Spiritual Battle (part 3)

As I've been reading through the battles of Joshua, I recognize this truth:  The key to success in spiritual warfare is surrender.  Surrendering to God.  Letting Him have his way.  Submitting to Him means success.  Resistance to His will means failure.  This happens over and over again.

This means, in the spiritual battles today, God's people never manage or manipulate or try to "run" things to ensure success.  If we rely on any human strength, if we rely on our own schemes and plans, we will fail.  Success never comes when we do things with power.  We surrender to God as we surrender to His Word.

So we pray, pray pray.  Tomorrow night we meet for prayer at 6:30.  It's the most important thing we do.  Submitting to God in prayer.  If we want God's Will to triumph in our lives, there is nothing else we can do.

We read from Psalm 119 tonight at Baccalaureate.  As we gathered with our high school soon-to-be graduates and their families, as we wish success for them, we realize that it only comes in submitting to the Lord and His Word.

Here's the Psalm:

⁹⁷ Oh, how I love your law!
    It is my meditation all day long.
⁹⁸ Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
    for it is always with me.
⁹⁹ I have more understanding than all my teachers,
    for your decrees are my meditation.
¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the aged,
    for I keep your precepts.
¹⁰¹ I hold back my feet from every evil way,
    in order to keep your word.
¹⁰² I do not turn away from your ordinances,
    for you have taught me.
¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴ Through your precepts I get understanding;
    therefore I hate every false way.
¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet
    and a light to my path.
¹⁰⁶ I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
    to observe your righteous ordinances.
¹⁰⁷ I am severely afflicted;
    give me life, O Lord, according to your word.
¹⁰⁸ Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord,
    and teach me your ordinances.
¹⁰⁹ I hold my life in my hand continually,
    but I do not forget your law.
¹¹⁰ The wicked have laid a snare for me,
    but I do not stray from your precepts.
¹¹¹ Your decrees are my heritage forever;
    they are the joy of my heart.
¹¹² I incline my heart to perform your statutes
    forever, to the end.

Whether we are high school graduates or older or younger, when we do not conform to God's Word, we fail. We can debate any issue, but we must do so on the basis of God's Word, or we will fail. Success only comes in submission and surrender to the Lord through His Word--the Word as centered and known most clearly in Jesus Christ. I know no other way.

*REMINDER added Thursday, June 3 - "Spiritual Battles" are NEVER against other people.  The main "enemy" is our own fear and anxiety, and our own reactions to those feelings.

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