Day 308 - Masterpiece

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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"If we view destiny or identity from the wrong perspective then we are in danger of killing off the possibility of living as a victor as we go through this cruel and hard world."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 195.

In the art world, perspective is everything. Artists have an ability that allows them to see a three dimensional subject and translate it onto a two dimensional medium called a canvas. Without perspective, art just doesn't look right. Without perspective artists don't rise to the top of their profession and calling. 

Those that know art might argue with me on this subject. Picasso is a master who messed with perspective. Much of his art was a combination of perspective shifts that seemed to throw perspective out the window. Fact is, that even in the seemingly randomness of Picasso's art, the artist presented a perspective that was uniquely his. Picasso's art wasn't missing perspective. His art was branded with a perspective that made since to the creator. 

Life so often imitates art. Sometimes our lives are a a shining example of linear perspective, like that found in a Da Vinci piece. Then there are those times our lives look like a Picasso painting. Amazing thing is, that viewed from the vantage point of time, whether our lives are a Da Vinci or a Picasso, they are masterpieces. It is when we start to see our lives from this perspective that victor living starts to happen.

The world is so adept at making our identities, and the destiny we think we were made for, something that seems completely out of place. The individual circumstances that look to define our lives pop up like a random object that can be found in a Picasso painting. Destiny can look as disjointed as Picasso's view of the human form in many of his pieces of art. What can seem grotesque and completely random comes to be seen as a masterpiece when viewed over time. 

God is a master at creating works of art. Each and every creation of His is an amazing example of handiwork that goes beyond anything any artist we will ever know can make happen. We are prime examples of God's handiwork. We are a masterpiece in the making. Sometimes all we need is time in order for the world to catch a glimpse of the amazing creation we are. Perspective is so critical in making identity and destiny work for us in victor living ways. 

Take a look at today's Bible reading with me now. 

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. Ecclesiastes 3:11-14 (NIV)

He has made everything beautiful in its time. That's the reality when it comes to artwork. It usually takes time for the masterpieces to be recognized for the exceptional works of art that they are. We get stuck in victim thinking when we believe that we should be able to see the fullness of the creation that is our lives in this very moment. If you are still breathing, the hand of the artist is still working to create what is to be. 

I believe that is what is meant by God setting "eternity in the human heart." I take this to mean that our masterpiece status has been placed in our hearts. We know we are creations of something more powerful than what this world offers up. Yet so much of what is and what will be has been hidden for this time. I don't fully understand this fact, but know it is for a purpose that makes my life that much more valuable to the God that created me. 

I love how our reading ends today. What's a victor to do when it comes to purpose? Eat, drink and be merry and find satisfaction in all we do. Wow that sounds kind of reckless doesn't it? Is God really saying just go have fun when it comes to defining destiny in this life? It sure seems that way. 

I happen to believe that this strategy is exactly right. I also happen to believe that God isn't saying to just waste our lives on meaningless things. What I believe "eat, drink and be merry" is all about is not taking this life so seriously. I believe we take life seriously when we look to our circumstances as proof as to who we are. It is when we try to make what we do be the sole outcome of what destiny will be in our lives that life becomes so serious. 

I don't think God is saying for us to just coast through life. I believe God loves it when His creation is just as diligent at He is at creating. We are just as much an artist as our creator. He beams with pride when we apply our talents and abilities to those things we are drawn to and create in this world. It is when we allow our success and our failures to be what defines us that enables us to cheapen the creative process. Our circumstances were never meant to define us as a masterpiece. The fact that we are a creation of the master is what makes this work of art called life, what it is suppose to be in the first place. 

Perspective plays such a critical role in the victor's life. How we view things will make this life either one filled with victim thinking of victor living. It is when we view our lives through God's eyes that we begin to see this life in a different way. Though we may never fully understand each stroke of the brush as the masterpiece of our lives are being created, fact is that the master understands. 

What work of art are you going to be a part of creating today? Remember each circumstance that you come across is nothing more than another brush stroke. Until the painting is finished you may not know how important that good time or that bad situation was in the over all look of what will be defined as a masterpiece. Go after all that you are called to today. Don't let the results of your work play any part in who you are. Your destiny is assured. You are the victor God has made you to be. Let that fact guide you as you work on your own masterpiece today. 

Day 307 - Cease Trying

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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"'Get to' living isn’t an automatic way of life. It is a learned thing. We have to learn to change our thinking. This happens as we change our words. As you find yourself saying or feeling you 'have to' do something, change the words. Become a 'get to' kind of thinker."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 183.

Look, I don't for a minute think that changing one little word will solve all our victim thinking problems. Changing the word "have" to "get" isn't a panacea. What I have seen happening in my life is that as I begin to live in the place where obligation doesn't rule my life, I think I'm in a better place where victor living can be the result.

