Fighting – Godly Style

Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

At the park, there were two young children playing in the sandbox. They decided that they both wanted to play with the same truck. They began to fight over it until the mothers intervened. Fact: kids fight with no training needed.

I was driving down the highway watching one car dangerously tailgating another. One car pulled alongside the other. Soon, not-so-nice gestures flew and not-so-nice words were mouthed to each other. Fact: adults fight with no training needed.

John and Ted each managers, ran separate departments within their place of work. The company had been expanding and adding people. Consequently, office space was at a premium. An office had opened up and both John and Ted wanted it for one of their employees. They tried to talk it over and persuade each other to give it up, but to no avail. Instead they went and fought about it with their boss. Fact: employees fight with no training needed.

Mary was preparing dinner and it would soon be ready. She called out to the backyard to tell her husband Tom that dinner would be ready in 10 minutes. Twenty minutes later Tom came in. Mary was steaming mad because he was late. That she seemed so inflexible made Tom even madder. They fought and couldn’t even remember what dinner tasted like. Fact: couples fight with no training needed.

You know this is true; people fight and they need no training to do so. It’s instinctive – something we do naturally. This instinct was designed and embedded in our DNA by God to be harnessed as a source of power to survive and glorify God. God knew that we ultimately would have to live in this dark, sin-infected world and desired that we not be swallowed up by it, but instead live victoriously and Christ-like. We may have been made to fight, but not with each other. That is where we need to saddle this stallion and make our instinct to survive and fight, work for us.

God teaches us in 1 Tim 6:12 not to fight each other but instead, to “Fight the good fight of faith…” God teaches us who NOT to fight with in Eph 6:12. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”

We learn that we aren’t to fight people. We are to fight or resist and rebuke the demonic forces behind the scenes that try to create strife and division in our life. God brings blessing to us through our faith in Jesus, through relationships, through increased resources, and more. We are to stop the enemy of our soul from stealing those blessings from God. People have often been taught that bad things happen in their life with God’s permission. That comes from a wrong interpretation of Job’s plight. Jesus made it clear in John 10:10 (NKJV) that He is the blesser and the devil is the thief! “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

The good fight of faith is fighting the devil. The good fight is standing strong for God! That is what the Apostle Paul did through prayer, through the profession of his mouth, and by taking authority over the devil. He finished his life saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:7)

You have the instincts to fight. I showed that in the beginning. You were made to survive and fight for what is yours. But, you weren’t made to fight people. You weren’t made to be selfish. You weren’t made to be a jerk. You weren’t made to be lustful or covetous. But you were made to stand up for what is right!

So how do you fight? Start by learning to first take authority over Satan when something is going wrong. Don’t get mad at people. Get mad at him. Know that he is hiding behind the curtain trying to stir people up against..333 each other. Deal with him first. Rebuke him and kick him out of your situation through prayer in Jesus name. Then take it to the Father and ask Him to help bring a resolve. Not everything always goes well. You may be fighting a godly fight while someone else is fighting as people do – with each other! Regardless, you just do what is right!

Fight an issue at a time and look for the promise of God that speaks to your situation and pray it in faith leaning on God. For those of you that do pray in tongues, know that praying in tongues releases the power of God and helps pave and smooth roads in ways you won’t know about. Romans 12:27 says, “For we do not always know how to pray as we should, but the Holy Spirit personally makes intercession personally makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

Learn to fight God’s way. Let the Holy Spirit be your trainer and in your corner to lead you. He’ll lead you in more victories through prayer and the authority of God’s word than you every thought possible.

James 4:7 (NIV) “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”

In His Love, Pastor Tim Burt