Be Prepared to Defend Your Position

When I was in middle school, I played in the school band. I was the only girl in the trumpet section, and I was also the first chair (or lead) trumpet player. That means I was the most proficient trumpet player and often I was tasked with playing the most difficult parts of the musical pieces. First chair was not something you took lightly though, because in band there is a procedure used by the band director to ensure the most proficient players were positioned as first chair. It was called the CHAIR CHALLENGE. And you had to be ready (prepared) to defend your position, especially if you were first chair. You see, other chair positions were given the opportunity to challenge a higher chair for their position. The challenger determined the music that was to be played and the defender could not refuse the challenge. In our school, CHAIR CHALLENGES were usually a surprise. You weren’t told beforehand that one would be coming up, so you had to stay in a state of readiness. You had to be PREPARED TO DEFEND YOUR POSITION!

Why am I telling you this?

Because I woke up yesterday morning and Holy Spirit brought all of this to my remembrance and said to me “Be prepared to defend your position.” Now, I’m not in band anymore, lol. But I do have a challenger who would love nothing more than to remove me from my seat of spiritual authority. And if you are a Christian, you have that same enemy!

Peter warned us of our enemy and how to face him, but first Peter gave us an important SECRET WEAPON :

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time, casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]. Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. But resist him, be firm in your faith [against his attack—rooted, established, immovable], knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world.” (1 Peter 5:6-9 AMP)

Our secret weapon is keeping ourselves in a place of humility before the LORD, casting all of our worldly cares and concerns ON HIM, staying firm IN HIM through faith so as to not give the devil a foothold in our lives.

The writer of Psalm 91:1-4 clues us in on this tactic:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand]. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust [with great confidence, and on whom I rely]!” For He will save you from the trap of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you and completely protect you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and a wall.”

To me this seems to indicate the importance of staying in your seat of authority, which is in the LORD. A New Testament example would be abiding in Jesus Christ and Him abiding in us.

Curious about battle tactics and wanting to get a better understanding of battle strategy, I looked up some military information regarding defense. Here’s a little excerpt from a military manual.

“The purpose of defense is to defeat the enemy's attack and gain the initiative. Defense is a temporary measure conducted to identify or create enemy weaknesses that allows for the early opportunity to change over to the offense. Initially outnumbered, the defender uses maneuver and firepower to first blunt the attack, then concentrate combat power to counterattack and direct friendly strength against enemy weakness. Defensive operations achieve one or more of the following:

·         Destroy the enemy

·         Cause an enemy attack to fail

·         Deceive the enemy

·         Gain time

·         Concentrate forces elsewhere

·         Control key terrain

·         Wear down enemy forces before conducting offensive operations

·         Retain terrain

As stated, the immediate purpose of any defense is to defeat the attack. Other purposes, while important, are not the primary focus of the defense.”

*Excerpt from INFANTRY PLATOON TACTICAL DEFENSE: Lesson 1 located at globalsecurity.org

As a Christian, when we find ourselves being attacked by satan and his cronies, we have a defense strategy that you could label as “Staying In Your Seat of Authority.” Our pastor has recently taught on not letting the devil “unseat” you in the wrestle or fight. Please note that we are not fighting new battles against satan. We are already victorious in Jesus and we are more than conquerers in Jesus Who has already overcome the world. Yet, we have an enemy that tries to steal from us, kill us spiritually, and destroy what’s ours according to our covenant rights. And if we do not know WHOSE WE ARE and WHO WE ARE, then our enemy can easily remove us from our position. He doesn’t necessarily want what we have, rather he wants us to step out of our covenant rights by getting us to get up from out seat of authority.

So how to we defend our position when faced with spiritual attack?

