Fight the Good Fight of Faith

Posted on 08/31/2014 by goodnewsfromadistantland — Leave a comment

boxerwithgloves The good fight of faith is a spiritual exercise that is a primary activity for genuinely committed Believers in Yahushua Messiah [the Hebrew name for Jesus Christ]. Fighting the good fight of faith is for true ‘Thirsty Souls’ – those who are committed to the truth of God’s Word.

The apostle Paul exhorts the Believers to “Fight the good fight of faith!” (1Timothy 6:12). This an encouragement for us to persevere and maintain our trust in Father’s lovingkindness and faithfulness.

Fighting the good fight of faith is clinging to our faith with all our might!

It is holding on to our faith tightly, and trusting our loving heavenly Father, Yahuwah Elohim [the Hebrew name for LORD God].

It is standing firm on His behalf, proclaiming His truth by our words and our actions.

Fighting the good fight of faith is a determined attitude to never give up on Father’s Word, His goodness and promises. Fighting the good fight of faith means we maintain our faith, declare our faith, and never abandon our faith!

When we know the path Yahuwah is calling us to, we fight to stay true to His guidance.
When all directions and circumstances seem hopeless, we fight to believe Yahuwah is bigger than our problems, and that He is our hope of rescue.
When darkness is all around us, we fight to believe Yahuwah’s light will penetrate the darkness, and give us the needed direction.
When there is doubt and confusion, we fight to believe Yahuwah’s truth will overcome, and will triumph with peace and understanding.
When we are all alone, with Father’s Word as our only friend, we fight to believe Yahuwah’s Word is trust-worthy, He is on our side, and He will comfort us in our afflictions.

Our faith is key to pleasing God! (Hebrews 11:6) Our faith is central to our relationship with Yahuwah Elohim. Therefore we fight to keep it and maintain it!

The Bible meaning for faith can be summed up in two action words: faithfulness and loyalty. These words give us the essence of the good fight of faith – maintaining our faithfulness and loyalty to God.

The ‘Growing-Weary’ Garden

Fighing this good fight of faith is an on-going, daily challenge.

And yet — there are some days when exercising my faith is the last thing I want to do! On those days, I wander around the ‘Growing-Weary’ Garden, seeing some very healthy plants — discouraged, doubtful, depressed, and lonely!

Fighting the good fight of faith is not for wimps!

How did the Heroes of Faith do what they did by faith?!?

Surely they must have had moments of discouragement, struggle, and hopelessness.

But somehow, they endured, and thus ended up in the famous ‘Faith Chapter’ of Hebrews Chapter 11.

The only possible answer is that they fought the good fight of faith! They hung on to Yahuwah’s promises and did not let go! They were diligent to not give up their faith, even in the midst of a Growing-Weary Garden. They fought to maintain their commitment to Yahuwah, enduring trials, and trusting Yah as the only solution to their problems. (Galatians 6:9)

Having doubts and making mistakes is something all of us experience. But Heroes of the Faith are devoted to the struggle to maintain their faith in Yahuwah, regardless of doubts and mistakes!

Can I be a ‘Hero’ of the Faith?

Doubts, failures, discouragements — these do not mean my faith has died. My faith in Yahuwah Elohim, is still entrenched deep within my heart and soul.

Regardless of the struggles and problems, I will not give up my faith!

That is what fighting the good fight of faith is all about! We cling to Father’s promises. We trust His Word completely! We will not abandon His truth, even His promise to be our guide, even unto death (Psalms 48:14).

All Heroes of the Faith, whether recorded in the Scriptures or in the history books, were fighters of the faith.

And even though they could not see what they hoped for; even though they did not always receive what they hoped for, and yet — they never gave up their hope and their faith! They followed in the steps of Abraham, holding on to their faith, even against all hope, they continued to believe in hope of their Mighty One being with them (Romans 4:18).

Never Give Up Hope

Hope is a wonderful thing! Hope is the expectation of something good and rewarding. It is one of the three ‘Great Virutes’:

And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1Corinthians 13:13)

Yes, love is the greatest of the three. But we need our faith! And we need our hope! We are sunk, undone, doomed, washed up IF we abandon our faith and our hope!

Faith, hope, and love are really inseparable. We need all three if we are going to “run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Even though I may wander, at times, into the Growing-Weary Garden, I will not settle there! I am on a journey, heading for mount Zion, on my way to the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem! (Hebrews 12:22)

Our Calling

Fighting to keep our faith strong, and growing, is good for us. It is our calling. It is our pathway to the abundant life, to everlasting life.

