The Key to Victory

May 7

(Psalms 44:1-8 NIV)  “We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago. {2} With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our fathers; you crushed the peoples and made our fathers flourish. {3} It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them. {4} You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob. {5} Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes. {6} I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; {7} but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. {8} In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.”  

(Numbers 14:36-45 NIV) “So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it-- {37} these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. {38} Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived. {39} When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. {40} Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. "We have sinned," they said. "We will go up to the place the Lord promised." {41} But Moses said, "Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? This will not succeed! {42} Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, {43} for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword." {44} Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp. {45} Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.”

(Zechariah 4:6 NIV) “So he said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty.”

Sometimes we get to a place in our Christian walk where we begin to feel like we have accomplished great things. We begin to think that our strength, our righteousness, and our goodness are the main ingredients of our greatness. We begin to believe that ultimate victory depends upon the size of our army, the speed of our jets, or the number of missiles we can launch. In our human pride we put our faith in presidents, generals, and armaments instead of God. We may give the Lord lip service, but our trust is in our own might. This is a big mistake. It is God who defeats the enemies of His people. It is His strong arm, not our great strength that overwhelms our foes. We may need to show up at the battle, but God is the key to victory. If we forget that, we are destined for defeat. If God does not go before us, we will be beaten down. He is our strength and shield. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day