When He knights a Soldier

For an individual to come to faith in the promised Messiah {Jesus Christ of Nazareth}, all one has to do is trust what the Holy Scriptures says about Him. He is the Christ, the Savior of anyone who believes that He is the Son of the True and Living Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth. Hallelujah!
Where there are fewer human-made doctrines or self-oriented opinions brought into the moment of a new believer’s acceptance of Christ, the chances for a successful journey with the Messiah are much higher. God’s Grace is not a fancy noun to be thrown around from pulpit to pulpit or a frivolous formula advertised on radio and television. However, in some cases, messages through the media about Grace are implied and often misinterpreted as a free ride from judgment.

A more accurate picture of Grace would be similar to a King who knights a soldier. And, in the most unusual circumstances, the soldier becomes a sheep that fights a dragon. Just as sheep who follow their shepherd, those believers who remain in the Good Shepherd’s fold are made safe under His watchful eyes and protected against the dragon that stalks the sheep.
Therefore, an essential word of truth for the new believer to remember is that we are loved, forgiven and accepted in this safe place; the actual dwelling place of Adonai, our King of Glory!

The reason that Satan is perplexed and frustrated with Adonai’s Jewish Messiah is that Satan was looking forward to fighting a mere human being with weakness. Although Yeshua, Jesus Christ of Nazareth; came in human form, He was embodied by the Holy Spirit, which animated the Will of God, our Father in Heaven. The same is true concerning every believer. The Holy Spirit guides us into a victorious lifestyle instead of our flesh dictating to us.

The Suffering Messiah
In the Bible, we learn that the innocence and integrity of God’s suffering Lamb produced conditions in which the Lamb obtained a more excellent position. He was bestowed a Name above all names and, ‘knighted’ with the Highest authority than any other. Every creature in heaven, earth, and under the earth must submit to that great Name! Followers of Yeshua (Jesus Christ) understand suffering uniquely; an acquired knowledge that Satan does not, nor cannot comprehend. When we act like Christ (clothed in His righteousness), the devil is powerless.

At the crucial point when Grace envelopes new believers into the sanctification of the Kingdom of God; we die to our human nature, and then we become aware of Adonai’s Will. Our will becomes entwined to His Will.

Colossians 1:24-29
(NLT)
Paul’s Work for the Church
24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. 25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. 26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. 27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. 29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

(Complete Word Study Bible Dictionary)

1. πάθημα páthēma; gen. pathḗmatos, neut. The noun from páschō (G3958), to suffer. The suffix -ma makes it mean that which is suffered. Suffering, affliction (Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 1:5; Col. 1:24; 2 Tim. 3:11; Heb. 2:9, 10; 10:32; 1 Pet. 1:11; 5:1, 9). The sufferings of a Christian are so called because they are endured for the sake of Christ and in conformity to His suffering (cf. 2 Cor. 4:10; Phil. 3:10; 1 Pet. 4:13). A passion, an affection (Rom. 7:5; Gal. 5:24). In this latter passage, pathḗmata (pl.), passions or affections, denotes those passions that are bad, as an equivalent to epithumíai (G1939), desires.
   Syn.: páthos (G3806), suffering, passion, lust; plēgḗ (G4127), wound; mástix (G3148), whip, suffering; gággraina (G1044), gangrene, canker; asthéneia (G0769), weakness, sickness; nósos (G3554), sickness; nósēma (G3553), illness; talaipōría (G5004), wretchedness, misery; kakopátheia (G2552), affliction.

(Complete Word Study Bible Dictionary)

1. ἁγιάζω hagiázō; fut. hagiásō, from hágios (G0040), holy. To make holy, sanctify.
   (I) To make clean, render pure.

So, now we recognize that the Holy Spirit is our only tried-and-true immunization against Satan who is the god of this fallen world.
Satan’s agenda is to influence individuals who are on that slippery slope of disobedience. Ultimately, he overtakes that person through deception and causes them to carry out his diabolical plan which is to throw our salvation in the face of Jesus Christ. Because Satan got kicked out of Heaven, he has launched an all-out attack against the saints to get them in a place of rebellion against our Heavenly Father. While the Holy Spirit teaches us and guides us, every born again Christian still possess their power of Choice. The Word of God is written so that a believer can study Yeshua’s method of maintaining His Father’s favor and admiration while avoiding giving place or advantage to the adversary.

In other words, Satan entered the arena to fight the Lamb of God. The devil was confident of a sure win because the Lamb’s arms were too short to fight a dragon. But these odds seemed to be our Lord’s strategical plans for victory. God chose the Lamb as His challenger against Satan. We see the heavyweight (satan) vs. the lightweight contender, the Lamb of God who represented the Kingdom of God.

