DEFEATED FOE

Deuteronomy 28:7, Amplified Bible

The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

What enemy are you facing today?  Is it lack?  Is it sickness and disease?  Is it broken relationships?  Is it fear?  Is it doubt and unbelief?  Is it depression?  Is it stress?  Whatever the enemy is, God has already defeated that enemy for you through Jesus Christ.

As we see in this scripture verse in the Old Testament (which, of course, was before Jesus came to this earth to defeat satan and his foes forever), God had already provided for our enemies to be defeated right in front of us.  He assures us that they may come against us in one direction but they will flee before us in seven directions.  I think that is very reassuring.  How much more assurance we should have now.  Jesus rendered satan powerless (Hebrews 2:14,15).  He stripped principalities and powers of their authority (Colossians 2:15).  He destroyed the works of the devil (which would be the enemies that attempt to attack us) (1 John 3:8).  And the Father delivered us from the control of darkness and delivered us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:12-14).

Jesus has already faced defeat for each person on the face of this earth.  He has already defeated satan and his demonic forces.  He, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are One in me to continually enforce that defeat for me personally.  Every day I am victorious because Jesus is my victory.

VICTORY IN JESUS!

SETTLED

The word “settled” is another word we use for the word “establish.”  They are both very strong words of stability.

Here is what the word “settled” means:  station, establish, make to stand, make to stand still or upright, best state.

In God’s Word we see that the word “settled” is used mainly to relate to His Word and our faith.  In Psalm 119:89 we read that God’s Word is forever settled.  It is a forever truth.  It is an unalterable truth forever.  God’s Word is stable and not subject to changing winds.  We are to put no confidence in the world’s words which are unstable, unsettled, subject to change, and in alignment with man’s opinions.  God’s Word is eternal and aligned with God Who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

When you are in trouble and when circumstances seem to overtake you, go to the Word of God.  What does God have to say about it?  When you find out, settle it forever in your heart that is the way it is going to be in your life.  It starts with a decision that God’s Word is true for you.  1 Peter 1:25 and Matthew 24:35 tell us that the Word of God endures forever—-it will not pass away.  When you are holding to God’s Word, it isn’t going anywhere.  It is anchored in the Lord Himself, Who is the unchanging one.  He said it; that settles it forever.

Then we are told in Colossians 1:23 to continue in the faith, grounded and settled (steadfast) and be not moved away from (be not shifting from) the hope of the gospel.  What is the hope of the gospel?  It is the white-hot expectancy of the reality of the good news of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus has won the battle and satan is defeated and stripped of His power.  Jesus gave the power to us as the children of God.

Whatever our circumstances are at the present time, whether they are good or bad, Jesus has given us the power to overcome in this world.  It may not always be pleasant to encounter tough times, but it is glorious to know that we have been given God’s ability to overcome and be victorious.  We must not back down from our trust in God.  He is the One with the answers.

Settle it in your hearts today that Jesus is the One Who will carry you through to the other side.  That is not just fancy talk.  That is reality.  I know because I have been there many times.  It may not always seem like it will work this time, but it always does.  The Word will work for you every time.  You are a victorious child of God.

YOU ARE ESTABLISHED AND SETTLED IN GOD AND HIS WORD FOREVER!

ESTABLISHED, PART 3

Let’s make a good confession about our established hearts, based on 1 Thessalonians 3:12,13.

Lord, make me to increase, excel, and overflow in love for all people:

To the end You may strengthen, confirm and ESTABLISH my heart faultlessly pure and unblamable in holiness in the sight of You Who are God and my Father, at the coming of my Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, with all His saints.

What all of us must do as God’s children is to choose to believe that every word written in this Bible is not only about us, but it is a description of who we are.  We are established.  We have an established heart.  We are healthy.  We are wealthy.  We are successful.  We walk in victory.  Our children are disciples taught of the Lord.  Our marriages are as days of heaven on earth.

