Fighting




FIGHTING
ENDURING PERSEVERING OVERCOMING
PRESSING ON WITH GRIT & GRACE
 
 
GENESIS 4:7
1 TIMOTHY 6:11-14
EPHESIANS 2:1-10
 
 
 
ARE YOU...
 
Fighting the good fight?
 
Living the good life?
 
Fighting for God (loving fearing pleasing Him)?
or
Fighting against God (refusing Him & His desires)?
 
 
 
 
Bruce Lee said
Too much time is given to the development of skill and too little time towards the development of the individual for participation.

 
Maximilian Kolbe said
The real conflict is inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the catacombs of concentration camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good & evil, love & sin. What use are victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?


Paul said
For physical training is of some value, but godliness (spiritual training) is of value in everything and in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:8


Now every athlete who [goes into training and] competes in the games is disciplined and exercises self-control in all things. They do it to win a crown that withers, but we [do it to receive] an imperishable [crown that cannot wither]. Therefore I do not run without a definite goal; I do not flail around like one beating the air [just shadow boxing]. But [like a boxer] I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached [the gospel] to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified [as unfit for service].
1 Corinthians 9:25-27
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
god formed us, sin deforms us, jesus transforms us
 
 
If you're not sure who Jesus is, and what Jesus did for you, be encouraged to seek Him (simply yet authentically ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you - He will). It's not about superficially pursuing Jesus through religion, religious activities, rituals, tradition, culture, or doing good deeds. However, it is about becoming personally acquainted with Jesus. When Jesus shares Himself with you, then you'll be able to grasp (with your heart, mind, soul, being) His love, truth, grace, goodness, peace, essence. You will begin to experience a deeply cherished loving-trusting-obedient relationship with God the Father & God the Spirit, through God the Son (Jesus). Learn More Here
 
 
JESUS WEARS THE SCARS FOR ALL OUR MISTAKES. WE ONLY GET ONE SHOT (THIS CURRENT LIFE); EVERYTHING TO GAIN (ETERNAL LOVE-PEACE-JOY WITH GOD), AND YET EVERYTHING TO LOOSE (ETERNAL ANGUISH-PAIN-SUFFERING WITHOUT GOD). I HOPE AND PRAY YOU'RE OPEN TO AN UNRIVALED/UNEQUALED ADVENTURE WITH GOD (THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS).
 
 
 
 
A Note Regarding Striking In Competitive Combat Sports...
Have you come to realize & admit that striking (punches/elbows/kicks/knees) in competitive combat sports (prize fighting) is too violent? After all, strikings primary objective when competing is to hurt-damage-knockout the opponent (it's actually incentivized/rewarded). As a result, have you lost interest & repented from watching/following all competitive combat sports that involve striking because it does not honor or glorify God (see Proverbs 3:31 and Ephesians 4:31)? However, beyond competition; training in combat sports that include striking is beneficial in many ways, as long as there's no intent or motive to harm/injure anyone while training.
 
 
 
 
If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it.


Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. But resist him, be firm in your faith [against his attack—rooted, established, immovable], knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world. [You do not suffer alone.]


So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.


But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion). Then when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to death.


Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own.
I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12, Philippians 3:14


But as for you, O man of God, flee from these things; aim at and pursue righteousness [true goodness, moral conformity to the character of God], godliness [the fear of God], faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and [in the presence] of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession [in His testimony] before Pontius Pilate, to keep all His precepts without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ
1 Timothy 6:11-14


And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins, in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God]. Among these [unbelievers] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by the sinful self], indulging the desires of human nature [without the Holy Spirit] and [the impulses] of the [sinful] mind. We were, by nature, children [under the sentence] of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind]. But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us, even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment). And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, [because we are] in Christ Jesus, [and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [by providing for our redemption]. For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].
Ephesians 2:1-10


Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust in Him also and He will do it.
Psalm 37:5


Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9


In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might. Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.

Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].

So stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the wide band of truth (personal integrity, moral courage) around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (an upright heart), and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news].

Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.
Ephesians 6:10-18
 
 
 
 
JESUS Way Truth Life
Loving Fearing Pleasing God
 
 
 
 
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