Introduction the Warrior Worship Idea Is Simply That a Surrendered Warrior Is a Victorious Warrior
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Introduction The Warrior Worship idea is simply that a surrendered warrior is a victorious warrior. A surrendered warrior life is a powerful and power-filled life. Fully giving our lives over to our amazing King Jesus is the kind of obedience He requires of His followers. It’s what Jesus means when He says “If you love Me, you’ll obey My commands” (John 14:15, GNT). That kind of commitment begins with believing “all Scripture is breathed out by God and is useful to teach us what is true” (2 Timothy 3:16, ESV). What amazing payoffs in this life and the next for those that serve Jesus above anything else! His promise is “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined the things God has prepared for those that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9, NLT). There is simply no way to live as a warrior for Jesus Christ without reading, memorizing, digesting and living the truths of God’s Word. “The Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword able to expose our innermost thoughts and desires” (Hebrews 4:12, NIV). That’s why we’re so excited to offer this devotional to go along with the Warrior Worship original worship music project “Stronger” (in partnership with Warrior Leadership Summit 2021). God’s warriors - you! - have so much potential! “You are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works He prepared in advance for you to do” (Ephesians 2:10, NLT). Loving and living the Bible unlocks the amazing potential and future God has for you! The guy who wrote these Bible studies, Jesse Colucci, in addition to writing a lot of Warrior Worship music, is one of those warriors who loves and lives God’s Word. I think you’re going to love what he’s prepared out of his love for Jesus and for you. Our prayer is that as you interact with this devotional, you will experience God’s love and truth more than ever before! So go ahead, be a worshipping warrior…and live in the victory of the Creator’s life-transforming, eternal truth! Doug Hutchcraft Executive Director, Ron Hutchcraft Ministries/On Eagles' Wings Co-Founder, Warrior Worship 1 Every Tribe Day 1 O great King//You won the victory//Every people, tongue, and tribe is Yours//O great King//Satan is in retreat//Let every nation hear the Lion roar//The captives have been released//The war has ended in the enemy’s defeat//The cross has given us the final word of peace//That’s why we sing//The kingdom is breaking out//The news is echoing with hallelujah shouts//Tell every prisoner the walls are coming down//That’s why we sing//Yours is the kingdom//Yours is the glory//Every tribe is Yours Colossians 2:14-15 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them in Him. The good news about Jesus starts with some bad news about you. You’ve stolen your life from God and built up a massive debt toward Him, so paralyzingly gigantic that you don’t have the slightest fraction of a fraction of a chance of ever paying Him back. The more you try to fix things, the deeper the hole you’re in gets. So there’s that. Enter the good news. Colossians 2:14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. God erased your debt. He didn’t make you work it off or contribute what you can. He did away with it completely. What happens to people who are nailed to a cross? They die. What happens to debt that is nailed to a cross? It dies too. Your sin-debt is never coming back. God made sure of it. The record that proved you guilty has disappeared. It’s all gone. This news itself should blow our minds to no end. No guilt? None. But something else is happening at the cross behind the scenes. Colossians 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them in Him. Disarmed rulers and authorities? Disgraced them publicly? How does one Man, beaten bloody, stripped naked, and suffocating, disarm anyone? And what does this have to do with us? Skim through the Old Testament and look at every nation other than Israel. You’ll find they share a common trait: every people group has its own god. These were demonic beings that claimed authority over a nation. People served their god out of terror, hoping not to get on his or her bad side. They could call their god powerful, but they could never call him good. 2 WARRIOR WORSHIP STRONGER Paul, the writer of the letter to the Colossians, describes these so-called gods as “rulers and authorities”. But he doesn’t depict them as fearsome and dreadful. He calls them disarmed and publicly embarrassed, like kittens picking a fight with a Lion (who just so happens to be our God). Jesus beat them by a landslide. At the cross, Jesus sacrificed Himself to win every tribe back to the One True God. His death crushed the hopes and dreams of these now displaced deities, evicting them from their self-awarded thrones. Christ’s victory over them was final and complete. And that’s exactly why this matters to us today. Every spiritual power has ultimately been totally defeated. They may push back, but they have no legitimate claim to you, or your people, because Christ, our champion, took away their authority at the cross. All over the world, Jesus is bringing the reality of His victory into hearts, homes, and communities, freeing us to follow Him. It’s happening right now. It will continue happening until He comes back. After His resurrection, Jesus puts it this way: Matthew 28:18 Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” “All authority”. Not “most authority” or “a lot of authority”. All. Jesus is really, actually the current and forever King of the world. And He’s using His authority now to bring people out from under the rule of sin and Satan and into His kingdom. If this is true, then who’s to say He can’t change you, your family, or your reservation? Questions 1. How and when did Jesus defeat the powers of darkness? 2. How does Jesus’ authority change the way you see yourself? Your reservation? 3. What does Jesus’ victory show you about your God? Read on Ephesians 1:15-23 Hebrews 2:14-15 Revelation 7:9-17 WARRIOR WORSHIP STRONGER 3 Follow You There Day 2 You found us hiding in the night//When we were barely breathing//You led us out into the light//And brought us joy from grieving//We’ll leave it all to follow You//We’ll go where You will lead us//Let them be all, we’ll be the few//You’re all we want Lord Jesus//Wherever You may go, ever You may go//I’ll follow You there//I’ll follow You there//We stand in armor fit to fight//We know You go before us//We know Your promise is forever life// You’re all we need Lord Jesus//Lord I’m running the race and I won’t look back//Never giving my heart to another//Giving You all the hurt that has held me back//Breaking free of the spell I was under//We’ll leave it all to follow You (I’ll follow You there)//Let them be all, we’ll be the few (I’ll follow You there) Mathew 10:37-39 "The one who loves a father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever doesn't take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of Me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it, and anyone who loses his life because of Me will find it.” In this passage, Jesus is getting ready to send His disciples throughout the towns of Israel to heal the sick, raise the dead, and preach the good news - to carry on the works that He had been doing. At this point in Jesus’ life, He is extremely popular. People travel miles on foot just to hear Him speak. Stories of His healing power are known by all. Some of the most common words spoken about Jesus are, “We’ve never seen anything like this!” Everyone wants a selfie with Jesus. While Jesus had authentic compassion for the people He met, He wasn’t interested in being popular just to be popular. In fact, sometimes Jesus said things that drove people away. He wanted to make something very clear: following Him isn’t the path to the easy life; it’s the path to life. So Jesus drops this on His disciples: Matthew 10:37 The one who loves a father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Ouch.