The Battle Belongs to the Lord

(I am excited to share a devo that was actually written by my amazing husband TJ. He prepared this for church camp, and I liked it so much that I asked him if I could post it here. If you don't know the song "The Battle Belongs to the Lord", read the lyrics here before going on. This talk is based on the song - the theme of church camp was "Bible Boot Camp" and focused on the armor of God.)

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

In the Bible, Paul talks about us singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. This is why we have to mean what we sing and know what we are saying to God. We all have our favorite songs. When we are younger, our favorite songs are usually ones that have us involved in something like “Wise Old King”. But as we get older, we move gradually from church songs that just have a good medley to songs that mean something to us and have a great message for us to listen to. We need to know what we are singing and agree with what we are singing so that we are giving God the fullest reverence we can.

”In Heavenly armor, we’ll enter the land, the battle belongs to the Lord” refers to putting on the full armor of God. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:11 to put on the full armor of God to be ready to combat the devil and the world. The full armor of God covers us from head to toe. The helmet of salvation, the breastplate of Righteousness, the Shield of Faith, the Belt of Truth, The Sandals of Readiness and Peace, and of course, the Sword of the Spirit, which is our Bible. We need to be ready to combat the devil and the world when things come up. There will be times when you are with friends that want to talk religion. You always want to be ready to make sure that you can give the truth to them if they give you a verse that makes things sound different than we know it should be. Just saying “I know that is not right” is not going to convince them that you are correct and what they have been taught all their life is wrong.

“No weapon that’s fashioned against us will stand, the battle belongs to the Lord.” If we stand with the full armor of God and are ready for anything that is thrown out at us, there is no way that anything Satan throws our way can win against us. We can fight the world if necessary as long as we are clad in His armor.

“When the power of darkness comes in like a flood, the battle belongs to the Lord.” The power of darkness can refer to many things in our lives. Darkness can be the devil working in our lives. Darkness can be a weakness that we all struggle with. A weakness like Lying, cheating on tests, sneaking out when you are supposed to be in bed, always wanting to go across “Death Valley” during church camp week, etc. Darkness can also refer to a rough time in our lives like the loss of a loved one, a fight with a friend, a breakup, or any number of other things that can put us in bad moods and upset us as human beings. The darkness can be handled if we just turn the matters over to God. Just like the song says “The Battle Belongs to the Lord”

“He’s raised up a standard, the power of his blood” The power of Jesus’ blood is nothing that can be matched. He went to the cross and shed his blood for sinners like you and me. He already loved us 2000 years ago and was willing to shed his blood and die for us so that we might live with Him in heaven. The standard of the power of his blood is a standard that we all should strive to reach.

“When your enemy presses in hard, do not fear, the battle belongs to the Lord.” There is a little piece of paper hanging in my office that says “If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.” I am not sure where I heard it, but I heard it about five years ago, and that sign has followed me to every office I have had and it will go with me wherever I go, even if it is not on that piece of paper. What is being said in this song and on that little sheet of paper in my office is this: When things get tough, turn to God, He can handle anything. God will get you through when your enemy is pressing you hard, if you will just let Him. Again, remember, the battle belongs to the Lord.

“Take courage my friend, your redemption is near.” Christ died to redeem us. He died so that we could live with Him in Heaven. Our redemption is something that is given to us if we do as we are told in our Bible.

“And we sing glory, honor, power and strength to the Lord” is giving praise to God for the things that He has given to us. When you stop to think about it, we do not praise God enough. In our prayers, we thank God for the things that he has given us…How many times have you thanked God for the beautiful day? How many times have you thanked God for your parents, friends, your food, for camp, etc? But how many times have you stopped to pray and just said something like “God, You are the Most Holy, the most wonderful, the One that deserves all Honor and respect.”? I am reminded of a prayer that I was taught in preschool that we said every day before lunch and I want to share it with you because it simplifies what I am saying “God is Great, God is Good, let us thank him for our food. Amen” Now, this is a short prayer and most if not all of us can do better, but this is the simplified version of the point I am trying to make.

Next time you find yourself in battle, make sure that you are ready to combat the evil that is brought to you and that you let that battle belong to the Lord because He can handle anything put in front of you if you will just let Him.