On The Matter Of Free Will

To say we have free will denies the negative influences of sin and the positive influences of God. And how truly awful would man be if indeed he did have free will and but still chose sin over righteousness? If man had no exterior influences exerting sway over his will and he still chose unrighteousness over righteousness, then we wouldn’t be children of God at all, we’d be children of wrath and of the devil. Help wouldn’t be needed; a second flood would be.

No, we do not have free will. What we have is free choice within a bond will. Our desire is a combination of two things in which we cannot handle together. We desire free will, but we also desire righteousness. Man, in his current state cannot handle the two in tandem. The good news is that we know this, and we’ve asked for help.

Jesus Christ has shown us the way. He gave us a prayer to pray to God so that will and righteousness can coexist in harmony.

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10)

We pray for God’s will to be done. We don’t pray for our will to be done because our will is sin soaked in original sin. We pray to negate our will and to supplant it with the will of God.

No, we don’t have free will. We have free choice. It’s like an inmate in prison. He’s free to move about within the confines of the prison walls.

Righteousness removes the walls and truly frees us. Righteousness removes the law for none are needed.

“For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (Romans 10:3-4)

Only when man is righteous can he be void of sin and the law. Then he can have free will. And because man is righteous, he will always chose righteousness and never sin.

Jesus made atonement for our sins at the cross. His blood is our righteous covering so we can be made presentable to God. Understand that God can’t comingle with sin. It is why He sent His Son to be the mediator between man and Himself. Among the many things that blind man, pride has blinded man to the facts surrounding himself and his will.

Fortunately, we don’t have to think, just follow. We don’t have to figure out what is the truth and righteous. And how gratuitous is it that the way of and to truth and righteousness is being luminated for us. All we must do is to have faith.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

God causes our choice. While we come to a point in our life when we choose God, it was God who influenced us to the point of decision “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7) Everything we have came from God. This includes our love, faith, and belief in Him.

While we don’t have free will, we do have free choice. The elect, because God is inside of them, will always chose God.

“I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33).

How wonderful is this? We were chosen before the world began and predestine to the adoption by Christ. Yes, God’s elect hit a stumbling block called sin. But God has always had a plan of adoption according to His good will, not ours.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”(Ephesians 1:3-6)

Bill Hitchcock

IF

The two “if’s”. The two, Oh so mission critical, if’s!

It is easy to overlook the significance of a little, two letter word. But brevity lends to clarity which is the hallmark stamp of truth. Jesus brought this point home at the Sermon on the Mount.

“But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” (Matthew 5:37).

The word, “if” is a conditional clause. It is a stipulation or a proviso. Pay close attention to the “if” in the following two passages. Most folks miss it. Here’s the first verse.

“Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.” (Hebrews 3:7-9)

The Evangelist says if we will hear God’s voice and not harden our heart. In other words when we hear the word of God and we receive Him into our heart and our spirit. This is the first step in our salvation, receiving God into our heart (spirit) and life. Unfortunately, this is where most folks stop listening and stop thinking. It is at this point that the dangerous belief and philosophy of, “Once saved, Always saved” is born.

What must be understood is in our second verse, verse 14.

“For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” (Hebrews 3:14)

The Evangelist makes clear that when we hear God’s voice and harden not our hearts that we are made partakers of Christ. Now look at the “if”. This is the provision, the stipulation. If we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end”. In short, if we persevere in Jesus all throughout our life. That’s a big if. Can we do it? Can we stay in Christ during the course of our entire life?

Being saved goes beyond the baptismal. Too many think in terms of a contract or a deal. They think they have agreed to the terms and conditions of Christianity and that the baptism is the signature that’s required at the bottom of the of the contract. Once signed, it’s a done deal and I don’t have to worry about this Christianity thing anymore. I’ve made the arrangements to go to heaven. I’ve booked the flight, I just have to wait for the unannounced and unexpected departure time. 

Wrong! 

This is what the “Once saved, always saved” folks believe. It is rooted in a Pharisaical, Catholic mindset of law, works and deeds, punishment and reward. I sin. I do something to atone for that sin. I go to heaven. And if I want to be priestly or saintly, I might even do more good deeds than necessary.

Wrong!

One of the reasons for our confidence in our salvation is that the Evangelist tells us to be confident! He says, “if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end”.