When it comes to God's view of who we are, I think I'm on a pretty good foundation with this line of thinking. Check out today's Bible reading with me now.

No man can by any means redeem his brother
Or give to God a ransom for him—
For the redemption of his soul is costly,
And he should cease trying forever— Psalm 49:7-8 (NASB)

Often we feel obligated because we think we owe someone something. If you have a mortgage on your house, you "have to" pay that mortgage or you will lose your home. It is when we view tasks through the lens of obligation, that our souls get really confused. I have said it before, but our souls hate obligation. They were created to be free and obligation brings a level of bondage that our souls fight against.

This is particularly the case when it comes to who God says we are. Living in a place of obligation as far as God is concerned, is a total waste of time. Our reading confirms that fact. I really like the last line of our verse today. It says that we should stop trying to live in this place of obligation forever! It is when we do things in our lives out of the feeling that we owe God something that we might be able to repay that our souls get bound up in ways God simply hates.

If we are doing anything for God that can be labeled "have to" we should really stop doing that thing. God doesn't need us to do anything for Him. He is completely capable of getting done all He wants to do in our world. Taking His Word and turning what it says into "have to" obligations is nothing short of insulting to this God that made us.

If thinking that we can do things for God that He can't do for Himself wasn't bad enough, using words like "have to" when we are working to repay God for all He has done for us is ever so foolish. How could we ever repay God for even the slightest thing He has done for us? Thinking that we "have to" serve this God as a payment for our salvation is a strategy that threatens to get us stuck in victim thinking ways.

God didn't offer up His son with the hopes that we might be able to repay Him someday. He didn't pay the high price required to bring us into His family in order to enlist hired hands to get done all He has planned. "Have to" living puts us in a place where obligation turns our relationship with God in such a strange and unproductive characteristic of life. Getting out of the habit of viewing live through the words of "have to" takes concerted effort and focus. Making that change from "have to" to "get to" is what makes victor living something that can be more of a reality in our lives.

Changing "have to" to "get to" isn't going to solve all your problems. It will, however, get you to a place where victor living will be more in reach. As we do all we can to get obligation our of our way of thinking, our souls wake up to the possibility that, even in the bad times, God's plan and purpose might just be at work in our lives. The soul thrives when it thinks freedom is a possibility, even if that freedom comes with God's presence during the challenging times that we will face from time to time.

I pray that all you do today, all that comes across your path will be a "get to" opportunity rather than a "have to" obligation. Live in that place where you know God is for you even when the chips are down. It is there where the victor in you comes alive. 

Day 306 - Sober Minded Part 2

Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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Yesterday we introduced the concept of being sober minded. I talked about how sobriety is so much more than just ending our dependence on substances as a coping mechanism. We are in a place of real sobriety when we stop trading one coping mechanism for another and start to deal with the issues that make us want to cope in the first place.

You see, I think God wants us to be sober minded because He can't stand for us to just cope. We were made to thrive. Coping falls way short of what thriving means to me. Which would you like to have defining your life? Is just getting by good enough for you or would you like to be thriving in all that you do?

Problem is that, even that last question has to be viewed from the proper perspective or victim thinking will rule the day. You see, if we come to expect our definition of what thriving is to look like in our lives, victim thinking can't help but to be a real possibility. Thriving to God might be something totally different than what you might think thriving should look like in your life. It is when we come to grips with God's perspective on what thriving is to look like that victor living starts to be a real possibility.

I happen to believe that we fail to be sober minded when we do things to help cover over the disappointment and hurt that comes when we fail to get what we think we need to live like a victor. It is when the challenges of this life make thriving look like something we never intended that our minds take over in ways that make sobriety challenging at times. The root to many of the addictions we all face in this life can be found in the pain of failure. Whether it be the failure to succeed, the failure to be loved or the failure to connect in meaningful ways, it is when we fail that sober minded becomes a trait that goes missing in the life of a victim thinker.

If we look to our bank account as proof of a life that is thriving, we will ultimately be disappointed. If we look to our family dynamics to make us feel like we are leading a thriving life, we will find our lives wanting from time to time. Anything in this world will leave us short when it comes to the confidence to live the thriving life God wants for all His Children. It is when we look to God for all we need to thrive that victor living becomes something we can come to expect.

I happen to believe that I am able to thrive when I live in the reality that God is with me all the time. It is when I believe in His Presence that I can weather the storms of life in a way that way that can be described as thriving. It is when I trust in His presence that the storms of life don't rock me like they have in the past. Believing in and trusting in God's presence is a strategy that promises to make the circumstances of my life less impacting when it comes to whether I live like a victor or not.

Jesus had to view thriving from The Father's perspective just as we do. You see, Jesus was just as much human as you and as me. I hope that doesn't offend you, but it is the truth. That humanness in Jesus made it just as important for Him to believe in and trust in God's Presence as it is for us as well.

