In training for the end times battle ahead, we must first position ourselves correctly before God
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Training to Fight in the End Times
Moses learned to lead through this, Joshua succeeded in battle with this, and David would establish God’s throne on earth because of this. Why is this key to success in God’s kingdom?
It’s knowing how to come in and go out.
This was the key to the Israelites’ victories over larger, more powerful nations. This is a supernatural key, one that unlocks success on the battlefield.
When Solomon became King, God asked Him for the one thing he wanted. The first thing that probably comes to your mind is that he wanted wisdom. But why wisdom? Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge so he could master this key in order to rule. He told the Lord, “Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?“
Today, we are entering the end of the age of grace. This is a transition time to Jesus’ reign on the throne of David in Jerusalem for a thousand years. But before this time comes, great darkness will spread over the earth.
If we are to overcome as instructed, we too must gain wisdom and knowledge to master the key of coming in and going out.
In the last post on training for the end times, I described how we can come into God’s presence in preparation for going out with His presence. But before I write about the process of going out, I want to explain how to position yourself before God so that you will go out with His presence.
Fear of the Lord
God responded to Solomon’s request by giving him wisdom and knowledge. And what did Solomon write is the key to having wisdom and knowledge? The answer is the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, 15:33)
The fear of the Lord seems to be largely lacking in the body of Christ today. So many of the worship songs today and encouraging words from pastors seem centered on God working for us. They express that God is for us, He is with us, chases us, runs after us, and fights for us. Now all of these are true, but only in part. While God loves us unconditionally, there are conditions for Him to go out before us and fight.
First, we must seek Him with all our heart and soul. Second, we must operate in His will. God’s will supersedes ours, and we are saved by both believing and submitting to His will. When we humble ourselves before Him, repent of our sins, and surrender to His will, He is with us.
This concept is well described in the book of Joshua when the Israelites were preparing to cross the Jordan and conquer Jericho. I love this verse because of Joshua’s response when he realized the arrogance of his words in asking the captain of the Lord’s host if He was with them.
Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. – Joshua 5:13-15
Joshua did not know who the “man” was. He approached the man (possibly Jesus pre-incarnate) without fear. When Joshua asked if the man was for them, the man immediately rebuked him. At the man’s words, the fear of the Lord came upon Joshua as he fell on his face and bowed down urgently. He humbled himself in repentance and placed himself under the man as His servant.
This scripture shows us that while the Lord came to fight, it was in accordance with His will. He was not there to serve the Israelites, but if they followed Him and aligned their will to His, He would fight the fight that benefited the Israelites according to His will.
The fear of the Lord and humbling ourselves before Him is key to coming in. Act as Joshua did. Bow down on your knees. Fall on your face. Repent and declare your servitude to the Lord.
Then He will be with you. Then He will protect you and fight the fight that benefits you according to His will, not yours.
But there is another powerful tool God has given us to prepare for going out.
Spiritual warfare is about persistence; being constantly vigilant. To do this, you must establish a mindset that you maintain at all times. What is that mindset?
The Fear of the Lord Sets The Mindset for Battle
On this earth, we often fear man and what man can do to us. This will only grow worse in the end times when love has grown cold, and men are without self-control, brutal, and treacherous.
But Jesus instructs us not to fear man, who can only destroy the body, but to fear God, who can destroy body and soul in hell.
David is a great example of this. Think of him facing the giant Goliath. He had no fear for the giant, for he knew God’s will in the matter. David boldly told Goliath, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you.“
David knew he could not beat Goliath on his own. But he also knew he went out in the name of the Lord of Hosts. He even told the Israelites why. “…that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.“
When you go up against man for your own purpose, you will fight alone. But when you go in God’s purpose, in His will, it is His battle to fight.
While you may not face a literal giant, you will inevitably face man in these times. Here is what Jesus and the apostles tell us.
Stand Firm during the End Times
Paul and Peter tell us 12 times to stand firm, and Jesus tells the churches in Revelation twice to not deny His name. We must learn to stand firm with Christ and not acquiesce.
They further tell us that we must endure persecution and suffering. This is critical because “if we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us…“
But we know from Revelation that more and more people will hate us because of Jesus’ name. We already see it today. We are called bigots and haters, cursed and belittled because we stand firm in His word and His name. In some countries, you can be fined or imprisoned for holding to the word of God. Even in the U.S., the country of freedom, we can lose our jobs, our businesses, and our voice because we stand firm.
We will only be able to stand firm if we lose the fear of man and gain the fear of God. In the end times, many will face death in exchange for standing firm. But God will reward them for this. They will trade this life for everlasting life and reign with Jesus in His kingdom on earth.
You must find acceptance to stand firm. Accept that you may be ostracized, and lose your job, your house, your freedom, and even your life. Believe that you have already died to this world and that your life is in Christ.