But as happens so frequently in the Bible, words don’t always mean what we think they mean. The word confidence is transliterated from the Greek, “hypostasis”. This is a composite word of “under” and “foundation”. It’s a reference to a substructure, subflooring, or as in a foundation to a building.

Hypostasis is more commonly known as the word “substance” from Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Both in the Hebrews Chapter 11 verse and here in the Hebrews Chapter 3 verse, hypostasis is a reference to the same thing. Our faith in Christ as the ground floor in which we build our lifelong relationship with Him. This is the substance or confidence we are to hold steadfastly onto throughout our life. Without this substructure footing and foundation of Jesus to start with and adhere to, no matter what we may build, at some point in time the entire thing will crumble down to the ground.

Have we not all seen someone lose their religion? Have we not all seen someone stumble and fall and never return to the way, the truth, and the light?

Does not the parable of the sower tell us this will happen? There are four examples of the seed (the word) being sown in this parable. All but one of the examples has the word planted and rooted in the person. Three of the Four received the word of God! But two didn’t persevere in it! Understand what was just said.

Here’s the parable of the sower in a nutshell. You can find it in Matthew 13: 3-23

First the seed fell by the wayside and the birds (the devil) immediately scooped it up. Why? Because the person didn’t understand the word and never received it. The word just fell to the ground. “For many are called, but few are chosen”. (Matthew 22:14)

Then the seed falls into stony ground without much dirt. The word starts to grow and build. But as Jesus said, “Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while” (Matthew 13:21).

Did you catch that? The word was received, took root, and began to grow, “but dureth for a while”. Their relationship with Christ was just for a while. Then the troubles of the world and the persecution from being a Christian began and this person fell out of the way. For many are called, but few are chosen.

The third person already had a life among the thorns, but even still, he heard the word and it took root. But his love and the lust of the world was too much and, “choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22). This person of thorns also had become a follower of Christ, for a while, but eventually fell out of the way. For many are called, but few are chosen.

Finally, the fourth person. “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:23). This person heard the word and received it. The word took root and grew and produced much fruit throughout his life. For many are called, but few are chosen.

The sower tells the story of four people. One was never a Christian. Another always was. This is generally what we think happens, that you either hear and receive Christ or you don’t. This is our black and white, cut and dried, mindset. But there is a third type. It is those who receive Christ, but do not endure in Christ. These people do not persevere to the end.

Jesus once again describes those of stony and thorny ground when He foretells of the destruction of the Temple and of the end of Jewish polity.

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:12-13)

There, Jesus says it himself. “he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

Folks, our religion is a relationship, first with God and then with all others. This is an ongoing relationship, one that lasts forever. That’s right, it doesn’t stop or start at our physical death. Our forever has already begun. We have to work the relationship. This is not a static proposition. We do not just agree to the terms and conditions of Christ and presto, we are a Christian for the rest of our life.

Think marriage. You didn’t stop your involvement and efforts with your spouse at the alter did you? No, it has only begun then. You now must spend the rest of your life in conscious effort to maintain and grow that relationship. The proof is in the pudding. Your true sentiments towards your spouse are revealed with what you do and how you act over time. Time will show your true love and devotion.

By now some are saying, “But no one can lose their salvation neither can anyone or anything steal it away”.

That is correct. As Jesus said while praying to God, “those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost” (John 17:12). Special note here. Notice Jesus said that He has kept all those that God gave has given Him. For many are called, but few are chosen. God has His elect and has foreknown them since before time. By the way, election is not merit based. We can’t earn our salvation.

The question to be asked, that every Christian will ask, “Am I really saved?” This is a question, a good question that only you can ask about yourself, to yourself and Christ. While its scripturally correct that we judge a tree by the fruit that it bears, don’t forget the fig tree that Jesus cursed because it only gave the appearance of bearing fruit.

But this goes beyond intentionally trying to fool the world or leading a hypocritical “Christian” life. Every honest and true Christian will wonder and doubt if they are truly saved.

It was Augustine who some 1,600 years ago who pointed out that Jesus was showing us how to persevere in our relationship with Him. Augustine points directly at what is referred to as the Lord’s Prayer as proof. Jesus is guiding us back to Him.

Here is the prayer.

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

In this prayer Jesus Christ is showing us what needs to happen for us to, “be saved” and “endure unto the end”. It is most important to understand that this is not some incantation, neither is this a works and deeds check list or some schedule to follow. We cannot work our way to salvation. If we could, then there would be no need for the gift of grace which means there would be no need for Jesus Christ.

