It is time to advance God’s kingdom. Anyone with the least amount of spiritual discernment can read the signs and see what is breaking down in our world. We need to proclaim the kingdom and advance the gospel.

We have to take the initiative, submit ourselves to the Lord and push through with a momentum of growth and confidence that He will back us with signs following.

So often however if things get tough in doing so we back off.

That reminds me of an obscure part of a verse in Judges 1:19
It states “but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron”

Chariots
In this passage the Israelites were taking the promised land little by little. There was great momentum until suddenly iron chariots came into the mix. The people of Israel had not come across this phenomenon before. They did not know what to do. These chariots were like modern day tanks. They said to them “this far and no further, your not coming past here”.
That action broke their spirit and their momentum.
They had success elsewhere but they could not break through these chariots.

The truth is the devil will always bring in some form of resistance in your life to kill off your progress. That can take many forms but we have to recognise it and be ready.
Ephesians 4:27 tells us to give no place to the devil. Instead you have to go to God, recognise what is happening and use your faith.
In Judges the men of Judah backed off and just accepted it. They should have sought God for the answer. After all they had the promise of God that they would take the whole of Canaan.
There is no form of resistance you cannot beat. Isaiah 54:17 says “no weapon formed against you shall prosper”. It may slow you down as you seek God for the way through but if you trust God it cannot hold you back forever

We have to defeat the iron chariots in our generation or we will end up having to pass on the task to another generation.
This is a serious thing. It is a fight that we must win.

Jesus did a complete work of victory on the cross so that we can overcome.

The X Factor
I know that term has been popularised because of the TV singing competition but it has a relevance to us.
God is always the X factor in our lives. He wants to do an amazing work through us. Will we allow him to do that?
When God is the X factor new things become possible. Our past does not have to dictate our future. What we can achieve is not based on the benchmark of history. It really depends on our faith. Ask yourself, what can I believe for? Are you allowing the iron chariots in your life to hold you back and making sure things stay as they are?

In John 2 we find a problem for a wedding feast. The wine had run out and the bridegroom was about to be embarrassed. That was without Jesus. He did the unexpected and changed nature. It was an X factor moment that produced the best wine. Jesus’ life is full of these instances. Every time he was able to deal with the  iron chariots of the enemy in His life. One thing is for sure He knows how to deal with yours. The question is are you prepared for Him to be the X factor in your life? Are we as a church ready to move out from where we are now into the fulness of where God wants us to be? We have to push through and take the land. The kingdom of God must advance. We have Christ on our side and He can deal with all that comes our way.

So lets step up to the task and enlarge the place of our tent, stretch out the curtains of our dwelling, lengthen our cords and strengthen our stakes. Then we shall expand and inherit the nations.