Uncomfortable Preparation

In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth.  He flung the stars in the sky, He made the ground and stuff grows out of it.  He put animals on the ground and made rain fall to keep the animals and the plants fed.  God even went as far as to give us a way to know when it was night time and when it was day time.  You could say that He gave us signs to tell us when to rest and when to work (different sermon for a different time).  Then in the culmination of his 6 day process He made His greatest creation: Man.

 The point is that He PREPARED everything for the thing that He set out to do.  Even the distance from the sun was set to the minute detail.  He had a plan, a list of things that He wanted to accomplish.  He sowed, He tended, and He helped along the process of His plan.

Consider a professional football player.  There are 168 hours in a week. How many do they spend playing a game? 4   They do not even spend 2.5% of their time in a week in competition.  What do they do with the rest of their time?  They are preparing for their next “battle”.

 That’s interesting!  It seems like God wouldn’t ask us to do something that He, Himself is not prepared to do first.  Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get down to the meat of this.  Joshua thought that the children of Israel were prepared to do battle.  (Ch. 7:10-13)  The Israelites were defeated at the hands of the army of Ai.  Joshua goes to the Lord in prayer asking what happened.  God tells Joshua that people have taken things that were cursed and were keeping it for themselves.  Basically, God says, “It’s not my fault.  Someone did EXACTLY what I told them not to do. That is why you lost the battle.  Go and fix it, and you will win your next fight with them.”

What cursed things are we trying to hold on to that may be affecting how our warfare is going?  WARNING: if what I say rubs you the wrong way, turn around and it’ll rub you the right way.  I am not here to bring condemnation, but help others on the way to the best kind of life.  That being said, have you gotten rid of the old mindsets that put you into the old messes?  Let’s get a little more personal, have you removed the vampire novels and demonic electronic entertainment (DVD’s, video games, etc) from your home.  You may say, “But it’s just entertainment!”  Yeah, well the ONE GUY who committed the crime took a wedge of gold, shekels of silver, and a Babylonian garment.  It was “just money and clothing that the previous owner couldn’t use because they were dead”.  What ungodly things are we setting up as idols because we think we know better than God about what they are doing to us?  My wife and I had to get rid of quite a bit of stuff before our house was cleansed.  This is not something that I didn’t do myself.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t have nice things.  I am all for that.  However, if it takes you away from God,

#1 It’s an idol

#2 It’s a tool in the hands of the enemy



We have to spend more time preparing for battle.  We have lost our fight!  There is nothing more depressing than a fighter that steps on the battle field and has no fight in them. Actually, It’s downright pitiful, uncomfortable to watch even. I encourage you, FAST, PRAY, READ YOUR BIBLE!  Those 3 are the simplest, not necessarily the easiest, ways you can fight.  Other ways you can fight is by…are you ready for it…it might sting a little bit…WORSHIP.  Turn you on some music that glorifies God (Jesus Culture, Kim Walker-Smith are my personal favorites) and tell Him that He’s awesome and you love Him.  Throw some gratitude in there.  When you pray, and you don’t know what to say, just say Jesus, because there is power in the name of Jesus.  There has to be some power in it for the demons to tremble and every knee to bow to it.  If you do not know where to start with any of this stuff, find someone in your church body that you look up to.  You can think of them as a mentor.  Let them show you how it’s done by their example.



We have to prepare ourselves better, keep the fight going once we leave our homes/church building, and when someone asks you what’s different about you, all you have to say is that Mighty Name: JESUS



I bless you to know that you serve a God that believes more in you than you do in Him, that He has called YOU to be a light to the world and lead them to the best kind of life, and finally that He will give you whatever you need for this fight that we are in as long as you give HIM the glory.



Grace and Peace be on you ALWAYS!!!!