Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Power On, Power Off

Quote for August 24, 2007

"Under the banner of God, victory is always assured; but apart from it, defeat is a certainty. When the banner of God's rod was not held high, Amalek prevailed. You can't do battle against the flesh under your own power."~ Kay Arthur ~ Lord, I Want to Know

The example of what Kay Arthur is talking about here is found in Exodus 17:1-13. Joshua was in charge of defeating the Amalekite army and Moses’ job was to stand on the hilltop holding up the staff of God with the help of Aaron and Hur. As long as Moses held up his arms Joshua was winning and whenever they dropped due to fatigue Amalek would prevail. It is from this story that we get one of the names of God called Jehovah Nissi, meaning banner.

The picture the scene paints from the hilltop is one of a light switch. When you flip it up the power is on when you flip it down the power goes off. The direction of this process never changes as long as the switch is wired correctly. Up for on and down for off. Moses wasn’t the power source on the hilltop that day it was God.

Praise to the Lord we are given that same opportunity to tap into the power source that won the battle for Joshua. With Moses he held in his hand the staff of God. With us we have the Word of God on our side to hold up in our hearts in times of battle. Words such as those found in 1 Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The key word here is “through” Jesus Christ. It can’t be done any other way. No matter how hard we try to fight on our own the true victory comes through Jesus. No matter how many times we try to rewire the switch to the power source the direction of the process doesn’t change, it’s through Christ.

We were never meant to fight alone. God has given us the ability to win against the flesh. Our job is to power up by allowing Jesus access into our lives. We by no means will ever turn our heads to find someone standing on a near by hilltop holding up their arms each time we are winning but if we look we will find God. We are not alone, can’t be said enough.

Power On. Power Off. The choice is ours.

Closing Thought: Whenever Satan has us feeling that we are losing, we need to throw our arms up high and look to the Lord claiming the promise He made to us in 1 Corinthians 15:57. Victory is ours, the battle is already won, and the one who loses is Satan. Praise the Lord, we can run to win, there is no time to stop and lick our wounds.

The host this week is Joy in the Morning, run over there and read what others have to share about today’s quote. Power up on Jesus; keep your arms upward reaching out to God. Victory can be yours.

5 comments:

ellen b. said...

Amen. We are not alone and the enemy was defeated by Christ! Blessings...
http://happywonderer.wordpress.com/

Unknown said...

what a beautiful post. Thank you!

Lana G! said...

Wonderful application. We fight with Jesus by our side and he has won the battle.

Lana G!
http://airmiles.wordpress.com/

Aunt Angie said...

Karen, I loved that line of thought! What a concept! The lightswitch!!!
I normally write along w/everyone on this post, but today I wanted to read and refresh my mind. I had worked on a post that took more out of my brain than I thought!(Drawing Straws) and I just needed a wee break!
I totally tanked up on your words! You blessed me. I was also reading just before lunch today the "names of God" and when I read "Jehovah Nissi" on yours, it was like...a lightswitch!!!
Bless you for your encouraging words!!!

Mrs. Pharris said...

Praise God the battle is already won! Thanks for sharing!!