Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

“But despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away.
Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.”
Romans 8: 37-39 (TLB)

It was a difficult service to sit through. 

The other day.

Along with hundreds of others, remembering the life of one who made the decision a few days earlier to step prematurely from this life to the next.

There is no doubt that the step into his next life was into the arms of God in Heaven.  He had accepted what Christ did for him on the cross and the empty tomb much earlier in his life. Thereby, assuring his salvation, and place in Heaven for eternity, through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone.

But it was a difficult and sad service to share in. 

Seeing a bride and small children left behind, with their precious loved one gone too soon. Being reminded by speakers of the impact he had with a life well lived, in the length of the life which he chose to live.

Depression. Despair. Hopelessness. They’re all too real in the world around us. 

All too real in the lives of those we hold dear.

All too real as they invade our own individual lives at times we never expected.

The fog of uncertainty descends upon our lives too often. Cloud covers leave us wandering and wondering what’s next, time and time again. 

How can we go on, while darkness fills the never-ending tunnel we seem to be trapped in all too often.

Mountains loom before us. Shadows of doubt, failure and fear overwhelm us, and we no longer feel safe. 

We want to move on, to fight through the despair, depression, and hopelessness; but we don’t know how, or where or to whom, to turn. 

In the midst of it all, God has gone nowhere. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. In the midst of it all, there are those God has trained and equipped, and created with hearts wanting to help us.

In the midst of whatever battle we’re facing and going through—God is always there with us. 

In His power and love, God is ready to take the lead, take charge and claim the battle as His, leading to victory over whatever we face as He goes before us. 

Phil Wickham shares it this way in his song “Battle Belongs”—

“When all I see is the battle, You see my victory.
When all I see is the mountain, You see a mountain moved.
And as I walk through the shadow, Your love surrounds me.
There’s nothing to fear now for I am safe with You.
So when I fight, I’ll fight on my knees.
With my hands lifted high,
Oh God, the battle belongs to You.
And every fear I lay at Your feet.
I’ll sing through the night,
Oh God, the battle belongs to You.
And if You are for me, who can be against me? Yeah.
For Jesus, there’s nothing impossible for You.
When all I see are the ashes, You see the beauty.
Thank You God.
When all I see is a cross, God, You see the empty tomb.”

In whatever we face, God is there. 

In all the battles before us, which seek to overwhelm us and take us down—God is ready to take charge and claim the battle as His, leading to victory for us.

Maybe our first step joining God in our fight against whatever is before us, is to move down on our knees. 

God’s got it. On our knees. The battle belongs to Him.

In His Name–Scott

Be lifted and encouraged by this performance by Phil Wickham and his group of “Battle Belongs.”