VICTORY!
VICTORY!
In Romans 8:37 we are told that we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. Prior to verse 37, Paul gives us a list of things that can come against us and says that in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us, Who, of course, is Christ Jesus. When tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword or accusations come, in all these things (which are works of darkness, the god of this world, satan, fanned by the flame of flesh) we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus Who loves us.
What is a conqueror? A conqueror is someone who has defeated his enemy. The reason we are more than conquerors is that Christ Jesus defeated our enemy, thus making us more than conquerors. We are the ones who enjoy the spoils of the victory Christ purchased for us. And how do we enjoy those spoils of victory? Through Christ Jesus, Love Himself. As you and I learn to yield to the God-kind of love, whose description is in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, we walk in victory in the midst of anything that may be thrown in our path, that may be thrust in our way.
A victor is one who has won the battle over his enemy. What the good news is to us is that satan was and is our enemy and Jesus took on our cause and defeated for us him who was our enemy. Our big brother, Jesus, stepped up between us and satan and said: I will fight their battle for them and I will defeat you. And He did just that from the Garden of Gethsemane to the whipping post to the cross to the grave to victory over satan and all his works and all his demonic forces. What a savior! What a victory! And He did it for us.
Now we have the victory; it is as if we were the ones who won the victory. Actually we become the ones who won the victory when Christ Jesus is invited into our hearts to live in us. If the victorious One is in us, then we are victorious. We must meditate on that until it becomes so much bigger, and so real to us that nothing moves us except God and His love and His Word and His victory over all things for us. Through Jesus’ victory, God has made us the ones who are in charge, the ones who are superior over our enemy, who is now considered the inferior one. We must grab hold of this and realize that we are not some little weaklings, struggling, trying to make it in this world. NO! As Philippians 4:13 reads in the Amplified Bible, “I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].
Did you hear that? I am equal to anything THROUGH HIM Who infuses inner strength into me. And just a few verses down in that chapter, we are told that God will liberally supply, fully fill, take care of, abundantly give us more than enough for our every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. I can hear you talking to me right now. But, Kialeen, I don’t seem to have that. Are you calling God a liar? Whether you see it right now on this earth or not, you have it because the Word says that your every need has been taken care of. If you have sickness attacking your body and it looks hopeless, you have the supply of healing and health, whether you see it presently in your physical body. If you have lack knocking at your door, you have a full supply, whether you see it presently in your finances. If you have divorce knocking at the door of your marriage, you have an abundant supply of God’s provision to bring you through to the other side, regardless of what it looks like in the natural realm. You see, we live physically in this natural realm, but we as God’s children are to abide in His spiritual realm. We are to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, whose power no foe can withstand.
We are to be more spiritually alert and aware of our Heavenly Father’s supply than we are of the earth’s lack. It takes discipline and it takes training of our minds and spirits to become like this. We have been disciplined and trained by the world to do things the world’s way. The world’s way is the opposite of God’s way. Yes, we in the church have taken on many of the things of the world’s ways, even though we may be unaware of it. For example, how do you select a pastor in your church? Do you select him or does God select him? When things get tight financially, do you cut back, or do you plant more seed? Only you can answer these questions and more that the Lord will ask you today.
Take a good look at which system you are yielding to—God’s way of victory or the world’s way of hard works by the fleshly, human pursuit. I John 5:3-5 gives us our instructions. This is the love of God—that we keep His commandments (His Word to us through His Word). And His commandments (Word) is not a burden to keep. It does not bring us oppression and grief. For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world (and its ways of doing things) and THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD, EVEN OUR FAITH. Do you see it? Faith is the substance, the ingredient that keeps us in victory and the victory of Jesus makes us world overcomers. We could read this verse like this: You who are born of God are victorious and conquer the world and this is the victory that has conquered the world, even your faith.
And once again, I must remind you: How does faith come? Romans 10:17 Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If there are areas in our lives in which we are not experiencing victory, it is not because there is no victory there. It is because we don’t have the faith, the confidence, the assurance in our hearts that the Lord has already taken care of it for us. When we have that confidence, nothing moves us, regardless of how long or how short a period of time it takes to see the evidence of the victory in this natural world.
And verse 5 of 1 John 5 says that the one who overcomes the world is he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
A long devotion today but one to meditate on until you and I walk in victory, regardless of our circumstances or what we are facing at this very moment. We are not without a helper, a comforter, a victorious God, Who is as close as the breath of air we breathe. We all must learn to lean on Him in all our ways, and we will live a life that is infinitely beyond anything we could imagine or dream possible.
