Day 94 - Impact

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"It is holiness that makes your doing have the power to change the world."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 51.

When I read that quote above I feel kind of uneasy. Why? Because it sounds like to me that in order to have real impact in this world I had better get my act together and be that perfect little Christian soldier. If holiness makes what I do have impact in the world I had better get my self as holy as I can or I'm going to feel like a failure. 

That last paragraph is filled with victim thinking possibilities. Did you catch that? I'm hoping you can begin to see and hear the words that come from a victim thinking perspective. Recognizing by what we hear or see in our words that might be fueled by victim thinking is a great way to help keep us from going too far down this destructive path.

What that quote from my book seems to be saying is that it is all up to us to have the impact in this world we all hope to have. That quote looks to be a formula for success. In other words, if I do holiness well enough then I'll be able to tap into the power needed for real and lasting change. I hate to say this so bluntly, but anything that seems to be the result of direct of a connection we can control is typically a short cut to victim thinking. This is particularly the case when the formulas we lean on are tied in any way to those things we think we can control when it comes to issues that will ultimately reflect on how the world views our identity.

With all that said, I completely stand behind my quote from earlier. It IS holiness that makes our doing have the power to change the world. The kind of change that is noticed in this world needs a power that we simply aren't able to muster up on our own. It is God's power that makes impacting change happen. Tapping into that power comes as a result of holiness. The beauty of this truth is that it isn't up to us, this thing called holiness.

It all goes back to the doing vs being discussion. Holiness isn't necessarily the result of our doing. It is something we are and therefore something we just have to be. Boy, have I gotten it all wrong in that regard for most of my life. That's why when I read that quote above I can start to feel the victim thinking tendencies rearing their ugly head in my life. In the past I would have done holiness in order to be the victor that comes with God's power for change in this world. 

Take a look at today's Bible verse for more on the subject of holiness.

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. 2 Timothy 1:9 (NIV)

"... not because of anything we have done." I don't think I can hear those words enough. The more and more I think it is up to me to walk out this identity of mine with any success the less and less capable I feel. I need to have the fact that it is all up to God tattooed on my hands so that when I put my efforts towards anything in this world I will remember where the power is coming from. The same goes for holiness as far as I can understand what God is saying in my life.

Holiness is up to Him. I can never be perfect enough to relate to Him. In other words, even if I live an absolutely perfect or holy life from this point on I still fall short of the benchmark of perfection because of my past. Holiness is really a characteristic that God transfers to me as a result of the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

Of course it is my responsibility to make choices that will honor God. I hope you have gotten to the point where I am and realize that there is no way in the world I will be able to always get this "doing" right in my life. There will be times when my "doing" will be done from a place of mixed motives on my best days and down right sinfulness on my worst days. If holiness were completely up to me the power I could expect from the holiness in my life would swing from on to off in wildly unpredictable ways.

I happen to believe that I was created to have impact on this world. As I age, I'm starting to get more and more comfortable with the fact that I really don't know what that means. I'm starting to believe that it is up to God anyways and that all I want to do is to do those things that are before me with as much passion and conviction as I possibly can. I'm deciding to leave the results up to Him since He is the source of the power I need to move forward anyway.

How about you? Do you feel like you were placed here for something that could be described as impact? I hope you do because if you have breath in your lungs, I believe that is most definitely the case. God isn't done with you and your purpose even though it feels like it at times due all the badness that can come against us in this world.

Here's what I suggest you do today. I suggest you simply BE. Be the child He has made you to be. Be the victor that He has called in your life. Then, DO knowing that the power behind what you do and the results of your doing are all in God's hands. The more you can weed out your drive to prove that you are all you believe yourself to be by seeing impact happen in your life, the more you will be able to throw off those victim thinking feelings that work to weigh you down. God has given you a tremendous grace to BE without having to prove your being by doing. Grab onto that grace and flourish in living the life of a victor today.

Day 93 - Doing vs Being

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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“I am more and more confident that ‘right before God’ means that we know who we are in His eyes. Life comes to us when we put down our roles and live “loyal and steady believing” that we are a Child of the King’s.”

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 19.

Nothing opens the door to the possibility for victim thinking more than working to “be right” before someone. The constant worry as to whether I’m doing enough to measure up to someone else’s expectations for me, and the potential for not being able to do all I can to meet those expectations, make victor living a more and more difficult proposition. This is exponentially more the case when we try to live up to some self, or Church imposed expectations of what it means to “be right” before God.

Truth is that we can’t ever do enough to “be right” before God. Does that depress you? Good, it should! I hope it depresses you enough to absolutely STOP “doing” in order to “be” when it comes to our standing before God. That’s the only way you and I will ever be in a position to choose to live like the victors we were created to be.

Today’s reading comes from the book of Lamentations. This is a book that was suppose to be about bringing to light all the things God’s people had done to let Him down. In the midst of this sad and depressing book are nuggets of who God is that points to who we are. Take a look at today’s reading;

GOD’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,  his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning.  How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with GOD (I say it over and over).  He’s all I’ve got left. Lamentations 3:22-24 (MSG)

New every morning; God’s loyal love, His mercies are new to us each and every day! That’s a powerfully uplifting message for victors to hold onto as we fight off the drive to “do” all we can to “be” what we want to be today. Doing will never amount to what we want it to be. It doesn’t mean that we are to stop doing. It just means that our reasons for doing have to be challenged daily, maybe even on a moment by moment basis.

Why are you doing what you will do today? Is it to make your identity more clear to yourself, your loved ones and, maybe even to God Himself? If so, you are walking the fine line between victim thinking and victor living.  We can’t straddle that line for long. Victors doing out of any motive other than living out the fullness of their identity as God’s Child will eventually sink into victim thinking if their actions have self-centered motives behind them.

How do you know if your motives for doing are steeped in self-centeredness? Think about how you would feel about yourself if the things you are putting your efforts into were to not turn out how you want them to. Is there any remnant of a small voice in your head that says you would be less than you are in God’s eyes if those tasks you take on today don’t work out to your advantage? If so, your motives are mixed up and victim thinking is knocking at your door.

Today is a new day. God’s loyal love and mercies for you are brand new in your life. You have the opportunity to get so much done today. Do these things with as clean a set of motives as possible. The difference you will feel doing what you need to do today with a victor living perspective will set the course for you to help keep victim thinking at bay in your life. Go today and “do” from the place of “being-right” with God. That’s the victor’s place of honor that shapes our identity and empowers all we will put our hands on today.

Day 92 - Being First

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"The result of Adam and Eve’s decision to go against what God saw as good for them was for them to feel guilt and shame. This is something that had never been felt before, but which today is a characteristic of our lives that threatens to control us through victim thinking."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 109.

Shame is such a deadly motivator when combined with victim thinking. Remember, there is a big difference between shame and guilt. Where guilt is the feeling we get when we have done something that disappoints us, shame is believing that what we did defines who we are. Guilt is about the action, shame is about the identity. As I have said over and over again, anything in this world that we allow to shape our identity is a killer to our ability to live the life of a victor. For those of us caught in victim thinking ways, shame can really make it hard to ever see the truth of who we are.

It is really hard being the first at anything. When something has never been done before that first time it is done can often be awkward and filled with missteps. Just think back to that very first time you felt something for someone else and acted upon those feelings. I can guarantee that there were some instances in that situation that you would handle completely different with some experience under your belt.

Adam and Eve were first at everything. They were first at being created, first at communicating with God, first at working, first at having human relationship, first at having children - the list can go on and on. Everything they did had never been done before. When Satan entered the picture and tempted them, they were the first to fall. Falling is something we all have had lots of practice doing since Adam and Eve pioneered the way for us in the area of sin.

