After David carried the ark of the covenant to dwell in Jerusalem, he sang praises to God. David recalls what God had done for Israel by giving them the land of Canaan for their inheritance. David declare that God did not allow anyone to oppress his children and even Kings were rebuked on their account. God was clear that no one was allowed to touch his anointed ones or to harm his prophets.

Who are the anointed ones you may ask? Those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour and have been accepted as the beloved of God. Of whom Paul states in the New Testament, “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us,” (2 Corinthians 1:21)

God will not sit by and allow his people to be constantly bombarded and harassed by the enemy. We only need to be still and allow God to fight our battles. (Exodus 14:14) God’s warning is that we do not take vengeance in our own hands, but to leave the vengeance to him. (Romans 12:19)

Do not worry about trying to get even or fighting in your own strength. Save your energy and maintain an attitude of worship and praise. Stay connected to God, listen for his direction and continue to do the best that you can. God has you covered.

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The people of Amalek came and fought with the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses instructed Joshua to choose men for the battle to go up against the army. What did Moses plan to do while Joshua fought? He would stand at the top of the hill with the staff of God in his hand. Perhaps Moses recalled how God parted the Red Sea when he held up his staff towards it. This was the same staff which God had transformed into a serpent, when he appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Moses was now faced with another battle and his strategy was hands raised towards God. “Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed” (Exodus 17:11).

Moses’s strategy was a good one, but as expected his hands grew tired. They put a stone under Moses so that he could sit down. Also to support him, were Aaron and Hur who held up his hands on either side. “And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword” (Exodus‬ ‭17:13‬). These warfare strategies are timeless and still useful for everyday challenges. Raising our hands towards God, takes our focus off the problems and instead places our reliance on God. The second thing that can be learnt from this story was; it is important to be surrounded by people who can support you when you are weary. You need people who will encourage you to seek God and to trust him more.

We lift Jesus high above our circumstances, in recognition of the fact that there is power in our worship. We also recognise that God gives us the victory when we praise him. When we lift our hands in praise and adoration to God, we will have victory over every situation that comes to test us. There is power when we worship and offer praises to God. As depicted with our hands raised towards Him in complete surrender, we accept that we do not have the power to fight this battle on our own. In thanksgiving to our Jehovah most high, we invite God into our difficulties.

We adore him as Lord and King and hail him as our Prince of Peace, who overthrows kingdoms and causes our enemies to flee. Our faithful God who has never lost a battle and who always causes us to triumph. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John‬ ‭12:32‬).

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Experiencing temptation is not in itself sinful. What becomes sin is when we entertain the temptation long enough to be drawn away and enticed. Sometimes the enemy thinks that he has us right where he wants us to be. The question is once we recognize that, do we stay in that position?

There is an escape out of every temptation and major trials are sent to test us, but these are often time limited. We have a lot more strength than we give ourselves credit for. God does not lie when he said he won’t allow us to be tempted beyond our ability and he would create a way out. You have the ability to come out of this challenge victoriously. As we use our God given ability to escape and don’t give in to the lies from the devil.

The devil is the father of lies and he couldn’t tell the truth even if he tried to. Our understanding of the word brings light and a revelation of the truth. The power that is in us is far greater than he that is in the world. We have great power, strength and ability that has been deposited in us to overcome.

Some temptations requires us to run away if necessary as there is no point in sticking around to see how strong you are. “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy‬ ‭2:22‬) We also need people in our lives who can keep us accountable and who will be frank with us when we are doing wrong.

“Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.” (Proverbs‬ ‭10:17‬)

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God never intends for us to live defeated and constantly bombarded by the enemy. When Christ died, he overcame principalities and powers and he spoiled (disarmed) them, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:15)

Christ Jesus is seated in heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name on earth. (Ephesians 1:21) And since we are seated with Christ Jesus in heavenly places, then we are also seated above all principalities and powers. The enemy has no power and authority over us and the power that lives in us is far greater than any power that is in the world.

The promises in the word of God for us states that if we obey God that he would set us high above all the nations of the world. “And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down,” (Deuteronomy 28:1, 13)

We are no longer to live our lives believing the lies that we are defeated, living at the expense of others and waiting for other people to be kind to us in order to survive. It is up to us to grasp the understanding of who we are in God, grab hold of those promises, declare them daily over ourselves and walk in our God given authority.

We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus and we have received power to trample over every power of the enemy and absolutely nothing can harm us. (Romans 8:37; Luke 10:19) You are the righteousness of God and his official representatives on the earth. Therefore walk in this authority and live high above all of your challenges.

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Our battles have to be fought and won on higher ground. Our battles are not surface level and the fight is against spiritual wickedness in high places. How many times have we admired someone in leadership until we got to know them a little better? The familiarity and greater knowledge of someone can reveal their weaknesses and insecurities. Some people look a lot better from a distance.

We have to be careful not to put people on a pedestal and acknowledge that not everyone is gracious with power. Some people in positions of power can be the most corrupt and do the most detestable things.

The bible makes reference to spiritual wickedness and some people use power to oppress others. Paul encouraged us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and to put on the full armour of God, to defend against attacks (Ephesians 6:10-11).