By grace and not of works was a very important topic to the Apostle Paul. He said, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” (Romans 11:6)

The Lord’s Prayer is our plea for divine intervention and prescription for being. What we do should be the result of who we are. It is the spirit, our spirit that God is interested in. It should be our spirit in concert with the Holy Spirit that moves us to act. When this is the case, God will recognize it as divine.  Any act without this spirit as the originator is of no consequence, even if it’s a good deed. What we do must be God filled with the intent and purpose with God and/or another in mind. Our actions should be Godly. The manifestation of our deeds should flow naturally from within, void of any self-interest.

Let’s look at the Lord’s Prayer and see why it is a prescription for enduring until the end.

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” The word Father that is used here connotes both the Lord as a Dad and God. His name, or in other words His entire being is holy, venerable, and righteous. The prayer begins by recognizing this fact.

“Thy will be done”. It is God’s will and not our merits that determines our salvation. It strictly by His will that He sent His Son to save us. We stumbled and fell. We went against His will. But it is by His will that Jesus paid the price for our sins at the cross and it is by His will that He shows us how to endure, how to preserver to the end.

Now look at the plea for endurance:

“Give us our daily bread”-The word of God is the bread of life.

“Forgive us our debts”-The Old Testament made us aware of sin. In the New Testament it was Jesus and His grace which saves us.

“as we forgive our debtors”. God forgave us. We are to be God like and forgive others.

Remember the parable of the unforgiving debtor? The king showed compassion for a servant that owed him money by not imprisoning him. To get money to pay the king back, the servant imprisoned someone that owed him money. 

The king learns of what the servant did and said, “O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.” (Matthew 18:32-34)

We pray to God for Him to forgive our debts. We are to do likewise with those who owe us, and think beyond just financial debt.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”. God is in control. Whether we realize or not, God is always leading us away from unrighteousness and to righteousness, which is the way to Him. The problem comes in when we think we know best. When we aren’t tuned in to God by not being in His word, not being in prayer and not working our relationship with Him. A lot of our struggles in life are caused by us resisting God’s will. Just remember that we may resist, but we cannot win a war of wills with God.

“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Now just pause and think about this for a moment. Everything is God’s domain. Everything and everywhere. There is no place where we don’t find God and that is not His kingdom.

God is power. This power is an all-encompassing, omnipresent power. It is strength and energy. It is also capability and capacity. Just like God’s kingdom is without border, so is His power in terms of what it can do and to the degree in which He can do it.

The Lord’s Prayer is powerful. If we believe in it and strive to not just do the things of the prayer, but strive to become them, then we will be partakers of Christ and will endure to the end. There will be no “if’ about it.

Bill Hitchcock

Teach In The Way

“What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.”

(Psalm 25:12)

God will teach His children in the way He so chooses. Is this so bad? Not at all, for what does God choose, but righteousness! Man left to his own devices will spiral down to the baser things. What is man? Just look at him without God.

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

Do not think you have “free” will. Man is filled with original sin which blinds and deafens him to righteousness. Man can’t choose what he does not see.

“O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23).

God is teaching us in the way. We are in darkness and don’t even know it. But, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105). When we stumble and fall, and we will, we have a Savior who has paid the price for that fall, and every fall. Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the light.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Bill Hitchcock

Be Careful What You Tolerate

I saw a Meme this morning. It was a picture of the actor Robert Downey Jr. He was sitting down with a rifle in what appeared to be a 19^th century setting. He is staring straight and stoically right at the camera. The message read as follows.

“Be Careful what you tolerate. You are teaching people how to treat you.”

It’s very true. We must realize that we have control of our environment. How we react to and with others will determine how they act with us. What we permit they will do. Everything follows the path of least resistance. People are certainly no different in this department. Think about it. If every time you said pizza, I punched you in the nose, you’d soon learn not to say pizza in my presence. This pertains to everything we say, with hopefully less dramatic and traumatic reactions and results. So if you want pizza, you either have to live with the punch in the nose or correct the puncher post haste and toot sweet!

If we do nothing or say nothing to things adverse to us, then whether its intentional or not becomes a moot point. The adverse words or deeds will continue. While you’re hung up and hurt as to the why the adversity is coming from this particular individual, the purveyor of said adversity could quite possibly be completely oblivious that there is even a problem.

But equally as important if not more so, as to what you tolerate, is who you tolerate with what. We generally give more leeway to family members and close friends.