It was just before Jesus was to be crucified. His disciples were feeling the pressure of the time that was drawing near. Though they didn't understand what was going on, they knew something was up and they were feeling the stress of the fullness of God's plan playing out right before their eyes. One days Jesus was with His disciples and was trying to comfort them as best as He could. Phillip asked Jesus to show them The Father. He said, "... that will be enough for us."

Phillip was struggling to believe in and trust in God's Presence. It was getting hard for Phillip to remain sober minded because he doubted God's presence in His life. Though, God Himself in man form was standing right before him, Phillip wrestled with trying to thrive. Jesus answered the disciples with our reading today. Check it out with me now.

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. John 14:10-11 (NIV)

Jesus was trying to get the disciples to recognize the presence of God Himself. That's what Jesus is trying to do in our lives as well. He wants us to realize that God is right before us. You see, the death of Jesus paved the way for the Holy Spirit to come and live inside of every believer. You and I have God Himself living with us 24/7 just like Jesus did.

Sad thing is, is that this world makes it so hard to recognize God with us from time to time. It is so easy to let the stresses of this world take us to places where we think God's presence can't be expected. It is when we fail to trust in God's presence in our lives that we implement strategies that fly in the face of being sober minded. Our coping mechanisms can be some of the most victimizing strategies that our loved ones will ever face in this dark and evil world.

Jesus starts today's reading with "Don't you believe..." Reality is that, all too often I don't believe. I don't believe God's love is with me. I don't believe God's love is for me. I don't believe that I can trust in what God says is best for my life when it comes against what I desperately want for myself.

Sober minded is a characteristic of the victor. Being sober minded happens when we believe that God is with us. He's not just with us when things are going well. He's right there with us, in the trenches with all hell is breaking loose. It is when we can stand strong on the solid rock of a relationship with God that the storms of life don't knock us around like they can when we think God is somehow missing in action.

When you get that next piece of challenging news, stop. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and say God is with me. Say it over and over again. Say it until you start to think you might even believe that He is there. Reality is, He is!!! Live in the power of who you are, knowing that God is with you. Let your victor status be empowered by God's strong hand in your life today.

Day 305 - Sober Minded Part 1

Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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I meet with several men every Monday morning. Our group has been getting together for several years now. I have to tell you, this get together is a highlight of my week. The conversations we have together set the tone for how I end up viewing my life the rest of the entire week. In my opinion, this is what Church is suppose to look like. 

One day we were talking about an interesting subject. The topic we hit on was that of sobriety. Our conversation began as you might have thought it would. As we considered the issues that have worked to control us through substances that we chose to introduce as coping mechanisms in our lives, some interesting thoughts were brought to the table. Our conversation brought up topics that ranged from twelve step programs to self help initiatives. 

One of my friends started talking about sobriety as something more than just kicking a bad habit in our lives. He started talking about sobriety as something more than just being free from some addiction. He was making sobriety out to be a lifestyle of living that made me think really hard about many of the ways I deal with issues that come against me. 

You see, sobriety is really about being mentally healthy. It is about getting free of the things that control us now and, at the same time, recognizing those things in our life that might make it easy to trade one habit for another. What I loved about our conversation wasn't that is was dealing with right or wrong. This conversation really helped me to see how the word sobriety has a power to it that really can make victor living something easier to grasp. 

As my friend was describing sobriety in the context of being mentally strong I remembered a verse from the Bible. Take a look at that verse with me now. 

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 1 Peter 4:7 (NIV)

I found it interesting that my friend was talking about sobriety in terms of being mentally healthy and here is the Bible linking the word sober with mind. Later, I did some digging into this concept and found that many times in the Bible the words sober and mind are tied together. I love these, so called, "random coincidences."

Sober has so much more to do with the mind than it does with not abusing substances. Being sober minded is something God takes seriously. I think we should as well. Let's take a closer look at what it might mean to be sober minded as we dive into several verses from the Bible that use this term.

The first characteristic of being sober minded that I saw in the Bible was that of being watchful. In 1 Peter 5:8 it says that we are to be watchful because Satan is prowling around looking to devour us. In 1 Thessalonians 5:6 we are warned to keep awake.  It is when we put our brains on auto-pilot that we miss the signs of evil threatening our very existence. Victim thinking happens when we fail to pay attention to what is going on around us. It happens just as easily when we choose to react to things based on victim induced patters instituted before we were in a place where we could adequately process what was happening to us.

Sober minded, to me, is all about being ever attentive. It is going through life with our eyes opened. It is learning how to recognize when we are in positions where negative patters are about to be reinforced with failed coping mechanisms. God has given us a powerful tool in the human brain. Sober minded happens when we let our brain loose to help us move in directions that combat past patterns and establish new ways of dealing with the challenges that come our way.

