You are not a winner in the Christian race by just being smart or intelligent. The fact is that you are not smarter or more intelligent than others around you, even if you think you are:
“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”
I Corinthians 1:25-29 NKJV
You see it’s not your ability to finish the Christian race that makes you a winner. Being a winner in Christ Jesus has everything to do with doing exactly what God tells you to do always.
You do it even if it doesn’t make common sense to you, because winning with God doesn’t and will never make common sense.
King Solomon said:
“I returned and saw under the sun that—
The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill.
But time and chance happen to them all”.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 NKJV
God is the creator of times, seasons and chances. It’s by doing what He tells you to do at all times and seasons, that you position yourself to win through the opportunities, which are being brought before you by obeying Him.
And it’s very important to be careful not to lose your focus in the Christian race that’s before you. The devil has so many distractions for you that are specifically designed, to take you away from running the race which God, the Father has set before you.
Some Christians are already being distracted by the things going on around them. Things like the pleasures of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are distractions from the enemy, to make you lose focus on the race before you.
Being rich is not evil, but it is what people do with the riches that makes them evil. Be very careful about how you handle wealth.
God made you rich, primarily so that you can become a bigger winner of His Kingdom by spreading His prosperity to the end of the earth. He wants you to use those riches in spreading the blessing of Abraham to the poor and vulnerable believers in Christ Jesus, who are being held in bondage by the enemy in doing what God had told them to do.
This is for the perpetuation of the blessing of Abraham. And as the seed of Abraham by faith in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham is being spread by you to the end of the earth, if you are doing this (Genesis 12:3).
Do not fear! God is with you!
The evil one has many hindrances to your faith. Fear is his major weapon. Don’t allow him to become a side attraction, to your ability to live in your dream.
He can use fear to take hold of your thoughts, with the aim of getting you distracted from the Christian race that you are running. Those distractions of the enemy are not tenable excuses before God, for not doing what the Lord had told you to do.
Being able to fulfill God’s assignment for your life on this earth, is what qualifies you for the prize in Christ Jesus. The ability to not only finish the race, but finishing it well is dependent on following the rules of engagement for the assignment, which the Lord had given to you.
The Bible says again according to the Passion Translations:
“As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So, we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us. We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!”
Hebrews 12:1-2 TPT
This is how we are called to run the race – looking at the example of Jesus, and not the distractions that had been programmed and engineered against our faith by the devil.
When you are losing focus on the Christian race, you will be unable to use your authority in the Name of Jesus effectively against the enemy. The lack of focus will hinder your faith from being fruitful, as the fear of the evil from the world around you, are being used by the devil against you. This is one of the devil’s strategies.
What you’re seeing is speaking into your future.
In using our authority effectively as a believer in Christ Jesus against the enemy, it’s very important to be seeing things from the scriptural viewpoint, instead of looking at things from the viewpoint of the world.
The devil will always put obstacles in your pathway, to prevent you from fulfilling your dream on the earth. He will put obstacles in front of you with the aim of preventing you, from running the race that has been set before you.
But you are in a higher position of spiritual authority than the devil and all his cohorts put together on the earth. Your faith in the Name of Jesus puts you in that position. Your faith will cause you to overcome the enemy and finish the race well with the high prize.
The enemy knows it. He knows that you’re a winner. The devil and all his accomplices are bond to obey the authority, that you are exercising in the Name of Jesus over them. They have to bow to your use of Jesus’ Name against them, because that’s what Jesus said they will do:
“And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you”.
Luke 10:18-19 NKJV
Don’t allow the enemy to play his dirty tricks on you, with his scheme to deprive you of the use of your authority in the Name of Jesus. He always plays dirty. That’s what he does at all times. He does not really care about how sanctified you are in your Christian walk. He will come against anyone who is associated with God anyway.
But it’s your responsibility as a Christian soldier to enforce your authority over him at all times. It’s not the responsibility of your Christian friends or Church leaders. You are the one who has the authority in the name of Jesus. He gave that authority personally to you in winning your race on the earth. And only you can use it effectively to defeat the enemy.
The devil needs to know that you do know who you are in Christ Jesus, with the use of your spiritual authority over him. He needs to know that you are standing in the authority, that has been given to you by Jesus.