Sadly, Adam and Eve were also the first to face the debilitating effects of shame. Shame literally crushed their spirits in a way that we are still feeling the impact of today. When shame crushed Adam and Eve's spirit their souls were the first to pick up where the spirit left off. This has made it so easy for us to do the same and this fact can make it Oh so hard to live the life of a victor as we carry on in the shadow of Adam and Eve's firsts of life. The fact that Adam and Eve let shame influence their identity is a tradition that we have firmly entrenched in our lives as well.

It is when we let shame define who we are that the power of identity is lost in ways Adam and Even were the first to feel. I think this breaks God's heart. He never intended for us to suffer the crushing weight of shame. He knew what that would do to us and I believe He knew what it would do to His relationship with us to boot. God has been doing all He could to get us back into relationship ever since Adam and Eve were launched into their lives of firsts.

The Bible uses the Adam and Eve story a lot from beginning to the end. In fact Adam and Jesus are contrasted and compared in many ways in the Bible. Here's one such example.

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45 (NASB)

The last Adam referred to in today's reading is none other than Jesus Himself. Adam is linked to the one who makes it possible for us all to step back into the garden of relationship with God that was forfeited so long ago. God never gives up on any of us and even our wrong turns in life can be used in powerful and eternity filled ways.

The first Adam became a living soul. I think that means that when Adam's spirit was crushed it became as though dead. The soul had to come to life to fill the void left by their crushed spirit. That living soul is alive and well in each and everyone of us in the world today. The second Adam, Jesus, is the life giving spirit needed to breath life back into the spirits of each and everyone of us.

It is when our spirit comes alive and our souls bow down to the power of that spirit that we have the best chance to be all God has called us to be. Please don't mistake that last statement as a guarantee for success in what you are doing in this world. Success isn't part of the criteria God uses when it comes to being the victor He has called us to be.

It is when our souls come under the influence and direction of the spirit that the God part of our being can be directly connected to the world part of our being. That's when God can be seen in and around our lives in ways that literally changes the world. The living soul is no match to the soul empowered by the life of our spirit that is breathed in us by God through Jesus.

The elements that make up your soul, your will, intellect and emotions, are powerful forces to recon with. If all you rely on to make your identity be all it can be in your world is your soul, you will be disappointed in ways that can't help but create victim thinking tendencies. By letting your spirit come alive and empower, encourage and equip your soul things happen in ways where your identity can't help but to be seen and experienced.

If you are using the power of your soul to bolster some identity you want in your life, all I can say is good luck. This is not a unique strategy. Adam and Eve are the founding partners of this technique and it didn't turn out all that well for them. Do you really think this strategy is going to work any better for you?

Take time today to let God speak into your life. The words He will speak will be the breath of life to your spirit that will make your soul's power pale in comparison to what it can be with God in control. He is telling you who you are. You are His Child and that makes you the victor your soul is trying so hard to make you to be. Let God's spirit jump start your spirit in ways that makes your identity as His Child have real meaning in the things that come before you today.

Day 91 - Qualifications

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Jesus’ qualifications meant nothing in this world. His position as the Son of God made it possible for him to completely fail at worldly prosperity and still be prosperous in God’s eyes."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 117.

We rely way too much on our own qualifications in ways that I think really causes us damage. I know amazingly successful people who don't have a college degree who feel like they are somehow second class citizens when compared to those of us with a degree. I also know people with degree after degree that don't feel they are qualified enough in ways I just don't understand.

It all boils down to identity and comparison. When I compare who I think I am to who I think someone else is, I easily fall into the victim thinking trap. The key word in the explanation given in that last sentence is the word "I". Listen to that sentence again. When I compare who I think I am to who I think someone else is, I easily fall into the victim thinking trap. I, I, I. When we focus on the great I in our lives it is so easy to be deceived in this world.

If I don't know my true identity then of course I'm going to feel insecure when I compare myself to someone who might have been able to do something that I wasn't afforded the possibility to do. It is as though all the abilities I have, all the qualifications God has given me has little or no worth to me just because I see someone with more worldly qualifications. That makes me feel inferior - why? Because I've been trained to let the world define who I am even when my status isn't being challenged in any way by others. This scenario gets even worse when someone or something comes into my life that really does work to challenge my identity. Then victim thinking really takes over in my life.

Jesus is a good one to compare ourselves to. His worldly qualifications didn't seem to mean a thing to those around Him. Even more profound than that is the fact those worldly qualifications didn't seem to phase Jesus in any way either. He knew who He was. Whether someone called Him rabbi, teacher, savior, even Messiah didn't seem to matter one bit to Him. He knows who He is and that's what God wants for us as well. Identity is such a powerful force as long as we choose an identity that can't be questioned  and/or destroyed by this world.

The only identity that Jesus seemed to really promote and stand behind is "Son of God." In other words, Jesus seemed to view all He was doing in the light of being a child of God Himself. Take a look at what God says about our identity in Christ.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - John 1:12 (NIV)

If I read this scripture right, we have just as much of a right to claim the identity of Child of God as Jesus did. Jesus didn't allow his qualifications to be anything in this world to sway Him from the fact that His connection to God sprang from one thing and one thing only - the fact that God called Him His Child. We have that same right because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Jesus' identity as God's Child is all that mattered to Him - I believe that it should be the same with us as well.

All the worldly qualifications a person might have will mean nothing when they are laid in the ground at their death. It won't matter how many degrees a person has, how much money they have, how successful they were in their jobs, or how much good they did in this world. When that person's heart stops beating, qualifications will mean nothing to the world. When our time is up qualifications will mean nothing in our world either.

If, on the other hand, Heaven is real like I think it is, then there is something more important when it comes to identity that I think we need to grasp on this side of Heaven as best as we can. If Jesus didn't see it important to let worldly qualifications get in the way of walking out His life as the victor God called Him to be, then why should it be any different for us? Jesus' status before God didn't depend on His qualification - it depended on what God the Father said. It is exactly the same for you and for me.

Hey, go after as many qualifications as you want to in this life. Qualifications or the lack of them isn't the issue. What is the issue is, are you allowing those qualifications or lack there of to distract you in any way from the identity God promises when it comes to being His child? If you are letting your unquestionable identity as God's Child be traded for identities based on things that can be questioned then it will be almost impossible for you to live in peace when it comes to prosperity in your life.

There are a couple of things you can do today that might help keep victim thinking from taking control in ways that just aren't any good for you. First of all, stop comparing yourself to this world and start comparing yourself to Jesus. All the world offers is a temporary identity that will mean nothing when you are gone. Jesus offers the eternal identity of God's Child that can be a part of helping you be all you can be without sacrificing peace in your life.

Second, stop chasing things as proof as to who you are. Anything you can do to guarantee an identity is, again, a temporary solution to an eternal problem. Jesus has done all you need to give you an identity that will last long after your time here on earth is up. That identity as God's Child is all you need to be the victor we all want to see unfold in our lives.

Next time you feel under-qualified remember this, qualifications will never be enough to get you to where you want to be when it comes to identity. Jesus is all the qualification you will ever need. With the identity of God's Child as your solid foundation you can build an amazing life. That life will have real and lasting impact in ways you would have never been able to achieve with just worldly qualifications as your support.

Make this day one of the most prosperous you have ever had. Let God be the one who tells you who you are and believe Him. His gift of identity came at a high cost - a cost you will never be able to repay. Walk fully in the power of being God's child and let your victor status be all the qualification you need to see big things happen in and around you today.

Day 90 - Foundations & Trust

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Victims use past trials as proof to justify their jealous ways of hoarding and doling out whatever it takes to get what they need to find fulfillment."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 132.

