Victory Is Yours
How does a person identify victory in their life? To some victory is all about what attributes they can offer an employer for personal gain. To others victory can be about which kind of car, home or material wealth they maintain. I’m sure if you ask your co-workers, friends, and family what victory means to them you’ll probably find a wide variety of answers and perspectives.
Striving to obtain a victorious life has been big business to huge marketing companies, many corporations, organizations and religious institutions trying to make you want to buy into what they are selling. For example, there are lots of exercise equipment and products that are being offered nation wide from a diverse group of marketing companies. These programs and products being marketed on television target over weight and out of shape individuals on how gain victory over the battle of health. Unfortunately many of these exercise programs don’t always work and sometimes lead people into further frustration and greater health bondage than before starting them. I struggled for years with my weight mentally and physically. The difference is I was on the opposite side of the tracks. I wanted to gain weight. I tried so many different programs and methods to put on the pounds but couldn’t find one that worked.
After years and years of disappointment I finally found one that works. It’s called God’s way of gaining weight. This method is quite simple. You give up the worldly system of thinking and let in God’s way of thinking. My problem was I didn’t trust God enough to ask Him for spiritual guidance on how to gain weight. After finally humbling myself I cried out and asked Him to show me what I needed to do to overcome my bondage of how to gain weight. For my own sanity and for the sake of improving my overall health God showed me what I must do to become victorious in my weight gain battle. He told me to stop looking at the big goal and start looking at small targeted goals that I could attain over a longer period of time. For the first time I felt freed and able to look at smaller individual goals achieving one after another.
Several years later after finally gaining the weight I needed for improved health I think back wondering why I didn’t come to God first. Answer in short, foolish pride and believing I could do it on my terms and not God’s. Boy was I wrong. God showed me something amazing during that time. He showed me that all things are possible when you give control over to Him. I tried to do it my way over and over again but never found the answer. It was right there in front of me all along. The devil didn’t want me to know that but God did. The solution to a problem often seems so distant that we fail to begin our venture out of fear of never reaching our targeted goal. You have to look at things in increments, small goals that can be attained in a systematic process led by God as your co-pilot.
Over the years I have always searched for the right opportunity to be successful in business ventures. I have found out the hard way that it’s not as easy as some of these companies who offer financial wealth programs make it out to be. There are lots of private organizations that take advantage of people by showing them ways to become successful in business and how to receive substantial financial freedom year after year. Some of these businesses explain to you that in order to achieve wealth and financial gain you need to offer something people need and want. What they don’t tell you is the steps to get to where you want to go without charging you a hefty premium for their secrets. The end result is many people who end up attending these seminars sadly find out how unable they are to afford these programs and leave with nothing gained. The world and its system will no doubt leave you guessing how to achieve financial victory.
The ways of the world and the schemes of the devil will most definitely leave you out in the cold with no where to go. God on the other hand has nothing to hide. He does nothing in secret. He wants us to succeed and has designed a way for us to get there according to His will and not our own. The way God intends our life to be may not line up with what we had in mind. All that matters is that we line up with His plan. Reading the word of God can bring us the knowledge and wisdom to live according to His will. When we trust God with all our heart and mind He in His time will reveal to us what He wants us to do.
The enemy will throw countless attempts to show you things outside of the will of God so that you will receive a false sense of victory. Many being deceived won’t even realize it until it’s too late. When you are in tune with God your Father He will be your driver for life taking you down the road of righteousness. Trusting in Him is the wisest decision anyone can ever make. Victory is a frame of mind that God provides when we divulge in His written word. He is our ultimate Victory!
When we evaluate man made religions you will see all sorts of methods of trying to reach God. Some of these religions claim you can be like God and others claim you are God. The sad truth is Satan is leading the way for many of these false religions and many people don’t even realize it. It is no secret in the Bible on how to find and maintain a prosperous relationship with God and how to live a victorious life that’s rooted in truth. You simply have to read the word of God for yourself to see God’s path for you. Some religious systems try to offer us help in understanding God and how to live serving Him by doing good deeds. This is the taken out of context. God wants us to do good works humbly because we love Him. It has nothing to do with our eternal salvation, which is not earned but a free gift of grace from God.
The problem is that we all have fallen short of God’s glory and are unworthy of His forgiveness. What some of these religions don’t tell you are you can’t do enough to earn your way into heaven. So many people have a false sense of spiritual security never really knowing if they will ever enter into eternal paradise or not. Trying to do good deeds (things you do day to day) is what the word of God, (the Bible), says no one can do enough of to earn His favor. In Ephesians Chapter 2 verses 8-9 God makes it quite clear that we receive eternal life by believing in the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross.