Being able to do this effectively requires your ability to identify the obstacles, that you’re confronting with the use of the authority in His Name. You must be able to spiritually discern, the strategies of the enemy that you are confronting daily as you pray.
This is only possible and effective as you listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit who’s in you. Being spiritually alert means that, your spiritual antennas are active and ready, to pick up signals from the Holy Spirit who lives in you.
The devil has new tactics with the same old strategy of lies and deceptions, with every move that he is making against you, especially if you had been beating him and his tricks before.
That’s why it’s important to oftentimes pause and reconsider the decisions, that you are making with your daily choices. You do this so that you won’t have to be judged by God, because of the quality of those decisions and choices (2 Corinthians 13:5).
The scriptures are always there to guide you through the though decision-making process. Read it, study it more and more, so as to get access into the wisdom of God in them.
Meditate on it day and night, because your fruitfulness with your going out and coming in depends on it.
You can’t be calling those spiritual bubbles bumps!
Just because you had beaten the devil before does not means that, he will not come back against you again. The Bible says that after Jesus had overcome him, he left Him alone for another time:
“And when the devil had ended every [the complete cycle of] temptation, he [temporarily] left Him [that is, stood off from Him] until another more opportune and favorable time.”
Luke 4:13 AMPC
If he sought another opportunity against Jesus, he would keep seeking opportunities to come after you also. He will keep coming back, because he knows the devastation that you will bring upon him.
But by being strong in spiritual discernment, you will be able to identify every new move from him against you more effectively.
That’s why as a child of God who acknowledges the authority that you do possess in the Name of Jesus, you can’t be calling the spiritual bubbles in your pathway – spiritual bumps; when they are not really what you think that they are.
You must be able to discern precisely what you’re coming out against in the spirit and by the Spirit. The spiritual strength that you do possess is far greater and stronger than that of the enemy.
God lives in you, and you have nothing that’s of this world in you at all. That’s why nothing that the devil cooks up against you should come as a surprise to you. The God who lives inside of you will always expose every tactic of the enemy to you. You can never be caught off guard, except if you had been lagging behind by not praying in the spirit.
That’s why you must always keep your direct line of communication open with your Father in Heaven, by praying in your heavenly language and keeping yourself rooted in His promises to you day and night.
You are rooted in His promises, as long as they are always in your heart and always the first things that comes out of your mouth whenever the enemy shows up. You do these as you’re focusing on the Christian race that you are running.
There are Christians today who had been calling the spiritual bubbles in their pathway to success – spiritual bumps. When in reality they are just spiritual bubbles, which they can easily clear out with one strike at the enemy in the Name of Jesus.
Spiritual discernment is a sign of spiritual maturity. Spiritual babies will always struggle with spiritual discernment. But those who are spiritually matured are never in a hurry or struggling with it.
Spiritual maturity comes out of your numerous encounters with the devil and his cohorts. Your various experiences in spiritual warfare and the encounters with them will help you to know, when best to strike at them and when it’s better to just wait for the fullness of time.
This was what Paul did at Phillipi. The scriptures say:
“Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour”.
Acts 16:16-18 NKJV
Paul had to wait for the fullness of time before dealing with the evil spirit in this girl. He did not act immediately because he wanted to get a clearer picture of what the enemy was doing through her.
There are times when you just let the devil throw his best shots, before hitting him with just one strike of your authority in the name of Jesus over him. This was what Paul did here.
Sometimes you’ll have to wait till the end, so that you can look at the devil in the face and ask him: “Is this your best shot devil?”
Then you can hit him just once and take him out of your way. He will flee in terror of your ability in spiritual maturity to resist him till the end, before finishing him with one decisive blow. He will become fearful of your ability to come after him in this way.
This was why the devil later testified concerning Paul to the seven sons of Sceva at Ephesus:
“And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
Acts 19:15 NKJV
The devil was able to say this about Paul because of his past encounters with him.
Being able to keep that direct line open with the Heavenly Father will help you to know all things at all times.
Every child of God has experienced some forms of spiritual bubbles, bumps and mountains before. But spiritual bubbles however will clear out of your way, as you walk through them by faith. They can’t harm you. They are just the distractions from the enemy that are meant to make your faith inactive.
Spiritual bubbles can’t stop you as a Covenant child of God. You alone can stop yourself. Spiritual bubbles cannot hinder your spiritual progress either, as long as your faith is proactive. Just walk through them by faith into your new level of faith in Christ Jesus. They will clear out of your way as you do.