Sitting in Church today I did something that always seems to get me into trouble. I actually listened to the words we were singing during our worship time. Have you ever done that? So often my worship is simply regurgitating the words back out of habit. What happened to me today is that I listened to the words in a way where I had to take a close look at those words and let them penetrate my heart in a manner that might actually have some real impact in my life.

I happen to believe that music, spiritual and secular alike, has real power in this world. There is just something about the creative process required to make a song come to life. I'm not a musician, sometimes that fact really bothers me. But I have gotten to know some amazing musicians over the years and I am blown away at how making music of any kind is a deeply personal and, dare I say, God filled process. It is times like today when I can see behind the words and go beyond the melody that I believe music has it's way in my life.

At Church we sang a beautiful song called, "Build Your Life" by Housefires. The chorus of this song says the following;

And I will build my life upon your love it is a firm foundation.
And I will put my trust in you alone
Oh Lord and I will not be shaken

What does this have to do with our topic today on trails and generosity? Good question. I was thinking about being shaken in my life from time to time. Trials really have a way of doing this to us don't they? It is when the things of this life turn against us that we can really find ourselves shaken to the core.

I have found that when this happens those things I have used to be generous with really come into question. It might be money or time or a host of any other things that I have poured out in what might be seen to be generous ways. When I'm shaken it is so easy to hoard those things in my life and generosity can become less and less of a trait. Listening to today's worship songs, this fact just didn't sit well with me on so many different levels.

Why would I get to a place where generosity and the things I'm generous with is hoarded because of challenging situations in my life? The answer is in the words we sang. It is because my trust is in other things than God alone. See why I might not listen to the words I sing that often - that's a conviction that is really hard for me to hear.

Trust is a commodity that is so hard to come by. It is more precious than silver and gold when it goes missing in our lives. Having a trust in God is something that is so valuable, particularly when the bad times come. Trust is one of the most powerful means of getting to a place where we can weed out the victim thinking ways that seem to grab hold when we face a series of trials in life.

Today's Bible reading is short and to the point. It deals with the essence of how to trust in God when things go south. It says,

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3 (NIV)

Fear plays such a critical role in life when things get shakey. It's no wonder that I start to hoard the those things that I use in acting out in generous ways - I am afraid I might not have those things for myself. Today's reading gives us insight on how to get back on that solid foundation of God's love. It says "PUT" my trust in you.

That word "put" is such a simple and seemingly insignificant word. Yet it has a power to it that we need to grasp in order for our victor status to really take flight during the shakey times of life. When I put something somewhere it requires me to act in a definitive and absolute way. I have to choose to put something somewhere. I have to intentionally carry it to where it will be placed and then let it go!

Letting go is the power behind this simple three letter word. To put my trust in God I have to intentionally take the circumstances that are shaking my life to God. I have to then set them down, in other words lay them at His feet. Then I have to let them go. Failing to go to Him, failing to set it down and/or failing to let it go are all reasons why it can seem so impossible to put trust where it needs to be in order for power to be the result.

How do you know if you let it go. Check your level of peace. If you have taken that thing to God, have set it before Him and feel you have let it go only to have the burden of carrying that circumstance in your life still be there - do it all over again! That feeling of burden will rob you of your peace. If your peace is missing, it might be that trust is still the issue. Remember, it is the process that God is so much more concerned about - not the result. He loves interacting with you as you come to Him. If the burden continues to follow you, it isn't that you have failed. It just might be that He wants to spend more time with you!

The answer to trust is always going to be love. Love isn't a process that can be perfected. It isn't a formula that can be developed. Love is something that takes time and effort, particularly when the circumstances of this world work in ways that make you feel that love is the furthest thing from the truth.

What's shaking in your life today. When you feel that shaking feeling may be it is time to do some "putting." Put your trust in God and let His love be all it can be in creating that firm foundation promised in the lyrics of a worship song that reached down into the soul of a victor trying to find how to live a life anchored on the foundation of a love that we all need to see in our lives.

Day 89 - The Enormity of Grace

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Grace is realizing that God’s kind of love is a gift of enormous proportions. Armed with this knowledge, we can go forward and let our generous ways be fueled by God’s love itself, not our need for something in return."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 131.

If we really understood the enormity of the issue of grace when God is concerned I don't think we would ever have any issue with living like a victor. Grace is such an easy term to throw about in conversation. It is when we come face to face with the cost of what grace really expresses that we begin to understand how much this God really loves us.

Where as mercy is "not getting what you deserve," grace is "getting what you don't deserve." It is God's mercy that makes it possible for us to not be stuck down by lightening every time we choose to turn our backs on Him. It is grace that makes it possible for us to have relationship with him when our imperfections completely disqualify us from ever coming near this perfect being.

We don't deserve His love! We don't deserve Him giving us an identity, a purpose and a destiny. We deserve destruction. Sorry if that is a little too black and white to you but even the mere fact that you would find this discussion too direct is an indication that you don't appreciate the enormity of the issue of grace.

I think we can more readily understand the topic of mercy. We see examples of mercy happening all the time. Grace is a little more challenging because examples of grace look to be so crazy that we are actually turned off by what this might mean in our lives. Let me give you and example to help clarify these two concepts.

Let's say you are the absolute ruler in a strange and far off land. There is a criminal in that land that was finally caught and convicted to pay the ultimate price for the crimes he committed. Mercy is saying to that criminal, "Even though you committed the crimes I'm going to pardon you - you are free!" That's not too hard to understand - right? That seems to happen with a frequency that makes this kind of action not all that strange.

Grace would be if you then told that tried, convicted and pardoned criminal that you wanted nothing more than for him to come live in your castle and to become your son! That's completely crazy. You don't know this person - what if he comes into your home and takes everything of value from you? How often do you see this kind of grace being modeled in our world today? I think that's why grace is taken so lightly. The enormity of this amazing concept is just not seen except through relationship with God.

The Bible has this to say about the issue of Grace.

... to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,... Ephesians 1:6-8 (NIV)

God treats us just like that convicted criminal in my little example before. We are just like that convicted person - we deserve punishment. In spite of that fact, God gives mercy - we don't get what we deserve. That in of itself is a gift of enormous proportions. But then God does the unthinkable. Through grace, He invites us to be come part of His family. Not a family member that has no rights or responsibilities. No, a family member that has full authority to all God has and all God is.

It is when we begin to appreciate the overwhelming gift grace is that generosity in our lives starts to take on a power that is so much beyond what it has been in the past. Grace and generosity are tied together in ways that I don't know if I will ever totally understand. It is when we are generous out of obligation or with a motive that is beyond what grace has to offer that generosity becomes something that God never intended it to be in our lives. Until our appreciation of what grace is really all about, all the generous events in our life will lack a power that I think is needed to have lasting impact in this world.

I hope you can stop a few times today and ponder the subject of grace. My desire is that, by doing so, you will begin to see how big this gift of generosity is that God offers each one of us He calls His Children. Please don't let today be like all the others where you feel good about the generous acts you do simply from the standpoint of letting those actions be confirmations of what you hope is true in your life - that you really aren't that bad of a person. Let the enormity of grace be what changes how your generous actions make real and permanent change in the lives of those you come into contact with today.

Day 88 - Performance and Love

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Here’s an important key for us all to grasp. We don’t need to practice love to get love. We are already loved."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 136.

The world has done an amazing job of ruining so many of the important concepts that we need in order to feel secure in our God-given position as a victor. Take for example the concept of love. We have been taught by so much of this world that we have to earn any love that might be part of our lives. What a sad and warped view of something as important as the issue of love.

