Manny Pacquiao's dominating 12th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto on
Saturday night in Las Vegas raised more questions about Pacquiao's place
amongst the greatest boxers of all time, which we can debate until the end of time. Many great boxers have come and gone in the sport of boxing. Before there were any gloves or rules it was nothing more than a straight out blood match.

Meet Nehemiah. While God’s people lived in Babylon, exiled from their homeland, God called Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, to an important leadership role. He wanted him to bringing His people home to rebuild Jerusalem. Immediately Nehemiah prayed for God’s strength, blessing, and wisdom. He begged God for grace and forgiveness because the people had run away from the Lord’s will and His ways. Nehemiah knew they needed to return to God’s Word in order for their wall to stand strong again.

Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem were in a ring without any experience when they faced a huge challenge in front of them. The challenge was from two men, Sanballet and Tobiah. These two would shout out words that would bring nothing but discouragement and trouble thereby preventing God’s people from building up the wall.

We ourselves get into a ring everyday and try to fight head on. We approach challenges on our own, thinking, “I got this!” But what happens is that we get knocked out in one shot. As we continue to think, “I got this”, we get back up, yet over and over again we get knocked out again. Eventually we hear a voice rumbling through our ears and in our head saying, “You don’t have a chance” or “You are not going to accomplish anything in life. You are not smart enough. You are going to be lonely for the rest of your life; look at other people and see how far they got, what happened to you? You’re not going to be anybody in life.”

This is what happens when you go into a ring by yourself thinking you can do this on your own. On top of that, you have no training which makes it easier for you to get knocked out. The devil throws random things in your head just as he did with the Jewish people trying to build the wall.

But Nehemiah encourages and reminds them “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your son, your daughters, your wives and
your homes.”(Nehemiah 4:14)

Are there tempting voices encouraging you to quit and give up? Are they telling you that you can do this on your own and you don’t need help from anyone?  Don’t be deceived. Remember, God has given us his gloves to fight back. Don’t ever feel upset or discouraged about anything; never go into a battle on your own because the evil one is ready to knock you out. Jesus is your glove! When you believe in your heart and in your mind that it is His voice that will get the victory, He will help you through the rough time and get you the Knock out you need. At the end of the day there is only one winner and His name is Jesus. He is the one that is going to stand in front of you, behind you, and beside you and He will not let you get knocked out because God will fight for you!

Remember “Our God will fight for us.” (Nehemiah 4:20)

<>< Justin Varghese <><