Have you ever seen bubbles stopping little children from running around? No, children do like to play with bubbles. That’s exactly how God sees what you are tackling from the realm of the spirit.
So why are you calling them bumps, when they are not really bumps but bubbles? Bubbles can’t harm or hurt you. In most cases you can still see through the bubbles, as long as your faith is active and agile. So, wade through the bubbles into your next level of faith.
The girl from whom Paul casted out the evil spirit at Phillipi was not harming or hurting Paul, as she kept on trying to embarrass him. But Paul could see what the devil was doing to destroy that girl, so he had to do something eventually to deliver her.
The beginning of the race in fulfilling your dream, will always give you a great sense of excitement. You will begin to realize that all things are possible to you.
But as the race progresses you will begin to see the obstacles, that the enemy has prepared to hinder your dream. They may come almost immediately. Or they may come subtly and gently. But they will always come, and you’ve got to always be ready before they come.
Some of them are the little things that are designed to prevent you from focusing on the dream. Others may be strong opposition that may come with persecution against you. No matter what they are, your authority in the Name of Jesus can overcome them.
Jesus said:
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”
Mark 11:23 NKJV
Have you ever confronted a spiritual mountain before? It’s tougher to confront than a spiritual bump. And spiritual bubbles are not even anything close to these.
Jesus said that the mountain will move, when you use your authority in His Name to issue the word of command, for it to get out of your way.
In most cases you don’t even need to speak to the spiritual bubbles. They will clear out of your way, as you keep on progressing into your dream by faith. And spiritual bumps can often be scaled over. Bumps can’t stop you. Just jump over them and keep running the race that’s before you.
As David once said:
“For You are my lamp, O LORD; The LORD shall enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.”
II Samuel 22:29-30 NKJV
Bumps and walls can be walked over or jumped over, because the Lord gives you the spiritual discernment to enlighten your pathway.
That’s why praying in the spirit until spiritual discernment comes is very important. It will save you a lot of time, material, financial and spiritual strength in spiritual warfare. You don’t need to be wasting your spiritual strength most especially on the things, that can easily be removed by exercising your authority in the Name of Jesus.
This is the moment for you to be trusting in God, and never allow yourself to be distracted by the obstacles of the enemy before you. You had made the good choice to begin the race by faith. Run the race to finish well.
Do all things always by faith.
Now it’s important to learn how to trust in God to give you the wisdom and the spiritual strength that you need, in finishing well what you had started. He will brighten your pathway to the end.
The Bible says:
“The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step].”
Psalm 37:23 AMPC
Every move that you’re making must be coming out of the good choices, that you are taking with every decision. The Lord has your back in those godly choices.
Even when it may seem like nothing is happening with those decisions, God is doing something that you can’t see behind the scenes. You will need to see Him busying Himself with your every step with the eye of faith.
He knows how the devil can use the things that are revealed to you by the Spirit against you. That’s why God will often prevent us from seeing, what He is doing behind the scenes.
But as long as you are being kept in the peace of God (Philippians 4:7), you know that your outcome with every step of your faith is going to be great.
This is why you have to be guiding your heart by not having bad things come your way, with the choices that you are making daily. Your faith needs the agility to be proactive in this type of situation.
The choice to be in a hurry or to tarry in the presence of God, by standing on the authority of His word in prayer, can determine whether you will have bad things come your way or not.
These are very important things that can determine the outcome of your life with your dream. And it’s only a matter of your own choice. Nobody will make any decision about those things for you. But you will have to answer before God for the choices, that you are making with those decisions.
That’s why your faith must be proactive. The faith that is not proactive is as good as dead.
For example, hurrying from the presence of the Lord, just because you’re running late for an appointment can cost you a lot of things in your life. Such a decision can cost you a lot more than what you can ever envisage. And in some cases, it had cost some people the destinies of their lives.
It’s always better to stay and tarry in God’s presence, until He tells you or signals to you about your next move. Keep on doing the last thing that He told you to do, until He tells you something different.
Many have missed their way with God by not spending enough quality time in His presence. They are not listening to hear God, but they’re relying on their feelings.
They have been running out of His presence, with the false delusion of pursuing their dream or agenda by faith. Evidently, they are out of the perfect will of God, by putting their personal agenda above God’s plan for their lives.
