We often are inspired when we read about the great men of the Bible and of their victories, but that is where we often stop reading. Now please understand I am not bad mouthing these great men of God nor am I exalting myself over them, oh the grace of God that saves and keeps me, but the truth my friend is God expects us to continue in the faith and in obedience to the end. Paul gives us this admonition, “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;” (Colossians 1:23) It matters not the last victory God has worked in our lives or what we have done lately for God, but rather are we grounded, settled, and not able to be moved out of the way of faith. I have heard sermon after sermon preached about the great men of God, but seldom do we hear of what happened to them after the victory. And again, please understand I am not criticizing. But, what did they do after God used them in supernatural ways? God intends for us to begin and end in victory. This is a critical revelation we must have. Only God can bring us from sure defeat into victory, and we must stay in the victory Christ has won for us to do the will of His Father. “In Christ,” is where victory in God is found. We must come to a spiritual place in Him to where we see this. When we move out of this place of victory, through sin or coming short of the glory of God, we will experience loss in our lives and the work of God in us and out from us often will be destroyed and lost. We must not allow this process of death to take root in us. Here are a few examples:
King Jehoshaphat a great and mighty King who got it right for awhile, “for the battle is not ours, but God’s,” but after the victory over the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, because of his ungodly relationships, the Lord, “broke his works.”
The Victory:
“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:17)
After the Victory:
“And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: 36And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber. 37Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.” (2 Chronicles 20:35-37)
Samson the first Judge of Israel, a mighty man of strength and valor, but after the victory because of his love for ungodly women he lost his sight and the anointing of God on his life. Ultimately it cost his very life to complete his purpose (Judges 16:28-30).
The Victory:
”And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. 15And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. (Judges 15:14-15)
After the Victory:
“And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.” (Judges 16:18) and “But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.” (Judges 16:21)
Elijah a mighty Prophet of God who held the rain at his words (I Kings 18:41-46), who had a personal revelation of God (I Kings 19:11-12), but after the defeating the 450 Prophets of Baal was on the run and in hiding from Queen Jezebel for fear of losing his life.
The Victory:
“Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. 40And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.” (I Kings 18:38-40)
After the Victory:
“Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 3And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” (I Kings 19:2-4)
Jonah another wonderful Prophet of God. God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry against this great city because of their wickedness (Jonah 1:2), but instead in disobedience he went to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). God prepared a great fish to transport Jonah to Nineveh to proclaim salvation to the people, he did and they were saved, but in the end Jonah resented the people whom he proclaimed liberty to.
The Victory:
“And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.” (Jonah 3:4-5)
After the Victory:
“Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:10-11)
In 1 Corinthians Paul shares some insight in why the Scriptures go into great detail to explain the shift from victory to defeat, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:11-12) These stories of great victory and then great defeat are written so that we can learn from their mistakes and not follow after them. There is a spiritual principle in our lives we must be aware of; we are to be learning and ever learning, but most (I too many times) sadly are in the school of life in God and learning, but never learning, those lessons that will enable us to grow in the Lord as He intends. Paul warned Timothy of this, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7) Now victories in God are great and wonderful and we must never over look or trivialize them, but what happens next after the victory is probably more important to God to our understanding of Him and for our Christian testimony than the victory. In all of the stories in the Bible God is trying to reveal truth, from His perspective to us, and teach us about His character and nature. There is a message for us if we look with spiritual understanding to see what God through His Spirit is saying. In the third Chapter of Revelations, Jesus told the Churches, “he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying” so too today. Please allow me to share some thoughts taken from James 1:6-9 that will help us stop our slipping from victory to defeat. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 9Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:’ (James 1:6-9) There are three points from these verses we must look at. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." The first point is we must allow God to teach us how to control our emotions. The opposite of faith is emotionalism not fear. All of the afore mentioned fellows and other great men in the Bible like King David seldom were in control of their emotions. They were ruled by their five senses. Music and dance seemed to play a big part in their lives. We must be very careful in this area. The next point, “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” We must have single vision like the dove. Our focus must be God’s focus. We must know where we are going and how we are going to get there. If not we will be “unstable” or inconstant (fickle, not steady, changing often) and restless in ALL of our ways. Now when the Bible says “all” it means ALL, not some things or only in the point in question, but ALL things, even the things of God. And lastly, “Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:” It is when we are in the humble and low place God can promote and exalt us into a position of importance. God always humbles the exalted and exalts the humbled. The way up is down. If we desire to spent eternity with God our direction is not upward in God, but downward in Him. And, the lower we allow God to take us the higher God will exalt us. I heard TV preacher say, we must be rich in our spirit, well this is wrong thinking from wrong teaching. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3) The word “poor” here means spiritually bankrupt where we see no value in our self. The poorer in spirit we become the richer in God we can become.
