You can Win!
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14 When Elisha became sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”
15 Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows.
16 Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” And he put his hand on it, then Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands.
17 He said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them.”
18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stopped.
19 So the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.”
23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
I preach often about the mind and im glad last Sunday Pastor Ken did as well.
Why?
Because The enemy is trying to bring Condemnation into the mind about thing that where done many years ago, feller, loses, pain, breakup, mistakes, sin, abandonment, and regrets.
So here we find life’s greatest battle and that is the battle in the mind and in the thoughts.
Because whatever control the mind controls you.
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Why must we cast down every high thing and bring every thought to obedience?
because, Limitations and boundaries are formed in the mind.
Our mind is the place where we form conclusions about what is possible for our lives. What we can and cannot do. What is right and what is wrong and what to pursue and not to pursue
What is possible and what is not.
What to trust and who to trust. What is right and wrong
And if the devil can stain our minds and bring confusion he can control us.
Remember when God told Moses to send out the 12 spies?
Notice the report of 10 of them
32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.
33 “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
They saw the enemy as strong and great. Why?
Because they saw themselves as small and weak.
And because they saw themselves small so did their enemies.
and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Your perception become your own reality.
So we were in their eyes.
The devil doesn’t have to be big or powerful, he just has to convince you that he is.
You don’t have to be dumb or ugly.
if you are convince that you are either. it will not only change the way you see yourself it will effect the way you engage with the world.
So notice what happen to the spies.... they were gripped with fear.
8 “Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully.
Because of their negative outlook and opinion it change the outlook of the whole congregation.
Fear and faith are both contagious
The enemy would love to paralyze you with discouragement.
Question: What you are are the source of the negative attitude in your house?
What are you going to do about it?
well this is just how it is..
Will you stand up against that spirit? Will you run the race? will you win?
Caleb and Joshua , both went up with the spies and the bible said of them.
24 “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.
and because he had a different spirit he know they could win. he said
9 “Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”
Listen Church!!!
YOU CAN WIN!
Run the race in such a way that you may win!
Athletic contests were common in the Greek world, and the Isthmian Games, second only to the Olympic Games, were held every two years at Corinth. Paul often uses imagery from the Games.
“The Isthmian games, in which the foot race was a leading one, were of course well known, and a subject of patriotic pride to the Corinthians, who lived in the immediate neighborhood. These periodical games were to the Greeks rather a passion than a mere amusement: hence their suitableness as an image of Christian earnestness.”
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Are you not aware that while all of the runners in a stadium take part in the race, it is only one of them who receives the prize? Run with this approach, to make the prize yours.
Dr. Biasiotto at the University of Chicago was done where he split people into three groups and tested each group on how many free throws they could make.
After this, he had the first group practice free throws every day for an hour.
The second group just visualized themselves making free throws.
The third group did nothing.
After 30 days, he tested them again.
The first group improved by 24%.
The second group improved by 23% without touching a basketball!!!!
The third group did not improve which was expected.
In our text in 2 Kings the prophet Elisha is sick and on his death dead the King Joash comes and weeps over him.
He says the same words to him that Elisha said to Elijah, “My father, my father.”
The prophet tells him to take bow and arrows and open the window.
The acient bow and arrow are weapons of war.
Matthew Henry said,
God would be the agent, but he (Joash) must be the instrument.
It’s liken to David taken those 5 smooth stone.
He takes the instruments by faith, but God is the agent of victory and power.
Elisha tells him to Open the window toward the east
17 He said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them.”
Turn toward Syria and shoot
Elisha put his hand on his hand as to say, in his expedition agaisnt the Syrians he must look to God direction and strength.
he tells him
“The Lord’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them.”
then he says in the verse 18
18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stopped.
His shooting the other arrows into the ground was in token of the number of victories he was taken to gain; but his stopping at the third betrayed the weakness of his faith; for, as the discharged arrow signified a victory over the Syrians, it is evident that the more arrows he shot the more victories he would gain. As he stopped so soon, his conquests would be incomplete.
3 times and he stopped. why do you stop king?
Maybe he felt this a bit silly for a king to be striking the ground.
Maybe he had mercy on those in Syria
Maybe he feared the battle.
whatever the case God had givien to him victory
so Joash run the race to win
no time now to underestimate you enemy
Smite the ground 5 or 6 times.
see the ball go into the basket...
You can WIN
Don’t listen to the other 10 spies!
have a different spirit.
don’t let fear, and shame cause you to be intimidated
YOU CAN WIN!