We however do know that faith comes by listening to hear God’s word being preached. And God’s word also comes through His written word to us.
Faith in God comes to us with supernatural discipline. And supernatural discipline comes only by learning to wait on the Lord. If you’re not ready to wait on the Lord, you will never be spiritually disciplined.
Supernatural discipline will give you supernatural disposition. And if you’re not spiritually disposed, you can never be ready to be used of the Lord. Spiritual disposition will get you ready and available to do anything, that God tells you to do. The Holy Spirit will always give you the direction, if only you are patient enough in His presence.
One second away from the presence of God can cause you, to miss out of the answer that you had been waiting for.
The solution is on your fingertips. But the choice to not tarry enough in His presence can cause you to miss it.
Don’t ever give in to those pressures!
Many bad or good things in life had been derailed by the consequential actions of the believer to either pray or not to pray, because they have so many pressures from within and around them.
If you want to hear from Heaven, you must be prepared to spend quality time in the presence of God as you are praying. God is never in a hurry about anything. He has the times and seasons for all things in His hand. So why are you rushing out of His presence?
There was a time when I had made the mistake of not praying enough, for the Lord to give me the answer to my prayer also. I wanted to get out of the situation so badly. So instead of tarrying in the presence of the Lord, I had rushed into making my own decision. And I paid the price for it.
It became a learning experience for me as the Lord eventually stopped me, while directing me back to His word. He spoke these scripture texts into my heart:
“But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.”
Galatians 4:18-20 NKJV
For several months the words in verse 19 rang a bell in my heart. I knew that the Lord was rebuking me. He was correcting me, and He was instructing and directing my pathway all at the same time.
It became the greatest moment in my life, because I experienced a lot of spiritual growth with the rebuke, instruction and direction of the Lord.
The Lord opened my spiritual eye of understanding to see, what the enemy had prepared ahead of me. It was the moment that radically changed me. God began to turn my bad choices around for my good. He used the very weapon of the devil against me, to beat him to his tactics against me.
It had been the most wonderful experience of my life to have had the Lord Himself rebuking me, correcting me, instructing me and directing my pathway in the ministry.
Especially in the calling that He had placed over my life. I learned a lot of things in the ministry directly from the Lord, and very little from other men of God that He had surrounded me with.
But most of the things that I do know today came directly from the Lord to me, out of the mistakes that I had made in the past. It’s great when the Lord is teaching you things by Himself as He corrects your mistakes.
And He recently told me the reason why He allowed me to go through this path in the ministry. He told me that He wanted me alone to be responsible for the things, that are going on or happening with His calling over my life. He said to me: “I will work with you in every decision that you are making”.
Immediately I remembered the promise that He gave me some decades ago:
“‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.”
Leviticus 26:9 NKJV
Sometimes the Holy Spirit wants us to pray more about the plan of the Lord for our lives, instead of praying about our own personal plans and desires.
That’s when it’s important to make the choice to yield and sacrifice your own plans and desires for His own. You are never going to find fulfillment in the things of God until you do this.
The scriptures are there to guide and help you in making wise choices and decisions always. Don’t be rushing and running – helter-skelter like a raccoon through the rabbit hole.
Are you satisfied with where you are spiritually today in comparison with a year ago? This moment of the year calls for a real re-evaluation of your spiritual status.
As the Psalmist said:
“When I realize that I’m going astray, I turn back to obey your instructions. I give my all to follow your revelation-light; I will not delay to obey.”
Psalms 119:59-60 TPT
If indeed you have strayed away from your dream. If indeed you’ve been derailed from following the last command, instruction or direction from the Lord to you.
Then you need to turn around in obedience to Him now. Repent! Turn to His word for guidance and protection away from the evils that are in this world.
As the scripture says:
“Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.”
Hebrews 2:1 NKJV
God’s word will not only correct you. His word will instruct you. His word will prevent you from drifting away from the vision and the dream of your life.
His word will guide you in the right path. The Lord God will give you the direction in the way that’s meant for you to take. His word will also give you the strength to follow through with whatever He tells you to do.
And when you hear Him instructing and directing you, just do whatever He tells you to do. Do it quickly and promptly without any delay. Any form of delay may cause you the denial of those things, that are ahead of you in your act of obedience to His voice.