We know ourselves too well and look at our weaknesses and shortcomings.  We see the doubt in our minds and the uncertainty in our hearts as human beings.  But what God is asking us to do is this:  Believe, anyway, what His word says about you.  Take a chance and believe it.  It is truer than what you are seeing with your eyes about yourself or think you know inside about yourself.

Dare to believe what God says about you.  It is true.  You have an established heart.  Let God take care of the establishing of your heart for you.  He sees you right now through the eyes of the blood of His Son Jesus Christ as pure and spotless and righteous before Him.  Let’s see ourselves the same way and come into agreement with God.  How can two walk together except they be in agreement.  If we are not in harmony with God, no wonder we are not receiving our prayers answered or problems turned around.  Let’s choose to come into agreement with Him as we study this word “established” now and the word “settled” later.

Come into agreement with God.  You have an established heart.

The established heart is established in the Truth of God’s Word, and in the reality of righteousness.  This is a person who lets all his ways be established and ordered in God.

2 Peter 1:12 tells us that we are to be established in the truth we now hold.  Isaiah 54:14 tells us that we are established in righteousness (right with God, right standing with Him, looking just like Him, full of His nature and walking like Him).  Proverbs 4:26 tells us that we are to let all our ways be established and ordered aright.

Looking at God’s word, we see that we have an established heart; we are established in the truth; we are established in righteousness; our ways are to be established.

I AM ESTABLISHED, FIXED UNALTERABLY, GROUNDED FOREVER, SETTLED PERMANENTLY ON GOD WITHOUT DOUBT OR WAVERING IN MY LIFE!

ESTABLISHED, PART 2

We are still studying the word of God concerning being established.  Let’s look at one more scripture about the established heart.

Psalm 112: 7,8, Amplified Bible

…his heart is firmly fixed, trusting (leaning on and being confident) in the Lord.  His heart is established and steady….

What is an established heart?

According to our definition of the word “established,” the established heart (spirit) is one which is fixed on the truth of God and Who He is.  It is the heart that knows that God will take care of His children.  Nothing alters what we believe about God and His Word.  It is a permanent, settled subject as far as we are concerned.  What is wavering, doubtful or weak has been settled.

How do we get that way?  How do we stand unflinching in the face of contradictory circumstances and problems that linger, in spite of prayer, in spite of confessing the word, in spite of all that we do?  We stand in a stable place when we determine that God and His Word are true in our lives, regardless of what is happening or not happening to us or what appears to being taken care of or what does not appear to be taken care of.  It is our determined purpose to believe that His grace (His ability and His love) is taking care of us.  We can rest in Him and His finished work.  We must believe and know that He has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.  They are ours!  No discussion about it.  It is a settled subject.  He alone is our rock and unchanging God.  That is our unchanging decision.  Our attitude is one of sticking to that decision when it is challenged time after time after time.

You and I are established in many things in the earthly realm.  Simple things are established, such as the belief that the sun is going to come up tomorrow and go down today.  The sky is up over us.  It will rain or snow at some point.  We get hungry and thirsty.  We breathe oxygen.  Our car will start when we turn the ignition.  The chair will hold us when we sit on it.  The door will open when we put the key in it.  These are established facts in our lives.  They are something we are sure of.

But what about the established facts that are conditional?  We still have certain earthly facts established in our minds, regardless of what happens.  We believe we will have food to eat when we are hungry.  We believe we will have water to drink when we are thirsty.  We believe we will get up in the morning and have a good day.  We believe we will go to work and come home.  We believe we will have a paycheck when we work.  These are all conditional facts, but we still expect these things to happen for us regardless of what someone may tell us or what we see.  We still believe.  How much more should we believe the unchanging God with His unchanging truth!

In God’s realm, we must establish ourselves on His grace and His goodness much more so than the earthly facts that we have already established in our minds.  They are practiced beliefs.  Let’s establish our belief system in the truth of God’s Word of assurance to us.  We must see God as the One Who takes care of all things for us.  That is the definition of an established heart.

MY HEART IS ESTABLISHED IN GOD AND HIS WORD.