We have to stand having our loins girded with the truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). The disappointment from people in leadership and the realisation of how corrupt people are can be discouraging. We cannot loose our conviction due to disappointment or fall in line in order not to upset the status quo. Take a stand of righteousness and speak the truth even when it may not seem like the most popular thing to do. Trust God for his protection as you rise to a higher level.

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At times during the test it can feel like God has forgotten about you or that he has abandoned you. God promised to never leave you or forsake you and he is with you always. (Hebrews 13:5) We look to the hills from where our help comes from. We know that our help comes from the Lord who made the heavens and earth. (Psalm 121)

The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. (Deuteronomy 28:7) We keep our mind stayed on the word of God to strengthen our faith to stand in the midst of adversity. No one can stand against our God and when we live for him a battle against us is a battle against God. But there is more with us than are with our enemy and the God in us is greater.

God helped David fight his battles and he never lost a fight. He consulted God and got direction to plan his battle strategy and with God on his side he always had victory.

People come at us with their strategies and their weapons of fear and intimidation but we come in the name of Jesus. At his name demons tremble at the power and awesomeness of Jesus. In the Name of Jesus we decree and declare victory and our enemies are defeated.

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We have to take responsibility for how people treat us at times, as we sometimes set the tone for this. People will sometimes treat us how we allow them to. When we see value in ourselves and act as such, then people are likely to act accordingly.

Remember that God considers us to be precious in his eyes, honoured and loved (Isaiah 43:4). Some people will try to use us to satisfy their selfish ambitions and desires, if we give them the chance to. Have you ever had someone try to make you feel guilty, for being a Christian and setting firm boundaries. ‘I thought you said you were a Christian and shouldn’t Christians help others.’ Yes as Christians with the mind of Christ, and the desire to be led by him, we seek to do his will and walk in his purpose. But even Jesus had to call out people who followed him with ulterior motives.

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves (John 6:26). Jesus performed a great miracle by using five loaves and two fishes, to feed a large multitude with twelve baskets to spare. Some people would have been amazed by the miraculous power of Jesus and the power from God to do great wonders. This multitude however was concerned with getting their bellies full.

It is more blessed to give than to receive, but be wary of people who latch unto us because they perceive us as being able to give. Envy is a dangerous emotion and at times stems from mistakenly perceiving others to be in a better position than we are.

We have to set boundaries in order to protect ourselves and be discerning of behaviours that are unsafe. Jesus moved away from the crowds to preserve himself, as he perceived that they sought after him out of greed and not need. Other times Jesus sought alone time to be refilled in order not to experience burn out. Our talents and abilities are given to us by God, to be used for the establishment of his kingdom. We have to ensure that they are not misused by others, so we have to set clear boundaries in relationships.

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There is a reason why God included gentleness and self control as fruits of the spirit. These traits do not come naturally to most of us and impatience and intolerance are sometimes easier traits to find. We often think that if someone has done wrong that there is a need for punishment. That if someone has spoken harshly then let us respond in like manner.

Solomon teaches that a soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. (Proverbs 15:1) There is a reason why Jesus cautions us to turn the other cheek and to not repay evil with evil.

There are some situations where a soft spoken word and a bit of gentleness can do far more than a harsh word of criticism. Mistakes are often a sign of struggle and it is human to err. If being harsh and punitive has not worked so far then try speaking gently to see if this garners better results.

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. (Hebrews 10:36)

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When we surrender our lives to Christ he gives us a new identity, a new mind and a new way of thinking. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5) Our view of ourselves is more important than what anyone else thinks of us. Solomon said that as a man thinks in his heart so is he. (Proverbs 23:7) The definition of ourselves no longer rests on what others say but on what God says.

God says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) God created us in his own image and he invested great things in us to fulfil our purpose and destiny.

We cancel every negative report from the enemy and we cast down every imagination that lifts itself up against the knowledge of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) We are who God says we are; Priests, royalty, wonderfully complex, gifted, talented and having the mind of Christ to accomplish great things on this earth.

We cancel the negative ideas from the kingdom of darkness concerning our identity, our future and our lives. We claim the promises of God and we declare that we are who God says we are and our thoughts are aligned with Godly thinking.

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The mind is a major battlefield for attacks against us from the enemy. When we become children of God, we are urged to renew our minds by changing the way we think. (Romans 12:2) As such, our perspective changes from seeing things the way the world sees them to having an eternal perspective.

The world’s way of thinking is based on deductive reasoning which relates to making decisions based on known facts. Faith requires believing in what we cannot see and trusting that God is who is says he is and can do what his word says. And then by believing in the power of God, we will see the tangible manifestations of his power.

Paul also warns us to focus on what is pure, honourable, lovely, commendable and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:16) Being intentionally positive and grateful produces hormones which are good for our mental health. It is draining to sit around and talk about negative things and rehearse sad stories about the world. These behaviours and habits are emotionally draining and toxic.

We very often attract the things that we think about repeatedly and some exaggerated fears become a reality because of our own self fulfilling prophecies. Let us pray and cover our minds and daily wear the helmet of salvation to protect our thoughts. (Ephesians 6:17)

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