From God's perspective, what the world has taught is so far from the truth. Love isn't earned. Love is given. In that respect, love is just like our identities. We don't need to work to find our identities, our identities are given by God. Somehow we have been co opted by this world in some important areas of our life in ways that make it harder and harder to stay out of victim thinking.

If we live under the impression that we have to practice love in order to be loved then there will be times when we will feel very unlovable due to the fact that our ability to show love is not working as powerfully as we would like. It is the same with our identities. If we live under the lie that we have to do in order to figure out how to be, we will find disappointment will linger in ways that will usher in victim thinking from time to time.

From God's perspective, love is something so radically different from our performance based teachings on the subject. He isn't waiting for us to clean up our act or to figure out how to better love before He loves us. Love based on condition isn't really a love that is worth working towards, let alone sacrifice for.

Today's Bible reading is a familiar one.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)

The New Testament of the Bible was originally written in Greek. Greek is a very precise language, much more so on a word for word basis than English. The word "love" in today's reading is a prime example. In English I might say, "I love hotdogs" to express my fondness of this particular food and then use the same word to express my devotion to my wife by saying, "I love my wife." It is up to the listener to be able to distinguish that my fondness for hotdogs isn't the same as my devotion to my wife. See how, even down to the actual language we use, we are being trained to view love in a way that can cause us problems in our world?

In the Greek there are at least three words that can be translated as "love." Each one gives a different view of what the speaker is trying to communicate. In the case of our Bible verse for today, the word love has to do with loving in a way that has no conditions. The reader of this passage in the original language would know that God loved us in a way as to not have any strings attached to that love. And, that love was so great that He would sacrifice His own son to express that love, again without any stipulations for showing that love.

Unconditional love is something that we really have a hard time coming to terms with in our world. As I said earlier, we have been taught, either purposely or unintentionally, that love is earned. At the very least we might believe and act on the belief that I can't love someone unless they first love me. We have been shown that there are a lot of conditions to being loved and we better live up to those conditions or we will feel the fullness of the lack of love in our lives. This is such a victimizing way to live out love in our lives. Victim thinking can't help but to be a part of our lives when we live the lie that performance is the foundation of any loving relationship.

That's what I mean when I said earlier that we don't have to practice love to be loved. We are suppose to gravitate to the unconditional love God has for us and learn how to recognize that kind of love so that we can live it out in our lives as well. Problem is that we have a pretty well established habit of conditional love as part of our upbringing. That's why it is so important for us to know who we are so that we can live the kinds of love God gives to us whether we realize it or not.

All I can suggest is that you live your life today surrounded by the kind of love God speaks of in our John 3:16 reading. He has no conditions on His love for you. It is there for the taking. That's the beauty of our position as a victor that God has made us to be. We are children of a loving King and the love He has for us is unlimited and unconnected to anything we might do or say today. Let that fact be what sets you apart as you are put into situations where you will have the opportunity to reflect that kind of love to those around you today.

Day 87 - Source of Evil

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"..you and I, along with the choices we make, are actually the creators of evil."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 146.

Have you ever been caught up in a conversation about the bad things that happen in this world with someone who is questioning a relationship with God? Without fail the questioner will say something along the lines of, "Well, if God wanted to He could eliminate the evil in the world that makes all this bad stuff happen." Oh, if it were only that simple.

The reality is that evil is a bit more complicated than separating the good guys from the bad guys. See, if you really know what it is to relate to a perfect God you would realize that there is no one who can be called good. With the exception of Jesus, no one can claim to have lived a perfect life. I'm sorry to state it so plainly but God doesn't judge based on a scale weighing out the good against the bad in one's life. Any evidence of bad is deserving of death even if the goodness way outweigh any bad in a person's life. That fact leaves us all out in the cold. Thank God for His plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Even more basic than the fact that this world can't be separated into good and bad is the actual source of evil when it comes to one person victimizing another in evil and hurtful ways. When you come down to it, we are the actual creators of evil. That's a pretty shocking statement isn't it? Think about this for a second. It is through the power of choice that evil has any chance of rearing its ugly head. God didn't create evil, our choices are what gives evil life in this world.

Consider it this way, every evil thing one person does to another happens out of choice. If I break into your house and steal your possessions, my victimizing action isn't an accident. I had to choose to enter into a process that you would find very violating and victimizing. God didn't create the opportunity for me to do this evil, my choices made this evil come into your life. Same goes for each and every evil action that one person has done to another since the dawn of time. Evil isn't the responsibility of God. Evil is the creation and the power that is unleashed when we choose to do something that brings harm to another person in this world.

Check out what the Bible says about where evil comes from.

"The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out." Jeremiah 17:8 (MSG)

Evil comes when we decide to speak against, act out towards or do something to another person that is a result of the victim thinking ways that are driven deep into our hearts. God didn't place the evil that comes out in this world in our hearts. It is the power of choice that we all have that gives evil its life.

The Jeremiah reading makes it clear that we need a bit of a heart surgery if we stand any chance of figuring out this life of ours. Good thing is that Jesus is the great physician. His death and resurrection is all the surgery we need to begin to face the dark and deceitful ways that live in our heart. It is by accepting Him that our position as God's Child makes it possible for us to live like the victor that He made us to be.

Today you might face a bunch of evil as you deal with people that come across your path. Know this, that evil didn't come from God. It has come from victim thinkers, just like you. Evil you will battle today is a result of people who haven't discovered their true identity choosing to do things those that result in actions that cause victims at every turn. These people haven't let their God-given identity come alive in ways as to unleash the power of light to fight the darkness that can be so much a part of our choices in life.

Good news is that God's light always prevails when it comes into contact with the evil our choices create. Be led by God today as His Child and watch as His powerful and unstoppable light spring forth from your heart. Take advantage of the power of choice. Choose to do good and not give evil the life that it longs to have as you decide how to interact with those around you today.

Day 86 - Figuring Out Blessing

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Thinking that we have done what we need to do in the spiritual realm to reap the rewards of a God blessing us in the physical realm puts us in a place to relate to our God in “proper and appropriate” ways rather than “real and alive” ways."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 160.

There is nothing more disheartening to me than to meet a Christian who has been blessed with worldly success when they attribute their success to the fact that they have been blessed by God as a result of their following Him so closely. I want to scream at the top of my lungs, "Are you kidding me? Have you not read the Bible at all?"

Are they really so delusional as to believe that God rewards people who follow Him with and easy life? Have they ever heard of the name Jesus? Surely the son of God was just a little bit better than these successful Christians will ever be at following God the Father. What was Jesus' reward? Was it money? Was it long life? Was it a successful ministry? No, no and no! 

The reward Jesus was given for following God better than any man, woman or child has in the past or will in the future is failure, isolation, bankruptcy, persecution and death. I just don't get it when people chalk up their cushy life to walking so completely with God that He can't help reward them for their stalwart dedication when God's own son didn't even come close to that kind of reward in spite of the fact He deserved so much more then we will ever enjoy in our lives. 

Sometimes victors can view victory as something it was never intended to be - a reward for a job well done. The reality is that victors that look to the success they may find in this world as a sign of God's pleasure with their walk are nothing more than victim thinkers wrapped up in the trappings of this world. Oh how far they have to fall when the rug they are standing on gets ripped out from under their feet by evil in this world. 

Look, I have no problem with God doting over His Children in ways that are extravagant. I have experienced that in my own life. What proud father wouldn't bless his children with all they need and more. It just doesn't feel right to me to think that I could ever rise to the level of dedication to God that comes anywhere near what Jesus lived out during his short stint in this world. That's what I feel like Christians of means are saying when they think their good fortune in life is a result of their personal dedication to God. Comparing ourselves to God in any way where we can take pride in our life doesn't seem to me to be all that bright of a strategy. 