But there is a danger to be aware of when it comes to who and what we do or don’t tolerate.

According to Paul’s letter to the Colossians, forbearance is one of God’s attributes we are to “put on”, as well as patience and forgiveness. (Colossians 3:12-13)

In his letter to the Roman’s, Paul called God’s forbearance and longsuffering the, “riches of his goodness”.

Everyone knows what Jesus said during His Sermon on the Mount. “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:39)

To forgive we must first forbear. Think about that. If God didn’t forbear, if He wasn’t tolerant, if punishment for sin was instant, there would have been no need for Jesus Christ as a Savior and we all would be dead and gone.

Intolerance in man creates a miserable person, a tyrant of a person. Intolerance is rooted in pride which makes them a dangerous person. It is self-gratification and self-preservation above all else, therefore the intolerant person will strike at anyone.

Forbearance can be a tricky thing. Peter asked Jesus how often should he forgive someone.

Peter asked, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” (Matthew 18:21)

To which Jesus replied, “I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:22).

A small caveat here. Neither Peter nor Jesus were literal with the number 7. The “till seven times” is a Hebraism meaning a lot or several.

Jesus then proceeded to tell Peter a parable about a servant that owed a king money. The king threatened to sell everything the servant had, including his wife and children to repay the debt.

The servant told the king to, “have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” (Matthew 18:26)

The king had compassion for the servant and let him go, trusting the servant to be a man of his word. The servant then went out, found someone who owed him money, grabbed this person by the throat and then “cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt” (Matthew 18:30).

The king heard what the servant had done to the other man and said to him, “O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?” (Matthew 18:32-33).

The king then delivered the servant “to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.” (Matthew 18:34)

The “tormentors”, more accurately called the torturers, usually made use of the rack. Not really anyone’s preferred method of debt repayment.

So, the question remains; what do we tolerate? And who do we tolerate it from?

Anything of God will always be rooted in God’s love. This love is not the emotional, impulse or upwelling of feelings. Nor is it necessarily directed towards folks you have any special affinity for. In fact, the expression of God’s love doesn’t even have to be for those you like. The greater love often isn’t.

God’s love seeks the benefit and welfare of others. This type of benevolence is not dependent upon relationship, only caring, edifying and the welfare of another. So yes, turn the other cheek when it is rooted in God’s love and in His best interest as well as that of the particular situation you are in. But duck if the fella is swinging to hurt you and counter punch if he is attacking you with intent to harm, maim or kill.

Remove your pride. Now look at the situation. What’s the best course of action to glorify God? Is it to tolerate and forbear this present predicament? Will we gain or maintain a brother or sister in Christ if we do?

“Love worketh no ill to his neighbor” (Romans 13:10), but pride will. Pride will work all sorts of ill. By the very nature of pride, it will take and consume as it sees fit. Remove pride and self-interest and allow the love of God to flow.

To tolerate and forbear, to be patient and to long suffer is not a matter of being right. This is why I said to remove pride. Pride requires you to be right.

Forbearance is a matter of righteousness, not of being right, but rather to be righteous. The word righteousness has its etymology in first “rightwise” then as “rightness”. This latter variation connotes both the being and the doing of righteousness. That’s the state of being we all need to strive to achieve, that of righteousness. We have a righteous God.

“For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.” (Psalm 11:7)

With God in view and with a righteous heart, the who and what to tolerate and forbear should become clear.

Bill Hitchcock

In Essentials

"In essentials, unity; in differences, liberty; in all things, charity." 

(Philipp Melanchthon)

That is an oh so powerful statement by Melanchthon, and very timely too.

What could be more essential than God and His will? As a child of God, are we not to have fellowship with one another? Are we not to unify? Is not our form and substance so changed that unification is essential and literally the assemblage of the body of Christ, in Christ?

Liberty in our differences. The liberty to have differences.

And the love of God in everything we do, which comes as a natural outflow from the assembled body of Christ.

Hello today. Are you listening?

Philipp Melanchthon was a 16th century Protestant Reformer, and among other things, a collaborator with Martin Luther.

Bill Hitchcock

A Remnant Are Always Saved And Always Refined

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.” (Zechariah 13:7-9)

There are a chosen people of God, but they’re not chosen because of their belief in God or for their goodness. God doesn’t look into the future to seek out the true and faithful and then predestine these yet to be born folks to be His elect.  God’s elect believes and are good because they are chosen, and this is no idle matter.

