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"Jesus' firm grasp on identity along with an eternal perspective made him a victor in this life and victorious for all eternity. Want to know a secret that Satan doesn’t want you to know? You, too, have this same power to live as a victor no matter what this world throws at you."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 39.
The Bible reading from today highlights this fact.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26 (NIV)
As we lift our eyes, particularly our “spiritual eyes”, to the heavens we begin to see things in a different light. All too often victim thinking is fueled by the fact that our perspective is suffering from a height challenge. When the things of this world are all we see and are all we focus on we are more and more drawn into victim thinking as challenges come our way.
Jesus Himself faced this challenge. There were many times when the weight of this world seemed to overcome Jesus. Victim thinking never controlled Jesus, like it can you and me, but the temptation to give into victim thinking hit Jesus just like it does us. Fortunately for us all, Jesus’ view of His identity was so complete, from a Heavenly perspective, that victim thinking couldn’t keep Him down. That’s the same life God is looking for you and me to live. That’s the life of a victor.
What problems are you facing today? Are those problems giants in light of where your life is right now here on earth? I’m not saying we will never face giants. What I am saying is that we are more able to deal with those giants as we view them from a heavenly perspective. How big are those problems when viewed from an eternal perspective? One hundred years from now, how big will that giant be in your live? Think about how small that giant will appear in eternity.
It isn’t that God doesn’t want you to figure out how to deal with the giants you will face today. It is that He doesn’t want you to doubt your identity as His Child as a result of how well you are able to overcome those giants. Jesus wasn’t able to overcome the giant of His own death on the cross but that didn’t take away from His status as a victor. Being victorious isn’t a measure of whether you are a victor or not when it comes to relationship with God.
No matter what the outcome of the battles you face today, you too are a victor. When those giants come across your path today, shift your gaze. Look up to God. He is the completer of your faith, the author of your salvation and the ONLY reason you can call yourself a victor in every situation you find yourself. Shifting our gaze is what makes it possible to live this life as a victor.
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