You are not a winner in the Christian race by just being smart or intelligent (Ecclesiastes 9:11). It is not even your ability to finish the race itself that makes you a winner. Being a winner in Christ Jesus has everything to do with doing exactly what God has called you to do.

And in midst of a world that’s constantly being transformed to become, as Jesus had prophesized that it would be (see Matthew 24:3-14), it’s very important for us as Christians to be very careful, not to lose our focus in this Christian race. The devil has so many distractions in front of you, to take your focus away from the race that God, the Father has set before you.

Every hindrance of the enemy to your faith in God are targeted, to prevent you from running or not finishing the race that’s set before you. This is especially so if you are allowing those hindrances to become, a side attraction to your ability to live in your dream and vision.

The devil knows how to get hold of your thoughts and spoken words with the aim of causing you to get distracted. And you can’t really give those distractions of the enemy, as the excuse for not doing what the Lord had called you to do in the ministry.

Jesus in Luke Chapter 20:20-26 set a standard for us in tackling the distractions of the devil. The enemy had come to test Him in a crafty manner, so as to bring an accusation against Him. The Bible says:

“So, they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor. Then they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth: Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test Me? Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They answered and said, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent”.

They wanted to trap Jesus in a crafty manner, but He detected immediately the intention of their hearts. The wisdom of God, the Father came to Him in tackling their craftiness.

The same type of craftiness is going on everywhere all over the world today, with the strategy of the devil in targeting Christians for persecution. His aim is to use the distractions in creating divisions among Christians. Be very careful not to run into his trap.

But Jesus had responded to the craftiness that was being used against Him in verse 25 above, by giving them a very smart answer. The answer that was given to the question from the religious people, put them in a position which held them speechless.

The enemy knew that he was defeated and immediately sneaked away from Jesus in silence and disgrace. Jesus never tolerated the controversies of the world. He would rather be more focused on the mission from above, than on the issues of this world’s system.

You can’t be mixing up your spiritual calling with the controversies of this world, and not expect the devil to mess you up spiritually. His intention is to get you involved in the controversies of the world, so that he may find an opening to come against your anointing, with the aim of either stopping you or hindering you, from running the race that’s in front of you.

When we are dealing with him in the spirit and by the Spirit with the authority that, we do have over him in that realm, we will always defeat him. But the moment we are taking his baits by getting ourselves diverted into his system of operation in the world, we will be defeated.

Jesus refused to take the bait of these religious people, so they immediately bolted away from Him.

As Christians we must be very careful to give to “Caesar” what belongs to him, and to become focused on our individual callings to this world of evil and sin.

Being able to fulfill God’s assignment for your life on this earth, is what qualifies you for the prize in Christ Jesus. Your ability to not only finish the race, but finishing it well is dependent on following the directions and instructions for the assignment, which the Lord has given to you.

The Bible says 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 Jesus, and not the distractions that had been programmed and engineered against our faith by the devil.

When you are losing focus on your Christian race, you will be unable to use your authority in the Name of Jesus more effectively against the enemy. Your lack of focus will hinder your faith from being fruitful, as the enemy uses fear to stop you. This is one of the devil’s strategies against you.

What you’re seeing determines your destiny.

In using our authority effectively as believers in Christ Jesus against the enemy, it’s very important to be seeing things from the scriptural viewpoints.

The devil will always put obstacles in the believer’s pathway, to prevent him from fulfilling his vision 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 by God.

But you are in a higher position of spiritual authority than the devil and all his cohorts put together. Your faith in the Name of Jesus puts you in that position. And the enemy does know it. 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 (see Luke 10:18-19).

Don’t allow the enemy to play his dirty tricks on you, in his scheme to deprive you of the use of your authority in the Name of Jesus against him. 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 life. He will come against anyone who is associated with God in any way.

But it’s your responsibility as a Christian to enforce your authority over him at all times. It’s not the responsibility of your Christian friends or leaders. You are the one who has the authority, and only you can use it effectively to defeat him.

The devil needs to know that you do know who you are with the use of your authority. He needs to know that you are standing in the authority, that has been given to you by Christ Jesus.

Being able to do this effectively requires your ability to be able to identify the obstacles, that you are being confronted with in the use of the authority which you do possess in His Name. You must be able to spiritually discern, the strategies of the enemy who you are confronting as you pray.