The kind of thinking that makes people believe that they have mastered relationship with the God that made us reminds me of the story of Job. Job is a man who was certainly in the wrong place at the wrong time. God entertains Satan one day and points out the fact that Job is such a strong follower of His. Satan says to God that the only reason Job is so devout in his worship of God is the goodness God has allowed Job to amass in his life. Satan's contention is that if God were to remove all the goodness Job would surely curse God. God is so confident in his son Job that He allows Satan to literally destroy his life. Job loses his family, his riches and eventually his health at the hand of Satan. Not too great of a reward for following God so closely, if you ask me. I wonder what my wealthy Christian friends think of this kind of blessing when it comes to being such a good follower of their creator?

Much of the book of Job is story after story of the suffering Job goes through and the conversations that are had as a result of everyone watching this drama unfold. Finally at the end of the Book of Job, God appears. To Job's credit, he has not cursed God - in fact he refused to do so even though many outright begged him to. What Job did end up doing is to question God in a way that somehow made God out to be someone that might not be worthy of complete and unyielding trust. After all, if this could happen to such a righteous man as Job, could any man ever stand before this God? 

As Job tries to defend his statements about God, God decides to speak up for Himself. The following is but a sample of how God responds to Job's questioning of God's plan and purpose for His creation. 

Brace yourself like a man;

    I will question you,

    and you shall answer me.

Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

    Tell me, if you understand.

Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

    Who stretched a measuring line across it? Job 38:3-5 (NIV)

I don't know if you have even been in a situation where your mouth ran a little faster than your brain was working, but the opening line of our reading today reminds me of when I have been in such a situation. Right from the first question, I believe Job knew he had really stepped in it with God. 

God warns Job to brace himself. I don't believe it is because God was going to discipline his son. No, I think God wanted Job to hold on because he was about to get an education into the perspective and power of this God many thought Job knew so well. 

I have no problem with believers having riches of all kinds. I'm one one of those believers - If you live in the United States of America and believe in Jesus Christ then you too are one of those believers with riches most of the rest of the world look at in total amazement. What bothers me to the core is the possibility that anyone could think that they have gotten this God thing down so well that He has no option but to pour out blessing on them for such a job well done. 

You aren't a victor because of the victory that you think has happened as a result of your perfectly lived-out efforts here or earth. We are victors because Jesus died to make us acceptable (God calls it blameless and without fault at the beginning of Job). 

Please don't ever let your circumstances influence your thinking when it comes to your position or your identity. You aren't blessed because of your actions. You are blessed for a purpose - to be a blessing to others. Let God lead you on a journey of discovery today that might have to start with the need to brace yourself as you learn a bit more about the breadth and width of this amazing God we serve. This is the same God we have been given the right to call Father. Thank Him for your blessings and fight the temptation to believe that you have earned those blessings by anything you have done for Him. Then an only then can you, like Job, live a life that is real and alive as the Child God has made you to be.

Day 85 - Hardwired

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"We are hardwired to rebel against the obligation authority tries to put on us."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 177.

Don't you just know, deep down inside that we are hardwired to rebel. Take a look at any family that has a child 2 or 3 years old. They don't call them the "terrible twos" or the "traumatic threes" for nothing. It just seems like everything a parent wants to do or say is met with a resounding, and an amazing authoritative, "NO" from that little creature that use to be so sweet and adorable.

Where did this defiance come from? I believe it is hardwired in us just like the color of our eyes and the fingerprints that make us each and everyone unique. The drive to rebel is a God-given drive that is there for a good reason - to make it so that we will fight for freedom at any cost.

Now, don't get me wrong. That little dumpling of a child that bounces from angle to devil at the drop of a hat isn't necessarily applying that God-given trait of rebelling in ways that are appropriate in all situations. Want to know something really interesting, neither is the fast approaching senior citizen. I often times rebel when the freedom God wants us to fight for isn't the issue. That can cause me to act in ways that can create victims all around me.

The freedom God has hardwired for us to fight for is a freedom that is deep down in our souls. It isn't the freedom to be what we want to be, or to earn as much as we would like, or any of the hundreds of perceived rights that we might think are being trampled upon at any given time. The hard, honest truth is that, in the grand scheme of things the things we think are freedom busters don't even begin to rise to any level of importance where God is concerned.

It isn't that God doesn't care about what we care for. In so many ways, He does. It is that he wants us to use our hardwired nature to fight for the freedom to be all we can be in His eyes, not to fight for freedom that is a result of anything that we look to to establish an identity in this world. Using our rebellious nature to fight for freedoms that we want from this world is a victim thinking strategy that will ultimately create victims throughout your life.

Here's what the Bible says about how we should fight.

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12 (NIV)

Our fight isn't with this world. Our fight isn't against those things that we think are coming against our rights in this world. We aren't of this world! This isn't our home. Our fight is for faith, the faith we need to believe who God is in our lives and who God says we are in His eyes. We take hold of eternal life when we choose to stop fighting the world for the benefits of being a citizen here and start to fight for the faith we need to believe we are all we need to be, to be the heir of the Kingdom of God we are as His children. 

I believe God wants us to fight for all we can in this world. What I also believe is that we have put too much stock in what we might gain in this world when it comes to defining our identities. This is a strategy filled with pot holes and wrong turns that does nothing but waste our time in frustrating and demoralizing ways. 

It's no wonder that we are facing an epidemic of victim thinking in our world today. The Victim-Based Society is alive and well because we have decided to use our hardwired rebelliousness to fight the wrong fights in an effort to get to something God has freely made available to us. 

You know who you are. You don't have to fight for that next success as proof of who you are. Go after that next success because you want it to happen, because it will benefit you and your family in many ways. If, however you are going after that next success because you need proof as to who you are I'm a living example of how this doesn't work in the long run. Fight all you can to keep from connecting the success or failure of what you do today to to who you are or victim thinking might just be the result. 

Day 84 - Longevity

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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“All the roles I play here on earth will end, but my identity as God’s Child never does. As simple as this concept is, it’s an identity that carries with it something that all the roles I play will never have – longevity.”

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 17.

Destiny… Legacy… Purpose… Impact… Each of these terms requires significant effort in order for this life to have long lasting meaning. It is such a sad fact that so many of us are literally killing ourselves to try and leave a legacy that will outlast our life. We want to be remembered. Striving to fulfill some destiny or purpose or to leave some kind of lasting legacy is the victim thinker’s feeble attempt to gain some level of immortality. “If I can only do something significant enough for the history books to mention my name, then I might have a chance to live on forever."

I don’t know if history changers lived with this kind of attitude or not. I kind of doubt it. I’ll bet that most people we know of from history were just doing what they had to do at any given moment only to be caught up in events that became historical. The people I’m worried about are those trying to create a historical name for themselves through the roles they play and the identity they structure from those roles. Some will actually succeed at creating a legacy, but for the vast majority of us we will barely be remembered only a few generations after our death.

This discussion isn’t meant to depress you, it is meant to open your eyes to something bigger. I get more and more fired up knowing that life, on my own terms is amounting to nothing when I consider today’s Bible reading. Check it out for yourself.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

We are created in the image of God! I don’t know about you but, that thought amazes me. There is something about me that is inherently just like my creator. It’s not that I can look in the mirror and say, “Yep, I look like God!” No, there is something in the very fabric of my being that reflects the image of a good, all knowing and all powerful God. Because of that fact, I have found it easier to let God worry about what legacy, destiny, purpose and the impact this life of mine might have.

