Fight the Good Fight of Faith

Run the Race with Patience

R. C. Jette

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781666733037
  9781666727289
• eBook ISBN:
  9781666727296
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

Many of God's soldiers are overwhelmed with daily struggles. We feel we are getting nowhere and see no light at the end of the tunnel. We are worn out from the never-ending warfare. We want life easier and are beginning to wonder if we can continue to fight the good fight of faith. Fatigue has enticed us to seek the distractions in this world. We are living in the now instead of focusing upon our future inheritance. Eternity is no longer our top priority. We have forgotten that this life is a vapor that will fade away, whereas eternity is forever. It is imperative for us to realign our focus upon eternity and what is necessary to finish our race. Inheriting all things is contingent upon overcoming. If we are to fight the good fight of faith and run the race set before us with patience, we have to take authority, be the aggressor, be the strong force over the enemy of our souls. As you read through the pages, allow the Holy Spirit to open your eyes of enlightenment, to encourage you to continue, to reveal aggressive warfare and how to run your race with resolute endurance until the finish!

Chapter 1

Choose Whom You Serve

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the (flood), or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

WITHOUT DECIDING WHO WE will serve, there is no fighting the good fight of faith nor running the race set before us with patience. The verse in Joshua tells us to choose. It is a choice which we make and no other can make it for us. We must select, decide upon, or determine who we will serve.

That choice or decision determines every other choice we make in life. What we choose to serve is the foundation upon which the rest of our life is built upon and determines our eternal destination. If we choose God, our life will be built upon faith, righteousness, holiness, godliness. If we choose self or false gods, our life will be built upon unbelief, unrighteousness, unholiness, ungodliness.

It is important to comprehend we may say we have made the choice to serve God, but when faced with hurdles of sufferings, storms, obstacles, trials, grief, difficult times, we can waiver like a reed tossed in the wind. Our decision was not sure and certain. It is easy to say something or commit to something when the choice is not under attack, assault, or persecution.

We can never fight the good fight of faith unless our choice to serve God is steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). We alone choose to live for this life or to live for eternity. As we persevere in fighting the good fight of faith and running the race with patience, we will be prevented from being seduced by the temptations that could cause us to forget eternity and live for this life.

I know there are so many books out there about faith. However I believe whenever we see things from a different perspective, it can cause the lightbulb of revelation to turn on. If we are to overcome by faith, we must be prepared for spiritual warfare. Only the never surrender mentality will enable us to fight the good fight of faith and finish our race with patience.

In our society of instant this and instant that, Christians can be swayed into the mentality of not enduring, fighting, or persevering until the fight is won or the race is finished. Faith is not always understood. Like I stated in my introduction, sometimes seeing something from a different perspective can clarify what was not understood before.

This book is to reveal that to live in victorious faith, we must first be prepared for spiritual warfare and fight the good fight of faith until we win our race. All the struggles we confront in this life can be a hindrance. If we are not willing to fight for our faith, it will obstruct the race set before us.

Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. (Isaiah 48:17)

God promises to teach (guide, instruct) us to profit (benefit, advance) while He leads (directs, shepherds) us in the way (the path, the course of life) we are to go.

Isaiah promises God will guide us so that we profit. He is assuring us that we will benefit, be profitable if He is guiding us. He pledges to lead us into what will profit us. When we allow him to guide us, He will help us to know what we should say, what we should do, what course of action we should take, what direction we should go in, and whether we should or should not do or say something.

5)Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6)In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5–6)

In all our ways (all modes of action or conversation), we must acknowledge (yield) to him, and He shall direct (guide) our paths (which direction) to take.

What does this imply? It indicates that if we are to profit, He must be the one leading or guiding our life. Without him leading us, we will not know how to fight the good fight of faith or how to avoid the hurdles that can hinder us from running our race. If we are to be led by God, logic or our own understanding must take a back seat in Christianity. Man’s logic, intellect is not rooted in faith. It is not based upon God’s power and ability, but man’s power and ability. Our thoughts and ways are not his thoughts and ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his thoughts and ways compared to our thoughts and ways (Isaiah 55:8 ̶ 9).

He knows we can choose not to follow him or not to be led by him because of our own will, our own understanding. Our logic, our education, our understanding, our feelings, our training, our beliefs can get in the way. If any of these hinder us, there is no fight of faith and no running our race to finish our course. If we choose to serve anything other than God, we will not profit.

The title of this chapter reveals that we must choose whom we will serve. That choice will be the groundwork of our life. If we do not choose to serve God, there will be no salvation. Without a salvation experience, there is no new birth or being born again. Without being born again, there is no fight of faith and no race to run. Only those who walk by faith will overcome this life and inherit all things with Christ. The inheritance of those who do not choose to serve Christ will be that of Satan and his demons.

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19)

There is a difference between believing and actual saving or victorious faith that runs a race with fortitude. The devils believe, but they will never be saved. Their belief is not faith that will save them. They will never fight the good fight of faith because their belief is a head knowledge and not a heart transformation.

Unless we have a heart transformation, God cannot lead our paths. Our life can only be led by God after we have experienced a life change that causes us to deny self daily. If we are to be guided by him, we need to trust him. We must not lean upon how we understand, see, or perceive something. There will be times the way, the direction, the course God says to take is going to seem contrary to what we think it should be.

It can seem utterly ridiculous to our natural man. Although there are many examples in the God’s word of following God that could be contrary to our thoughts, I will give two positive examples of Abraham and Gideon and one negative example of the ten spies sent out to spy out the Promised Land.

Genesis 22:1 ̶ 4 and Hebrews 11:17 ̶ 19 disclose what an incredible fight of faith Abraham was faced with. He is told to offer Isaac who was his promised son and successor.

Now, he had to travel three days to where it was to take place. Can we even fathom the anguish, the anxiety, the turmoil Abraham’s thinking was experiencing? How many of us would have traveled or continued the journey? How many of us would have given up the fight and left the race because of love for our loved one?

Joshua 24:15 says to choose. It is during the times we do not comprehend or it is the opposite of w...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Choose Whom You Serve
• Chapter 2: Press Forward
• Chapter 3: Look Up For Help
• Chapter 4: Other Gods
• Chapter 5: Spiritual Authority
• Chapter 6: Apathetic Indifference
• Chapter 7: Walk in the Spirit
• Chapter 8: Suffering And Gethsemane
• Chapter 9: Champion Runner
• Chapter 10: Spiritual Seeker
• Chapter 11: No Distractions
• Chapter 12: Aggressive Warfare