Psalms 34:19
Luke 4:1-13
Deuteronomy 28 1-13
Deuteronomy 28 1-13
The Christian walk and boxing have a lot in common. In boxing one has to exercise a combination of faith and works along with determination and endurance in order to be successful. There are three things to remember when faced with difficulty: 1) Boxing, like faith, requires patience to endure, 2)Be touched by Jesus , and 3) that Faith is the "knockout punch".
Victory, in both cases, comes step by step. In boxing the training is three times as long as the fight itself. It can take months, even years before a boxer even sees a match. An example of this is David in the Bible. He unknowingly prepared for his fight with Goliath by fighting lions while he was still a shepherd boy. We will all come across afflictions in our lives but these afflictions produce glory in the end. The way we train before our blessing determines how easy it will be to obtain the blessing. Psalms 34:19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” – Once we realize this, the enemy will stop getting to us in those weak areas.
Being "touched" by Jesus means that once we come to Christ we are no longer a product of our environment. A touch from Him causes you to do, in faith, what you normally could not do and equips us to handle attacks from the enemy with his help. This touch allows us to a)have a walk of obedience, and b) throw steady consistent punches. These "punches" are simply confessing His promises to us (Deuteronomy 28 1-13).
Christ gives us a perfect model of what a fight with the enemy should look like in Luke 4:1-13. When faced with temptation and challenge by the enemy he deliver jab after jab in the form of the word of God. Take his example and wear your enemy down: Keep jabbing. This may not knock him out but you set him up for the knockout punch. Good consistent jabs do more damage that one strong punch.
Be well,
Pastors Hines
