Day 246 - Experiencing Presence

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 beginning to learn that a victor can experience His Presence in ways that make living like a victor something that isn’t tied to seeing victory all the time."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 47.

Paul was one amazing man of God. He ended up writing over 2/3rds of the entire New Testament of The Bible. Many hold Paul up as the second most powerful and interesting and influential man of the The Bible, next to Jesus Himself. The amazing thing about Paul’s life is, that like Jesus, his life ended in ways that could have allowed victim thinking to take control. Thank God that Paul was like Jesus in that He didn’t let his worldly circumstances dictate his view of who he was in God.

Let’s take a look at today’s Bible verse and peer a little deeper into the life of a victor.

Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 2 Corinthians 11:23 (NIV)

I love how real Paul was in his writings. In the middle of his presentation, he stops his train of thought to comment on how crazy what he is saying sounds in light of the reality of his life. I think we can learn a lesson about how to live as a victor through Paul's realness. It is when we too are real with ourselves, with others and with God Himself that victor living starts to take on a power like it is suppose to have in our lives.

Paul’s life wasn’t an easy one. He wasn't afraid to admit how bad He had it. Paul's life was also filled with may positive accomplishments. Paul wasn't afraid to acknowledge those as well. What Paul seemed to be able to do was to let the good times add to the praise and adoration He had for his God while allowing the bad times draw him closer to this same God. Paul never let the good times go to his head nor the bad times to rob him of his faith in who God says He was in Paul's life.

Truth is that Paul's life was filled with victimization left and right. He was blinded by the light of God, shipwrecked, bitten by a snake, stoned twice (once to death!), flogged many times, rejected, driven from city after city, abandoned, imprisoned over and over again, and ultimately Paul was beheaded. Victimizing event after victimizing event plagued Paul. Yet all along he stood strong on the fact that his identity had nothing to do with all the nasty stuff that was happening to him. His identity as God’s Child made him a victor. Living in that place made it easier to see God’s Presence in the middle of all the bad things that happened in Paul's life.

One of the most victimizing events that befell Paul was the fact that, through the world’s eyes, Paul was a complete failure in doing what God said he would do. God called Paul to preach the good news of Jesus to the gentiles. Paul did the best he could in traveling and sharing Jesus in between all the crazy things that happened to him. Problem was that his time in prison greatly limited his ability to get out there and do what God said he would do in the world. Viewed from the world's perspective, God was acting in some pretty victimizing ways as far as Paul life was concerned.

Think about how Paul must have felt. A driven man literally chained and kept from doing what God told him he was would do. Don't you know every fiber in Paul's being wanted to go and DO!?. All Paul could do at times was to write letters to those few Churches He got to see birthed out of his efforts.

Little did Paul know that God’s Presence was in those letters in such a powerful way. Paul couldn't have realized that those letters would become the backbone of the portion of The Bible gentiles hold so dear. Had Paul been free from prison his impact in the gentile world, arguably, would have been far less than it has been through the power of God in the letters Paul wrote while living a life we would call less than victorious.

That’s the power of living like a victor even when we feel like a victim. God’s Presence takes all the good and bad in our lives and makes it powerful beyond our comprehension. Next time you read and are touched by a letter Paul wrote remember the impact God is having on your life because Paul chose to live like a victor rather than wallow in victim thinking. Hold onto that perspective as you face trials in your life today. You are that same kind of victor with that same kind of power that comes through God’s Mighty Presence in your life.