The second characteristic of being sober minded from God's Word is summed up by preparation. In 1 Peter 1:13, it says to prepare our minds for action. God knew that our advisory would do all he could to lull us to sleep. It is when we turn to well worn patters of reacting to situations in life that preparation goes out the window. Why do we need to prepare if we already know how we are going to react?

Problem is that our taught way of reacting has failed us so many times in the past. We can't be sober minded by just reacting to what comes our way. It is when the victor considers the situations that come their way from the context of God's plan that we can react in sober minded ways. We prepare as we do what it takes to draw closer to our Lord. It is as we get to know this God better that our minds are prepared for a sobriety that changes our behavior.

The last characteristic of being sober minded I want to touch on today is that of self-control. Of the three characteristics, self-control is the hardest to implement because it is entirely up to us to be involved in this process. Where being watchful and preparation is usually done with a concerted effort between God and us, self-control is something we have to initiate ourselves.

Self-control is something that takes will power. Our souls have to be involved if self-control is to be expected. Problem is that relying on the soul alone is not a fool-proof strategy when it comes to victor living. We still need the direction and empowerment of the human and divine spirit in order to make self-control all it can be in our lives. Even with this characteristic, we are not alone in making sober minded happen, but it is up to us to get the ball rolling.

That's all we have time for in today's presentation. Tomorrow we will take a look at some ways we can make being sober minded more of a part of our daily life. In the meantime, stay attentive. Be prepared. Initiate as much self-control as God empowers you to be able to do. You are God's Child. This means that you have the mind of Christ. Use that amazing gift to make sober minded be what fuels your victor status in all you do today.

Day 304 - Power of Convergence

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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"No the answer isn’t trying to walk a narrow line between thinking too lowly and too highly of ourselves. How can one possibly do that on a consistent basis? As I pondered these two sides of spiritual brokenness it came to me that it isn’t balance we need, its convergence."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 169.

I'm beginning to see how balance isn't really the answer to much in our world today. I'm not advocating for us to take a hard stance for or against things with no compromise. Compromise, for no other reason, is often a good idea because it causes us to have relationship so that compromise can be reached. Balance and compromise can be totally opposite things as far as I have come to realize.

Balance when it comes to something as important as who we are just isn't something I'm seeing as being all that healthy. When we try to balance what the world says about us with what God says, life can be such a victim making prospect. Things of God rarely work when balance is the standard we apply in our lives.

I'm starting to believe that convergence is much more applicable when it comes to living this life of a victor. Convergence is defined as the act of moving toward union or uniformity. Where balance speaks of equalizing all the various compartments of our lives, convergence has more to do with all our compartments becoming one. When it comes to who we are as it relates to what we do, convergence is really all I have found that works in this world.

Balance happens when we try to give equal weight and attention to the various aspects of our lives. For me, I can quickly think of five different parts of my life that I find important. They are family, work, health, social life, and God. Balance says that I need to make sure each of these areas are given the kinds of attention and care needed to keep them in a position where they are doing for my life what I expect.

In other words, if I spend too much time at work, then my family, health, social life and spiritual condition will suffer. Balance requires that we carefully adjust our focus in ways that make sure we aren't preoccupied in areas that will jeopardize any of the other importance sections of our lives.

In theory, this is a pretty good strategy to consider. Problem is that it takes a lot of work to maintain a balance that makes life be all it can be. Inevitably, we will fail to make proper adjustments and being out of balance is the result. Convergence is a strategy that is beginning to make so much more sense to me.

Where balance is allocating an equalized portion of time and effort to each of the important areas of live, convergence brings all the elements under one centralized focus. Problem with convergence is that if we don't choose the right focus, life will spin out of control as easily as it can if balance is our objective. Let me explain that a bit more.

If we decide that convergence is the strategy by which we want to run our lives, and we choose family from which everything else springs from, we are setting ourselves up for disaster. If family is to be the focus, what happens when family dynamics change? What happens to your life when the kids grow up and move away? What happens if there is a divorce? What happens if a death causes family dynamics to alter drastically? As important as family is in my life, converging my entire life around family opens the door to failure in ways that make victim thinking a real possibility.

When it comes to convergence, I am seeing that this strategy can only work when I choose to converge all the segments of my life into a relationship with God. If convergence means coming into union or becoming unified with, it makes a lot of sense to me to have family, health, work and social all be melded together with a walk with God. Convergence of my life with that of God's gives me something that converging with any other part of my life just can't. The advantage to converging my life with God's is that of permanence.

