It was a good night to stay in by the fire with all the wind and rain beating against the house. My mind was embracing the future and the promise that God had made to me; to me personally! How amazing that the God who created the universe was interested in me. As I pondered the promise there came a soft and barely audible knock at the door. Who would venture out on a night like this? I dismissed it as my imagination. But there it was again; still very soft but insistent.
I walked over to the door and peered through the peephole. I couldn’t see anyone but the knocking continued. I opened the door a crack and looked down. There he was and before I could speak he put his foot in the door. Well, okay … what should I do? Open the door or close it on his foot? I couldn’t just stand there and slam it on his foot, could I?
To stand is an interesting word. It’s one that, as is common in the English language, carries more than one meaning.
- To support oneself on the feet in an erect position
- To take up or maintain a specified position or posture
- To maintain one’s position
- To be firm and steadfast
- To occupy a place or position
- To remain stationary or inactive
- To remain firm in the face of
For the New Testament Christian it also holds several meanings in the Greek language:
- Hestimi … to abide (Eph 6:13-14)
- Egerio … to lift up or raise (Mark 3:3)
- Anistemi … to lift or raise up again (Acts 10:26)
- Paristemi … to stand beside; assist (Luke 1:19)
- Steko … to stand fast; stationary (Mark 11:25)
- Meno … to continue; dwell; endure (Rom 9:11)
- Kinduneuo … to be in danger; jeopardy (1Cor 15:30)
- Aporeo … to be in doubt; perplexed (Gal 4:20)
In our everyday world we immediately understand the meaning by the context in which it is used. Our unfamiliarity with the Greek language, however, provides us with many opportunities to miss the underlying meaning. Confused? Well let’s take a look at this term in more detail through the eyes of our friend in the opening paragraph. I think we’ll find a common bond with him as we walk through this.
Let’s take the definition of “to stand” (hestimi) as found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. As you may remember from a previous article this verb as used in these verses, while the same word, carries a different meaning in each instance.
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
The first stand (steenai) in verse 13 means to stand like the victor after the wrestling match is over. After having done everything to prepare for the battle you are to stand your ground as if you have already won. The second stand (steete) in verse 14 means to take your stand and resist every attack. We are to do everything to get ready to stand as the victor (be strong in the Lord and take up the armor) and when that is done we are to take up the position of the victor and take on the enemy. But this begs the question: how do I do that? Let’s take this on in a well-known arena with a most familiar opponent; fear!
More often than not we don’t personally experience the enemy’s onslaught as noted in Isaiah:
Isa 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. KJV
Quite the contrary, it has been my experience that the enemy, in this case fear, enters subtly behind his lesser partners in crime. The diagram to the right represents the progressive nature of his approach.
It has been said that fear seldom comes crashing in the door. He usually sends Doubt to knock and while we are entertaining him Anxiety and Worry slip around the door. Once the three of them have our full attention Fear and his henchman, Incapacity, just walk on in. Now, with this plan of the enemy in mind let’s go back and look at our old friend … stand. Let’s take the case of standing in the face of a world full of circumstances that are shouting against us.
I have found the first key to standing is to be certain of what I’m standing on. You wouldn’t stand on a pile of eggs to change a light bulb. You’d get a solid chair or step stool to support yourself. But how many times have we decided to stand on something without the Word of God under our feet? Over the years I have painfully learned that without a promise from the Lord I am unable to stand. Oh, because I can be a stubborn individual, I can stand for a while in my own power and authority but eventually the enemy overwhelms me. Why? Because my confidence ultimately has to face the fact that the only thing supporting me is … me. And when all is said and done, in and of myself I’m just a pile of eggs.
So here is the first premise: To stand we must have the Word of The Lord.
Zech 8:18 And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying,
There are a multitude of considerations that impact our ability to stand. For our purpose here we’ll focus on commitment. Without a total commitment to Him we aren’t going to have very much success in hearing His voice. If we’re following our flesh and not submitting to Him in obedience how can we expect to hear His Word — His Promise? The Word tells us that it’s the Lord who gives us the desires of our heart if we delight ourselves in Him.
Ps 37:4-5 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
That key element (delight) speaks of our spending time with Him. That quiet time reflecting on His Word and communing with Him in prayer. It’s during those times that He is able to show us those things in our lives that are inhibiting our walk with Him. It is up to us to take the action necessary to clear out the sin that is blocking His Voice, His Word and His Promise. Look at 1John 1:9 in its application:
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Acknowledge the sin;
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Agree that it is sin;
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Confess the sin;
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Ask for forgiveness; and
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Repent of the sin.
Then we are able to hear His Word, that specific Word we need for that very moment in our life.