(Verse 8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
(Verse 9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Then He rose victoriously after three days defeating death for all humanity. Anyone who chooses to believe in what He accomplished on the cross and in the grave will receive everlasting life guaranteed. God paid the price for you and me in full by sacrificing His only begotten son so that eternal life cannot be won or lost by what we do. God made it this way so that anyone who believes in Jesus can be assured of eternal life after they die without question. If it were based on works then Jesus Christ would have to continually die and rise over and over again for sins we commit today and in the future. When Jesus was about to give His last breath on the cross, moments before He was about to die, He said the most important words, and “It is finished”. He was indicating that the victory of life over death has been accomplished through Him.
Many people face adversity and trials in life that leave them feeling empty inside and in search of ways to achieve victory over their problems. If you look at the many unfortunate addictions that exist in our society today it seems things have gotten progressively worse since the technology boom in the early 80’s. God warned about things getting more difficult prior to His Second Coming. There will be more people in bondage and far more spiritual warfare (conflict of good verse evil) before He returns for His Church (the body of believing Christians).
Having seen many people around me lately struggling to find a way to get free from their addictions really reinforced my need to seek after God even more. Being a prisoner of sin myself made me realize that unless you come clean before God, and others you will always give Satan a stronghold over your ability to be free from that addiction. Satan wants nothing more than trapping us in a circle of sin and addiction with no hope of ever getting out. This doesn’t have to be your destiny. If you confront your darkest secrets and hurtful ways before God and people you have lied to you can be free from bondage and addictive habits. Taking action opens the window of opportunity and gives God the opportunity to start breaking down the walls the devil has used against you to keep you trapped in addictive behavior. Victory is rooted in God your creator and He is ready to start the rehabilitation and rebuilding in your life today if you only be honest with Him and yourself.
Jesus walked the Four Corners of the earth to show people how to live a truly victorious life. He paved the way for us to follow so that we can have a joyful and peaceful outlook for today and the future. If we allow the devil an opportunity he will take it and use it against us. This is why it is so important that you keep in the word of God by reading the Bible and praying for guidance from above. God through Jesus Christ is an unbreakable bond that no one can break. Call upon Him and let the road ahead become what He intended for your life. The days of darkness are far behind and the light of hope is shining from the east to the west.
None of us have to live another day, hour or second in darkness. If you are fighting an addiction you can overcome it by seeking after God. You can also get involved in addictive recovery groups geared towards ended addictive behavior. These groups can help you find some level of relief and comfort of being around others with similar struggles and addictions that understand where you are coming from. There is always hope when you seek after God and His resources. Never let the enemy Satan try to convince you otherwise. With God on your side who can be against you.
There are 12 step programs based on God and some of the principles spoken of in the Bible to assist those locked in a spinning wheel of shame and guilt because of their addiction. We all have choices to make in life and God’s resources of grasping the hand to victory are extended out for whom ever wants to grab hold of it. Some choices will turn out good and some will turn out bad. What really matters is who is on your side when you run into problems. This is where God comes in. He already knows what you are dealing with and wants to show you the way out. Simply admit it and commit it to Him and watch how things will start to turn around for you.
The ways of the world lead to destruction and despair but the ways of God lead to eternal life filled with joy, peace, meaning and true prosperity. If you want to live a victorious or prosperous life you can. You don’t have to settle for anything less. The world and the devil wish to offer what they believe you need to feel victory in your life. They show you fancy homes, expensive automobiles and many other material possessions they claim will give you meaning in life. For some they try to get you stuck in an addiction, such as drugs, alcohol, pornography and even false religions. These tricks of the devil focuses on all levels of weakness humans possess in the effort to hinder, and even keep you from having real victory in life found only in God through Jesus Christ.
David also known as King David in the Bible faced lots of temptation and adversity in his life. He committed acts of violence such as murder. He had an adulteress relationship that corrupted his mind. He lived outside of the will of God for many years. David had ups and downs like many of us today. He defeated the giant named Goliath with a stone. Despite David’s problems and poor decisions God still used him for good and ended up making him King of Israel. What David was well known for in the Old Testament of the Bible is the title “A Man after God’s Own Heart.” He had always had the desire to seek after God’s heart to be a steward of His word. If you have a David moment in your life God wants you to know that He can bring you out of the shell you have been hiding in and deliver you out of whatever bondage you face.
The Jews in Roman captivity were exiled out of Egypt through God using Moses. There is someone God can bring into your life to exile you out of addiction, slavery and bondage. Jesus will step in and destroy the devils work in your life when you ask Him to help you. You don’t have to be a victim any longer to the schemes of the devil. You can become a victor under the protection of God Almighty. So whatever you are facing today or will be confronted with in the future, God can be your escape route bringing you into safety and out of harms way. It is never too late to be freed from thoughts of acting out due to temptation. Deliverance from the bondage of sin is a choice you can make and God leaves it up to you.
Confronting our deepest fears, secrets, and double lifestyles will aid in our recovery only if we admit we have a problem and need help first. As hard as this may be for some of us we must do it. When we do this God will intervene and provide to us the tools we need to win the battle within our minds!
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