All of the promises of God are available to you, but there's a price to pay. That price is a willingness to fight. "A fighter," you say? "Fighting doesn't sound very Christian. After all, aren't we supposed to be meek and gentle? You know, 'turn the other cheek' and all that?"

Yes, believers are to be meek and gentle when dealing with people. And yes, Jesus told us to "turn the other cheek" when faced with persecution because of our faith.

But when it comes to dealing with the enemy of your soul—the devil—God's Word doesn't endorse meekness and gentleness. It calls for a fighting posture tough, ruthless, bulldog-tenacious fighting.

Tragically, most believers' distorted theology makes them a doormat for the devil instead. I cannot tell you how many Christians I've met who passively accept whatever comes their way as "the will of God" for their lives.

They attribute sickness or poverty, for instance, to God trying to teach them something. They believe every tragedy or crisis is initiated by God for some "higher purpose."

Fight The Good Fight
This passivity and resignation is at odds with what we read in 1 Timothy 6:12. There Paul says:

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, where unto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

You have to be absolutely determined not to accept anything less than God's best for your life. Sad to say, though, it seems most Christians want somebody else to do their fighting for them. That's not going to happen. You have to fight the good fight of faith yourself.

The good news is, if you don't quit fighting, you win (Gal. 6:9).

There is absolutely nothing that you as a believer cannot overcome if you have a fighting spirit and an unbreakable will to win. If you won't give up, if you don't quit, the Bible says that you will be victorious.

You must understand that Satan is a very real personality, and he is intensely interested in doing you harm. Don't take his ability to affect your life lightly.

He is a very real, very capable opponent. But praise God, with the Word, the Blood of Jesus, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, you can defeat him every time, if you are willing to fight.

It is important that you keep in mind who your real enemy is. The Bible says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood (your spouse, your boss, or any other person). Keep the focus of your fight on the devil, not on those he may be using.

The essence of fighting the good fight of faith is deciding what you are going to follow after, what you are going to put your faith in, what you are going to believe. Are you going to give the natural realm (that which you can see and touch) the most credibility or are you going to give the unseen realm (as revealed in God's Word) the dominant position in your decision-making process?

The real fight begins when these two realms are in conflict. When the doctor's report says, "You are going to die" but God's report, the Bible, says, "By the stripes of Jesus, you are healed." You are going to have to fight to believe, and act on, what the Word of God says when the natural realm is screaming at you something to the contrary.

In military science, it is vital to anticipate where the enemy is planning to attack you. This enables you to position your defenses and prepare for the battle. An army taken by surprise is at an extreme disadvantage. An enemy can do a great deal of damage in the time it takes to respond to an unanticipated attack.

The same is true in the spiritual realm. You must be on the alert, watching for Satan's attacks. As in a natural battle, Satan will attack your weakest position in an attempt to destroy your faith before you can effectively respond.

Basically, there are four areas in your life in which Satan can and will attack your faith. It's vital that you know how and where the attack is coming and be able to immediately recognize that attack, if you are going to defend yourself when Satan comes against you.

Battleground #1: Your Ears
The first battleground is identified in Romans 10:17: "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." You are going to have to fight to control what you hear.

If the enemy can get you to hear more of the world's opinion than what the Word of God says, you'll have a hard time basing your beliefs on the Word. If you think about it, what you believe today is really just a product of what you've heard most frequently in the past.

You are going to have to fight to get more Word in your heart. That means going to a Bible-teaching church as often as possible (Satan will fight you here as well); listening to anointed teaching tapes; reading faith-filled books; and confess the Word of God out of your own mouth and into your own ears.

You may also have to make some tough decisions about your associations. Satan will use friends, relatives, and even other Christians to steer you away from the Word.

Faith in the Word of God cannot come unless you hear the Word of God. You must hear it continuously. You cannot listen to the Word of God too much. Yes, it's going to be a fight. There are many distractions in the world shouting for your attention but winning the fight of faith demands that you shut them out.

Battleground #2: Your Mind
The second battleground in the fight of faith is your mind. It's a battle over what you think. We read in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

"Hope" here is defined as "confident expectation," so we can safely say that faith is the substance of things confidently expected.

Hope is the first thing that occurs in your heart when you hear the Word of God. The Holy Spirit and the Word of God work together to give you a vision, an expectation, of what God has for you. You begin to see your future as God sees it and your faith begins to put substance to it. Your hopeful vision is the blueprint for your faith to build upon.

How do you protect a Word-based vision of the future? You must "cast down" every thought that is contrary to the Word (see 2 Cor. 10:4-5).

Don't let Satan destroy your vision of the perfect will of God for your life by allowing negative thoughts to stay in your mind. Cast them out by putting God's thoughts in your mind.

Battleground #3: Your Words
In Hebrews, chapter eleven, we find some interesting insights on changing circumstances. In verse two we read, "For by faith the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

This world was made by words of faith spoken by God. You are created in His image and have been given His power of attorney (the name of Jesus) and dominion over this earth. So, when you speak forth words of faith from your heart, you are framing the world you are going to step into tomorrow.

Does speaking nothing but the Word mean denying the existence of your temporal situation? Of course not. Believing that you are prosperous doesn't mean that you can pretend that unpaid bills don't exist. It means saying, "According to Philippians 4:19 all my needs are met according to God's riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Therefore, those bills cannot remain unpaid!"

Do you see the difference? You don't ignore the natural realm. You apply the force of change to it by speaking words of faith.

Battleground #4: Your Actions
The fourth battleground for your faith is what you do. James 2:20 clearly states that, "Faith without works is dead." You can be winning on the first three battlefields of the fight of faith and still lose the war if you don't win on this one.

You can have heard enough Word to believe it in your heart. You can be confidently expecting a Word-based vision of your future. You can even be speaking nothing but words of faith but, if you don't put action to what you believe, it will all be for nothing.

Remember, Satan is a defeated foe. He'll try to defend his bluff of strength and power over you for as long as he can but you have the advantage. You already share in Christ's victory over him. Satan can only win if you let him.

Do you see how each of these areas builds on the other? It starts by hearing God's Word so you can establish a proper set of beliefs. Then, you begin renewing your mind, controlling your thought life, and casting down vain imaginations that are contrary to the vision God has placed in your heart.

Then you can speak words of faith that will put substance to the vision you are confidently expecting. Finally, you're going to have to put corresponding action to what you believe, what you think, and what you say.

Rest assured, my friend, that Satan will fight you on every front. You are going to have to dig in your heels and get determined to hear, think, speak, and do God's Word. When you do, you'll be fighting and winning the good fight of faith. Your afflictions will become light and momentary and that which is subject to change will change.

Purpose today to become a fighter.

Copyright © Mac Hammond Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.