This is only possible and effective as you are listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit within you. Being spiritually alert in this way means that, your spiritual antennas are active and ready, to pick up the signals from the Holy Spirit who lives in you.

The devil has new strategies with every move that he is making against you, especially if you had been beating him with his dirty tricks before. That’s why the Holy Spirit lives in you, so as to lead you into the victory lane as you are running your race.

That’s why it’s important to pause oftentimes and reconsider the decisions, that you are making about your daily choices for living. The scriptures are always there to guide you through each decision-making process.

Read it, study it more and more, so as to get access into the wisdom of God. Meditate on it day and night, because your fruitfulness in your going out and coming in depends on it.

You can’t be calling those 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:

“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 is seeking opportunities to come after you also. One of those opportune times to tempt Jesus again was when he was being confronted the with question about taxation as mentioned above.

The devil will keep coming back at you, because he knows the devastation that you will bring upon him, with the anointing of God that’s upon your life.

By sharpening your spiritual discernment, you will be able to identify, every new move from him against your faith 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 of God. The spiritual strength that you do possess is far greater and stronger than that of the enemy.

God lives in you, and you have none of the world’s system in you at all. That’s why nothing that the devil cooks up against you should come as a surprise to you. The Living God, who is in you, will always expose every tactic of the enemy to you. You can never be caught off guard, except when you are not staying in line with the Spirit of God within you.

That’s why you must always keep your direct line of communication open with the Father, by praying in your heavenly language and keeping yourself rooted in His promises to you.

You do these things 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 wait for the fullness of time before dealing with him.

Being able to keep that direct line of communication open with God, the 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 deactivate your faith. Bubbles can’t stop you, but you alone can stop yourself. They cannot hinder your spiritual progress either, as long as your faith is active. Just walk through them by faith into your new level of faith in Christ Jesus.

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 right now in the spirit. So why are you calling them spiritual bumps, when they are not? 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 beginning of the race in fulfilling your vision, 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 obstacles, that the enemy has prepared to hinder your dream or vision. 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 your dream and vision. 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 destroy 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 it.

But 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 on your pathway to progress in ministry. They will clear out of your way, as you keep on progressing with your dream and vision by faith.

And spiritual bumps can often be scaled over. Bumps can’t stop you. Just jump over them.

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 will always give you the spiritual discernment to enlighten you in 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 as you are resisting the devil.

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 those obstacles of the enemy before you. You had made the good choice to begin the race by faith. Run your race to finish well.

Choose to do things by faith always.

Now it’s important to learn how to trust in God to give you the wisdom and the spiritual strength, in finishing well what you have 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

Your every move must be coming out of the good choices that you are making with every decision, as you are running the race. The Lord has your back in those godly choices.

Even when it may seem like nothing is happening with those godly decisions, God is doing something that you can’t see behind the scenes. You will need to see Him busying Himself in your every step with the eye of faith.

He knows how the devil can use the things that are being revealed to you 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 very important for 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 or vision. And it’s only a matter of your own choices. 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.

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 Christian life. Such a decision can cost you a lot more than what you 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 ways with God by not spending enough quality time in His presence. They are not listening to hear God’s voice directing and instructing them.

They have been running out of His presence, with the false delusion of pursuing their personal dreams and agendas by faith. Evidently, they are out of the perfect will of God, by putting their personal agendas above God’s plan for their lives.

We however do know that faith comes by listening to hear God’s word. And God’s word comes through His inner voice within 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 give in to those pressures.

Many bad or good things in life had been derailed by the consequential actions of the believers in Christ Jesus, 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 had paid the price for it.

It became a learning experience for me as the Lord eventually stopped me, while directing me 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 within 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 with those scripture texts.

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 that were being used against me.

It had been one of the most wonderful things 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 personally made in the past. It’s great when the Lord is teaching you things by Himself.

And He recently told me the reason why He had 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 in your Christian race. 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 few years ago? This moment of running your race calls for a real re-evaluation of your spiritual status in the Lord.

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 the effects of the opposition that you’re facing has made you to stray away from your dream and vision. If indeed they have caused you to be derailed from following the last command, instruction or direction of the Lord to you. Then you need to turn around in obedience to Him. Turn to His word for guidance and protection away from the distractions of the world.

God’s word will not only correct you. His word will instruct you. He will guide you in the right path. He 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.

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