That’s what a victor has to come to grips with. Though he or she is made in the image of God the victor is just as messed up in this life as anyone else. In spite of this,  the victor’s life has meaning. Why? Well it isn’t because the victor is good at doing something or that the victor is good at getting out of the trouble that comes his or her way. The victor is a victor because of God’s love and perseverance for His own. That’s what gives me great hope. It isn’t about what I can or should do that gives me the standing I so desire. It is because of my heritage; the very way I was made by my creator. In His image I’m a victor. Outside of that what can I measure up to my own efforts?

This doesn’t mean that victors sit by and watch their life pass. Victors are emboldened by the fact they are their Dad’s child. They join in where they see their Father working and put their efforts into endeavors that can have lasting and world changing consequences. The big difference between victors and victim thinkers is the ability to hold their destiny, purpose and legacy loosely. The impact you and I might have is ultimately out of our control. This doesn’t deter the victor it empowers him or her simply because they carry the image of the God who can do anything He wants.

Today can be so different for you and me. Today can be one of walking with our heads high even though some of what we may face is working to bring us down. The image that we have been formed from is one of eternity! That’s the kind of longevity that I want my life to be about. That’s the kind of purpose, destiny and impact that I believe I can achieve if I let my victor status be derived from who I really am in God rather than what I can accomplish in this world. Live like a victor today because you carry the very image of God with you in all you do.

Day 83 - Victimizing Effect of Formulas

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"...formulas often fuel our ability to let victim thinking rule in our lives."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 219.

Oh how I love a good formula. I can't tell you the number of engineering classes I remember where a particular formula was presented that just made perfect sense. There was such a sweet feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment to the fact that I had learned something absolute. There is just something comforting about a black and white formula in a grey world.

Our natural world doesn't operate under the control of formulas quite the way the scientific world does. Though we try and try to make a particularly good result happen in our lives by repeating steps we hope will take us back there again, more often than not formulas just can't be relied on when things we want to feel good about ourselves are concerned.

How many times have you tried to think about what you did or what you said to make a certain situation turn out in the favorable way it did in the past? If you are like me it is a real hit or miss prospect as to whether that event turned out as well as it did before. It is when my repeated attempts at orchestrating a good outcome doesn't make things happen the way I want them to that victim thinking can really take hold. Formulas play right into that statement in ways that down right surprise me at times.

It isn't that formulas are bad. They aren't! It is my believe that if I live a certain way, if I act a certain way, if I perform up to a certain level then everything will work the way I want it to that ushers in those kinds of feelings that make victim thinking a real possibility. This is particularly the case when I try and develop formulas to make things happen I need to happen to support a particular view of my identity I want others to believe.

I have said this before and I will need to say it again and again, anything that I rely on that I believe is under my control when it comes to what shapes my identity is something that is eventually going to let me down in victim thinking ways. This is the case when I believe that I can create formulas surrounding circumstances that I find particularly critical to my identity.

Check out today's Bible reading and see what it says about relying on things we think we can control to help define our identities.

Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:9 (NIV)

Something happened to Paul that made him feel like he was tried and convicted of a capital offense. I have to tell you that that is how I can feel when formulas for good outcomes in my life have failed me from time to time. It feels like I was put on the firing line and I heard the shots ring out. Not much is more devastating than doing things that seemed to work well in the past only to have them blow up in your face somewhere down the road.

I love what our reading says today, "But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves..." Such a good reminder that, when it comes to identity, we can only rely on God to tell us the truth about who we are. This is so important when the world does its best to speak against our identity in victimizing ways. Relying on self when identity is concerned is akin to a death sentence.

Life is found when we do all we can to simply believe we are who God says we are. We can't create a formula to make all our circumstances work to prove this identity. That's just not in the cards. It is when we just believe that we are God's Child that victor living is a real possibility. Choosing to ignore what God says about us and work to create our own identity though our carefully planned out actions is where victim thinking loves to reside.

Look, you will be in many, many situations today where formulas will work perfectly well. All I'm saying is that trying to make formulas work consistently when it comes to our identity is not a strategy that can be absolutely relied upon. Make your day today as full as it can be by letting your identity rest secure in who God says you are. Use formulas to help make your circumstances be as successful as you can make them. In this process, please don't tie the results of applying your formulas to your situations to your identity. It is what God says you are that makes you a victor, not how well you do at making your circumstances turn out the way you would like them to today.

Day 82 - The Deafening Roar of Offense

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Offense has that amazing ability. Once offended, a person is closed to hearing anything about that offense until such time as they judge that those who have offended them have been punished enough."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 202.

It's like our ears close up when we are offended. We just can't seem to hear when it comes to the issue that offended us. What a shame! Even in situations that has resulted in offense there are things that can be learned that make victor living even more possible. It is so difficult to allow ourselves to be taught when we refuse to hear.

What can be learned by hurtful words that might offend us? There are two things that I have seen that might be the result of words that have offended me in the past. First of all I have discovered that often times the words spoken that offended me really weren't meant to be an offense at all. Secondly, I have found that even in the most offensive words spoken there just might be some element of truth that I might benefit from considering and applying in my life. If I remain deaf by offense, I will never be able to discern any element of the truth that might be a part of the hurtful words and/or I might discount the person saying words I found hurtful. Let's take a look at both issues to see what we can learn.

I can't tell you how many times loved ones have said something that I took offense to. Many of those times I choose to do what I have so often do when offended in the past and just close those people off from my world. I way too many cases than I care to admit, the words that worked to offend me were never meant to do so. In other words, the person who said something to offend me had never intended to do so. I had misinterpreted or misunderstood what they said in ways where my buttons were pushed. They weren't the problem - I was! I have written off way too many relationships because of a misunderstanding. That's tragic.

How many relationships have I become deaf to because of offense? Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of haters out there who want nothing more than to bring offense and more into your life. Those are the kinds of relationships that I don't need to have in my life. But to lose relationship with someone over misunderstanding something in a way to make me deaf as a result of offense is a horrible waste of potential.

Losing potentially valuable relationships is the first reason we should not let offense make us deaf to the world. The second reason that kind of selective hearing is so detrimental when offense is at hand is that we might miss some truth that is behind the hurtful words.

I've said it before but I need to say it again. In order for a lie to work there has to be some element of truth there or it just ins't effective. I believe that there are times when offensive things are said where truth, no matter how small, might be a part of what is being said. How it is said might be something we can complain about and have every right to react to but becoming deaf to any amount of truth is a dangerous plan for the victor in this world.

What I try to do now when someone says something I find offensive is to be as objective as possible. I want to find any spec of the truth and then own as much as I can of that truth so that my life will be all it can be. A friend of mine did this when someone said something offensive to him. He said that, upon evaluation, he found that 5% of what was said was true. The other 95% was completely wrong from his vantage point. My friend took an amazing stand and said he wants to own 100% of the 5% of what was said. Don't you know that kind of approach goes a long way to making him live out his victor status in power filled ways.

The Bible says this about offense.

A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a citadel. Proverbs 18:19 (NIV)

Here's a good piece of advice for you today. Don't be that brother talked about in our reading. Offense makes us deaf - it makes us harder to be won over than a strong city! Don't let offense drive you to places where victim thinking takes control.

Remember that God is the final arbiter of who you are and how well you have handled the amazing gift of this life He has provided. The words of others are nothing more than opinions that can't be proven as definitively as the words God has spoken over you. Your status as a victor can only be challenged if you let offense deafen you to the reality of who you are in God's eyes. I pray that you have ears to hear and set yourself from from the bondage of offensive situations that will come against you today.

Day 81 - Loser

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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“What I do does not define my identity. I’m not stupid because I did one stupid thing. I’m not a loser because I lost a race.”