It is when I allow family, health, work and my social life to all be melded into a walk with God, that I'm not as rocked when change happens. Because of the fact that God doesn't change, I'm more able to weather the storms that might come my way in these important areas of my life. When I have lived a life of convergence with God as the focal point, the crazy things that happen in this life don't work as well to make victim thinking take control of my life.

Our Bible reading today really confirms this point. It says...

Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)

Jesus boils down the entire Bible into the convergence of three concentrations of love. They are, Love God, Love Others, and Love self. It is when we converge our lives in to these three areas of focus that I believe life takes on a power that balance can never attain to. Interesting thing is, we can't just do one or two of these loves. Without doing them all, we will never tap into the power promised by God for the victor.

Without knowing how to Love God we will never be able to love ourselves. Fact is, we can't really love our neighbor unless we know how to love ourselves. When convergence is the strategy for life, love becomes such an important focus as far as Jesus was concerned. It all starts with love for God. From there things begin to connect in ways that make life that much more manageable even in the midst of victimizing events.

Interesting thing is that knowing how to love isn't a once and done kind of thing. Learning that love is a lifetime process. I know how frustrating that statement is to all us instant gratification kinds of people. I believe God made it this way so that we would continue to grow in relationship with Him. Learning how to Love God is a life-long process that promises to make all the areas of our life function in ways they never could with just applying a balanced strategy.

Take an inventory today. How are the various areas of your life working out as you try to keep them all in balance? Maybe it is time for a strategy change. Maybe convergence is what you need to consider.  Focus on love and watch your victor status take you to places where the awesome power of God flows in and through your life today.

Day 303 - The Mirror of Love Part 2

Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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Yesterday I introduced a quote from my friend Ken Baugh. This quote came from a presentation Ken is giving entitled "Abundant Living In Christ." You can check out this amazing set of lectures for yourself by referring to the text of this podcast and clicking on the link included there.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4yqjWBtrQLsZh4PfRctI6A

Ken said the following...

"God’s love is like a mirror. The more we can see our reflection in His love the more we can weather the storms that come against us in ways that aren’t destructive. It is when we interpret our circumstance through the warped lens of our life that we create behavior that isn’t abundant living. When I see myself through the Father’s eyes and think the Fathers thought I will experience more love joy peace and hope."

Yesterday I took us down a bunny trail of how a mirror works. When we view an image in a mirror the horizontal is flipped while the vertical remains the same. In other words, left is right in a mirror while up remains up and down remains down.

I explained that I found this to be important because life is also made up of a horizontal component and a vertical one as well. When we view life in the mirror of God's Love our physical world, represented by the horizontal, can seem flipped in confusing and frustrating ways. The truly amazing thing is that the vertical component of life reflected back in the mirror of God's Love doesn't change. The vertical, to me, is the power that comes with a connection with our God.

I left yesterday's presentation off with a thought that I wanted to dig in more on today. It is when we try to take the vertical realities of God and apply them in a horizontal way that trouble happens in the life of a victor. I believe this contention is confirmed by Ken's statement on behavior we read earlier. Ken said that it is when we fail to view our lives in the mirror of God's Love, destructive behavior can be the result. Taking things of God that don't change in the reflection of God's Love and trying to apply them in a horizontal strategy, when horizontal is flipped in that reflection, can be a frustrating and victim making exercise when it comes to living out this life.

Let's take a promise from scripture and view it in the reflection of God's Love to see what happens. Check out with me now today's Bible reading.

Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

In the past, I have literally torn this Bible verse apart looking for ways to trap God into giving me what I want. I believe this was done as I tried to take a vertical promise and bend it to fit the flipped way I see my horizontal life in the reflection of God's Love. Let me show you what I mean by that.

What today's reading is saying is that if we figure out how to delight ourselves in the Lord, He is required to give us the desires of our heart. Believe me when I say I have researched the wording in this verse very carefully and this is literally what is being said. Now, all I need to do is figure out how to take delight in the Lord and I have it made - right? Here's where the left to right thing that happens in a mirror really comes into play.

Let's say I think that taking delight in the Lord means to read my Bible more. If I use Bible reading as a strategy to get God to do what I want, then I have taken a vertical promise that can't be changed and applied it on a horizontal plane that is always backwards when viewed as a reflection in the mirror of God's Love. The results of what I want when it comes to converting a vertical connection into a horizontal reality will never be what my soul wants it to be. It just can't. It is like trying to fit the proverbial square peg into the round hole.

It is when I take what is being reflected by God's Love and try to make it fit in my natural world the way I want it to fit, that life gets to be a frustrating exercise in futility. Hope is so easily lost when what seems to be the natural result of vertical principals don't work out the way I hoped they would.