In Romans 8:37 we are told that we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. Prior to verse 37, Paul gives us a list of things that can come against us and says that in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us, Who, of course, is Christ Jesus. When tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword or accusations come, in all these things (which are works of darkness, the god of this world, satan, fanned by the flame of flesh) we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus Who loves us.
What is a conqueror? A conqueror is someone who has defeated his enemy. The reason we are more than conquerors is that Christ Jesus defeated our enemy, thus making us more than conquerors. We are the ones who enjoy the spoils of the victory Christ purchased for us. And how do we enjoy those spoils of victory? Through Christ Jesus, Love Himself. As you and I learn to yield to the God-kind of love, whose description is in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, we walk in victory in the midst of anything that may be thrown in our path, that may be thrust in our way.
A victor is one who has won the battle over his enemy. What the good news is to us is that satan was and is our enemy and Jesus took on our cause and defeated for us him who was our enemy. Our big brother, Jesus, stepped up between us and satan and said: I will fight their battle for them and I will defeat you. And He did just that from the Garden of Gethsemane to the whipping post to the cross to the grave to victory over satan and all his works and all his demonic forces. What a savior! What a victory! And He did it for us.
Now we have the victory; it is as if we were the ones who won the victory. Actually we become the ones who won the victory when Christ Jesus is invited into our hearts to live in us. If the victorious One is in us, then we are victorious. We must meditate on that until it becomes so much bigger, and so real to us that nothing moves us except God and His love and His Word and His victory over all things for us. Through Jesus’ victory, God has made us the ones who are in charge, the ones who are superior over our enemy, who is now considered the inferior one. We must grab hold of this and realize that we are not some little weaklings, struggling, trying to make it in this world. NO! As Philippians 4:13 reads in the Amplified Bible, “I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].
Did you hear that? I am equal to anything THROUGH HIM Who infuses inner strength into me. And just a few verses down in that chapter, we are told that God will liberally supply, fully fill, take care of, abundantly give us more than enough for our every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. I can hear you talking to me right now. But, Kialeen, I don’t seem to have that. Are you calling God a liar? Whether you see it right now on this earth or not, you have it because the Word says that your every need has been taken care of. If you have sickness attacking your body and it looks hopeless, you have the supply of healing and health, whether you see it presently in your physical body. If you have lack knocking at your door, you have a full supply, whether you see it presently in your finances. If you have divorce knocking at the door of your marriage, you have an abundant supply of God’s provision to bring you through to the other side, regardless of what it looks like in the natural realm. You see, we live physically in this natural realm, but we as God’s children are to abide in His spiritual realm. We are to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, whose power no foe can withstand.
We are to be more spiritually alert and aware of our Heavenly Father’s supply than we are of the earth’s lack. It takes discipline and it takes training of our minds and spirits to become like this. We have been disciplined and trained by the world to do things the world’s way. The world’s way is the opposite of God’s way. Yes, we in the church have taken on many of the things of the world’s ways, even though we may be unaware of it. For example, how do you select a pastor in your church? Do you select him or does God select him? When things get tight financially, do you cut back, or do you plant more seed? Only you can answer these questions and more that the Lord will ask you today.
Take a good look at which system you are yielding to—God’s way of victory or the world’s way of hard works by the fleshly, human pursuit. I John 5:3-5 gives us our instructions. This is the love of God—that we keep His commandments (His Word to us through His Word). And His commandments (Word) is not a burden to keep. It does not bring us oppression and grief. For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world (and its ways of doing things) and THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD, EVEN OUR FAITH. Do you see it? Faith is the substance, the ingredient that keeps us in victory and the victory of Jesus makes us world overcomers. We could read this verse like this: You who are born of God are victorious and conquer the world and this is the victory that has conquered the world, even your faith.
And once again, I must remind you: How does faith come? Romans 10:17 Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If there are areas in our lives in which we are not experiencing victory, it is not because there is no victory there. It is because we don’t have the faith, the confidence, the assurance in our hearts that the Lord has already taken care of it for us. When we have that confidence, nothing moves us, regardless of how long or how short a period of time it takes to see the evidence of the victory in this natural world.
And verse 5 of 1 John 5 says that the one who overcomes the world is he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
A long devotion today but one to meditate on until you and I walk in victory, regardless of our circumstances or what we are facing at this very moment. We are not without a helper, a comforter, a victorious God, Who is as close as the breath of air we breathe. We all must learn to lean on Him in all our ways, and we will live a life that is infinitely beyond anything we could imagine or dream possible.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 9:41 AM
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