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"Victory and defeat will be part of the holy’s life just as it will be part of the unholy’s life. Oh, but the day when we are called home, how things will change!"
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 52.
I happen to believe that there is so much more to life than what we experience here on a day-by-day basis. I think there is something greater going on than just what the results of our actions happen to be. That's why I have taken the position that I am so much more than what my victory's or my defeats might say about me. I simply can't stand for my identity to be limited by what this world says is right for me when who I am is concerned.
If I buy into the world's way of doing things then the only way I can call myself a victor is if victory is all I experience. Give me a season where victory seems to be eluding me and my victor status will be the furthest thing from my ability to believe. Stay in that place where I don't believe I am a victor and victim thinking can't help but to take hold in ways that I know will cause victimization to others around me.
The same can be said about how we sometimes misinterpret what the Bible says about us. It is so easy to believe that God is communicating that only the good will prosper and only the bad will suffer. Sadly, this just isn't the case on this side of Heaven. Our circumstances have so little to do with our ability to live up to some religious standard. Believing that our good life is dependent on how well we live out a holiness is such a foolish and dangerous way of living.
How can I be so certain of this prospect? Just think of the life of Jesus. Is there anyone who was or will be as holy as God's own son? I don't think so! Yet, as holy as this Christ was, His circumstances didn't turn out such that any one could say that His life was good. This isn't said to predict that the lives of a follower of Christ will be just as bad - that's just isn't the case at all. This is said to help us all disconnect the circumstances of life we live from being able to follow some man-made religious or worldly standard. Good or bad, holy or unholy, moral or immoral, winner or loser - we all will have good times in our life and we all will face the bad as well.
That's why I'm so stuck on talking about the fact we are victors, not because of what we have done but because of what God has done for us. If I look to anything I do for confirmation of my victor status I will eventually be disappointed - so much so that I might abandon feeling I will ever be a victor. When I get to such a low point as that, victim thinking is all I have left. When we are stuck in that trap of victim thinking is when we become the kinds of victimizers that make our Victim-Based Society thrive like it is today.
So, the next time you come against some challenging circumstances, maybe it is time to think about what is going on from a different vantage point. Rather than letting the badness make you think there is something wrong with you maybe it is time to think there is something wrong with the world. Check out today's Bible reading as it relates to this point.
If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you. John 15:18-19 (MSG)
Did you know the world hates you? That's why the badness is happening to you. The world can't stand that you would dare to believe that you are something more than what the total sum of your abilities prove. The evil behind this world doesn't want you to walk in the power that you are more than what you can do and how well you can do those things. Why? Because if you dare to believe that you are more than what you see in the mirror, you might just be able to walk in a freedom that the world doesn't want you to have. It is when we walk in that freedom that all of heaven opens up to us in ways I don't know we will ever be able to fully understand.
You see, God choose you. He hand picked you to fight the evil that you face in ways He has empowered you to do. When you choose to no longer live on the world's terms, the world can't help but to hate you. Even if you choose to live by the world's terms the love the world will show you will eventually being badness as well. This world will never be able to love in ways that I believe we will experience when our time here is up.
We all have a choice in this life. We can work our tails off trying to get the wold to love us even when that love is so far short of the goodness we long for in our lives. Alternatively, we can live believing who God says we are and let the chips fall where they may. Either choice doesn't guarantee a good life just like it doesn't predestine a bad one. Good and bad are going to be the part of the lives of those who choose to live according to the terms of this world just as they will be for those who reject this world.
The difference for the victor in choosing to live rejecting the world's ways is the concept of peace. Peace comes as we live knowing we are loved, wanted and valuable for something greater than anything this world can ever provide. That peace can't be robbed when bad times hit like the peace of this world can be. Relying on our ability to guarantees good circumstances in our lives to provide the peace we look for is a recipe for disaster.