Satan loves it when we take Godly principals based on His Love, and try to apply them in self serving ways. Not only do we waste our time in trying to make those connections happen, Satan knows that the frustration, that comes with repeated failure, will eventually get us to doubt that God's Love is for us. When those doubts are allowed to linger in our lives for long periods of time, behavior changes in ways that threaten to make victims of those around us. Trying to take vertical principals and turn them into horizontal realities turns God's Love into something that can make victim thinkers out of us all. That's the antithesis of Abundant Living if you ask me.

So what is Abundant Living in Christ if it isn't getting our horizontal to exactly match up with the vertical in our lives? Ken describes Abundant Living using four qualities. Those qualities are hope, love, peace and joy. Abundant living isn't getting all we want out of God. It is living in a place where hope, love, peace and joy is something that is a part of vertical connection, not solely the result of all we do on the horizontal plane.

It is when victors look to their actions to provide hope, love, peace and joy that behavior can be altered in victim making ways. Sure what we do can, at times, make these qualities be all we want them to be in our lives. What we have to remember is that all the things we do (the horizontal plane) are temporary. Hope, love, peace and joy that comes from the vertical is permanent. In the vernacular of the mirror illustration, when we trust in God's Love for hope, love, peace and joy, we get a connection to these characteristics that are permanent - they can't be flipped. It is when we rely on the horizontal things we do to gain access to these abundant living characteristics that life can flip things around in ways that confuse and frustrate us to no end.

What's the answer to all this confusion and frustration? I think Ken has it right. He says that, "When I see myself through the Father’s eyes and think the Fathers thought I will experience more love joy peace and hope" The answer to receiving an abundant life is in my believing God's Love is for me and taking steps to trust in that love. The only way I know to do this is to get so close to this God who loves me as to be able to see my reflection in His eyes. The more I believe what God says about me, the more my behavior will reflect that of the victor God sees me to be.

Want more abundance in your life today? Stop looking to the horizontal as confirmation of that abundance. Go after as much of this life as you feel called to do but don't let how successful you are at making your definition of abundance be what bolsters your identity. The fact that you are God's Child is all the identity you need to let abundance, that comes from a connection with God, be what empowers all you will do in your life today.

Day 302 - The Mirror of Love Part 1

Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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I have mentioned my friend, Ken Baugh, several times in past presentations. I have been blessed to be able to attend a lecture series Ken is hosting called Abundant Living In Christ. You too can connect to these teachings by checking out Ken's YouTube channel. To find it, do a search on Ken Baugh YouTube channel and you should be able to find it that way. You can also check in the text of this podcast for a link I have posted to Ken's YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4yqjWBtrQLsZh4PfRctI6A

In a recent presentation, Ken said the following...

"God’s love is like a mirror. The more we can see our reflection in His love the more we can weather the storms that come against us in ways that aren’t destructive. It is when we interpret our circumstance through the warped lens of our life that we create behavior that isn’t abundant living. When I see myself through the Father’s eyes and think the Fathers thought I will experience more love joy peace and hope."

That first line so resonated with me. Ken said, "God's love is like a mirror." That touches me in such a deep and profound way. I have often said that if I could get close enough to God to see my reflection in His eyes, I think that this world would make so much more sense to me. You see, it is when we view our lives the way God does that our victor status really comes alive.

I need to see my life the way God does or I will be tempted to try and make my life something I I have no business trying to make it be. I have said it over and over again, but anything we do tied to who we are is nothing more than a straight line to victim thinking.

God's love for us is the foundation on which we need to be standing or life just won't make sense. This is especially the case when bad times hit. It is so easy to allow destructive and victim making behavior happen when God's love is misunderstood in ways that make our reflection something we just don't understand.

As I was pondering the fact that God's Love is like a mirror, I started to think about how our image is reflected in a natural mirror. I hope this isn't to wonky for you, but I thought of something about a mirror that I think really does come into play as far as the entire discussion regarding victim thinking and victor living is concerned. Let me take some time to go down a rabbit trail with this thought.

You see, the image reflected in a mirror is actually flipped. Right is left and left is right. The interesting thing is that up and down are not flipped when we look in a mirror. Check it out for yourself. Take a piece of paper and write your name on it. Now, take that paper to a mirror and look at the reflection. Your name is reflected backwards. Left is right and right is left. However, up and down don't flip in the reflection. So, what's so amazing about this little fact? Let me dig in on that point a little deeper.

A mirror returns an image with the horizontal plane inverted. The vertical plane doesn't change in the image that is returned. We live in two planes when it comes to our world. We too have a horizontal and a vertical component as it relates to this life. The horizontal component represent all the things that we come into contact with in this world. Horizontal has to do with our circumstances, the things we choose to do, the linear progression of time in our lives, our interpretation of all that we come into contact with, etc. Basically, the horizontal elements of life are all the physical things that comes our way.

