In the front of your Bible write “The Battle Belongs to the Lord”-Exodus 13:21-22
Exodus 13:21-22
- Who is doing the action here? Hi-lite “the Lord went before them”
- What is He doing? Hi-lite in same color “to lead them”, “to give them light”
- What is the take-away? Circle “did not depart”
Write Deuteronomy 1:30-31 in your margin. Go there
- Who is doing the action? “The Lord your God” – Underline it
- What is he doing? Hi-Lite “goes before you”, “fight for you”, “’carried you”
- Circle the words of completion: “all the way”
Write Deuteronomy 8:17-18 in your margin. Go there
- Circle the word of caution “Beware”
- Underline “the Lord your God”
- Put in brackets the repeated words: “My”, “me”
- Notice the command. Hi-lite “You Shall remember”
- Circle the reason word “For”
- Hi-lite (in a different color) what the Lord does. “he who gives you power to get wealth”, “he may confirm his covenant”
- Circle “that” (another reason word) – He is keeping His promise to take care of them
Write Joshua 1:8-9 in your margin. Go there
- Underline “Book of the Law”, “do according to all that is written”
- Questions are always important in the text. Circle “Have I not commanded you”
- Hi-lite the Commands: “shall not depart, “you shall meditate on it”, “be careful to do”, “Be strong and courageous”, “do not be frightened”, “do not be dismayed”
- Circle the contrast word “but”
- Circle the reason word “for”
- Why do we meditate on the Law? Circle “so that” – we can be careful to do!
- Put a box around the time words “then”
- Double underline “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go”
Write I Samuel 17:47 in your margin. Go there
- Circle the time word “Then”,
- Circle the reason word “For”
- Underline “the Lord does not save with sword and spear”
- Hi-lite the statements: “the assembly shall know”, “the battle is the Lord’s” and draw an arrow from one to the other
Write 2 Chronicles 32:8 in your margin. Go there
- Cirlce the contrast word “But”
- Underline what is contrasted. “arm of flesh”, “the Lord our God”
- What is he going to do? Hi-Lite “help us”, “fight our battles”
- What effect does it have on the people? Put a bracket around “took confidence”
Write Psalm 27:1-5 in your margin. Go there
- Always notice the questions. Underline “of whom shall I fear?”, “of whom shall I be afraid?”
- Notice what the Lord is and what the Lord does: Hi-lite “the Lord is my light”, “my salvation”, “the Lord is the stronghold”, “He will hide me”, “He will conceal me”, “He will lift me”
- Circle the reason word “for”
- What happens to evildoers? Put in brackets: [evildoers], [adversaries], [foes], [stumble and fall]
- “Though” is a subordinating conjunction used to connect a subordinate clause to a main clause.
- Put a box around “though”, double underline “my heart shall not fear”, “yet I will be confident”
- Circle “one thing”, “I asked”, “I seek”
- What are the things David asked for and sought after? Underline and put a heart “dwell in the house of the Lord”, “gaze upon the beauty”, “inquire in His temple”
Write John 15:5 in your margin. Go there
- Underline the Statement of fact “I am the vine; you are the branches”-He is the source of spiritual life for us.
- Hi-lite the cause and effect words. “whoever abides in me”, “bears much fruit”
- Circle the reason word “for”
- Underline “apart from Me you can do nothing.” And draw an arrow connecting this phrase with “I am the vine, you are the branches”
Write Romans 8:31-39 in your margin. Go there
- Draw a line connecting “these things” in verse 31 to Romans 8:18 (always ask questions of the verse – what things?. Sometimes you may need to go back up several verses to find your answer.)
- Notice the questions. Underline them
- Circle the contrast word “but”
- Hi-lite what God did and what Jesus did. “did not spare His own Son”, “gave Him up for us all”, “Christ Jesus the one who died”, “who was raised”, “who is at the right hand of God”, “is interceding for us”
- Notice lists in the text. What cannot separate us from Christ’s love? Put a number beside each one in the list. (verses 35, 38, 39)
- Verse 35 is a parenthetical statement. Put parenthesis around the whole verse.
- Verse 37 put a box around “these things” (what things?) Put an arrow connecting “these things” to the list in verse 35.
- Double underline “For I am sure”
- Write the word “winning” next to verse 37
Write Philippians 4:11-13 in your margin. Go there
- Circle the reason word “for”
- Underline the “I” statements: “I have learned”, “I know”, “I know”, “I have learned”, “I can do”
- Put a box around “be content”
- Hi-lite “whatever state”, “abased”, “abound”, “be full”, “be hungry”, “abound”, “suffer need”
- Draw a line connecting “Christ” to “strengthens me”
In this study we have learned that God will fight our battles if we have faith and trust in Him. We don’t have to fight alone. In the end, the battle truly does belong to the Lord!! I hope this study has encouraged you and strengthened your faith.