Fighting the good fight of faith is to maintain our good confession of Yahushua [Jesus], before many witnesses – standing firm for God’s truth (Luke 12:8-9; 1Timothy 6:12)
Fighting the good fight of faith is to keep our heart firmly established and devoted to Yahuwah’s great salvation (Hebrews 2:1-3).
Fighting the good fight of faith is to hold tightly to our profession of faith, without wavering, declaring the goodness of God to the lost and discouraged (Hebrews 10:23).
Fighting the good fight of faith is to believe Yahuwah’s Word is faithful and trustworthy, even unto death (Revelation 12:11).

Two Challengers

There are two challengers to our good fight of faith — 1.) our own selfish, carnal nature, and 2.) the devil.

Because of these two enemies, we are engaged in a fight, whether we like it or not.

But this fight of faith is not in the natural realm, against flesh and blood. This fight is in the spiritual realm “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

It is the unseen realm of darkness that we must fight against. This is why the apostle Paul urges Believers to ‘Fight the Good Fight of Faith.’ [For more understanding on this matter of spiritual warfare, see the links below.]

In order to fight this good fight of faith, we must begin with a commitment and a determination that is steadfast in the depths of our heart and soul. We must say to the accuser of the brethren:

“Away with you, Satan! Be gone from me! You shall have no part in me! My strength and salvation is in Yahushua Messiah, my helper and my redeemer!”

We need to see that fighting the good fight of faith is a commitment that we will not shrink from, nor relinquish – forever!

In the midst of our moments of anguish, weakness, uncertainty, or helplessness we will continue to look to Yahuwah for His strength and mercy, no matter how weary we may be! We will fight to maintain our loyalty to Him, crying out to our heavenly ‘Daddy’ for strength.

Though we may fail, or fall, even seven times a day (Proverbs 24:16); though our fighting efforts may be small, yet by God’s great mercy and grace, we will continue in our fight of faith!

It is comforting that Father promises give me strength, in my moments of weakness — if I will seek Him for His help!! With His grace, He helps me to keep on trusting Him, to keep on seeking Him for His guidance and strength.

Making Adjustments

We must realize that learning to ‘fight the good fight’ means making some adjustments — re-arranging priorities, shedding worldly ways, and learning to endure.

If we desire to love and follow Messiah Yahushua, then we will consider each area of our life, and will make the necessary adjustments and sacrifices to be in harmony with Father’s written Word.

As we saw in The Pathway of Purity, the missionary J. Hudson Taylor taught his fellow workers, “Do not be afraid of the toil of the cross!”

Hudson Taylor understood the importance of the ‘cross‘ — that is, to deny the carnal, SELF-life. ‘The cross’ is when my selfish, prideful ways are in conflict with God’s ways and truth. What will we do at those moments?

Taylor found the answer. He said that ‘the way of the cross’ is where the power of God is found (1Corinthians 1:18). Denying our selfish, willfull motives in order to fulfill Father’s good and perfect will is where we discover the power of God to walk in victory.

This insight is why Taylor was known for statements such as: “An easy-going, non-self-denying life will never be one of power.”

By Father’s grace, let us learn to make adjustments, learn the baby-steps of, little by little, denying the carnal, selfish nature. This is a major step in fighting the good fight of faith. Let us be asking for Father’s help to have a willing heart to deny our selfish ways.

Did the Heroes of Faith do any less??

Many of the Heroes of Faith endured great trials of afflictions (Hebrews 10:32).

Why did they endure the trials?

Why should we be willing to endure the trials?

We are willing . . .

because of Father’s promises to His children,
because of the great riches of His rewards,
because we yearn to obtain a good report, and
because we desire to gain a better resurrection (see Hebrews 11)!

But most of all . . .

we are willing to endure the trials, and fight the good fight, because we know that Yahuwah Elohim, the Mighty One of Israel, loves us and rewards those who diligently seek Him!

We love Him! And so we seek Him, that we may obey Him, and thereby please Him!

We fight the good fight of faith because we confidently trust Yahuwah’s lovingkindness to reward our humble, feeble efforts to love Him, follow Him, serve Him, obey Him!

“From the very moment we are made righteous by faith, we then begin a lifetime journey of walking with Him. Our walk with Him becomes a great adventure of discovering His Words, and of learning to walk in obedience to His Words. Each day becomes a new opportunity to walk in Biblical faith, which is simply obedience to His Words.” —Faith: According to the Scriptures

Conclusion

As the apostle Paul exhorts – let us continue our good fight of faith.

Do not give up! Resist weariness! Hold tightly to your faith, stand firm, and never deny your faith in Yahushua Messiah.

The fight of faith is a good fight! It is a worthy fight! It is an honourable fight!

No matter how small our efforts may be, Father sees the smallest effort we make to stay true to Him!

We may think our efforts are insignificant, but they are not! Each effort we make to faith-fully honour our Heavenly Father, no matter how small or miniscule – that is a worthy and noble effort!

Our tiny efforts show Father that we desire to stay near Him, to please Him, and — that we are indeed fighting the good fight of faith!

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