live by faith. It is by accepting these things by faith that we position ourselves to fight the enemy. We should not look at our experiences but rather substantiate the victory of Christ in our life by faith. The experiences will change as we keep on applying faith. So realize that you don’t need to conquer to become a conqueror. You are already a conqueror and a king and priest in the sight of God because of what Christ accomplished for you. So take up your weapons and fight to hold the ground that Christ has won for you.

The Christian life is a life of rest but at the same time it is also a life of fighting. We have to fight the good fight of faith and the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. But in all these we depend on the Spirit to lead us in the battle. We fight and we win because we fight from the standpoint of rest in the victory of Christ. We can handle the pressures and the trials of life because in the inner man God supplies us the strength. There is a strength that is not natural to the people of the world because we are resting in Christ. They think that they can break us but God steps into the situation when we are thrown into the fire. The greater the battle the closer God becomes to us. In the midst of our darkest moments we can rest assure that God is there waiting to reveal His glory in us. Nothing can shake us because we do not fight with human strength. We fight our battles with faith knowing that the victory is ours for we cannot fail when God is with us. The most common mistake that Christians make is that they think they have to fight the battle with their own resources and strength. But the moment we look at ourselves we will fail. We have to fight the battle with not only faith but also patience. We have to rest in faith and wait for the Spirit of God to move us. Through practice we will come to the place where we make fewer mistakes and hit the mark more often. With each victory our confidence in the leading of the Spirit will increase and we will start fighting the good fight of faith at higher levels. As you move from resting to fighting be prepared to suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Recognise the hand of God in allowing every difficulty and trouble in your path to perfect you and make you pure as gold. Those people whom you cannot handle have been allowed into your life to perfect you. They are there to sharpen your rough edges. Don’t move into the flesh and try to handle the situation in your own strength. Search the scriptures, seek the mind of God and apply what you learn in those difficult situations and God will give you wisdom. But as long as you move in the flesh and lash out and take matters into your own hands, you will not accomplish the will of God in your life. We have to fight with the wisdom of God and the leading of the Spirit. We are more than conquerors because even death cannot defeat us. The very hairs of our heads have been numbered so that the enemy cannot touch us unless God permits. And whatever God permits will be for His glory and for the advancement of His church and kingdom so that His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The life of a Christian is joy and peace and strength from the Lord. But there is another side to it and that is struggle in the Spirit. God is a progressive God and so, He is always on the move. If we want to move with God we have to be ready to live a life of exploits and overcoming. This brings us to the struggle we are talking about. It is not a struggle of the flesh but divinely inspired struggle. We have to be continuously moving in the inner man even though at times it might be at a snail’s pace. The journey is a lifelong struggle to bring the will of God on this earth. It is a struggle for freedom in the lives of people and for justice, righteousness and the character of God to be displayed in our lives. But in all this struggle there is the power of God which moves us. We are struggling not in our own strength but in the strength of God. It is a struggle to move to newer heights and conquer more ground for the Kingdom of God. The struggle is real because the opposition is real. We are wrestling with the powers of darkness, with principalities and powers and rulers of the other world. But each victory brings us closer to the finish line and finally we will be able to say like the Apostle Paul that we have finished the race, we have kept the faith and now there is a crown waiting for us.

The sure sign of a healthy spiritual life is calmness in the inner man. We have to refuse to be moved by the flesh and instead move by the Spirit. How do we know when we are moving in the flesh and in the Spirit? When we move in the flesh there is usually a struggle and uneasiness in what we are doing. We have to make an effort to do anything. This is living in the flesh. When we are moving in the Spirit, there is a freedom and we soar like an eagle. We accomplish more and do more. We know in our inner man that we are at rest. The temptation to most of us is to move in the flesh and do something for God. So we move prematurely, like Moses did when he killed the Egyptian or like Abraham did by bringing Ishamel into this world who was the son of the flesh as the Apostle Paul said. When we feel like nothing is happening, we have to remain still and wait for the strength of God to move us. How do we know all this? You will know because the Spirit of God resides in you and He will teach you all things. You will have to learn to trust the leading of the Spirit in the inner man. We might make mistakes but we will learn from them. We have to refuse to do anything in the flesh and in our own strength even though it might be a good thing and the most logical thing to do at that moment. God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than ours. So, learn to move in the Spirit and you will have peace in the inner man. There will be a sweet calm that covers your life. Mountains will be removed and nothing shall move you for you have learned to trust God in everything. You will have the calmness of God that comes as a result of faith and trust in Him and refusing to move in the flesh.