I was listening recently to a sports talk show where the host was interviewing a boxing trainer. He was explaining one of the aspects of the psychology of training a winner, a champion. I'll paraphrase. It's about being a survivor. You can only be killed once. A survivor never dies till he actually does, a quitter is killed early in life and goes on ‘living' but he's really ‘dead while he lives'. He is sick inside and its fatal. He is sick that he quit, sick that he is considered a quitter, sick of himself. The trainer was saying that the hardest thing to convince a fighter in the training phase and also in the corner of the ring between rounds is that no matter what, a champion cannot quit. Even when the body cannot respond to the commands from the mind, the mind must war on. When you are taking a pounding and are in pain, you are confronted with a struggle inside you he said, between ‘the truth and the lie.'

The lie is that the ‘current unpleasantness' is much worse than the lifelong unpleasantness of knowing you have capitulated or given in. The lie says ‘this is too hard, you're too tired, this hurts too much, it's not worth it, no one will blame you, lie down, let your opponent win, anything to stop the pain. It won't bother you to quit, quitting has no long term effect and after all, you can bounce back and be strong next time.' All lies!

He went on to say that the truth is: this ‘current unpleasantness' is very temporary and I can endure this and later I'll feel great, I can live with myself win or lose because I gave my best and I didn't give in. Giving up is an extremely hard habit to break. If you have given in and let your opponent win to stop the pain, you really can't bounce back, he said. After that, any time you go into the ring and are giving out the pounding you're fine, but if you begin to take a pounding, you begin to think ‘here I go again' and giving in will come easier each time, the voice of the lie will be stronger and sound more convincing.

The truth is: even if you lose, and very few win them all, if you know you haven't capitulated, you can bounce back and be stronger for it next time, because you have learned by experience that the ‘current unpleasantness' actually was very temporary and it didn't kill you!

When someone has quit, even if they have incredible natural ability, they may never be a champion. The emphasis in training from then on, if anyone will train them, becomes not so much on winning as on not giving up.

Sound familiar? We are in a fight, and it's not so much the external circumstances that will defeat us. The struggle is within: will you believe the truth or the lie?

The truth is:

   - Eph. 2:1,4,5 - I was dead in my sin, but the Father, because He loves me so much, even while I was still dead, He brought me back to a new life through no merit of my own, because I was dead! Not only that, He also decided to seat me with Him as His son! He did this because He loves me and wants to display for eternity just how kind and generous He is to me.

   - Luke 4:18 - He has promised release for every area of captivity, sight wherever I am blind, freedom where I have been ‘burdened and battered'

   - Eph. 2:10 - He created me to join Him in the work He does, the good work He has gotten ready for me to do.

   - Phil. 4:13 - I can do all things through Him who strengthens me

   - 2Pet. 1:3 He has promised to provide everything I need in the life He has for me.

   - 2Cor. 4:17 He has also promised me a glorious inheritance which is far beyond all comparison with all the ‘momentary light affliction' I am facing.

But there are battles we will face, because while we are still here on earth we have an enemy who wages the ‘war of the lie'. Sometimes I believe him for a second and lose a battle, but I won't be defeated if I refuse to give up. It's not about never failing, it's about refusing to stay defeated.

Prov.24:16 - No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don't stay down for long. Soon they're on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces.

Micah 7:7,8 - Do not rejoice over me, oh my enemy. Though I have fallen, I will rise again!

If I lose the war in an area of my life, I have given in to the enemy's lies, and I am living death - Rom. 8:6-8 the mind set on the flesh is dead, and is hostile to God and cannot please God.

If I lose battles occasionally but never capitulate, I am living, life! V6 the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace!

Paul understood and identifies in our struggles when he writes in:

    - 2Cor. 4:7- ‘we carry around this treasure in the ordinary, unimpressive ‘clay pots' of our ordinary lives. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized, we're not sure what to do, but we know God knows what to do, we've been spiritually terrorized but God hasn't left our side, we've been thrown down but we haven't broken.'

• - Rom.7:23-25 war is being waged in him between what he wanted to do and what he ended up doing. He says this is ‘living death.' BUT thanks be to God (8:2) the life of Jesus has set me free from the living death!

Unlike the boxer, who once he capitulates it is hard or impossible to get him to live again, we have our Father who delivers us from this living death if we let Him!!

I once served under a leader who, it was discovered, had capitulated to the enemy's lie in an area of his life. The lie was, you can give in to this thing this once and then be strong next time. But next time it was easier to give in and so on, until he actually believed his perversion was something God not only approved of but was using, or at least that's what he told himself to get to sleep at night, so he threw himself into it. To look at him, he seemed to be living well; everyone aspired to be near him and like him. But he was living miserably, a living death, in constant terror of being found out which happened in due time, as it always does. Eventually it caught up to him and overwhelmed him, the whole façade collapsed and he actually died.

I will continue to fight and hold to this truth: this ‘current unpleasantness' is minor compared to what waits for me as God's son, no matter how major it seems to me right now. I will not succumb to the lie. I may be beaten down by it and even fall or trip up, but I will get back up again.

How can we fight this fight without capitulating?

Eph. 6:10- ‘be strong', v11 - so that you will be able to stand firm against the lies of the enemy, v12 - ‘our struggle' - we can expect a struggle, that is not a surprise, v13 - so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, having done everything, to stand firm. When it's all over but the shouting, you'll still be on your feet.

v13 - (Message, modified!)

- salvation (fire insurance),

- confidently approaching the throne of grace to ask for mercy in time of                       need, (like whenever we fall down, lose a battle, etc.),

- the Father's love,

- becoming a son,

- hearing God's voice,

- learning to obey,

- prayer ministry,

- physical healing,

- emotional healing,

- being about our Father's business,

- saying what we hear the Father saying,

- doing what we see the Father doing ,

All these are more than mere words. We are learning to apply them and work them into our lives. We'll need them throughout our lives.

The cultivated ability to hear God's voice is indispensable both as a sure foundation to stand on and make decisions for our lives, but also as a weapon against the enemies lies.

How do we fight? By putting on our armour - the truth God has given us.

How do we put on our armour? By working these words into our lives. By answering the lies with the words we have directly from God.

I am holding on for dear life to the values the Father has placed in us. I don't really care if it looks like I'm winning to others; I am staking my life on these truths.

Are there areas where we have capitulated and are not really experiencing life as we read about or hear others talk about? Bring them to the Father and let Him breathe life back into you. He brings the dead back to life! Then learn to contend and fight for the truth, ‘by the words God has given us!