Dedicate yourself to God’s training
A CRUCIAL part of our victory in 2024 will depend on how much we dedicate ourselves to God’s training. If we aren’t training or practising, and we were to get into a fight right now, we would be slow. Even if we used to practise in the past but haven’t done so in a while, our reaction will be slower. Our fitness wouldn’t be where it was. To be at our best, we need to dedicate ourselves to training.
It is the Lord who has to guide us to be our best for the spiritual battles that await us, and in the battles of life. The Bible tells us, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognise what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops wellformed maturity in you” ( Romans 12:2 MSG).
SPIRITUAL DIET
God knows how to bring out the best in us, but we must train well. The first step in our training is changing our spiritual diet. We cannot be our physical best if we’re constantly consuming junk. Similarly, we can’t be our spiritual best if we’re constantly reading, watching, and listening to ‘junk’.
In 2024, we must dedicate ourselves to changing our spiritual diet. We need to “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do” (Joshua 1:8 NLT).
When we do this, God’s thoughts start to become our thoughts and we learn who God says we are, what God says we have, and what God says we can do. Old habits of thinking negative and unproductive thoughts get replaced with new habits of thinking positive, productive, ‘God-type’ thoughts.
The more time we spend meditating on God’s Word, the sooner its principles will become productive in our lives. The Spirit of God comes alongside us to train us as we read the Word, and uses it to change us. The Holy Spirit guides us into knowing and living the truth. It will take effort and determination on our part, but we must “let the Spirit change your way of thinking” (Ephesians 4:23 CEV).
Sometimes in our spiritual growth, we may feel as if we’re going nowhere and it’s taking forever. There are also times when we think that our problems will never end. At those times, it’s vital for us to be wholehearted in our devotion to the Lord. Time, pressure, and struggle are the means God uses both to reveal, and heal, our impurities. We must therefore be disciplined and dedicate ourselves to the process.
As we dedicate ourselves to training, when we find ourselves in battle, we will be able to pull on God’s strength and fight well. The Apostle Paul told Timothy to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV).
The Bible is our ‘sword of the Spirit’, which is both an offensive and defensive tool. In spiritual warfare, it’s our primary tool. We need to be able to use it in the real world to defeat the lies and strategies Satan uses against us; to pray it, and effect change with it. Jesus used it, and we must, too.