Victory is Ours for the Taking!

It's not big news when I say that Jesus died on the cross.  It's not big news when I tell you that in dying on the cross, He died to take away our sins and make a way straight to Him that isn't through sacrifice.  But when Jesus died, crying out, "It is finished," (John 19:30) what was He really saying?

I'm sure there are many different things that Jesus meant when He cried out these words.  He could've meant that His reason for being on Earth was done or that He knew it was His last moments.  What I think it means - well, one of the meanings of this phrase - was that He had given us victory.  That when it was finished, the victory, over situations in our life, battles, is ours. 

See, as a Christian, we are in constant battle with Satan's forces.  The devil will come against us faster than we can think.  He tells us lies, very convincing lies, brings us down, strikes us with fear and sickness, but we don't have to live that life.  Why?  Because the battle has already been won!  When Jesus died, He took care of that for us!

When God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us on the cross, He knew that with His death we would have victory.  So why are we still fighting these battles that have already been won?

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

It's simple.  We're human, and we want to do things on our own.  We want the doctor to fix our aches or medicine to take away the depression.  But we have to learn to let that go.  Reach out and grab your victory.  It's there for the taking.  

God wants us to live a life of honor and glory in His Name.  That also means that we can use His Name to proclaim our victory because it gives GOD the honor He's so deserving of.  We have power in the Name of Jesus to overcome devils, make mountains move!  That means that our mountains, the things that cause us to stumble or completely stop us from having faith because they are weighing us down, will MOVE simply because we have victory through Jesus!

Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: (Zechariah 4:7)

Put your faith into that victory.  I know that it's hard, but if we have faith as a grain of mustard seed  (That's about the size of a poppy seed.), we can move mountains, casts trees into seas, and they will have to obey us because we are speaking this in the Name of Jesus.  (Matthew 17:20, Luke 17:6) 

That's not a lot of faith that is required of us if you think about it, but somehow, we make it into a lot.  We make our molehills mountains instead.  Step back, take a deep breath, and step over that molehill before it becomes a mountain.  Who art thou, O great mountain?   Who is this mountain to stop us?  In the Name of Jesus, it will be nothing but a plain - flat land for us to walk across instead of being stopped by a gigantic rock.  

Step into faith and cast away that mountain.  WE HAVE THE VICTORY!  CLAIM IT TODAY!


For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  (1 John 5:4)

Are YOU Ashamed?!

⁷ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

⁸ Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ⁹ who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰ and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ¹¹ for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, ¹² which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me

2 Timothy 1: 7-12


While walking through Wal-Mart, searching for my sister, I saw this lady in one of those store-provided scooters.  No thoughts of prayer were even crossing my mind.  I only had one goal, find my sister.  Yet, when I saw her, I thought pray for her.  I kept walking, sure that I had conjured up the thought myself, until I began to get sick at my stomach, like someone was squeezing my insides.  Gut-wrenching as my sister says.

I sought God.  Asked Him what I needed to do, and I sought advice from my sister.  The conclusion was obvious.  Pray for her, right there in the middle of Wal-Mart, in the greeting card section, pray for her.

I fought God for a minute, sure that He wasn't really telling me to go pray for her.  But, He was serious, and I was going to obey.

I asked her if she minded that I pray for her, and she shook her head, obviously she was uncertain about some crazy girl walking up to her in the middle of Wal-Mart saying God wanted me to pray for her. 

So, I prayed for her, unable to find the words.  I babbled, feeling incompetent and stupid, and all I could think to say was be with this woman and whatever need she has, whether she knows it or not.  So that's what I prayed. 

And you know what?  After that prayer, she hurried away from me, riding that scooter as fast as it could take her without a word.  And even though that's a hilarious image, the fact remains that, she thought I was insane.  Heck, I felt insane.

I immediately began to doubt myself.  Did God even tell me to pray for her? If so, why me?  Why did I have to be the one whose words were nervous and silly sounding, pray for her?  Surely someone else could've done it.  Someone better with spoken words than me. 

No.  That wasn't the case.  I may have acted like a bumbling fool, but God wanted me to do it.  I don't know why.  Only He does, but I obeyed Him.  I could've ignored Him, ignored the woman who needed something, but I chose not to.  Why?  Because I don't want my Father hurt because I disobeyed His commands.  But not only that, God has so many things in store for us if we OBEY His voice!

For instance, Exodus 19:5 states, "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;"

To be God's treasured possession.  Just think about that.  If we obey God, if we listen to His commandments, we will be treasured among the peoples, among the earth.  Can you imagine the favor we would be getting for just listening to God and doing what He wants us to do?  Really.  Just imagine what He will do for us that we cannot do for ourselves, the doors that will be opened just by obeying.  

