Good morning, all! Father, we are learning to trust you more and more and see that You truly hold the world in Your hands. Help us to see what is good and right and to know Your will for our life. We know we have no stronger advocate for us than You, no greater protector and no greater provider than YOU, Amen. Is there such a thing as a good war? You know something worth fighting for?

Isaiah 42

13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
The Lord is like a strong man on a mission, His passion stirs Him to fight, He makes it well known by the cry of His heart that He will defeat His enemies.

14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, [and] refrained myself: [now] will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.
He has waited a long time without saying anything and left things alone, but it wasn’t easy: NOW He will cry like a woman during childbirth; and remove all evidence of any problem.

15 I will make waste mountains and hills and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
You know that mountain of a problem in your life, I will remove it and those divides I will them dry them up so NOTHING can keep us apart.

16 And I will bring the blind by a way [that] they knew not; I will lead them in paths [that] they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
I will show you the way and will lead you to a place you have not known, you were blinded by darkness, but I will turn it into a light, and what you couldn’t straighten out I will, ALWAYS!

Bottom line

This is a really cool piece of scripture, so what exactly is God trying to tell us? He’s just like a man on a mission, He’s fired up and He’s after our HEART! Is there anyone else you want fighting for your heart? Of course the fight is spiritual, it’s the internal struggle we have finding peace, joy, faith, the kingdom of God.

[Act 14:22 NIV] Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. You’ve heard the expression, anything worth having is worth fighting for? The Kingdom is certainly worth it, we should pursue it with passion and conviction the same way God pursues our heart NOT our intellect. Didn’t God say your weary Me with your words? If I’m honest when I look at my own life there have been obstacles or pursuits that have gotten in my way to finding God and His kingdom, and sometimes the issue is all about my priority…He did say seek FIRST the kingdom…meaning what is your greatest passion in life? And I hope you can see this, as God removes the obstacles or changes our priority He travails for us, He will give birth to a new desire, a new passion, perhaps a new heart. Remember, His word declares a bruised reed He will NOT break and a smoking flax He will NOT quench. We all go through some stuff in life and get dinged up and in that process, we tend to lose a little fire, perhaps our zeal for life itself. But God loves us too much to let us live like that, He goes after us will all the zeal of the kingdom to fan the flame and renew our strength. And why did we go through these obstacles in the first place?

[Job 23:16 KJV] For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me. God Himself is the One that brought the trouble we faced but it was only to soften our heart, if we’re honest our pride leads to a stubborn lifestyle that doesn’t always keep God at the center of our life…instead it’s centered on how I feel.

[Psa 78:8] And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God. You know how we prepare our heart to be faithful to God? BELIEVE we’re called to a life of love and forgiveness. This is the path that God will lead us to, we were blinded by the darkness, but it gets turned into a light. How does dark get turned into a light?

[Amo 3:3 KJV] 3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed? We can’t walk with God until we AGREE with Him, not my will but YOURS be done. Our lives are so much more spiritual than we realize, God’s NOT looking for us to be more like the world He wants us to be more like Him. He will remove all these obstacles that prevent us from His path so we can walk with Him, in unity and peace. Where is God’s path?

[Psa 25:10 NKJV] All the paths of the LORD [are] mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. Did you notice how many of the Lord’s paths are MERCY & TRUTH? ALL…turn the path from dark to light…MERCY for all!

Point to Ponder

Are you man of war? John 18:36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm. We don’t fight with the world but we do fight for the kingdom…for faith…for Jesus…fight to follow Him always.

Let’s win the war by following Jesus, In Him Phil

Faith – Family – Friends