Let’s look at the strategies laid out for us in God’s word. You should know me by now, lol, I’m going to give you some WORD! These are by no means all the scriptures on this topic. I encourage you to search out more for your personal study. So here we go:

 “God is opposed to the proud and haughty, but [continually] gives [the gift of] grace to the humble [who turn away from self-righteousness].” So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.” (James 4:6-7 AMP)

“The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, being ready to punish every act of disobedience, when your own obedience [as a church] is complete.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-6 AMP)

“Be on guard; stand firm in your faith [in God, respecting His precepts and keeping your doctrine sound]. Act like [mature] men and be courageous; be strong. Let everything you do be done in love [motivated and inspired by God’s love for us].” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14 AMP)

“Be persistent and devoted to prayer, being alert and focused in your prayer life with an attitude of thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2 AMP)

“Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12 AMP)

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin [by which it brings death] is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory [as conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose].” (1 Corinthians 15:55-58 AMP)

 “In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might. Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places. Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious]. So stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the wide band of truth (personal integrity, moral courage) around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (an upright heart), and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news]. Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.” (Ephesians 6:10-18 AMP)

“If you forgive anyone anything, I too forgive [that one]; and what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of [and with the approval of] Christ, to keep Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:10-11 AMP)

Some key strategies I notice here include:

SUBMIT TO THE AUTHORITY OF GOD – Jehovah is the MOST HIGH GOD. He sits in Heaven above all things, therefore all things are underneath Him (Ephesians 1:19-23). The scriptures tell us that we as Christians sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6), therefore our enemy is underneath us as well. Jesus informed His disciples that He saw satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightening, and then informed the disciples that He had given them authority over ALL the powers of the enemy (Luke 10:18-19). That promise extends to us as well. So in JESUS, we have a seat of authority above our enemy and we must stay in JESUS to remain seated and to hold on to that authority.

BE AWARE, PREPARED, AND STEADFAST – As Christians, we live in the world, but are not like the world. We live in the SUPERNATURAL, we live according to the SPIRIT. Therefore, we must be spiritually aware of Who God is, who we are in Him, and who are enemy is. That comes through KNOWING God’s word and KNOWING God through relationship. Our preparations for defense come about by knowing the word through personal study, teaching, and preaching. We must have understanding and revelation of His word through His Spirit. And once we know, have revelation, and understand all these things, we must remain steadfast in them. Do not “let up” on studying, praying, and seeking the LORD. Do not “waiver” in obedience to Him and His word. Because you have an enemy that is waiting to trip you up. He wants to unseat you! Be prepared to DEFEND your position!

And there is so much more we could discuss regarding this topic, but this is a great launch pad. I pray that this has helped you as much as it has me. I pray that you hold fast your confession of faith in our Lord Jesus no matter what comes your way. My determination to follow the Lord has increased with every attack the enemy has thrown my way. And let me be the first to tell you that I have had a lot of “whatever comes your way” situations happen in my life lately. Yet through it all God has been with me. He has been my Strength, my Help, my Hope, my Protector, my Provider, my Comforter, my Wisdom, my EVERYTHING! He is a faithful God!!!

I want to end with this encouragement from Paul:

“But we have this precious treasure [the good news about salvation] in [unworthy] earthen vessels [of human frailty], so that the grandeur and surpassing greatness of the power will be [shown to be] from God [His sufficiency] and not from ourselves. We are pressured in every way [hedged in], but not crushed; perplexed [unsure of finding a way out], but not driven to despair; hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted [to stand alone]; struck down, but never destroyed; always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be shown in our body. For we who live are constantly [experiencing the threat of] being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be evidenced in our mortal body [which is subject to death]. So physical death is [actively] at work in us, but [spiritual] life [is actively at work] in you.

 Yet we have the same spirit of faith as he had, who wrote in Scripture, “I believed, therefore I spoke.” We also believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and will present us [along] with you in His presence. For all [these] things are for your sake, so that as [God’s remarkable, undeserved] grace reaches to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of [our great] God.

Therefore we do not become discouraged [spiritless, disappointed, or afraid]. Though our outer self is [progressively] wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day by day. For our momentary, light distress [this passing trouble] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory [a fullness] beyond all measure [surpassing all comparisons, a transcendent splendor and an endless blessedness]! So we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen; for the things which are visible are temporal [just brief and fleeting], but the things which are invisible are everlasting and imperishable.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-18)

GLORY TO GOD!!!

The LORD bless you and keep you my brothers and sisters 💙💙💙