Page 8 - MyFaith Mag October 2016 Web
P. 8

GRASSROOTS

                                    BY ANGUS BUCHAN

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal
but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds”

Boxing is a very controversial sport and I know that many Christians don’t like     80kg and was fighting men that were basically twice his size, but he would
it, but I want to use the analogy of the Christian walk to that of the profes-      never give up. He could endure tremendous pain. They would knock him
sional boxer. First of all, I cannot find the scripture in The Bible which states;  down and he would stand up again. He could take severe punishment and
come to Jesus and all your problems will be over. I cannot find it because it is    eventually of course the other boxer, would lose heart and Marciano would
not in the Bible. In fact, in my own particular case ever, since I gave my life to  then deal with him immediately.
Jesus, the fight has intensified. However, the good news is, whereas before I
met the Lord Jesus Christ, I was fighting the fight on my own, but since meet-      The apostle Paul knew how to handle pain. Pain can actually be a very good
ing Him I now have the Lord in my corner, and that is why I am having many          thing. It can teach us many lessons. One is patience and another one is
victories.                                                                          humility.

One of my heroes in the Bible is St Paul. He was a fighter of note and he           A champion needs vision. Many believers today have no vision and that is
feared nothing, but sin, and desired no one, but God. If you read in Acts           why they are continually being defeated. Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV), “Where
24:22-26 you will see that he was prepared to go the whole way for the Lord         there is no revelation,[a] the people cast off restraint;” If you don’t have a
and in fact, he went the full distance. When we are suffering, it is easier to      vision to be a champion, you will never make it. We must never ever give up
stay close to Jesus, because we have nothing else to hold onto. Paul gave his       and never look away from the enemy. Any boxer will tell you that you have
all to Jesus, and that is why he was so very successful.                            to keep your eyes continually on your opponent, the moment you look away
                                                                                    he will probably defeat you. Of course the hardest battle that you and I will
Jack Dempsey was one of the greatest heavyweight boxers and he became               ever fight, will be in our own homes. Why? Well quite simply, because the
the world champion during the great depression in America. He would say,            devil hates families and is determined to destroy them, because he knows
“It is very easy to get up in the morning and to train when you are sleeping        how much God loves the family unit.
on a cold concrete floor, but when you become the champion of the world
and you are sleeping in a warm king-size bed, with that down duvet on top           My dear friend, the devil’s fight is not with us, it is with God and that is why
of you, it is not so easy to get up in the morning.”                                he is determined to break the family unit down, in order to try and hurt God.
                                                                                    Some of us reading this article are on the canvas, we are going down for the
Hardship definitely develops the character of a champion fighter (Romans            count. I want to say to you, get up, stand-up, be the Prophet, Priest and King
5:3-4). There is another quality that is needed for a child of God who is           in your home if you are a man. Be the heart, be the prayer warrior and be the
fighting the fight of his life and that is humility. I read a story of the days of  loving mother and submissive wife to your husband, and the devil will have
segregation in United States of America, when the whites had to sit in the          no room in your home or life.
front of the bus and the blacks had to sit in the back. When the bus stopped
at the bus stop three young white teenagers got onto to the bus. They were          Remember your family will fight exactly the way you fight, especially your
disrespectful and angry young men. They saw one single black man sitting            young son who is watching his dad and if his dad has got racial prejudice,
right at the back of the bus and they started to taunt him and to provoke him.      is unfaithful, negative, and filled with hatred, anger, fear and anxiety in his
He never responded. When the bus came to the next bus stop, this black              life it will be transferred to his children. We need to discipline ourselves and
man got up and he just got taller and taller, as he was nothing less than a gi-     we need to teach our children how to fight this good fight. Remember 2
ant. He walked to the front of the bus to get off and he handed a card over to      Corinthians 10:4 (NKJV), “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal
the three young men without saying a word and got off the bus and walked            but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,” We need to get up in the
away. He never looked back. The three young men looked at the card and on           morning and we need have good quiet times with the Lord every day (train-
the card was printed; Joe Louis professional boxer. He could have killed all        ing), then God will prepare us for any fight that comes our way.
three of them with one blow, but he chose not to say a word.
                                                                                    May God bless you as you continue to run the race, fight the good fight and
Humility is a great asset to the fighter. We also need to endure pain in this       be a fantastic witness for God. We know the battle is won and when Jesus
fight that we are fighting, if we hope to win.                                      died on the cross of Calvary and He said it is finished, He meant it. We need
                                                                                    to understand one thing, we have to fight the daily battle, the daily skirmish-
Rocky Marciano is the only heavyweight boxer in the world, to have never            es, in order to reach the crown which God has prepared for us. He has not
lost a professional fight. He had forty-nine fights and forty-nine wins. He was     left us defenceless. We have the Holy Spirit in our corner and He will guide
never defeated. Why? Because he was the biggest? No, he weighed a mere              all of our movements and give us the ultimate victory.

8 | OCTOBER 2016                                                                    CLmyfaithmag.com
   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13