A Life of Victory

Would you like to overcome temptation and other challenges that come against you in your walk with the Lord? If so, I believe God wants to use this article to give you direction in how to live a life of victory.

Romans 6:5-6- "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."
The "old man" mentioned here refers to our old nature. Every person who has not been born again has a natural tendency to disobey God that was inherited from Adam and Eve (due to their disobedience in the garden of Eden). This nature that is "bent" against God's ways is said here to have been crucified with Christ. When Jesus died on the cross as our substitute our old nature was put to death. Galatians 5:24 says, "And those who are Christ's have [past tense] crucified the flesh [the "old man' in Romans 6:6] with its passions and desires." As I said before the old "sin nature" of man was put to death at the cross when Jesus died as our substitute, and when we believe in Him His victory becomes our victory. Through Jesus we are overcomers at this moment. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." Because this old nature was done away with at the cross my life can now be an expression of the life of Jesus, revealing Him to everyone I meet. When I think about this I am greatly encouraged, but I also find that there are things in my life that don't yet line up with this truth. If you see the same thing in your own life I would like to share some of what God has shown me in His word that will help you walk in victory.

Romans 6:11: "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Here we are told to "reckon ourselves" to be dead to sin. This means we are to believe that we are already free from sin and that everything in our lives that is against God's will has already been put to death. We may experience temptation, we may seem to be struggling but Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil and we are to accept this as true. When Jesus said "It is finished" (John 19:30) He was telling the truth. When we believe this we will experience victory regardless of what we are faced with.

Romans 6:12-13- "Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in it's lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." Because we have already been set free from sin by the blood of Jesus we can say, "no" when temptation comes. In James 4:7 we are told: "Therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you." Romans 5:17 tells us that through Jesus we can "reign in life." Are you beginning to see how this is possible because of what Jesus did at the cross? A life of victory is a life surrendered to Jesus, and at the cross every hindrance to living this life of victory was defeated.

John 8:31-32- "Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.' " To abide in the Lord's word means to continuously study, believe, and submit to His word. God has given us His word that contains the truth that will set us free. 1Thessalonians 2:13 tells us that God's word works in those who believe it. So believe God's word, keep believing God's word, and watch God use His word to set you free!

Galatians 5:16-18- "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law." To "walk in the Spirit" means to follow the Spirit's leading (do what the Holy Spirit leads you to do). This speaks of a lifestyle of following the leading of the Holy Spirit. I find it interesting to see in this verse how the Holy Spirit leads us away from sin when we are led by Him. If we learn to recognize when the Holy Spirit is speaking we will have taken a big step toward living a life of victory.

At the cross Jesus destroyed every work of the enemy and has totally set us free. Now we can live a life of victory and let Him use our lives to show the world who He is. it is my prayer that all who read this will find themselves experiencing greater freedom in their lives.

Advance the Kingdom

Luke 1:26-33- "Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, 'Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women!' But when she saw him she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

The angel Gabriel came to Mary and announced to her that she was to be the mother of the long awaited Messiah even though she was a virgin. I was thinking about this passage last night as I was praying and the Lord highlighted one specific phrase to me: "...and of His kingdom there will be no end." The Lord then used this to encourage me and remind me that Jesus is Lord and wants to use His people to advance His kingdom. In this week's blog I would like to share with you what the Lord spoke to me with the prayer that all who read it will be encouraged and inspired just as I was.

Luke 2:8-11- "Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And behold an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.' "

Jesus had been born in Bethlehem, and when the angel announced the birth of the Son of God, he referred to Jesus as, "...a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." If the enemy seems to be coming against you from every direction remember that Jesus came as both Savior and Lord, and realizing this can help us to find comfort in challenging situations. Jesus is Lord and will always be Lord regardless of what attacks the enemy may send your way. John Wesley, while describing how he was able to keep from worrying, said, "I see God sitting upon His throne ruling all things well." When I experience trials and I don't understand what's happening or what to do next I find great comfort in the fact that Jesus is still on the throne and that He has placed all enemies under my feet. 1John 3:8 tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Are you burdened with depression, sickness, anger, condemnation, or worry? Those are all works of the devil that Jesus came to destroy. Not only can Jesus destroy those works and give you joy, peace, healing, forgiveness, and everything else that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), but He can use you to bring those things to others! In Daniel 2:31-45 we read of a dream that king Nebuchadnezzar had of a statue that represented the kingdoms of the world being destroyed by a stone that represented God's kingdom. In the dream the stone struck the statue, broke it in pieces, and completely destroyed it, and became a great mountain that filled the whole earth. When Daniel interpreted the dream he made this statement about the kingdom: "...it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdom [the world kingdoms], and it shall stand forever." (Daniel 2:44) While the dream actually referred to the end times when the kingdom of God will be established as a physical kingdom on earth, there is a spiritual lesson to be learned as well. The Lord wants His kingdom (His rule, His influence in our lives) to replace the world's influence and bring His will to every area of our lives.

The Lord wants to use you and me to bring His kingdom into the lives of those we meet. So as you go about last minute Christmas shopping or spend time with family this Christmas, why don't you ask the Lord to open your eyes to see opportunities to bring His kingdom into the lives of those around you?

