By Rev. Joseph A. Bias
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39
Though we have been under attack by a terrible virus for the past 7 months, the tide is turning and we are winning this fight. We were blind-sided by this pandemic and it shook many of us and caused some to react to it sometimes in fear, sometimes in worried caution, sometimes in uncertain submission to those who claimed to have the answers, but often got their predictions wrong. Nevertheless, we are winning this fight.
For months now we have been restricted to unheard of changes in our normal ways of living; forfeiting our God given freedom to gather together for worship, compelled to wear masks and socially distance ourselves from our family, friends and loved ones, sequestering ourselves in many cases, alone at home often without a spouse or immediate family, but we are winning this fight.
We have prayed for one another and for all those affected by this plague, and we’ve attended the families and loved ones who have fought, but still succumbed to this disease and we have prayed and seen others who have overcome it and returned to strength and life by the grace of God. Yes, we are winning this fight.
We have lost some of the confidence and personal sense of security we took for granted and enjoyed prior to the riots and destruction. We have witnessed violence and wanton anarchy over the last three months perpetrated by those bent on the destruction of our way of life. Despite these things, we are winning this fight.
We have witnessed our faith and our God evil spoken of, trivialized, dismissed and boldly demeaned by those who never knew our Lord Jesus Christ and His love for us all. While they boast in their iniquities and sins and accuse the Church of sins that they themselves have committed without any regard for the holiness of God or His people, we are nonetheless still winning this fight.
Our faith has been tried, our resources overwhelmed, our hopes and dreams laid aside or abandoned in the urgency of just living from day to day. But we are winning this fight. We’ve loss some things, we’ve exhausted our energies, we’ve watched our hopes give way to doubt and doubt drive us toward fear, but all this is only for a moment, because, we know through our Lord and our God we are winning this fight.
We are winning this fight because the circumstances of this time have prompted every true believer to reexamine his/her priorities, to return to our first love, to realize we are not alone, that God is with us and for us and will never leave us or forsake us. We have not given into the lies; we have not abandoned our faith nor altogether surrendered to the intimidation and threats of the evil one. No! We are winning this fight, because, greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. No weapon that is fashioned against us shall prosper, No plague shall come neigh our dwelling, no evil shall befall us and we shall not be shaken, because our hearts are fixed, trusting in the Lord. What the devil intended for evil God is turning around for good.
For the moment we are obliged to submit ourselves to the rulers and magistrates who are in authority over us. But evil men shall be brought low and the righteous shall be exalted. We are winning this fight.
Now we must remain faithful. We can and we will resist the devil and he will flee from us. We must affirm again the love for our enemies, because we are not fighting with human beings. We are not fighting with men and women. We are fighting with spiritual opponents, spiritual wickedness in high places [Ephesians 6:12] against the powers and rulers of the darkness of this world. But darkness can never overcome the light. We are winning this fight.
We are overcoming by the blood of the Lamb, that is, we are moving through this life sealed with the blood of Christ as our healing, our cleansing from sin, our identification with the suffering, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. We are marked with His blood as those who are in covenant relationship with Him, made one with Him sworn by an oath from God, our Father and fulfilled in Jesus Christ our Lord, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. And we are overcoming by the word of our testimony. We confess Jesus before men. We are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. By Jesus our Lord, in Him, with Him and through Him we are winning this fight.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7
“Father, God and Creator of all things, Holy God, we thank You for life, for Love for health and strength, for soundness of mind and certainty of purpose. Thank You for our dear loved ones, family and friends. Thank You, Father that through Jesus Christ our Lord we are accepted into the beloved, we are Your sons and daughters, Your children, Your heirs and joints heirs with Jesus Christ. As You have commanded us to pray, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for peace over the Nation of Israel and over the people of Covenant with You. Please grant them safety, prosperity, wisdom and understanding and salvation through Jesus Christ, the Messiah. We pray for our nation, the United States of America. We pray for righteousness to reign over this nation. We pray for truth to be spoken especially by those in political office whose job it is to represent their people and do all that they can to honor and uphold the Constitution and it’s founding principles rooted in the Words of the Holy Scriptures. We pray for those who have sought to disrupt our peace, breed anarchy and violence and murder. We pray that those who traffic in destruction and the evil works of darkness would have the eyes of their understanding opened and their ears unstopped to see, hear and know the truth of Your Word and that the Holy Spirit will convict and convince them of their need for the Savior and that they will recover themselves from the snare of the devil.
We pray for the President, for his family, for those charged with protecting them, for the secret service, for his cabinet, for those who serve with him in government. We pray for those in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. We pray for those who make up the Supreme Court and all the Federal, District and Circuit courts throughout the country. We pray for all those in the Federal, State and Local governments. We pray for our military leaders, and our servicemen and women throughout the world. We pray for our policemen who are charged with enforcing our laws, protecting all of us as citizens and keeping the peace in ever community of our cities, towns and communities. We pray for our firemen and women, and first responders, particularly in the time of national emergencies. We pray for those whose jobs, though not glamorous nevertheless essential to our wellbeing and comfort as we live and move about daily.
We pray for all of these that they would be saved, that they would be guided by the wisdom that comes only from You Father. We pray for their protection and their peace, and we pray that they will hear and heed Your voice to guide the affairs of the country with justice, mercy and truth. We pray for teachers and educators at every level that they will be restrained from perpetrating lies, but that they will skillfully teach the things that pertain to life and truth, that make for well being and prosperity for our nation and all its people.
Finally Lord, we pray for the Church and its leaders, for pastors, for teachers, for evangelists, for prophets and for apostles that You have given as gifts to the church, for missionaries on the front lines in hostile places proclaiming the Word of God, that we would all be guided by Your Word and motivated by Your love to do the works of ministry with zeal, with passion and compassion, with skill and the knowledge of You, serving Your eternal purpose with mercy and grace, with love acceptance and forgiveness, and with a true heart to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ our Lord to all the world. Thank You Father, for granting us this petition. In the blessed and Holy name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we pray. Amen and Amen!
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