Well my friend let us not look at the victory, but to the time after the victory, when we can be found faithful and be approved for the next victory. Please know the opportunity for defeat or victory in God soon will be coming our way. My friend after the victory it is best to take the admonition of James, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:” (James 1:19) qualities needed before and after a trial, sound wisdom indeed. Written by David Stahl.
King Jehoshaphat a great and mighty King who got it right for awhile, “for the battle is not ours, but God’s,” but after the victory over the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, because of his ungodly relationships, the Lord, “broke his works.”
The Victory:
“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:17)
After the Victory:
“And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: 36And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber. 37Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.” (2 Chronicles 20:35-37)
Samson the first Judge of Israel, a mighty man of strength and valor, but after the victory because of his love for ungodly women he lost his sight and the anointing of God on his life. Ultimately it cost his very life to complete his purpose (Judges 16:28-30).
The Victory:
”And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. 15And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. (Judges 15:14-15)
After the Victory:
“And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.” (Judges 16:18) and “But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.” (Judges 16:21)
Elijah a mighty Prophet of God who held the rain at his words (I Kings 18:41-46), who had a personal revelation of God (I Kings 19:11-12), but after the defeating the 450 Prophets of Baal was on the run and in hiding from Queen Jezebel for fear of losing his life.
The Victory:
“Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. 40And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.” (I Kings 18:38-40)
After the Victory:
“Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 3And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” (I Kings 19:2-4)
Jonah another wonderful Prophet of God. God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry against this great city because of their wickedness (Jonah 1:2), but instead in disobedience he went to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). God prepared a great fish to transport Jonah to Nineveh to proclaim salvation to the people, he did and they were saved, but in the end Jonah resented the people whom he proclaimed liberty to.
The Victory:
“And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.” (Jonah 3:4-5)
After the Victory:
“Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:10-11)
In 1 Corinthians Paul shares some insight in why the Scriptures go into great detail to explain the shift from victory to defeat, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:11-12) These stories of great victory and then great defeat are written so that we can learn from their mistakes and not follow after them. There is a spiritual principle in our lives we must be aware of; we are to be learning and ever learning, but most (I too many times) sadly are in the school of life in God and learning, but never learning, those lessons that will enable us to grow in the Lord as He intends. Paul warned Timothy of this, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7) Now victories in God are great and wonderful and we must never over look or trivialize them, but what happens next after the victory is probably more important to God to our understanding of Him and for our Christian testimony than the victory. In all of the stories in the Bible God is trying to reveal truth, from His perspective to us, and teach us about His character and nature. There is a message for us if we look with spiritual understanding to see what God through His Spirit is saying. In the third Chapter of Revelations, Jesus told the Churches, “he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying” so too today. Please allow me to share some thoughts taken from James 1:6-9 that will help us stop our slipping from victory to defeat. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 9Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:’ (James 1:6-9) There are three points from these verses we must look at. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." The first point is we must allow God to teach us how to control our emotions. The opposite of faith is emotionalism not fear. All of the afore mentioned fellows and other great men in the Bible like King David seldom were in control of their emotions. They were ruled by their five senses. Music and dance seemed to play a big part in their lives. We must be very careful in this area. The next point, “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” We must have single vision like the dove. Our focus must be God’s focus. We must know where we are going and how we are going to get there. If not we will be “unstable” or inconstant (fickle, not steady, changing often) and restless in ALL of our ways. Now when the Bible says “all” it means ALL, not some things or only in the point in question, but ALL things, even the things of God. And lastly, “Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:” It is when we are in the humble and low place God can promote and exalt us into a position of importance. God always humbles the exalted and exalts the humbled. The way up is down. If we desire to spent eternity with God our direction is not upward in God, but downward in Him. And, the lower we allow God to take us the higher God will exalt us. I heard TV preacher say, we must be rich in our spirit, well this is wrong thinking from wrong teaching. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3) The word “poor” here means spiritually bankrupt where we see no value in our self. The poorer in spirit we become the richer in God we can become.
Well my friend let us not look at the victory, but to the time after the victory, when we can be found faithful and be approved for the next victory. Please know the opportunity for defeat or victory in God soon will be coming our way. My friend after the victory it is best to take the admonition of James, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:” (James 1:19) qualities needed before and after a trial, sound wisdom indeed. Written by David Stahl.
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