In fact, I can give you an example of just what God will do for you simply by obeying Him.  Read Deuteronomy 28.  In that chapter is listed blessings you will receive just by obeying God.  And then, it lists the curses that will befall you if you don't obey God.

Deuteronomy 28: 13
 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,

That is just ONE example of what God will do for us if we obey Him.

Now, what happens when we DON'T obey God?

Deuteronomy 28:66

Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life.

 Not only does this hang over us if we don't obey God, but why should we be ashamed for being a Christian?  To listening to God?  God sent His Son to die for me, for us.  So why should we push Him aside because we don't want people to know we're Christians?

And why don't we want people to know we're Christians?  That we're the heirs of God?  I want people know to that I'm a Jesus Junkie!  I want people to know that God is my Savior because without Him, I would be a nobody, I would be lost and in sin.  I don't want that life.  I want this one!  I want to be one of God's treasured possessions!

My dad preached a sermon once about being ashamed of the gospel.  Here's what he said:

When I was about to ignore God's command and push it aside as my thought instead of God's, I thought of this sermon.

The apostles went through so much more than strange stares and hurried escapes.  They died.  People still die in the name of God, missionaries and Christians in countries where Christianity is against the law.  And we're afraid to walk up to someone and say, "Hey, Jesus loves you."  Where is the justice in that?  How can we not see that we're the ones in the wrong for ignoring and being ashamed of the gospel and what Jesus has called us to do, share His Word?

I know it's not easy.  I fought this.  People fight it and ignore it all the time, but I'm stepping out here and saying, don't be ashamed.  Please.  God will lead you where you need to be at the moment you need to be there, and He will tell you what to say.  Just listen to his guidance.

Luke 9:26
For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Decisions. How do they affect your life? Guest Post by Sharon Johnson

Today, guys, I want to introduce you to Sharon Johnson.  A wonderful author that I've had the pleasure of meeting through the Christian Indie Novelists group we both belong to.  Today, she's sharing her story.  Leave some comments, make her feel welcome!  And if all goes well, she will be a contributing author to the blog! 

Thank you for having me today.  I am thrilled to be here. 

      

Life is all about decisions.  We make decisions all day long.  Some are good decisions.  Some are bad decisions.  Seems like all my life I have been making bad decisions.  I have always heard; listen to that voice deep inside.  You know that feeling you get, when you know you are making a terrible decision.  I always ignored that feeling.  Not sure why.  Maybe fear. 

     

I drank to make me feel better about the terrible decisions I made.  I starved myself because I didn’t think I was good enough.  If I wasn’t drinking, I was starving myself.  I was a mess.  I believed in GOD.  I prayed.  Why was my life such a mess? 

    

One time in my life, I found myself alone.  I was a divorced woman. Divorce is a sin.  I knew I was going to Hell, so it didn’t matter what I did.  I moved in with a man and I knew it was wrong. There was that feeling deep in my stomach, telling me I was making the wrong decision.  I couldn’t live on my own.  Who was going to take care of me? Three years in a abusive relationship.  I thought I deserved it.  I am a divorced woman going to Hell, so nothing really mattered.

I finally got out of the abusive relationship, thanks to GOD, though at the time I didn’t give GOD any credit.  I was alone.  I had nothing.  I was crying one night, till I could cry no more.  I looked up and screamed.  “Just tell me what to do!  I don’t know what you want from me.  Tell me what to do!”

I fell asleep on the floor, where I was crying.  I woke up and the answer was crystal clear.  GOD answered my prayer.  He didn’t yell the answer.  I had peace inside of me.  I knew what I had to do.  GOD told me to move and stand on my own.

Did GOD know who he was talking to?  I was 45 years old and never lived alone.  I needed someone to take care of me. 

The first time in my life I was going to listen to that voice/feeling deep inside of me.  Was I scared?  Yes.  Did I think I could do it? Nope.  For the first time I was trusting GOD.  I stopped drinking.  Best thing I ever did.  As the years past I discovered that GOD loves me, even when I ignored him.  I still make wrong decisions, but whenever I make a decision and get that feeling deep inside, I listen to that feeling.  Sometimes I don’t agree with that feeling.  In the end that feeling is guiding me in the right direction.

    

I do hope that no matter what is going on in your life, you will listen to that voice deep inside of you.  The voice will not be loud, it will be soft, loving and will nudge you in the right direction.  It is your decision; GOD gave us all free will.  I can tell you that my life is so much better since I am listening to GOD.

My Bible—My God is my testimony to GOD.  I let Satan throw me into a pit.  GOD pulled me out of the pit.  God was with me, even when I ignored him.  GOD is always with us.  We just have to listen and He will guide us into making the right decisions.

You are never alone.  GOD loves you. 

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future. 

 My Bible—My God.

     

http://sharonleejohnson.com