Knocked Down, But Not Out.

The struggle is over, but the fight is just starting.

1 Timothy 6:12

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

When Christians face hardships, we sometimes start to question our faith.

"I'm a believer, why is this happening to me?"

" How could God let this happen?"

"God, where are you?"

"I don't get why I have to go through this?"

The reality is, being a follower of Christ is NOT an easy life at all. Beneficial, eternal-life promising, life-saving, and a decision we should all choose? Yes. Easy? No.

HOWEVER. THERE IS HOPE.

While the Bible tells us plenty about the real enemy who is constantly raging attacks against us, God also tells us that we're not the weak ones in this fight.

1 Peter 5:8

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

See, we have the upper-hand in this fight, because we ourselves are not fighting. It is the Lord who fights on our behalf. He is for us and He is with us.

Exodus 14:14

The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Oh, and what else? We're well equipped for this fight!

2 Corinthians 10:4 - 6

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Who can stand against the Lord?

Exodus 15:11

“Who is like You, O Lord, among the [a]gods?

Who is like You, glorious in holiness,

Fearful in praises, doing wonders?

And since the Lord is for us, then who could be against us?

Our God is with us.

Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Since the Lord is with us and for us, then who could stand against us?

Romans 8:31

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

I don't know what you're going through, but I do know that our God is faithful. He cares. He even sympathizes with us. (Hebrews 4:15.) Do not give up. Do not lose faith. DO NOT LET THE DEVIL WIN. We are victorious through Christ and He fights for us. Continue to takes your pain, hurts, and disappointments to Him. He cares. (1 Peter 5:7)

I am praying with you, friend.

Invitation to Salvation God desires so much more for us than we know. God desires for us to be restored back to His original design for mankind. I’m sure you’ve heard the story before about Adam & Eve and the fall of humanity (see more here.) God designed us to display His glory. Unfortunately, we chose to follow our own idea of evil and good, and sin was introduced to the world. For a better understanding and in-depth analysis of why we need salvation please visit these resources!

• Original Sin and The Need for Salvation

• The Gospel of Jesus Christ

The Gospel 1 Corinthians 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -------------- The gospel is God’s good news of reconciliation of Him & mankind. God is not looking for robots to aimlessly follow a leader who will smite them for doing the wrong thing. The truth of the gospel is that God loves us and invites us to dwell with Him in eternity. That is life. God’s overall plan is so much more than we could ever understand, but the beauty is that we don’t have to fully comprehend to believe in Him. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). As a result of human nature, we are all destined to die. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). So instead of us having to die eternally and suffer the full sentence of death that came about as a result of sin, God took on that punishment for us. Through Jesus Christ, He justified us through His own blood and made life available to all who would choose to believe. The gospel is so much more than a story about an angry God who wants to control your life and just send you to hell if you don’t do what He wants. I implore you to study the scriptures and God’s creation and redemption story. He will give you the answers you seek. The gospel is God’s plan to restore us into relationship with Him. Sin keeps us from God. If you believe, or you feel that God is trying to get you to invite Him into your life, the first step is accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Believe that He died for the atonement of your sins (1 John 2:2), that He was buried, and resurrected on the third day, defeating sin and death (Revelation 1:18), and that He invites us to partake in this victory too (Romans 6:5-10.) So What Must I Do To Be Saved? Believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and repent (turn away) from a life of sin. (Acts 3:19) It is by grace, through faith! (Ephesians 2:8-9).