Day 137 - Judging A Victor

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 in The Church look at a man’s circumstances in order to judge how much of a victor that man is. This is wrong, and it makes those of us who don’t measure up to a certain elusive standard of victory feel like victims."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 40.

Circumstances are such a lousy means of judging the extent of whether a person is a victor in God’s eyes or not. How can I say this with such conviction? It is because of how God treated Jesus that makes me believe that circumstances, and what we do with those circumstances that makes me believe God has a totally different perspective when it comes to the victor’s life. Check out today’s Bible reading.

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3:17 (NKJV)

On its own, this verse doesn’t speak much about circumstances and God’s view of His son as victor. You have to realize that, up to this point,  Jesus hadn’t done a single thing worthy enough to be written about in The Bible. God was saying, “Check out my son - I am so proud of Him.” He wasn’t proud because of what Jesus did. He was proud because of who Jesus was.

It was Christ’s identity as God’s Child that made God proud. It’s the same with us. Our standing with God is in no way connected with what we have done or will do for Him. Our standing is complete because of our walk with God, not because what we do as we walk with Him.

It will always be a temptation for us to look first to accomplishment and circumstance to judge a person’s standing. Sometimes, that’s the prudent thing to do in this world. In God’s economy, accomplishment and circumstance play such a different role when it comes to identity. Our identity as God’s Child is secure and that’s what makes us a victor.

There is one word in today’s Bible verse that we absolutely must hold onto as we face a world that is judging us based on how well we do. That word is “beloved”. Jesus wasn’t God’s son; He was God’s beloved son. That’s what we are as we give our lives to God. We are His beloved son or daughter.

There is power in that word, beloved. The victim thinker might be God’s son or daughter but he/she doesn’t believe they are God’s BELOVED son or daughter. Victim thinkers are trying to earn that title of beloved. Hang onto the fact that you, a victor in God’ eyes, are the beloved. It isn’t what you do that makes you God’s beloved - it is who you are. Living this kind of life can make today different when it comes to victor living vs. victim thinking.