Likewise, the superpower of the Christian is the fruit of the Spirit. The devil is waiting to fight his opposer who is clothed in a mortal body. However, the Holy Spirit positions us to be in right relations with God and because of this relationship, we are more than a conqueror. Hallelujah!

Galatians 5:22-23
(Complete Word Study Bible Dictionary)

Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:24-26
( Complete Word Study Bible Dictionary )

24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:18-21

(Complete Word Study Bible Dictionary)

18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

The secret of the believer’s favor with an Almighty and Holy God is to have a pure heart and clean hands. To be an overcomer, one must follow the Lord’s path of righteousness. Adonai will bring His Lamb or His children into some of the most unfair battles. The children of God might feel that they are deserted and without help. But, we know that the victory in this battle is not given to the swift or to the strong, but whoever waits on the Spirit of God. When we do not fight through our human nature, we will see the Hand of Adonai. Our Lord does not work or move for the best fighter; He searches the heart of a righteous person. When our heart is pure, we become more than conquerors. However, before one can become “more than a conqueror,” they must first master the art of becoming a sheep.
Many broken relations happen as the result of a believer’s incompletion of assignments he or she was entrusted. Adonai is never looking for the best ‘fighter’, He is looking for the best heart. If our efforts are deficient, it’s not due to a lack of fighting skills. it is because a would-be conqueror refused to become a sheep, first.

Romans 8:36-39
(CWSB)
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Romans continue with: It doesn’t matter which opponent I face, my heart is in tune with the heart of the Lamb, thus I believe this trial is working for my good.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are sheep in our Shepard’s Sheepfold

No person who is in a true love-relationship with another would willingly walk into a test or trial that could terminate that connection. Therefore, when an offender sincerely asks for forgiveness (along with a change in behavior) and the victim releases them of the offense; the love of God is on display.
Note: I am not talking about something that causes reinjury or that would place someone in danger.

Hold on to your seats! Romans 8:38 is an implication or a quotation from Psalms 44:22. It seems that the Lord had forgotten those righteous people, who were waiting, Our Lord was showing the Devil how they still trusted Adonai’s while still in the trail.

Psalms 44:18-26
(CWSB)
18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;
19 Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for thy sake, are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off forever.
24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.

It might help believers to process their trials differently if you know that God is boasting about you to His enemy, Satan. Adonai knows our past victories (He is the One that caused the triumphs) and He has complete confidence that we will not walk away from the faith.
Adonai bragged about Job’s character when Satan tried to destroy him without cause; “… there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and avoids evil; and still, he holdeth fast his integrity” (Job 2:3).

Some may question Christians: “Why were good people in the Bible always fighting some type of warfare?” My short answer is that those great men and women of God understood testing as a part of Spiritual refinement. God is always proud of our perseverance and our determination to serve Him, and when the times get tough; the redeemed get into worship. We are empowered in His Grace and therefore, we can count it as ‘pure joy’.

1 Peter 1:7 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

James 1:2-4 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Adonai doesn’t test us to fail us; He is building His army of seasoned spiritual soldiers who are walking in Yeshua’s authority. Things will get easier in time, and one day many will admire what you have accomplished in God and they will praise the Lord for what He has done in you!
When we believe the Word, only then will the world witness its true power!

Hebrews 4:12-16
(New Living Translation (NLT) Study Bible Notes)
The word that created and governs the cosmos (1:2-3) can deal powerfully with people. • the sharpest two-edged sword: God’s word is able to penetrate the darkest recesses of people’s lives, exposing their innermost thoughts and desires (cp. Eph 6:17; Rev 1:16; 2:12, 16; 19:15).
God’s Word (4:12–12)
The Word of God is so powerful that it changes us into different creatures.

A foundational truth in Hebrews is that God has spoken. In fact, the author of Hebrews, in line with other Jewish preachers of the era, presents the OT as coming from the lips of God, introducing those texts with “God says . . .” or something similar. God may speak a word of promise (6:14) or a word of punishment (3:11; 4:11-12); he may tell us something about himself or his Son (see 1:5-12) or reveal some aspect of his will (see 8:7-13; 10:5-7). God’s word created the universe and still governs it (1:3; 11:3; Gen 1:3-28).
In the past, God’s word came through angels or prophets, but now it has come preeminently in the person of Jesus, God’s Son (1:1-4; 2:3-4; cp. John 1:1-14). The word is to be heard, heeded, obeyed and believed as a source of hope.

For the reason of glorifying the Lord, we endure hurts and disappointments even from church people. Yet, we are willing to forgive, because, in the end, we become better (not bitter).

Matthew 6:12-15
(CWSB)
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Romans 8:18-23
(CWSB)
The Revelation of God’s Glory Through Believers
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.