7.12.9 "Your Fight, or God's?"

"Your Fight, or God's?"

I Chronicles 12:19 - 14:17
Romans 1:1-17
Psalm 9:13-20
Proverbs 19:4-5

It isn't news to anyone that there are battles out there. What does tend to surprise many is that battles come even in the path of obedience. "Wait a minute! I'm doing what God want me to do! Why is the enemy attacking?"

In 1 Chronicles 14 we're reading of David. He as now become king, and good things are happening. There is celebration, new palaces built, and verse 2 says, "David now realized why the Lord had made him king and why he had made his kingdom so great; it was for a special reason -- to give joy to God's people!" I like the way David understood it wasn't about him.

But in verse 8, the first challenge comes up. "When the Philistines heard that David was Israel's new king, they mobilized their forces to capture him..." David has an army of over 350,000 men who are completely devoted to him at this time. They had all gathered to bring David from Hebron to make David king. So David calls them together in reaction to the Philistines.

Then "David asked the Lord, 'If I go out and fight them, will you give me the victory?' and the Lord replied, 'Yes, I will.' So he attacked them..."

This small, seemingly unimportant portion of scripture contains the key to life. Oh, it's not all rosy from there on out. Two verses later, "Later the Philistines raided the valley again..." The troubles/trials/tests show up again, "and again David asked God what to do."

This time, the Lord gives David a different approach to attacking the enemy. in verse 16, "So David did as the Lord commanded him; and he cut down the army of the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer. David's fame spread everywhere, and the Lord caused all the nations to fear him."

One of my favorite studies is Bruce Wilkinson's Vision of the Leader. It's a study of Nehemiah and his pursuit of God's plan for rebuilding the wall. One section is about "traffic signals" to pursuing God's vision for our lives. It's a series of checks along the way to determine if the timing is right to do what God has placed on our heart.

One of the major signs as to whether we should move ahead or not is related to how dependent on God we are. Do we find ourselves devoted to prayer, or do we find ourselves moving ahead in our own strength? One thing Bruce said was, "you may not even notice it happening, but there's a small fork in the road and you veer slightly off course when you cease to depend on God for every step. Yes, you're still moving in the right direction, but now it's become your vision, and not God's."

The same can happen with our battles. We know that God won it before when we did "A, B & C", so we do "A,B & C" without inquiring of the Lord.

The principle behind the Dynamic Lifestyle of Worship is Obedience. To Live the DREAM, this pattern must be a regular and consistent part of our life.
1. Recognize trial/test/trouble
2. Inquire of the Lord
3. Receive instruction
4. Obey it.

Making this a LIFESTYLE is so important. What can happen so many times is that we do this for a couple situations, and God comes through. Then we think..."the last time this happened, I did this, so I'll do it again." We then skip over what David did in verse 14 when he AGAIN asks God what to do. Look at how well skipping that step works: Moses hit the rock the first time, but the second time was told to speak to it. He hit it... The result was he could not enter the Promised Land. Samson said "I'll go out as before..." He did not even realize the Spirit had left him.

It is so important that we develop a habit of checking in with God through every moment of every day. "What would you have me to do?" That is so easy! The more you discipline yourself to walk in this lifestyle of worship, the more you recognize the voice of God, and some incredible victories become a way of life.

No, it's not always a quick "road to success", but when you realize it's not about you, life becomes a wonderful adventure.

While, many people say they find it difficult to "get into" praise and worship, when you live a life of obedience, you can't help but rejoice in what God has done. There are those who view the Sunday worship service as a place to come so they can "get through the next week". This is not the Lord's intention. When God's people are in the habit of seeking him & walking in obedience the worship service becomes a celebration of what God has done in the past week as His people have walked in obedience & experienced incredible victories.

Just a reminder today to Inquire of the Lord, and Obey His direction.



Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

P Greg


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