April 13, 2010

Strategy: that's the theme that came forward to me today.  Joshua had God's strategy to defeat Ai.  The strategy he used in that battle is also a strategy the devil uses to try and get us into a place he can attack us from behind.  Good thing we have God's glory as our rear guard.  He's covered me many a time when I was being stupid.  And it's good to know our friends are covering our backs too! 

I think Ai was being pretty stupid to leave the city undefended!  We should never use past experience as a guide for creating a strategic plan!  God changes His strategies often.  In case you haven't noticed, Satan isn't that flexible.  He keeps using the same tactics that worked before, until he suffers a major rout, and then he might change something.  God may have given me an overall strategic plan for accomplishing something, but if I don't "inquire of the Lord" on a daily basis, I can miss His input that would have given me the advantage.  The idea that a day ahead of us is just routine, and launching out on autopilot, is a good way to get tripped up on something, even a basically stupid something! 

There are many different battlefields we deal with every day, such as "the world, the flesh and the devil."  If we're not careful to uphold the victories we have already gained, we can fall down on something we've neglected while we're charging ahead after a "biggie".  It's not always the battles we're focused on, but the ones we're not paying attention to, that creep up on us from behind, that take us out.  Keep your guard up: that's different than building up walls of defensiveness.

As an example, I charged into this year with a strong desire to dig into the Word and proclaim the Lord in the areas of influence the Lord has given me.  I knew that He wanted me to have an emphasis on relating more to others, and not just being studious or creative all by myself at home.  That desire was from the Lord, and He's been with me.  But I quickly found that all the interaction and outward focus was distracting me from prayer.  I'm not going to continue being effective if my prayer life is extinct!  In the past, the times I've been most caught up in alone time with the Lord, in prayer and worship, have been the times I neglected to reach out to others.  So, God's strategy for me this year is to learn to keep a balance of intimate times with Him and connecting with others.  I'm thankful that the Lord has brought some actively praying saints in my path to keep me reminded on that particular front!

Practicing the art of being led by the Spirit, moment to moment, has always been key for keeping me on the narrow way.  That narrow way has always seemed like a balancing act to me, especially since I'm not naturally balanced.  On each side of the way are ditches, to use Rick Joyner's phrase.  For me, it's easy to tell if I'm off.  One side is a ditch called anxiety, and the other side is a ditch called depression.  I get anxious if I spend too much time focused outward, and depressed if I spend too much time alone.  The narrow way is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and that's Kingdom! 

Not only are we walking, or not walking, on the narrow way, but each of us is in a spiritual war, like it or not.  We might as well have our armor on, and have God's strategic plan and tactical directions so that we can daily experience the victory Christ has already won for us.

What other strategies did you see in the Scriptures today?  I saw some in the Luke and in the Psalm, and didn't even get to those.  Let us know what you find!