"For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgotten what manner of man he was" (James 1:23-24).

As Christians, we must remember who we are. We must hear the Word of God, head the Word of God, and then hearken to it by meditating it when we leave church or close our Bibles.

Sometimes we just don't think about it. We go to church and think, "Well, that's what the Word says. I know that." Then we go out and forget all about it. We don't line our lives up with it. Sometimes we come to the place where we get too dependent on God's mercy. But we should not depend on God bailing us out of situations we know we can grow out of through application of the Word of God.

We are commanded to be strong and courageous. We don't start out that way. A young man entering boot camp may go in afraid, making lots of mistakes. He may be that way one day, but he won't stay that way if he follows the commands of his drill sergeant.

Just because we received Jesus, and we make a lot of mistakes, doesn't mean that we will stay that way. When we stay with the Word, get to know Jesus' character, get to know our heavenly Father, and how big they are, we begin to learn how to stand strong and win on the battlefield.

As the victories come, we realize that God is on our side. Then when another battle comes, we already know the outcome. We'll win that one just like we won the others. God said He would protect us, and He does what He says. God said, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." That's because He's got your back. So we have to do the things that God told us to do.

We must remember what God said, at the time of the attack. The way to do that is to continue to meditate on what He has said all day long, especially during peace time—that time when there are no attacks. Then when the attack comes, we will remember what God said. We'll remember exactly who we are, soldiers on God's winning team.

Study Reference: Isaiah 54:17; Colossians 2:10

Copyright © Keith Butler Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.