Then there is the horizontal. I see this component as our connection with God. The horizontal represents our relationship with Him. This component of life is a lot harder to explain. It is is made up of more of the mystical things that sometimes scare us in ways that they really shouldn't. Prayer, leading, healing, meditation, and a whole lot more, are all parts of what I see as a vertical connection to our God.

Now, here comes the point that I think really cinches it when it comes to victor living. If God's Love is like a mirror and a mirror returns an image that has the horizontal inverted while the vertical remains the same, then I think we need to view life in this way as well. In other words, the things of this world, those horizontal aspects of our life, aren't always what they seem to be. Left is right and right is left when it comes to seeing our life in the reflection of God's Love. That might mean that the bad times that are happening in our live, when viewed in the reflection of God's Love, actually take on an element of good as far as God is concerned.

That was certainly the case with Jesus. Who of us would ever consider a torturous death on the cross as something good? Bad is all I could ever see from something as horrendous as that kind of demise. Yet when we view this horrible event in the mirror of God's love, victim-hood turns to victory. Left flips to right, bad flips to good. Jesus' death on the cross made it possible for the world to have a hope for life beyond all the mess that we experience here on this earth. That's good news that couldn't have happened were it not for the badness Jesus experienced.

So it is in our lives as well. The reflection of all the badness that is happening in our lives when viewed in the mirror of God's Love might just be part of a plan for good that we just can't see or fully understand at the moment. That's why Ken's statement about behavior is so important when it comes to seeing our circumstances in the reflection of God's Love. It is so easy to react to the badness that happens to us in victimizing ways when we fail to see that God's Love is for us in world flipping ways. It is when we rest on the fact that God's Love is for us whether times are good or times are bad, that we begin to let the power of victor living take over in our lives.

The truly amazing thing is is that the vertical component of God's Love doesn't ever change. Vertical isn't flipped when it comes to our reflection in a mirror. That means His Love for us, and what that love means for us, doesn't change - it isn't reversed in any way shape or form. That's why we can stand on the promises God has for us in the Bible so completely. That's also why we can't directly apply those promises to our natural world. Taking vertical promises and trying to apply them in horizontal ways makes behavior something that just isn't what it is suppose to be in our lives. I want to take that point and expand on it in tomorrow's presentation.

For now, let me close with this Bible verse.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,
declares the Lord.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

When things seem to be turned on their ear in your world, remember you are to look at you life in the mirror of God's Love. Those challenging times have a purpose. I know that doesn't ease the pain of all you are going through right now, but from the vertical perspective, that pain is paying off in big ways. Hang on to who you are in God's eyes. You are His Child and that makes you a victor no matter how much victory seems to be lacking in the horizontal aspect of your life today.

Day 301 - What Doesn't Kill You...

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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"Nothing makes a person more able to cross the line from victim to victor than coming through bad times with our relationship with God intact and even more solid as a result."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 153.

There is a saying people are fond of quoting when challenging times hit. It goes like this, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." My quote today is nothing more than just another way of making the point that even the bad times of life have purpose that might make the bad times somewhat more tolerable

Though this may be true, you have to realize that God isn't throwing a bunch of bad things into your life in an attempt to make you stronger. The evil in this world is banking on you getting so discouraged by all the challenges you might be facing right now, to give up on the fact that God 's love is for you. It is when you come through a challenging time with your faith in God intact that greater strength comes as you survive the attacks of this world. 

This point is emphasized by today's Bible reading. Take a look at it with me now. 

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)

The things the evil in this world has done to you was meant to tear you down. God knows that evil is going to happen in this world. He also knows that our natural ability to survive in spite of all evil does to war against us will naturally build us up. He wants us built up so that we can be part of the process of saving this world from the ravaging plan evil has for for us all. Remember, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We are part of a plan for life. The evil in this world wants us to forget that so that death will reign.

So, why doesn't God just make evil go away? I believe it is because evil becomes a possibility as we are given the powerful force called choice. It is the choices people make that causes the vast majority of the evil that is trying to overtake our world today. Evil can't be completely eradicated without choice being taken away. Without choice, love just isn't worth the effort. 

A love based on obligation just isn't the same as a love based on choice. Forcing someone to love you isn't a love you can trust. A forced love doesn't do for the object of that love what a love based on choice does. It is when we choose to love God in spite of the evil that befalls us as a result of choices others make, that a power comes into our lives that makes love a force to be contended with. Satan knows that and works to make our choices create as much evil in the world as possible so that our love will be lacking in power. 

I am sure that God hates it when we face challenges of any kind. Don't you ache inside when something happens bad to one of your children? It must be just as painful when God's children question God's motives when it comes to evil in this world. I just don't see God as the bad guy when it comes to bad things happening to us. I also can't see God allowing badness to happen to institute some growth strategy in our lives. How could a loving father deliberately hurt a much beloved child in the name of toughening them up? Yet, that is what we blame God for doing when we think that evil is something God allows so that we will be made stronger in our faith.

