God's Battle Axe

Praise God my dear friends and prayer partners, As we bid farewell to the year 2013 and well coming 2014, I stopped to think of the goodness of the Lord and what he has helped us accomplish in 2013. When I think of the many people who came and confessed the Lord as their savior, the many families which were spared from breaking and what we achieved as a church, I gave the Lord the glory but one verse came to my mind in Jeremiah 51:20-23. I was happy for the team that maybe we were good axes and gave God the glory and the honor but I also give all of you the credit because you are the reason of the success. You have sacrificed a lot and put in a lot of time praying for this ministry making us a better battle axe. This verse brought a lot of meaning to me and would like to share it with you as we plan for the year 2014 if we are to be successful as good battle axes of God. Jeremiah 51:20-23 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; [21] And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; [22] With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; [23] I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. God is a warrior; the Man of war is His name. Every warrior goes to battle with weapons of warfare trusted, effective and reliable. No warrior ever goes to battle without his weapons, no matter what it is; there must be something with which the warrior hopes to fight. When God says that you are His battle axe, He is saying you are His weapon of warfare. He intends to fight battles through you. A battle axe is anything in the hand of the warrior that is capable of bringing down the enemy. So God is saying with you in His hands, He can bring down any enemy. Think about Moses when he was to go to Egypt to bring up the children of God. God told him, ‘I have made you a god unto Pharaoh…’ And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: Exodus 7:1 This would mean that whatever God would have done by Himself to Pharaoh, He would do through Moses. Pharaoh did not see God but he saw God’s power working through Moses. People should see the power of God in you as a child of God. The world is a battle-field and it is a place of darkness. Many Christians have died untimely and some are in hell now because they refused to be the battle-axe of God. Today, beloved, you have the opportunity of making the choice of becoming God’s battle –axe or not. The enemies of God are the arch-enemies of God’s children. And usually when you cannot get at a man, you make his children the next target. CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD BATTLE AXE A good axe must be swift, sharp, strong and powerful. God expects every Christian to be His battle-axe, which He will use in destroying the kingdom of darkness. The devil is aware of this fact, so he is vigilant, he knows the Christians that are not useful and cannot function as razor blade, let alone being battle-axes, for the Lord. That is why the seven sons of Sceva suffered in the hands of a man that was possessed of evil spirits (Acts 19:13-16). Some Christians are tools and toys in the hands of the devil; whereas, that is not the will of God. The devil is occupied 24hours of the day and he fires arrows at people, day and night. CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD’S BATTLE AXE: 1. Must be SHARP: What sharpens you as a child of God is the word of God. When the word of God is rich in you, you will be a sharp axe in His hands. The word of God can cut into pieces anything it lands upon. With the word of God you can bring into captivity everything that exalts itself above the knowledge of God. 2 Cor 10:5 Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Matthew 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. The stone in the passage talks about the word of God. 2. Must be RUST FREE An axe must not get rusted; otherwise, it becomes blunt and will not be able to chop anything. Rust in the life of a Christian, could be in many forms. Any atom of worldliness leads to impurity and hinders person from prospering in the things of God. Some of the impurities include: 1. Instinctive addiction to food, sleep, drugs etc 2. Sin: Disobedience against the word of God, either spoken or written would make the axe head to be blunt. 3. Pride: When you allow what you have to get into your heads, you can run yourself blunt as God’s battle axe. 4. Inordinate love for the opposite sex: Many people started on the right track with God but fell out because of this sin. Solomon was lured away from God by strange women and he sinned against God. Samson was prophesied into being and he was a special child dedicated unto God. He was powerful but gave himself up to a strange woman, who betrayed him and died with his enemies. Anyone that is not pure in his or her heart and deeds, is not worthy of being a battle-axe in the hands of God. The eyes of God cannot behold sin and He cannot share His children with the world and the devil. 3.Must pass through FIRE An axe is made from metal; for it to get its shape, the metal-smith puts the metal in fire and hits hard on it, to shape-shift it, So also are human beings in the hands of God. If you must become God’s battle-axe, passing through fire becomes non-negotiable. Passing through fire might not be pleasant but in the end, it makes a person a better vessel. Passing through fire could be trials, temptations, hardship etc. Sometimes, a person passes through fire without knowing why, until God promotes him or her. A person could be a battle-axe and then become blunt. He or she could be rendered invalid, if he or she is not careful. The person’s story will now be “in those days…” WHY DOES GOD WANT YOU TO BE A BATTLE AXE? The answer to the question above could be found in our main text; 1. To break nations into pieces. 2. To destroy the kingdom of darkness. 3. To destroy demonic agents. 4. To destroy satanic principles and practices. Except you are a battle-axe in the hands of God, you cannot do the above mentioned things. Being God’s battle-axe, takes more than church attendance. You have to start from the starting point, which is an encounter with the Lord, before you can grow and groom yourself into being useful and useable in His hands. Keep yourself sharp at all times. Remember: If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct. Ecclesiastes 10:10 Friends, thank you for making me a better battle axe sharpening me with your encouraging words and prayers. See you on the winning side in 2014. Shalom! Your brother, Moses.