“Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you – they are your life” (Deuteronomy 32:46-47).

Could you imagine if you were lucky enough to buy Apple Stocks before Apple became the Apple of today? Could you imagine if you got in at the very beginning when Apple first started trading in the stock market?

Gee. You would be set for life!!!

Now, imagine if you knew a new startup that will blow what Apple’s stock did out of the water. This wasn’t guesswork but you knew it without a shadow of doubt because…I don’t know…let’s say you were a time traveller from the future.

If these parameters were true, would you do it? Would you put your life savings on the new stock? Of course you would. You would be set for life.

Read the verses of the day again. “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day…They are not just idle words for you – they are your life.”

Do you see what God is saying? Do you see what God is offering?

The million dollar question – “Will you do it? Will you do what God’s word says?”

“There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me” (2 Chronicles 18:7).

Lol.

Have you ever felt that way? What do you do when you don’t like what the Bible has to say?

I encourage you to read the entire chapter to read this verse in context. King Ahab, the king of the northern kingdom of Israel, and king Jehoshaphat, the king of the southern kingdom of Judah, were preparing to go to war with their common enemy. Before going to war king Jehoshaphat wanted to check with a prophet of God to see whether they should go to war or not.

First, they call together four hundred “prophets” who give them a favorable word. But Jehoshaphat isn’t confident about what these so-called “prophets” are saying. To Jehoshaphat it sounded like these “prophets” were just brown-nosing and saying whatever the king wanted to hear. So Jehoshaphat asks, “Is there no longer a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?” (2 Chronicles 18:6).

Jehoshaphat knows the deal. He calls it right out. These four hundred aren’t prophets. They don’t speak for the LORD.

This is when Ahab responds, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me.”

Perhaps, Ahab, this might have something to do with the fact that you are one of the most wicked kings in the history of Israel.

But, no. The problem is with the prophet of the LORD. The problem is what God has to say.

Here’s a clue: if you have a problem with God’s word, the problem is not God’s word. The problem is you. The problem is me. When we come across God’s word we do not like we are the ones who need to change and conform to God’s word, never the other way around.

Got it?

“Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:1).

The verse of the day is the opening to the passage describing the armor of God. The Apostle Paul instructs the church how to fight against the devil.

There is a problem. The problem has to do with how many of us think of victory. Let me explain.

Victory has already been won by Jesus on the cross and the empty tomb. And the fullness of this victory will be manifest when Christ returns.

The problem with how I think about victory is that I think that I should experience this fullness of victory right now. That’s why I get frustrated when I have to confess for the same sins over and over and over and over and over and over.

The reason why this thinking is wrong is because this is a victory that Christ has already won, and a victory that will come to its full manifestation when Christ returns.

In the meantime, in my lifetime and your’s, until Jesus returns again, what victory looks like is never quitting. You see, if you are struggling with sin, that’s great news! That means that the Holy Spirit is working in you. You are supposed to struggle with sin. It would be a travesty if you were okay with the presence of sin in your life. So, in the meantime, until Christ returns, God isn’t disappointed with us because we are struggling and battling sin. God is absolutely delighted that sin makes us uncomfortable.

It’s when we give into sin, it’s when we accept sin, it’s quit fighting and struggling against sin that breaks God’s heart.

So, repeat sinners, hear the good news: you are supposed to be battling and struggling against sin. Keep at it. Never give up. Keep struggling. Keep battling. That is the proof that the Holy Spirit is working in you.