Essentials

David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” [I Samuel 17.45-47]

If only we could face our adversaries with such confidence and passion! If only we could stand against the threat of defeat with such assurance!

I believe we can take David's words here, modify them to fit our own situation in life, and engage in some battles of our own. Or not! Of course, it would be much easier just to accept defeat and blame God for it...

Now for the essentials...

Jesus continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I Am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.” [John 8.23-24]

Above and below. Good and evil. The difference is found is one and only one primary criteria... believing that Jesus is Who He said He is - faith. Everything else is secondary.

I wish we could get this into our heads and hearts! I wish we could start each and every day of our lives with a grateful heart for Jesus. I wish we could remember in every circumstance that because He is Who He said He is, and because we believe He is Who He said He is, that we are then fully associated with, and vested in, the same power that raised Him from that tomb!

Faith.

Father, I believe!