As quoted from the book “Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society” by John H. Hovis Page 12.

Ever think you are a loser just because you lost the race? That kind of thinking has its basis in a misplaced identity. The person or team who came in second in the championship, though lost, are not losers unless they choose to believe that they are. The difference between the person who loses yet lives like a victor and the loser who is stuck in victim thinking is choice. What I do and the results of what I do should not have any bearing on my identity as a victor.

Look at today’s Bible reading.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)

There is a fine line being walked by the author of these words. For those caught in victim thinking, this verse is filled with guilt and condemnation. It is saying to them, “You lost because you didn’t do enough. You will always be a loser because you just aren’t good enough to figure out how to compete at the elite levels.”

For the victor, this verse is filled with the truth of purpose that this life has to offer. The victor realizes that there are many races that we will compete in in this life. Why not be as prepared as we can be to win those races. Not that winning is what makes us victors. It’s just more fun to be prepared to do our best, then see our best be what it takes to win. Even if we lose after our all our preparation, the victor can learn valuable lessons on how to be better prepared next time that particular race comes our way.

Win or lose, the victor is prepared by leaning in on the fact that our identity is not altered by the outcome of what we do. Our status as victors has been established by Christ's work on the cross. Victory, though a sweet reward, doesn’t always come so relying on victory to prove our victor status is a victim thinker's paradise.

Today you will win some and you will lose some. Some of the wins will come with little or no preparation just like some of the losses will come after great and strenuous preparation. If we look to the final score as to whether we are victors or not we will be in a place where victim thinking can takes its tole on our life. As you go through your day today, pay close attention to how the outcome of your “races” impacts your psyche. You are a victor, not because of your victories. You are a victor because of what God has done for you and that doesn’t change no matter who crosses the finish line first.

Day 80 - Key To The Doorway

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Identity is the door to destiny. Perspective is the key to that door."

As quoted from the book “Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society” by John H. Hovis Page 198.

We talked yesterday about identity being the doorway to destiny. If identity is the doorway, perspective is the key. 

So many of us has tried for all we are worth to get through the doorway of destiny though our identity. Unfortunately we have found that door to be locked. We have been sold a lie that says we are the key to opening the doorway of identity that leads to our destiny. We have tried to life up to this lie by doing all we can to find out and/or establish who we are. 

I'm literally exhausted thinking about how I have lived those last two statements so fully all my life. Sure, the pursuit of identity has taken me to some very interesting and profitable places. But has any of those results make me feel any closer to my destiny? Absolutely not! 

That's why I have gone through long periods of time letting victim thinking control my life. The enormity of the disappointment in my life over not being able to get the doorway of identity to fully open so that I can grab on to my destiny has literally come close to killing me. That kind of disappointment experienced over and over again is just about too much for any person to handle. 

Take a look at this beautiful and powerful Bible verse with me now. 

I see what you’ve done. Now see what I’ve done. I’ve opened a door before you that no one can slam shut. You don’t have much strength, I know that; you used what you had to keep my Word. You didn’t deny me when times were rough. Revelation 3:8 (MSG)

God has watched as we have spent our lives doing in order to be when it comes to our destiny. Isn't it time that we watch what He is doing? He has opened the door before us. I believe that is our identity as His Child that makes us a victor. No one can shut that door - not satan, not even our own efforts. We are who He says we are and that's final.

Now is the time to live out that destiny. We have come before the doorway of identity that leads to our destiny. We have found that doorway locked but God gave the key. The key to the doorway to destiny is perspective - God's perspective. The very fact that we have worked to keep God's word - that we have refused to deny Him - has unlocked the doorway of our identity to our destiny. Now it's time to pass through.

This doesn't mean that you have to stop doing what you are doing now. Your job, your family, your hobbies, your challenges - they all play a role in how our identities are making it possible for our destiny to be achieved. All God asks is that we take Him along with us on the journey of letting identity - His identity for us be all it can be to make His destiny happen in our lives.

As you go about your normal day, I suggest that you think about how your identity as God's Child makes it possible for you to bring God into your activities. It's not like He isn't already there - He is. It is more like He wants you to notice His presence and watch as His power multiplies your efforts as you let your identity fuel the progress you make towards the amazing destiny He has spoken into existence in your life. 

Day 79 - Doorway To Destiny

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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“Identity is the doorway to destiny.”

As quoted from the book “Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society” by John H. Hovis Page 189.

Why is knowing our identity so important? I believe it is because we will never really know why we were ever created until we know who we are. I once read somewhere that when we know who we are we will know what to do. Unfortunately too many of us spend all our time doing in order to try and determine who we are. That's so backwards to the logic that now makes so much sense in my life. Doing to determine who I am is such a waste of time since the results, good or bad, will never be enough to define the identity of a victor.

The doorway to our destiny is our identity. Knowing who we are doesn't automatically make it so that we will find success in everything we do associated with our destiny. Going through the doorway that is our identity helps put things in perspective for those of us seeking to know who we are. That's why identity has to be based on something more tangible and lasting than how well we can do something in this life. I believe destiny is way too important to let it be defined by the successes and failures we will see in this life.

If destiny is as important as I'm beginning to sense it to be, than having such a minuscule amount of time here on earth to complete that destiny seems to be such a waste. It has taken me over five decades to begin to get in touch with my identity. Granted, I'm a slow learner, but what a waste of time. If destiny, as we know it, is so important to God, why would He wait so long to make it so that I could get in touch with my identity in ways I now know is impacting my destiny?

One thing I do know, God doesn't waste any time. Either these five decades of learning will make it possible to achieve my destiny in the time I have left here on earth or God's plan for my destiny is something that will go with me when I pass from this life to the next. Either way, I just can't lose. That's the power of an identity given to us by God. That's the power those of us seeking to live the life of a victor has at our fingertips.

All I know is I'm so much more at peace knowing that my identity is the doorway to my destiny. I don't have to focus on the "what" when it comes to my life as much as God has let me concentrate on the "who" that defines my identity. I am His Child and that makes me a victory. Can I ever say that enough? Holding on to and applying this identity is what makes destiny possible in the first place. Trying to make my destiny happen without living in the fullness of who God has made me to be is an exercise in futility.

Our Bible reading today paints an interesting picture of identity and destiny.

You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day. Psalm 139:15-16 (MSG)

There is no one who knows you like God does. He literally knit you together in your mother's womb. I had someone quote this verse to me and showed me scientifically how true this is. He said that our DNA is literally knit together - half of the DNA ladder comes from the mom and half from the dad. We start as two cells coming together and life begins as the two strands of DNA connects in a way that gives us each and every trait that the world sees us to be. Our very identity is knit together in our mother's womb. Isn't that amazing?

God knows who we are. Let's start listening to what He says about us. Our destiny depends on us coming into agreement with Him and letting the power of His creative touch happen through who we have been made to be.

Our reading also speaks on destiny in a beautiful way. All the stages of our life were spread out before Him. He has seen the beginning of our life from the end. He knows where we started and where will end up. Nothing comes as a surprise to the God that made us. These 50 years of finding out who I am hasn't been a waste. God saw it way before I was even a twinkle in my father's eye. I am exactly where God wants me to be. Do you know how freeing that is?

It's time to go through your doorway into your destiny. That doorway is who you are. If you are still energized at the prospects of finding yourself by what you do, all I can say is may God be with you. I hope you are able to take this route and make it work. All I know is that this strategy hasn't worked for me and for countless others who have gone before me.

Take time today to celebrate your identity as God's Child. Ask Him to show you what that means in your life as you go about your activities in work and at home. I'm not sure you will need to make many changes other than to curtail your own efforts at creating and implementing an identity for yourself. Your destiny is on the other side of that door you are standing in front of right now. That door is your identity. Live the life of the victor God has made you to be and let your destiny be empowered by the forces available to us all who call ourselves Children of the most High God.

