What's your Battle Cry?
"Meanwhile Jeroboam had secretly sent part of His army around behind the men of Judah to ambush them. When Judah realized that they were being attacked from the front and the rear, they cried out to the Lord for help. Then the priests blew the trumpets, and the men of Judah began to shout. At the sound of their battle cry, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel and routed them before Abijah and the army of Judah. The Israelite army fled from Judah and God handed them over to Judah in defeat." 2 Chronicles 13:13-16
I read 2 Chronicles 13 this morning and I can't seem to stop thinking about it. I want to type through my thoughts with you here...
I sit in and listen in on my fair share of messages, services and sermons and I have come to a place in life where I simply don't enjoy when the person on stage starts preaching about struggle. The struggle can be translated into a variation of things like, "the storms of life, the wilderness, the mountain, the struggle is real.." type messages. I just don't get why the hardships of life have to be validated on a platform that is sacred and supposed to be used for empowerment, equipping, and teaching. Don't get me wrong, this isn't meant to trash talk anyone, and if you know me, you know that I am HUGE on being vulnerable, authentic and real. I'm not into living superficially or candy-coating anything. I want to talk about whats REALLY going on in your life, but I don't want to spend time putting all of our focus and attention on it. I believe wholeheartedly that its inside our most transparent authenticity that truth is revealed and the presence of God is made known. So although in your life, the struggle may be the realest thing going on right now, but the truth is God's WIN is way more REAL.
Ha, I just got a picture of Nacho Libre in my head saying, "Let's get down to the nitty gritty" But seriously, let's keep it real.
REAL... the truth about real is that if you are a Christ follower the reality of our life comes from the truth about the kingdom of Heaven. NOT the truth about our feelings, situations and circumstances. We get this short opportunity in life to access the riches, goodness and perfection of Heaven in our day to day. YES we live a fallen, and quite dark world in this day and age, but we don't base our lives in the world's system and currency, our lives should be based in the reality of Heaven. As I type this, I wonder if to the reader, I sound insensitive? Do I? Or maybe, JUST MAYBE I'm finally learning how to minimize the problem and FOCUS on the solution to every single issue and problem that life blows our way. I don't have it all figured out and my journey gets messy sometimes...but when I'm inside a messy situation of life, I want my mind to immediately go to the TRUTH of what God who delights in ME, and delights in YOU says. Not the struggle. I never want to amplify the struggle over the truth.
The profound words of one of the most beautiful women I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, Lauren Kuehn, came just a few months ago in her blog. Lauren went to Heaven on Christmas day...while I can't imagine the deep grief of her family and close friends, every one has found comfort in knowing she's 100% whole and in the arms of her Savior. Ultimately eternity is everyones ending to their story, and although Lauren went in a way no one would have ever wanted, she went fighting and proclaiming the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ. In this specific blog, she chose to end with a prayer for every single reader, in her prayer she says, "I speak healing over the sick! Bring healing to their bodies according to your word in Isaiah 53 it is your will! Jesus thank you for your great sacrifice! We will not cheapen it with our unbelief! Please deliver us from any unbelief that lingers in our life! You are greater that all things!" Lauren was so right, our unbelief, and I'd like to add our FOCUS on the struggle will never win the battle.
So as I am writing all of this, the question comes to mind, "WHAT IS YOUR BATTLECRY?"
Battle cry: "a word or phrase shouted by soldiers going into battle to express solidarity and intimidate the enemy." Instead of focusing on the enemy and what he brings to TRY and destroy us, we have all authority and victory over the enemy. Thats right, what's your strategy? You get to intimidate and ultimately defeat the enemy. He loses every single time, unless YOU give him power to win in your life. I love the chapter I read this morning about a battle. I'll start at 2 Chronicles 13:8, "DO you really thin you can stand against the kingdom of the Lord that is led by the descendant of David? You may have a vast army, and you have those gold calves that Jeroboam made as your gods. But you have chased away the priests of the Lord and the Levites, and you have appointed your own priests, just like the pagan nations. You let anyone become a priest these days! Whoever comes to be dedicated with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of these so-called gods of yours! BUT AS FOR US, the LORD is our God, and we have not abandoned him...We are following the instructions of the Lord our God, but you have abandoned him. So you see, God IS WITH US. He is our leader. His priests blow their trumpets and lead us into battle against you. O people of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will NOT succeed! Meanwhile Jeroboam had secretly sent part of His army around behind the men of Judah to ambush them. When Judah realized that they were being attacked from the front and the rear, they CRIED out to the Lord for HELP. Then the priests blew the trumpets, and the men of Judah began to shout. At the sound of their BATTLE CRY, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel and routed them before AbIjah and the army of Judah. The Israelite army fled from Judah and God handed them over to Judah in defeat...So Judah defeated Israel on that occasion because they TRUSTED IN THE LORD, the God of their ancestors." 2 Chronicles 13:8-18
The moment God heard their battle cry, their victory came. The enemy was surrounding God's people on every side, through their physical eyes defeat was their future. The truth is though, they went into that battle where the odds were stacked against them, seeing their enemy through their spiritual eyes. They KNEW that God was on their side, they intimidated the enemy, and used their lungs to shout a battle cry to the MOST HIGH GOD. The moment He heard their shout, He supernaturally gave them the WIN! Something in the Heavens is activated when you use the breath in your lungs to intimidate your enemy with the word and truth of God and declare your WIN. You may feel like there is no hope and the enemy is engulfing you. That's not the end of your story, God will use His supernatural power to silence the enemy in an instant. Just DON'T give in when the situation looks hopeless. Put your spiritual goggles on and FIGHT.
The good news about all of this is YOU can attain this kind of victory..no matter how much bible you know at this point, you have the opportunity today to change your mind about your situation and believe God's news about you. Receive the truth. WITH GOD YOU WIN.
Take a listen to this amazing song and confess that your WIN is today!