Only then can you face whatever comes.
Practice a Crucial Tool to Prepare to Go Out
As Moses prepared to receive God’s law, he did this. When Daniel sought answers from God, he did this. And before Jesus began His ministry, He did this. What is this powerful spiritual tool? Fasting.
The word fast is related to the words fasten or steadfast. The Bible uses this word many times. And it is used in context to coming in (to God) and going out (to battle). For example, Deuteronomy 11:22 states. “For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you.“
To hold fast to God and stand steadfast in His ways, God has given us the fast.
Fasting fastens us to God. When we fast, we put aside our physical needs, humble ourselves before Him, and rely on Him for our strength. From this, we can achieve great breakthroughs.
I’ve found that fasting is most effective during times when we can dedicate our time to God. The first time I fasted was when I was going to a Christian conference. In route, I decided to fast over the whole conference. During that time, God healed me of a persistent back injury, and He miraculously healed many people in response to my prayers. I was weak but was on my feet most of the time. I remember in worship, feeling like I could barely stand up and relying on God for strength.
After the conference, I felt amazing and no longer craved food. I continued the fast into the fourth day. When I returned home, my wife and family stared at me and said I looked different – they said my face looked ten years younger. They said, my eyes glowed. Then the next day, I went to work and experienced the same reaction. A woman looked at me and said, “what’s with your eyes? They’re glowing.”
I was reminded of how Moses’ face glowed when he was in the presence of the Lord.
Honestly, fasting is hard. But the times coming will be hard. Your training for the end times must include fasting. Discipline yourself to fast and fasten yourself to God as the ultimate tool to prepare you to go out.
Train for the End Times – Know What You Stand for Now
You may have heard that if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. But I want to reverse this. If you stand for something, you know what you are willing to fall for. And at the extreme, if you know what you are willing to die for, you will stand fast even when faced with death. If you do not have this mindset, you will not be prepared to stand if and when the time comes.
Christians under persecution in many nations have already adopted this mindset. These people are being tortured, beheaded, and hacked to pieces because they stand firm in Christ.
Our mindsets in the west are weak in comparison. We have not been under the level of persecution that births the steadfastness to stand firm in the face of extreme oppression. We must change our mindsets if we are going to be effective in overcoming the darkness in these end times.
Position yourself before God – fear Him, obey Him, and humble yourself before Him so you will go out with Him.
Learn to come in as I described in the first post in this series, and position yourself before God, and then you will be effective when you go out.
In the next post in this series, I’m going to write about going out and share several personal experiences in going out in battle against spiritual forces.
Now Available: the podcast of this post with additional testimonies at www.westcloudsrisingpodcast.com
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Related Posts:
How to Train for the End of this Age: Coming In
Apostasy: Is the Darkness Closing In?
Days of Pagan Gods and Empowered Apostles
Apostasy Rising: Past Ages Reveal What Comes Next in this End of Age Paradigm
I’m pretty sure I’m what you would call one of God’s throwaways! I’m also sure God don’t hear a word I say! Why do I say that? Because after listening to preachers, pastors, and so called prophets for the past ten years the only thing I’ve learned is you say to get saved all we have to do is believe then you turn around and tell us how much stuff we have to do to prove we got saved! Like when I ask for the holy spirit to come into my life but nothing changes! You don’t see a change so then you say well you’re not saved! Really?? I’m more than angry at God , it’s more like rage! He don’t love me, he never did and I know it!
Lin, I’m saddened to hear how you’re feeling. It’s frustrating to hear people tell of their experiences or give advice when you’re not finding the same outcome. I think of it this way. Relationships are unique. Our mother, spouse, or best friend are each going to know us differently because our relationship with each of them is different even though we love each one. I think it is the same with God. He loves each of us though our relationships are unique. But with any relationship, we will get more out of it when we put more into it. If I spoke to my wife once a day for 15 minutes, the relationship would not be very strong, even though I love her. Many places in the Bible state that if we seek the Lord, we will find Him, but some state seek Him diligently, or seek Him with all our heart (search- seek find). This is the key to finding Him. Salvation allows us to build a strong relationship with God. This part is simple but difficult for many. Paraphrasing Romans 10:9, if we believe in Jesus and confess that he is Lord, we will be saved. This does not mean just calling Him Lord – it means genuinely making Him our Lord. Though I believed in God my whole life, nothing changed until I made Him my Lord and surrendered my will to Him, repenting and turning away from my ways, which were not in accordance with His will per scripture. Nothing more is required of salvation. If we do this, our hearts will be changed. But as we seek Him diligently, we will build relationship with Him, grow in Him, and be sanctified through Him. You are not a throwaway. Forget those who say He is chasing you and running after you. Chase Him. Run after Him. He loves you. He wants you. I believe that if you truly surrender, repent and diligently seek Him, you will find Him. I’m praying for you.