Total Commitment

Mark 8:31-33- "And He [Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus began teaching His disciples that He was going to be rejected, arrested, mocked, beaten, and eventually killed and that He would rise from the dead after three days. The thought of the Messiah suffering was so different from the Messiah the Jews of Jesus' day were expecting that sometime after declaring Jesus to be the Son of God (see Mark 8:27-30), Peter took Jesus aside to rebuke Him!

Jesus' response to Peter's rebuke is interesting, and it shows us how committed Jesus was to His mission. First it says Jesus turned and looked at His disciples. I believe that as He did this He thought about them. Jesus knew what was involved in crucifixion (which was one the most painful deaths imaginable) and He knew He was going to be crucified, but He chose to put the well being of others ahead of His own comfort and safety. Jesus willingly laid down His life for the sake of others, and because He did you and I can have a relationship with our creator. 1John 3:16 says, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." Jesus demonstrated the highest love possible by laying down His life for us, and is so doing He set an example to show us that we should lay down our lives for one another.

On the night of Jesus' arrest, He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane: "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as You will." (Matthew 26:39) While most of us tend to focus on the fact that Jesus prayed for the cup to be taken from His lips, I believe the focus of the prayer for Jesus was the phrase: "not as I will, but as You will." As the time of His suffering drew near, Jesus prayed a prayer of unconditional surrender to the will of the Father. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 we read that we are not our own because we were bought with a price. That price was the blood of Jesus. Since such Jesus paid such a high price to save us, how can not make a total commitment to do His will no matter what?

In John 18:4, which is part of John's account of Jesus arrest, we read, "Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward, and said to them, 'whom are you seeking?' " Jesus saw the officers sent from the chief priests to arrest Him (led by Judas Iscariot), He knew everything that was going to happen to Him, and He "went forward" to do what the Father sent Him to earth to do. Jesus could have called more than twelve legions of angels to help Him if He had wanted to, and the men who had come to arrest Jesus would have had no chance (In Isaiah 37:26 we read of one angel killing 185, 000 soldiers in one night, so what could 12 legions of angels would have been 13,320,000,000 do?), but Jesus went forward to offer Himself as the sacrifice to wipe away the stains of sin that separated the fallen human race from the Creator.

The example set by Jesus seems impossible for us to reach, and without His help it is impossible. However, as we read in Philippians 2:13: "for it is God who works in you to will and to do for His good pleasure." Say "yes" to God and He will begin working in you, making you both willing and able to make a total commitment to His will. Not only will God make us willing to do His will, He will actually help us to follow through with that commitment! So, are you willing? If you're not sure you can say that you are, are you willing to be made willing? You can say "yes," to Him today and you will find that despite what trials come it will all be worth it.

Goodwill Toward Men

Luke 2:14- "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
Jesus had been born in a manger in Bethlehem and angels appeared to shepherds to announce the birth of the long awaited Messiah. The angels ended this announcement with the phrase, "...goodwill toward men!" By using this phrase the heavenly host declared that God's plans for humanity are good.

The following verses describe the shepherds' visit to Mary, Joseph, and the newborn King of Kings:
"So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.' And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." (Luke 2:15-19)

The shepherds, "made widely known," what had been said to them about Jesus. We are told that everyone who heard was amazed but Mary, "kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." Everyone heard and was amazed, but Mary treasured the words that were spoken and thought about them, pondering in her heart the things that had been spoken about the One who was born to seek and to save the lost.

Twelve years later we find Mary, Joseph and a twelve year old Jesus going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish feast of Passover. After the feast, Mary, Joseph, and many others left Jerusalem, but Jesus didn't. After a three day search Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple amazing the religious leaders. When asked by Mary about His actions, Jesus simply replied, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" (see Luke 2:49) This question reveals that even at age twelve Jesus was completely devoted to doing the Father's will (so much so that He refused to follow the crowd: staying in Jerusalem while others were leaving). A few verses later we read: "Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart." (Luke 2:51) Just as she had done twelve years earlier, Mary heard what was spoken and kept it in her heart. So far in this article we have shown that Mary heard about God's good plans for humanity and Jesus' devotion to doing the Father's will and pondered these things in her heart.

Fast forward eighteen years: Jesus is around 30 years of age and He, along with His disciples, have been invited to a wedding along with Mary, His mother (see John 2:1-11). The wine ran out at the wedding (which would have been extremely embarrassing to the host) and Mary immediately told Jesus. She actually didn't ask Him if He would do anything or not: she simply told Him that there was no more wine and when He said that His time had not yet come she told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. Mary knew Jesus would work a miracle to change this situation, and I believe it was because of the two things she heard and meditated on (thought about) years earlier. She knew God's will for mankind is good and that Jesus was completely devoted to doing the Father's will. I believe this helped Mary to expect a miracle. If you need a miracle remember, God is still in the miracle working business and He has good plans for us. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." There is no situation hopeless, there's nothing too hard for God to do. God has a miracle for you today and He is eager to give it to you. In addition to all this, there is one more reason to expect a miracle: "For with God nothing will be impossible." (Luke 1:37) Mary heard the angel Gabriel make this statement and she experienced the truth of it. You can see God do something for you today that seems impossible. Study and meditate on God's word until you have such a revelation of God's goodness and power that you expect miracles. I believe that as you do this you will find that in your life the impossible will become possible.