The victorious life in Christ doesn't look at all like some might have led us to believe.
In some cases, we’ve been led to believe that a spirit-filled or spirit-led life is one characterized by blessings and plenty—particularly financial blessings and financial plenty. While these are often the result of applying godly wisdom, making judicious decisions, following good advice, and obeying the laws of both governments and God, this is NOT the preeminent characteristic of the spirit-led life.
Some may have been led to believe that the spirit-filled or spirit-led life is one of miracles, speaking to large crowds of people, signs, and wonders. While signs and wonders are promised as a sign that the gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached, these are NOT the preeminent signs of a spirit-led life.
This has, I believe, left many Christians unprepared for the warfare they experience. I've seen Christian caught completely off guard, unarmored, and ill-prepared. I've seen others fight valiantly but without training by the Spirit. I've seen others reject Christ outright because this Christian life they signed on to was not at all what they experienced. Some were never even warned that this spirit-filled life is often a battle—but one whose outcome is already secure.
We are told clearly in Galatians that the fruit of a spirit-filled life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This fruit will be worked out in a life filled with the Holy Spirit. These are the fruits of being transformed into the holy image of Christ through the Holy Spirit. And the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, leads us to both the Mountain of God (where he meets us), the wilderness of God (where he walks with us), and in spiritual battle, where he teaches us how to win against the enemy of our souls.
Jesus, after being baptized, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to battle more than one enemy. Note that the Holy Spirit led him there (Matthew 4:1 and Luke 4:1). Do we think that the student is going to be above the master? That we will not be led by the Spirit into the wilderness so that the marvelous fruit of the Holy Spirit can be worked out in us?
"Our walk with God progresses from learning lessons to having what we just learned tested. This was the Father's pattern with His Son, and it is His pattern with us as well." - Francis Frangipane
Now it is certainly true that we can leave the gracious provinces of God for our own meager scavenging in the desert wastelands. I have seen this happen many times, unfortunately. But this is not the wilderness that we are led into by the Holy Spirit. As I've written before in this blog post, they are two very different places.
For too long, Westernized Christians have been taught improperly that any kind of suffering (and let’s face it, any kind of discomfort) is not a part of the Christian's walk with God but instead, suffering is a problem to be solved or overcome.
And in mainstream Western Christianity, we've most definitely imbibed the teaching that God doesn't author suffering in our lives. It fits well into our cult of comfort.
While some suffering comes from our own bad decisions (and should be avoided), some of the suffering that comes as a natural part of this fallen life should be faced head-on. It's likely preparation, possibly a lesson, and ALWAYS to bring us into deeper intimacy with Christ.
You may have heard it said that you don’t know what you are made of until you are squeezed, jostled, and generally poured out. The first thing suffering teaches us is what we are made of. If we suffer and love pours out on our enemies, then we are disciples of Jesus Christ (John 13:35-36 and Matthew 5:43–44). If we suffer and joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, and self-control are the deciding borders of how we react, then we know who we belong to.
As we realize we aren't surrendering to the governance of the Holy Spirit, or if we're not really happy with what's coming out of us, then we need to dig in deeper to stake out territory in intimacy with Jesus Christ. Time in his presence. Savoring his Word. Soaking in worship. Acting on the directions he gives. This, then, is the process of suffering working out the image of Christ in us: We are squeezed, and we lean in. We battle forward, taking ground, and then we stand on that ground. We are challenged, and we stand firm. In spiritual warfare what God has taught us is proven true. The process continues to repeat until all the enemy is routed from within us and from the Promised Land to which we are headed.
Which leads me to the final destination: the Promised Land. We should not wander a lifetime in the wilderness like the Israelites did. That wasn't the original plan. The original plan was for them to make a covenant with God at the Mountain of God, then journey through the wilderness to take full possession of the Promised Land. Taking full possession is what God commanded them to do:
You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowlands, in the South and on the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you, go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them. - Deuteronomy 1:6b-8
The promised land was promised to Israel, but they were supposed to conquer and remove the inhabitants, and then settle the land. They did not fully obey and settled for a sliver of what God had promised them.
This lapse in obedience has forced the following generations to deal with skirmishes and tyranny...much of which they still experience to this day!
When I started this blog, Israel had not yet been attacked in the heinous way on October 7th. As events started to unfold, I watched in horror as the same spirit of Haman that attempted to annihilate the Jews in Esther's time continued its assignment through Hamas. I fully support Israel and its right to exist, self-govern, and defend its territory. I always will. (I do not ascribe to any doctrine that says that the church has displaced the people of Israel. I clearly see that we Gentiles are grafted into the covenant and that the land itself, while important for enjoying the peace and provision God was going to provide, was never the real heritage. It was God Himself who was to be their heritage.) I had to pause to address this issue because events are continuing to unfold.
But to also be clear: The land which they were supposed to possess was 80% larger than the land they ended up possessing. The comfort of the land flowing with milk and honey promised was supposed to come after the battles of removing all the inhabitants. The Israelites gave up far too early, thinking that they were supposed to have comfort much sooner. They sold out the future generations for the god of comfort.
They forgot that they were supposed to be warring. They were sent in with a mandate to possess the entire land, but they quit before they accomplished this. The Bible indicates they felt they had had enough. And after God had vanquished the Philistines, and the Ammonites, during the time of Samuel, The people quickly grew fond of their peace-filled lives, so they demanded a king who would fight their battles for them:
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” - 1 Samuel 8:19-20
They abdicated their mission to the new king. This led to an almost interminable flow of corrupt kings that was only rarely interrupted by a God-fearing king. Their rejection of God as their King (1 Samuel 8:7-8) did not prevent them from the countless battles they faced and lost, as well as the times they were carried into captivity. Instead of completing God's mission that would have resulted in peace, Israel now had to follow someone else's mission for power.
The spiritual lesson we can take from this is that we must not forget we are surrounded by spiritual enemies who have declared war on us and wish to eliminate the kingdom Christ inaugurated at his resurrection. We cannot sell out the future generations for the god of comfort. Instead, we must:
Turn (pə·nū), which means "turn and look"
Take your journey (ū·sə·‘ū lākem ū·sə·‘ū), which means take hold of your journey in the way we would say in English, "set your sights on"
Go (ū·ḇō·’ū), which also means to "come" (meaning God is already there, calling them to come to him)
Go in (bō·’ū), see above
Possess (ū·rə·šū), which means exactly what it says
We need to turn and look to the God who has prepared the way to live in the promise that the Holy Spirit will conform us to the image of Christ. We need to determine to take hold of the journey and set our sights on who it is that has made the promise and the image of Christ that we have been promised. Then we need to obey God's call to "come" because he is already there, waiting for us to possess the intimacy of being one in Christ and going with us as we make the journey. This is the purpose of the entire journey.
"Let the storms come. Do not fear the threat of life's fire. God has promised to be with us in our adversity. It is there we attain greater purity, and in greater purity is found greater protection." - Francis Frangipane
If we do not want to give up—either on the journey or once we arrive in the Promised Land—then the god of comfort must be removed from the throne of our hearts. Then we will be victorious.
Grace removes the idols of our hearts that we surrender.
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