When we hear the word "fight" or think of going through a fight, it condures up thoughts of hardship, contention and even pain. It's a situation we don't really want to be involved in, and we will most likely avoid such confrontation if we are able. Let's face it, we've all been through a few fights in our lives and because of those life experiences, we've associated these negative attributes to the meaning and understanding of the word "fight."

Did you know that in the New Testament it actually encourages us to embrace this word and the corresponding action associated with it, and to make it a part of our everyday life? Of course, there's a deeper dimension to this word and concept that we need to take hold of. Let's take a look at 1 Timothy 6:12; "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called..."

For some reason, many in the Body of Christ believe that the walk of faith is supposed to be just an easy, breezy walk in the park. Everything is supposed to just go and flow right. However, this verse in 1 Timothy reveals that our faith walk is something we must become aggressive in. We need to come to the understanding that Fight and Faith go hand in hand. We need to wake up to the fact that there is an enemy of our soul that desires to bring discouragement. Take a look at the breakdown of that word - dis-courage. In other words, he is desiring to deflate our faith, rendering it weak, stagnant and inoperative - null and void.

The enemy is aware that our faith in Christ, our faith in His Word, is victory all of the time. 1 John 5:4 reminds us of this truth; "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith."

I remember when I was going through a very tough time years back, and it looked like I was surely going under. I could not see, in the natural, any way for me to come out on top, fear was attempting to convince me that I was through. I decided to get alone with God and took a long walk and began to tell the Lord that I needed a word from Him because fear was knocking hard at the door of my mind. He spoke this Scripture in 1 John 5:4 to me in a very matter-of-fact tone and then added - "Faith in God is victory all of the time - don't you ever forget that!!!"

I immediately embraced correction and made an adjustment within my thinking. This word that He spoke to me became an anchor to my soul, one that I began to focus upon, and within a couple of days, the whole situation broke through to an amazing victory! It was clearly supernatural. I had to make a decision to either allow fear to reign, because of the natural circumstances, or to take hold of His Truth which always supercedes natural fact.

We need to realize that we can't have a victory if we're not challenged. The very word "victory" indicates there has been a fight, struggle, adversity or some kind of opposition that we encountered and came through. I like what Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6:12 regarding this opposition, he said fight the GOOD fight of faith - that should encourage us!

You see, a "good fight" is one you win, one that you are victorious in. You'll never hear anyone boast about a fight they were beaten in. No, if they lost, it was a bad fight and they would just as soon forget all about it. But the Word of God encourages us to stand strong in faith, knowing that He is backing us all the way, and the faith that He has placed within us is a victory waiting to happen. That's why the Word of God calls it a good fight - because we were destined, as children of God, to WIN!!! I guess you could say the fight has been fixed or rigged in our behalf. So you can see how ridiculous it would be for us to quit, and how ridiculous it is for us NOT to have the joy of the Lord radiating throughout our lives. Victory is ours and it's just a matter of time!!!

So, we are encouraged to continue on, stand strong upon His Word, and expect that within the battles we are now facing, we WILL emerge victorious IF we do not give in or give up and buy into the lies of the enemy of failure and defeat. Galatians 6:9 is a reminder to this end; "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season [just a matter of time] we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

Remember, you'll never have a testimony unless you go through a test!. God's plan is to instill within you a rich understanding of the concreteness of His Word and of His being and give you a preaching story that will ignite the hearts of those who hear. Passion is a supernatural by product that is birthed through emerging victorious in your fight of faith - it's contagious! The devil knows this and it scares him to no end.

There's something else we need to understand within this section of Scripture in 1 Timothy 6:12. Because of the language of how it's written in the Greek, it is not a suggestion, but a command to both fight the good fight of faith, AND to also "lay hold on eternal life." You see, eternal life began in us the moment we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It's not something we're going to attain to one day when we get to heaven, it's something that is already at work within us right now. It's something we already have a right to - right here upon this earth - and it's something that we should insist upon and expect in every situation in life.

Eternal life is the fullness of the blessing of God that's been made available to each one of us, and is the culmination of all of the promises of God and the reality of Who He is. Remember, He's a present tense God with present tense promises!!!

But notice, although it's our covenant right - our spiritual inheritance, it's something we need to continually be making a conscious decision to put into action, to take hold of and to grasp. Actually, this phrase "lay hold on" in the original Greek language is just one word and a very strong word at that, which literally means - To SEIZE!!! In other words, we need to not allow adversity, deception and fear to block the pathway to our blessing.

We need to make a daily conscious decision to take hold of by force, muscle our way in and seize upon that which rightly belongs to us by faith and tenaciously, vehemently, absolutely refuse to let it go - no matter what circumstances are presenting themselves to us at the moment. We need to possess our possessions that have been granted to us by the Lord with an "I will not be denied" attitude. Healing, wholeness, favor, increase, our calling and the plans and purposes He has for us - the fruit of the Spirit as well as His gifts - all belong to us now AND we need to press into and take hold of and seize upon them by faith.

Remember what Hebrews 11:1 tells us; " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith operates in the present and is the substance, the evidence or proof of the existence of the rich promises of God that are already established for us. Faith is not archaic thought but a rich tangibility of His Word, Blessing and Love that's been defined by His Word, relayed to us by the Spirit of God and has been birthed or deposited within our hearts upon salvation.

If you see Christian people who are enjoying the blessings of God, you can be assured that they've been through a few faith fights. The good fight of faith will always bring strength and vitality to your character and walk as a believer. It will prove time and time again that our God reigns and that His Word is always True. Through these faith battles we learn more of His faithfulness, His love for us and His willingness to act on our behalf. So, get back up, dust yourself off, throw your shoulders back and get back into the fight, because Victory is just around the corner. You're smiling ;-)

Dan Downey
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Dan Downey 2013
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