Victory Strategy: Be Ready – Part 1
By Margaret D. Mitchell
Week of November 15, 2020
The Lord showed me several Words of knowledge on October 26 and then added the revelation-understanding over the next four days. (In case you didn’t know, every title He gives me for every devotion is a Word of knowledge or a Word of wisdom in itself. It’s what He desires to highlight each week.)
So, let’s begin…
1 John 5:4 NLT tells us, "For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith."
We see here that victory comes by faith. And we know that faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Ro 10:17).
Therefore, we must be committed in our faith as Paul describes in Romans 16:19, which says:
"I’m so happy when I think of you, because everyone knows the testimony of your deep commitment of faith. So, I want you to become scholars of all that is good and beautiful and stay pure and innocent when it comes to evil” (Ro 16:19 TPT).
In this scripture, “A deep commitment of faith” can be translated as “obedience of faith.”
“Obedience” here can be translated as “submission to what is heard” in “response to someone speaking” (Strong’s #5218).
“Commitment” can be defined as responsibility and loyalty in terms of “devotion or dedication, e.g., to a cause, person or relationship” (Encarta). Think Jesus. It can also mean a “previously planned engagement” or an “arrangement or activity that cannot be avoided” (Encarta). Or “an agreement or pledge to do something in the future” (Webster’s). Think Ephesians 2:10 and obeying God’s instructions, so that the good works He “prepared in advance for us to do” will come “full circle” (Strong’s #4043). “Commitment” can also mean to be “emotionally impelled,” which is to be driven or propelled (Webster’s, Dictionary.com). Think driven by love for God and His people.
So, in summary, in order to have a victorious faith walk, we must “hear” from The Lord and obey His instructions from a heart of love for Him and others.
The next Word is “strategy,” which is God’s perfect counsel.
Depending on God, like Joshua did as he fought and won battles in the Promised Land, is living in submission to God. This is the most powerful position in which to be; because it honors God and builds our faith forward, bringing glory to Him in the victory by His grace.
If God let us win our way, He would not receive the glory. And we would build our kingdom, not His, which would ultimately fail; because it would not be built on the Rock.
Victory God’s way is a challenging opportunity through our promised land, where we are tested in our faith and obedience. God will only take us as far as our love walk will allow, lest we die in the process.
So, by grace, we are to grow in God’s strength of humility (meekness) and self-control to be unprovoked by enemy opposition. This is where the anointing of Christ prevails through us to win nations for Him.
Romans 16:26 TPT reveals that the mystery of the gospel “is understood through the prophecies of the Scripture and by the decree of the eternal God. And it is now heard openly by all the nations, igniting within them a deep commitment of faith."
This leads to our next point:
Be Ready.
We are to be ready to share the gospel as Holy Spirit leads.
1 Peter 3:15 TPT says to "give reverent honor in your hearts to the Anointed One and treat him as the holy Master of your lives. And if anyone asks about the hope living within you, always be ready to explain your faith."
To “be” can mean “an arising” or “rising up,” in the true sense of the Word by Holy Spirit to bring Him glory (Strong’s #7012). The opposite of this would be a false uprising of negative emotions—a provoke intended to manipulate us to fight in the flesh so that the enemy can “steal” our anointing.
The Word “ready” has several meanings, including preparedness; but the meaning I believe The Lord is highlighting here is to have “forwardness of mind,” which is to be willing and eager in disposition (Strong’s #4288).
It’s important to be aware that, when our emotions are stirred up in conflict—as in provoked by enemy forces, our motivation can shift from the kind of willingness and eagerness that facilitates forward motion. Enemy provoke can cause us to get stuck, because God does not empower the flesh to fight our way and produce carnality. Instead, since motives matter, our love for God and others are to be our motivating force to produce good fruit and win battles.
So, let’s be committed to the good fight of faith in the Promised Land, where dreams are fulfilled. May we rise up ready—in willingness and eagerness—to be found faithfully-obedient. May we put our hand to the plow and not look back. May we move closer to God forward. He's up ahead waiting for us to come near and receive His blessing. The way there is trusting and obeying Him. He has a wave of redemption and anointing for us that will bring in the blessing by His Spirit as we agree with Him.
So, friends, there’s a lot more to this story. Join me next week for Part 2 of Victory Strategy: Be Ready.
Margaret D. Mitchell is the Founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ.