So that brings us to the second premise: We must have the Word of The Lord revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.
When we believe that God has given us a Word — a promise — it is incumbent upon us to confirm that promise with His Word. I have said many times that no matter how the Lord speaks to me (a book, a word from a brother/sister, a sermon, etc.) it is wonderful, but if I am going to stand on it I must see it in His written Word. I need the Holy Spirit, my revelator, to take that written word (logos) and make it a living Word (rhema) to me. I need it revealed to my spirit so that I know that I know with a certainty beyond doubt; that I “understand” it. With that Word in my heart I am able to stand when the enemy comes to steal it, and try to steal it he will!
Matt 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
If we don’t understand the Word that we’ve been given then, as the Lord tells us in this parable, the enemy will come and quickly steal it. Not having the Word revealed to us is like the seed that was cast upon the ground. We see it but the bird (the devil) comes and quickly snatches it away before it can germinate and take root. We immediately forget it.
Now that brings us to the third premise … We must plant the Word in our heart.
The moment we receive our Word from the Lord the enemy will turn all his resources loose to try to convince us that it isn’t true or it’s just too impossible. A personal observation here may be in order. I have found that if God has asked me to do something or promised me something it seems impossible. If, on the other hand, it appears that I can bring it to pass I better stop, go back and see where I missed it. I can safely say that every time I acted on what I thought was the Word of The Lord I failed. Oh, many times I achieved the end goal all right, but 100% of the time I found myself standing alone and empty when it was all said and done … it wasn’t His Word. It may even have been a good thing but it wasn’t a God thing.
The way of avoiding this is to be certain of these three premises and water the planted Word in prayer. It is during this time that God will faithfully confirm His Word and seal it in your heart so that it can’t be stolen. During this process He builds confidence in that Word so strongly that the enemy can’t wrestle it from you. Let me give you an example.
As I write this Diane and I are momentarily expecting to receive the formal adoption notice for our little Amanda in China, and we have encountered yet another delay; one of many. This has been a 3½ year process but it is the first year that I want to look at. Even though the past 2½ years have been one major obstacle after another it was the first year that was the most important. During that year I walked down this road all alone. I did not say a word to Diane about my thoughts concerning adoption. Had I mentioned it to her there would be no turning back and I needed to be sure this was God and not me.
I remember the first time the thought came into my head … at my age and financial condition that’s impossible and I laughed out loud (sounds like Sarah). But The Lord kept bringing it up through His Word, commercials on the radio, messages from the pulpit and unexpected comments from friends and strangers. I began to see little Chinese children everywhere I went. Once I began to accept that it was God’s voice I looked for confirmation and He confirmed it in His Word with solid scripture during my study times. Then that sown seed began germinating and taking root. The evidence was the peace I now felt in my heart; confusion was gone and was replaced by faith in His Word.
As Jesus told the crippled man to take up his bed (Mark 2:11) my step of faith was to tell Diane. God confirmed it to Diane by telling her to name this little girl Amanda (deserving of great love). From that moment on the enemy has never ceased trying to stop us. He twists every circumstance surrounding us with deception in his attempt to get us to give up. But as Abraham confessed his promise from God every time he spoke his new name … I’m Abraham, the father of many nations … so we confessed our promise by telling everyone we were not just adopting a little girl from China but we have a daughter named Amanda waiting for us in China. We have His Word, we have His Promise and we have His Peace … it is therefore certain.
In the interim we have continued to bathe His Promise in prayer by faith. We are standing as the victor, ready to defend the promise; the Word within us. But this can only be done if that Word has been revealed or made alive to you by the Holy Spirit. Only then are you able to Stand in faith, for it is faith that gives the hope within you life. Without it, when doubt comes knocking on your door you’re going to let him in. Let’s go back to the previous chart for a moment and see how important faith is and how important it is to employ it at the outset.
If we add Faith to our chart we notice something very important. The distance from Doubt to Faith is short while the distance from Incapacity to Faith is long.
Now I don’t want to be dogmatic here, I just want to make the point that it takes less faith to stop doubt at the door than it does to kick Incapacity out once fear has him sitting in yourliving room.
We aren’t going to be standing firmly when doubt comes knocking if we don’t have His Word (promise) locked in our heart. Don’t forget that when doubt knocks, what comes out of our mouth is what we have locked up in our heart; faith or fear (Matt 12:34).
If we have locked God’s Promise (His Word) in our heart and bathed it in prayer and praise, then the faith to stand and turn doubt away comes immediately to the forefront. The problem, however, is that we are too quick to answer doubt’s knock and enter into a discussion with him at the door; we don’t see him for who he is.
