Where the Battle is Won or Lost

’If you will return, O Israel,’ says the Lord . . . —Jeremiah 4:1

Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.

I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.

In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory.

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勝敗所在

耶和華說，以色列啊，你若回來歸向我……（耶四1）

爭戰的勝敗決定於在神面前意志的隱秘處，而不是外在的世界。神的靈提醒我，催促我獨自見神，在他面前作戰。若不這樣行，我每次必敗。爭戰是一分鐘還是一年，是在於我的決定，而不是神；但必須在神面前自己摔跤，斷然棄絕主權。沒有什麼能推倒一個在神面​​前爭戰勝利的人。

我若說：[還是等到事情來到，再試試神吧！ ]我必發覺自己辦不到。我要在神面前，自己在心靈的隱秘處，沒有他人騷擾的地方，好好解決；然後放膽地出去，因為知道仗已經打贏了。若在那裡打敗，災禍難處必然不絕臨到，就如神的命令一樣堅定。仗打不贏的道理，是我想先從外在世界去打。其實應該獨自見神，在那裡先打勝了，才可一次過解決問題。對得其他人也是如此，要把他們推到意志的邊緣－－完全歸服的起點。有時候，神帶我們來到一個頂點，就是生命的大分水線；從那一點，我們可以逐漸退隱過一種無大用處的信徒生活；或從那一點，我們為神的榮耀燒旺－－竭誠為主。

祈禱◆噢，我的神，請你現在感動我。在其中一次改變生命的觸動中，你確實從所有事物中清楚而具體地啟示你自己；在那些燦爛的時刻中，我看見你、敬拜你，並讚歎你.