God’s fire does three things to God’s people. The heat from fires’ flame has the power of separation. Like a parasite, sin latches on to us. The insufferable heat of God’s flame causes the parasite to let go and detach. Now the fire can perform its second task, to consume and destroy this unwanted leech called sin. 

Sin is the only parasite that we embrace and latch onto our self. Sin has us, but we also have a firm embrace on our sin. Notice the possessive “our” sin. It’s personal. It’s our very own. It’s a symbiotic relationship and is why divine intervention is required to remove it.

Finally, God’s fire refines. We come through the sin and fire experience a new thing. The old is done away with. What was, is no more. Our substance and form have been forever altered, refining us into a new creature. The sin man who did good is now the good man who occasionally sins. The good man is still human so sin will still happen, but not by design. The change in substance and form has created a person geared for righteousness. It’s as if our DNA has been completely changed.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

“And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:10).

We are able to survive the fire because we rest in the knowledge of God. We know in our heart we are His. This supplies us with the strength to be refined. And like any athlete who goes through a training program or a soldier who makes it through boot camp, we emerge from the fire a child of God, refined towards perfection by our Father.

God will say, “It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.”

Bill Hitchcock

Even When It Is Obvious, Pray

Victory comes through our complete and total dependence and obedience to God. These things are requisite to faith. There is no caveat or proviso to that statement. We must listen and obey God, even when we don’t understand, or even worse, even when we think we do understand. There can be

nothing worse than to think we either know something or that something is just too obvious and as a result, don’t go to God in prayer over it.

David is a perfect example to demonstrate that we gain victory through our complete and total dependence and obedience to God in a particular event as written in both 2 Samuel 5 and 1 Chronicles 14. Here is a summary of events.

David becomes king. The Philistines plan an attack. David prays to God for guidance. God says, “Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.” (2 Samuel 5:19).

David attacks and wins easily at Baalperazim and gives credit to God, “The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters.” (2 Samuel 5:20)

Notice how David does more than just thank God. David tells how God led the way thus showing that it was God who caused the victory.

Now here’s salient point #1. The Philistines regroup and plan to attack David again. What does David do? Does he attack whom he just vanquished and greatly diminished? No. He prays to God. And God tells him to wait. He tells David to go behind the Philistines and “over against the mulberry trees” and wait. This is counter intuitive. David, a warrior and military man, has just defeated them. The Philistines suffered loss, a great enough loss to lose the battle. Now the Philistines are easy pickings for David. The natural reaction would be to attack immediately and throw the final and fatal death blow. But David ignores his fleshy impulse and the reasoning of his mind. David stops and goes to God for guidance as to what he should do next.

Just because something is obvious, simple, or easy does not mean that that is what God wants you to do. Neither does your experience, talent, or ability determine God’s wishes.

“Sure that’s what God wants. Can’t you see? It’s right there, it’s so obvious!”

Really, now. Since when did any of us know what God was thinking? Or knew exactly what He wanted? Or when did God not get involved in something based off of your prior experience and know how?

Here’s salient point #2. God tells David to wait for a sign from Him. “And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.” (2 Samuel 5:24)

Wait for the sound of the Spirit of God leading the way, or literally “marching” on the mulberry tops. When David hears this, he is to, “bestir thyself” or literally, “move decisively”. David does just that and not only wins the second battle but drives the Philistines further back “from Geba until thou come to Gazer.”

Pray. Always pray, even when the situation seems obvious. Even when there is no problem, still pray to God over the situation or circumstance.

God is nothing but a forward motion. But He invariably works in tandem with us, not solo. Remember that. God wants us involved with Him in the process. We demonstrate our faith in God and His abilities when we participate. We learn and grow from the experience. This is a primary reason for the joint involvement, our growth. It helps build faith, belief, reliance, and confidence in others. But you know what? It’s also more fun and productive when you do things with someone else, especially when it’s a parent and child relationship, as in God the Father and any of His children. These are cherished moments.   

God could have taken care of the Philistines all by Himself. David could have attacked the Philistines without going to God first. But once David prayed to God and followed the will of God, that’s when the victory was had. The Spirit of God moved and then David moved in response. If only we maintained this order in our everyday lives. We to would experience victory upon victory.

David followed these steps as outlined by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5: Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks to God. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesying. Finally, rest assured as David did that, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it”. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Bill Hitchcock