Day 78 - Hope Is Essential

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Hope is essential in order for us to live free, particularly when life’s circumstances seem to be robbing us of worldly freedom at every turn."

As quoted from the book “Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society” by John H. Hovis Page 184.

I hope you are in a place where hope isn't all you have. For the vast majority of us, there is enough going right in our lives to make hope something that we don't have to put a lot of thought to. And, that's a good thing! It is when the bottom falls out of our lives when hope becomes something that is key to literally getting out of bed in the morning. 

My wife and I have a nephew, named James who lives not too far from us. He married an amazing woman, named Gini and started a beautiful family. They, like so many of us never thought hope would play such and important role in their lives until their first child was born. 

Kiley was came into this world September of 2004. She made her enterence into the family as my wife's brother's first grandchild. Now, that's a big deal. To top it off, it was my wife's parent's first great-grandchild. There is such a rush of feelings on so many levels when that first comes along. 

Not long after Kiley was born, James and Gini started noticing things that troubled them about her development. They did all they could to just chalk it up to normal but pretty soon their concern pushed them to dig a little deeper into what might be going on with this precious little girl. 

After a bunch of tests and a lot of prayers the doctors delivered some devastating news. Kiley had a chromosome issue called Angleman's Syndrome. Angleman's comes with a pretty scary prognosis. Seizures, difficulty walking, no verbal communication, eating issues, sleep disorders and arrested mental development to name a few. In what seemed like an instant, this amazing family was turned up side down. Don't you know that hope took on a real and profound role in the lives of these parents when they learned the news about their daughter?

Not long after they found out the diagnosis, James and Gini began what has become a highlight of my week. Every Tuesday family, friends and people all around the world link together at 7pm California time and we pray for Kiley's healing. As of this post, over 600 Tuesdays have come and gone. Some amazing miracles have been witnessed, like Kiley walking, significantly less seizures than expected and Kiley's amazing ability to feed herself just to name a few. Although these are incredible answers to prayer, we still wait for her to speak and to be completely healed. 

At a prayer time not too long ago, we sat down and did a little inventory as to what has happened over this past decade or so in prayer. As I sit back and think about our amazing conversation, I now see that most of what we have been through is an amazing journey can be boiled down to a transformation in the area of hope. 

At the beginning of our prayer time, hope looked a bit like desperation. And so it should have! We were desperate to see God move in ways we carefully laid out to Him in our community and personal prayer times. Healing was the hope we all grasped for and hung on to. Gini has told me more than once that if she didn't have hope for Kiley's healing she's not sure she could function each and every day with this extremely difficult diagnosis. 

As time went on, and the complete healing we all cried out for didn't come, there was a lot of feelings that had to be dealt with. Was God withholding his healing hand because of something we had done? Was there hidden sin in our lives He was waiting for us to eliminate before He moved so decisively in Kiley's situation? Could it be that we just aren't praying enough or in the right way? 

I hope you can hear the victim thinking undertones in all these possibilities we had to consider. It is when the things we hope for are slow in coming that we can begin to question our victor identities to the point where God's love might not look like it is something we can ever expect. 

The Bible says this about hope. 

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 (NIV)

Hope was and is critical to having a healthy heart. What can get us into places where we are challenged to the core is when we place our hope in areas where we really have no control. At the beginning of our prayer time, we all desperately needed to have hope in Kiley's complete healing. Not that this is a wrong hope, it is just that we can never figure out God or His ways such that expectations tied to hope might be something that leads to disappointment, discouragement and ultimately victim thinking.

In praying for Kiley, we have learned an important lesson for the victor to apply. We will never be disappointed when we hope in God but might find disappointment when we have expectations that are based in hope in what God might do. This is the same when it comes to our identities. It isn't what we do that makes us who we are. It is who we are that can be counted on in this changing and challenging world. Same goes for God. It isn't what God might or might not do that makes us able to live in a place of secured hope. It is in who God is that makes hope have all the power we need to move forward in our lives.

Believe me, we still pray for and long for Kiley's complete healing. That's what we are suppose to do. James has said it over and over again that until such time God tells us to not pray for Kiley's healing we will continue to do so. One would think that after 13 years it would get boring. You want to know something, it hasn't. Why? I think it is because our hope has shifted to something strong and unshakable - God's character. Had we stayed focused on God's actions as the basis for our hope, I think we all would have given up praying a long time ago. I can think God for Kiley's condition because without it I would have been stuck in victim thinking brought on by holding out for hope in action rather than being grounded in hope for character. This would have robbed me of the incredible foundation of living like the victor God has called me to be. I believe James and Gini would echo these sentiments as well.

Hope is essential for life, especially when life takes a turn for the worse. It is totally normal to hope in what God might do but don't get stuck there - there is so much more to hope for than just action. Our only hope in this world is to have hope in who God is, not what He might do.

Gini says it this way, "I am a lucky woman. Each and every day I wake up to the possibility that this might be the day I might see a miracle of Biblical proportions. Not everyone can say this about their lives" Now those are the words of a victor if I've ever heard them. Until that happens, James & Gini do the best they can to walk this life out as the victor's God has made them to be. I hope you will join them walking that same walk as you too might be in a position where your victory is slow in coming.

Hope is essential. Hope is there. Grab on to it and hold on for all you are worth. God's love, His character and the identity He has given you is the basis for that hope. Let that hope be what makes this day your best in spite of how this world will try and rob you of the hope necessary to move in the power God has given to His Children.

Day 77 - Feeling Stupid vs Being Stupid

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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“Feeling stupid isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What is bad is if we believe we are stupid.”

As quoted from the book “Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society” by John H. Hovis Page 12.

There is a big difference between feeling something and believing that you are that same thing. Sometimes feeling like something negative is a great motivator to do the work required to move out of that place so that we don’t have to feel that negative feeling again. Problem is that, often times, victim thinkers take on the identity of that feeling. This is what allows victim thinkers to stay in the holding pattern of life. Identity is what makes or breaks a victor.

Victors know that they aren’t stupid. Yes victors will do countless stupid things in their lives. Sometimes they will do the same stupid thing over and over again. What sets the victor apart is their willingness to be open to change. They are willing to look at themselves as the cause of their stupid actions and find it in themselves to reach out and make changes that can change their ways. Victors aren’t satisfied with; “This is just how I am…” They know that their identity is much more than what they do. Victors have chosen to let their identity be formed by things eternal, not by the temporal things they are a part of on this side of Heaven.

Today’s verse points out how to live like a victor. It says;

“So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.” Colossians 3:1-2 (The Message)

If you are serious about living like a victor, act like a victor. What does that look like? It requires a shift in perspective from the things going on around you to a gaze toward heaven. The Message says that your upwards gaze is “where the actions is.”

Though you may do some stupid things today, Christ didn’t die to make any part of your identity to do anything with stupidity. In the middle of the realization that you just did something stupid, do something radical - own up to it and make amends where needed. But, don’t stop there. After you own up to doing something stupid and repaired any relational damage that might have occurred, then act like a victor and claim your rightful place Christ bought for you with His life. You are God’s Child and that is what makes you a victor.

God doesn’t expect you to be perfect today. He does wants you to realize who you are in His eyes and to value the place God wants in your life for all it is suppose to be. Today you have a chance to live the life of a victor by shifting your gaze. If you focus on the things you do today to bolster your identity, victim thinking will be the result. If, however, you choose to fix your gaze on Him, victor living is not only possible, it is guaranteed no matter how many stupid things you do today.