Why not take a stand today? Stand firmly on the fact that you are a victor no matter what the world throws at your today. That's what God says about you anyway - you are a victor. Maybe it is time to just start believing what He says rather than looking for proof in what you do to make you feel like what you already are. Let the peace of Heaven be what guards you hearts as you work to live out the victor status God has made available for your life today.
If I buy into the world's way of doing things then the only way I can call myself a victor is if victory is all I experience. Give me a season where victory seems to be eluding me and my victor status will be the furthest thing from my ability to believe. Stay in that place where I don't believe I am a victor and victim thinking can't help but to take hold in ways that I know will cause victimization to others around me.
The same can be said about how we sometimes misinterpret what the Bible says about us. It is so easy to believe that God is communicating that only the good will prosper and only the bad will suffer. Sadly, this just isn't the case on this side of Heaven. Our circumstances have so little to do with our ability to live up to some religious standard. Believing that our good life is dependent on how well we live out a holiness is such a foolish and dangerous way of living.
How can I be so certain of this prospect? Just think of the life of Jesus. Is there anyone who was or will be as holy as God's own son? I don't think so! Yet, as holy as this Christ was, His circumstances didn't turn out such that any one could say that His life was good. This isn't said to predict that the lives of a follower of Christ will be just as bad - that's just isn't the case at all. This is said to help us all disconnect the circumstances of life we live from being able to follow some man-made religious or worldly standard. Good or bad, holy or unholy, moral or immoral, winner or loser - we all will have good times in our life and we all will face the bad as well.
That's why I'm so stuck on talking about the fact we are victors, not because of what we have done but because of what God has done for us. If I look to anything I do for confirmation of my victor status I will eventually be disappointed - so much so that I might abandon feeling I will ever be a victor. When I get to such a low point as that, victim thinking is all I have left. When we are stuck in that trap of victim thinking is when we become the kinds of victimizers that make our Victim-Based Society thrive like it is today.
So, the next time you come against some challenging circumstances, maybe it is time to think about what is going on from a different vantage point. Rather than letting the badness make you think there is something wrong with you maybe it is time to think there is something wrong with the world. Check out today's Bible reading as it relates to this point.
If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you. John 15:18-19 (MSG)
Did you know the world hates you? That's why the badness is happening to you. The world can't stand that you would dare to believe that you are something more than what the total sum of your abilities prove. The evil behind this world doesn't want you to walk in the power that you are more than what you can do and how well you can do those things. Why? Because if you dare to believe that you are more than what you see in the mirror, you might just be able to walk in a freedom that the world doesn't want you to have. It is when we walk in that freedom that all of heaven opens up to us in ways I don't know we will ever be able to fully understand.
You see, God choose you. He hand picked you to fight the evil that you face in ways He has empowered you to do. When you choose to no longer live on the world's terms, the world can't help but to hate you. Even if you choose to live by the world's terms the love the world will show you will eventually being badness as well. This world will never be able to love in ways that I believe we will experience when our time here is up.
We all have a choice in this life. We can work our tails off trying to get the wold to love us even when that love is so far short of the goodness we long for in our lives. Alternatively, we can live believing who God says we are and let the chips fall where they may. Either choice doesn't guarantee a good life just like it doesn't predestine a bad one. Good and bad are going to be the part of the lives of those who choose to live according to the terms of this world just as they will be for those who reject this world.
The difference for the victor in choosing to live rejecting the world's ways is the concept of peace. Peace comes as we live knowing we are loved, wanted and valuable for something greater than anything this world can ever provide. That peace can't be robbed when bad times hit like the peace of this world can be. Relying on our ability to guarantees good circumstances in our lives to provide the peace we look for is a recipe for disaster.
Why not take a stand today? Stand firmly on the fact that you are a victor no matter what the world throws at your today. That's what God says about you anyway - you are a victor. Maybe it is time to just start believing what He says rather than looking for proof in what you do to make you feel like what you already are. Let the peace of Heaven be what guards you hearts as you work to live out the victor status God has made available for your life today.
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