In truth, our enemy is just one big deception. After all, that’s his only weapon. Remember IPeter 5:8? He is only walking around like a lion, seeing whom he can get to believe that he is one. That is the one he is going to devour with his lies. When the “thought” containing doubt begins knocking on your mind you need to stand in faith on the Word and dismiss it immediately. It’s like when the cultist comes knocking at your door — no we don’t want any! I’ll bet you handle telemarketers on the phone that way.
If Eve had done that things might have been different (Gen 3: 1-6). Doubt came knocking and she opened the door and invited him in for a chat. Remember, the devil didn’t look like some Halloween ghoul. He was pleasing to the eye and ear, she was not strong in faith and he caught her napping. She had The Word to stand on (Adam gave it to her) but the devil talked her right out of it. It wasn’t locked in her heart. If we aren’t watching every moment of the day it will happen to us in the same way. His plan is to use doubt to plant the seed that will mature into fear and incapacity. That is the direct opposite of what God wants to plant in us; His Word that will mature into His Promise.
In closing let’s be sure that we understand just what the devil is after. It may not be an ego boosting revelation but the devil could care less about you and me. We are most certainly not what he is after. On the other hand we are a key element in the war he is waging. His battle, from day one, has only been with the Word. God prophesied it to him in the Garden of Eden when He revealed the plan for the salvation of man (Gen 3:15).
The devil hates the Word of God (Jesus) and he hates us because we are carriers of that Word. He hates The Word we have hidden away in our heart and the Holy Spirit within us who reveals it. He wants us out of the way and he will say anything to accomplish the task. His favorite tactic is to confront us with … did God really say? (Gen 3:1)
When God gives us a promise it is in keeping with His perfect will for our life. It is in keeping with the plan that He has for our life (Jer 29:11). If we are submitted to Him according to Matt 6:33 then we can be certain that He will give us the desires of our heart. Those desires are always perfectly aligned with His original and only desire:
Eph 3:9-12 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10. To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11. According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
And our part has always been the same:
Mark 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
The desires that God gives to those who seek Him are the seeds that grow into the fruit that advances His Kingdom here on earth. We have each been perfectly equipped to carry out our individual and unique role in The Kingdom. It is God’s desire that we fulfill that role … so much so that He has given us all the promises in heaven:
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Eph 1:19-23 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20. Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21. Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22. And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23. Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.
God wants us to succeed in this life and build up a treasure for ourselves in heaven. A treasure comprised of those we have touched here on earth, those whose lives have been forever changed because of the light we allowed to brightly shine within us. He admonished us to keep our light shining and not cover it with a basket (Luke 11:33).
Who do you suppose has an endless supply of baskets?
Satan is the very one who comes knocking at your door with doubt concerning the promise that God has given you, the promise that God has backed up with His Word. He wants to steal that Word above all else and for that very reason we need to be vigilant. Ever on our guard to ensure that the Word upon which we are standing is His Wordand not one from our flesh. We must be certain that it is an Isaac (Spirit) and not an Ishmael (Flesh) and that it came from and is empowered by God, not our flesh. Only the Isaacs in our life will produce good fruit. The Ishmaels are destined to fail and cause us grief in the process. An Ishmael will not stand up to fear but an Isaac will cast all fear down for an Isaac is founded on one thing: agape love, the God kind of love. And that is the greatest weapon we have against fear:
1John 4:18 There is no fear in love (agape); but perfect love (agape) casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love (agape).
That is our secret weapon: Declared before time … Revealed in His Son … Empowered by His Spirit. If we walk in that love for God and our neighbor (Mark 12:30) the enemy cannot stand up against it.
As we have seen, the enemy’s path to fear is progressive. It is our job to use all that God has given us to defeat him early and on every occasion. We must not let him lead us down his slippery path but stand firmly on the solid ground of God’s Word. It is therefore imperative that we not move unless and until we have God’s Word for all situations in our life. Without it we are not going to be able to stand when doubt comes knocking. That is why we have been admonished not to look to our own understanding (Pro 3:5). Why? Because it will buckle beneath us when the enemy comes to challenge it.
Seek the Lord at all times and in all things. Wait for His Word in all things no matter how long it takes. Wait for His peace to fill you and replace all confusion concerning the matter. Know that you know that you know. Don’t move ahead without it or when the enemy knocks you won’t be able to Stand. You’ll let his thought slip its foot in the door and then begin entertaining doubt. At that point you only have a pile of eggs to stand on. You’re on sandy ground … you need to be on the rock.
When that knock comes boldly answer with a resounding … I don’t want any and firmly slam the door shut.
2Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. KJV
When God makes a promise He always gives you His solid ground; His Rock and His Peace. He above all knows the power of His Word and His Promise. In Faith He took His Word to the ultimate test for you and me.
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.