THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 

I thank my Heavenly Father, for my father SAMUEL OLUYEMI JAIYESIMI, who is also in heaven. He went home to be with the LORD, eighteen years ago on the 18th February, 2008.

Grandpa, We honour your memory.

We cherish your legacy.

We give thanks for the gift of you

The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.” — Psalm 112:6

My dad was a great fan of wrestling. And thank God I did not inherit that from him because I cannot bear to watch any form of violence even in a legitimate sporting context such as wrestling or boxing. You see, someone has to win the title so it is always a fight to the finish. It always turns out to be an unrelenting, intense struggle that continues until a final, decisive winner emerges. Talk about blood, sweat and tears. But that is usually what a fight involves. Isn’t it?

There is good fight we have been asked to get involved in. And though it is said to be good, it is a fight nonetheless. A fight means there are opponents or opposition. And because it is a fight there must be a winner and a loser.

I love one of the meanings of fight from the Oxford dictionary. It goes like this : “struggle to overcome, eliminate, or prevent.” 

So here is the thing. We live in this world but we are actually NOT of this world . And there is a battle constantly going on for our very souls: to be more aligned to the things of this world rather than the things of God. And someone has to win that battle. Are we going to win or are we going to throw in the towel to the opposition?

WE MUST WIN!

And that is why we must fight the good fight of faith. We must not give up. We are told “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 NLT

Faith is what pleases God. Yet it is the substance of what we have not seen. How do we stay in high spirits even when things are not looking up? And because we have not yet seen a sign to encourage us, the enemy will come in with all kinds of things to deceive us that our expectations in God will not be met. We must not fall for his tricks

That is where the fight comes in. We must fight to eliminate, to overcome and to prevent the enemy (Satan) from distracting us with emotions like anxiety, discouragement, doubt, fear and unbelief. We must stand up against the devil. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 NIV

And the best way to do this is to keep listening to the Word of God; “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 KJV  and to tarry in the place of prayer as Jesus encouraged us. “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “But when the Son of Man returns, how many  will he find on the earth who have faith?” Luke 18: 1 & 8 NLT

There are just too many things vying for our attention. It takes consciousness and intentionality to stay grounded.

Satan is desperate now. His time is almost up and he wants to take as many people as possible, down with him. But we are NOT going down!

Decadence is on an unprecedented level of high. This is that time to be very careful. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” 1 Corinthians 10:12 NLT

Do not be overconfident and do not say you know it all. We must all run our own race and work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Nothing ever takes God by surprise. He knew a time like this was coming and He prepared us for it.

“You have armed me with strength for the battle. you have subdued my enemies under my feet.” Psalm 18:39 NLT

Dear friends, God is still God and He will always be God. He has not changed and He will never change. We are the ones who keep changing.

Let us know with every certainty that He will never leave us nor forsake us. “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.” Hebrews 10:23 NLT

This is definitely NOT the time to let down our guard. With persistence in the place of prayer we will surely come out victorious.

Let us stand guard and fight the good fight of faith.

OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©