We're to live in hope. We're to rejoice. So, when Satan comes to steal your victory and tell you that God is not going to help you this time, you just think on the Word of God and start rejoicing. Rejoice that you're in Him. Rejoice that heaven is your home. Rejoice that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Rejoice. Brag on God today. The devil can't stand it!
Man was created to be a winner. The Bible tells us so. We read in Genesis, for example, that man was originally put on this earth as a dominating lord. God gave him dominion over the earth and everything that crept, flew, crawled and breathed there.
Man didn't even know what losing was until he separated himself from God through disobedience in the Garden of Eden. When that happened, he ran headlong into defeat. He was forced to accept failure as his lot in life, lowering himself to a subordinate position—a position he was never meant to occupy.
Did you know that the force of faith has the power to rejuvenate your physical body? It's true. You can see that in the life of Sarah. Most people don't understand the full extent of what God did in her life. All they know is that He enabled her to have a child in her old age.
But if you'll look closer, you'll see that there was more to it than that. When Sarah laid hold of the promise of God by faith, it began to restore her physically to such an extent that when King Abimelech saw her, he wanted her for his wife.
The Amplified Bible translates Matthew 11:12, "...a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion."
I want you to get violent today. Yes, violent, determined, zealous. I want you to get so committed to the things of God that you'll withstand any attempt to take them away from you.
I wonder when God is going to do something about this problem! Have you ever asked that question? If so, you may be surprised to find out that the answer depends 100 percent on you.
There's an incident in Mark 5 that will show you what I mean. Jesus had just gotten out of a boat and people were pressing all around Him, "thronging Him," it says. They had Him shoved up against the shoreline when suddenly there came a man moving through that crowd to get to Jesus.
Hopelessness. As this age draws to a close, that's a feeling that's going to be more and more common among the people of this world. But, you know, it's something we as believers never have to feel! Because no matter how much pressure comes on the earth, no matter how dark the natural circumstances around us are, we know that we have hope in the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Victors! More than conquerors! That's what the Bible says we are. I know you've heard that many times before, but today I want you to let the reality of it really sink in. I want you to spend some time meditating about what those terms actually mean.
The dictionary says that victory means "final and complete supremacy or superiority in battle or war, success in any contest or struggling involving the defeat of an opponent or the overcoming of obstacles."
When Jesus said those words, He wasn't just giving us a prescription for getting to heaven. He was telling us how to live a superior life right here on earth.
You see, there's a high life that we can live right here, right now. But to get in on it, we have to lay down the way of life that most of us are accustomed to. We may have to let go of the very things we've been trying so hard to latch on to. We have to set our hearts instead on doing what God wants us to do.
When you were born again, you weren't half-reborn, you weren't made half-righteous or a quarter righteous. You were made the righteousness of God in Christ! You were made a "joint-heir with Him." According to Strong's Concordance that term joint heir refers to "a personal equality based on an equality of possession."
There's a subtle strategy Satan uses to take control of our lives. The Bible calls it lasciviousness and it means "to have no restraint."
Lasciviousness has been preached as being extreme immorality, but it doesn't start out that way. It begins with just a few seemingly innocent thoughts. Then those thoughts grow and grow until they begin to produce serious sin.
Do you know why the Word of God and the orders God gives to you in your spirit are not burdensome or oppressive? Because everything He tells you is for your good and for your victory!
God knows what it takes to live in victory in this present evil world. In fact, He’s the only One who knows. The people of this world cannot tell you how to live victoriously. They don’t know how. But God does! He can make things work, even in the middle of darkness, and if we’ll follow His instructions, commands and precepts from His Word, we can, too!
Living a life of faith takes courage. Most people don’t realize it, but it does! It takes courage to stand up in the face of sickness and declare you’re healed by the stripes of Jesus. It takes courage to believe for prosperity and put your last dime in the offering plate when poverty is staring you in the face. There are going to be some days when you’d rather pull the covers over your head and hide than take another faith stand against the devil. But you can’t. Because the battle of faith isn’t fought once and then forgotten.
You may be facing trouble today that’s being caused by people who have willfully plotted to do you harm. They may be trying to steal your business, your home, your children, or even to destroy your marriage. If so, I have a word of encouragement for you. According to Psalm 33:10, God will bring the plans of those people to nought. He will make their devices of none effect. The counsel of the heathen is brought to nought, but the counsel of the Lord stands forever!
If you feel like you’re under pressure these days, you’re not alone. Satan is putting more pressure on more people right now than ever before. He’s pressuring us mentally, financially, emotionally and every other way he can. The pressure has gotten so great everywhere that governments don’t know what to do. Businesses don’t know what to do. Families don’t know. Churches don’t know.
But praise God, Jesus does! He says we can give our way right out from under any pressure the devil brings to bear.
If, as God tells us in 1 Timothy 2:4, it’s His will for all men to be saved, why aren’t we seeing more of the masses of lost people born again every day? Have you ever wondered that?
I have...and as I’ve sought the Lord about it, I’ve come to realize that, for the most part, it’s because those of us who are already saved don’t pray persistently for those who aren’t. Instead of persevering—staying before the Father, praying for them to receive the bread of salvation—like the man in Luke 11:8 did for his friend, when we don’t see immediate results, we simply give up and go home.
So many believers think of the fruit of the spirit as little more than a passive list of pleasant qualities that can help improve their personalities. But it’s far greater than that! It’s pure spiritual power.
Love is so powerful, the scripture says, that it never fails. Patience is so powerful it cannot be stopped. No matter what the circumstances, it will not quit. Temperance is so powerful it can master all the unruly desires of your flesh.
Years ago the devil started a rumor. He told a few Christians that as long as they lived in the world, they had to suffer as the world did. He told them they had to share the diseases and the defeat, the poverty and the failure of those around them.
It was a crafty lie—and it worked. Believers accepted it and began to spread it among themselves. You may have even heard it yourself. If so, I want to help you put that rumor to rest today. I want to help you get the facts straight once and for all.
The company you keep has such an influence on your spiritual life. Fellowshiping with godly people will help speed you on to victory, while fellowshiping with those who are ungodly will drag you down to defeat.
That’s why the Bible has some things to say about your friends. That’s why it tells you to separate yourself from the world. Because evil companions will corrupt you.
Now, I’m not talking about ministry. Jesus Himself ministered to sinners. You have to mix with them to preach to them and pray for them. What I’m talking about here are the people you choose for friends.
I talk a lot about faith. But there’s another force that goes along with it that’s just as important. It’s patience—the ability to stand fast on the Word of God even when your victory seems slow in coming.
Patience is not automatic. It won’t go to work unless you let it go to work. So many people don’t understand that. They somehow think faith and patience will go to work for them without their help. They just let the devil tear their lives apart and then they say silly things like, “Well, I guess God sent that trial to strengthen my faith.”
Whenever things around you get dark and you feel the devil is about to overpower you, remember this: You have the Light of the world in you, and try as they may, all the forces of hell can’t put it out!
Even when you’re at your weakest, even when you feel like the light within you is small, the devil’s darkness is no match for you.