The reality is that everything in this life will make us stronger. It is when we face all the evil that comes our way standing on the foundation of the the fact that God's love is for us no matter what our circumstances might be at any given moment, that growth does happen in our lives. I just can't see God thinking that any pain is the lives of His children is a good thing. I wish that meant that pain would never be there, but as long as we live in this fallen world, pain is a real and distinct possibility. I just want to stop blaming God for that pain and continue believing in His Love for me no matter what my circumstances may look like.

Though what doesn't kill you makes you strong is a reality that works in the spiritual world as completely as it does in the natural world, God isn't behind the evil that can actually work to make you stronger. When you choose to see that God's love is for you even when times are tough, love provides a strength that can't help but change the world. 

Let the fact that God loves you be what you believe. Let His love be something you can trust in. Don't look to circumstance to prove God's love for you. Let the fact that God sees you as a victor be all the proof you need to know that His Love for you is real and trustworthy. May you overcome the evil in this world with the power of God's love as you live out your status as the victor God sees you as today.

Day 300 - Supply and Demand

Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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A few weeks ago, the pastor at my church, Aaron Jayne, gave a sermon that really speaks to the journey of moving from victim to victor. Pastor Aaron spoke on supply and demand. No, he didn't give a talk on economics. Pastor Aaron spoke about the supply side of the gospel and the demand realities of following The Law.

You see, the Bible is broken down into two sections. The Old Testament is all about The Law. This was the do's and don'ts that God gave His people as they looked for a means by which they could earn their spot at God's table. The do's and don'ts of The Law were what it took in order for the people's sin to be overlooked by the perfect God they served. God demands perfection. Without that perfection, we don't have any standing with Him at all. Since we are a flawed and imperfect people, God explained in The Old Testament what it would take to make it so that He could overlook the flaws that we have introduced into our lives.

Problem with The Law is that if we use it to make justice be what we expect, we are doomed. You see, no one has ever been able to keep all of The Law with the notable exception of Jesus. Once you break one of The Laws, perfection is never something that can be a part of our lives. The Law "demands" perfection and that is something that just isn't what mankind is capable of given the fallen nature of this world.

If that were the end of the story, what a sad ending it would be. Fact is that under The Law, we are all doomed to being judged guilty when it comes to imperfection. The verdict for our being guilty of imperfection a death that is epitomized by eternal separation from the God that made us. Thank God His plan for salvation didn't stop there. Thank God for The New Testament of The Bible.

Where the Old Testament is all about the demand side of God's justice, The New Testament is about the supply side of God's Love. God knew that man would never be able to keep The Law. The demand for perfection is simply too much for us to be able to attain to. Why then, did God give man The Law in the first place. I believe it is because He wanted us to realize that do's and don'ts are never enough when it comes to relationship with Him. He wanted the demand side of justice to be something that overwhelms us to a point of surrender. What was it that He wants us to surrender to? It is the supply side of His Love He wants us to give our lives over to.

The demands of The Old Testament were replace with the supply of The New Testament through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The New Testament is all about how The Law was fulfilled by the actions of God Himself on our behalf. The good news of The New Testament is that do's and don'ts have no place in a life that is surrendered to God's plan for relationship that came through Jesus actions on our behalf. It is in this part of God's plan that supply becomes so complete for us. Let me explain that a bit more.

The Law leads to death. All the do's and don'ts that make up The Law make it so that failing to be successful at making those do's and don'ts part of your entire life sets the person up for separation from God. That's the death God is talking about when it comes to the demands of The Law. The Law works to suck the life out of the person trying to keep The Law. It does so because it takes so much work to make the do's and don'ts happen. The pressure that comes with the reality that even one slip up is punishable by death, makes the demands of The Law a killer in the life of a victor.

The New Testament introduces God's supply side of love. What Jesus did for us is referred to as "The Gospel." Gospel comes from an ancient word that basically means "good news." The supply side of God's love really is good news. It is when we allow God to pave the way for our relationship with Him that the pressure of trying to make that happen through our own efforts goes away. As Pastor Aaron said in his sermon, "Where The Law demands, The Gospel supplies."

The supply side of God's love comes as we trust who God sees us to be. It is as we live in a place where we believe what He says about us that the demands put on us by the do's and don'ts of this world start to diminish in our lives. The Gospel promises a supply of all we need to be exactly what God wants for us in this world. This leads to life because the draining aspects of demand is replaced with the life giving flow of supply as we let God take on all the effort to make relationship happen in our lives. The Law demands that we do in order to be what we feel we are to be deep down in our souls. The Gospel supplies all God says about us to make us see who we are in His eyes. Identity comes alive under The Gospel. It dies a slow and painful death under The Law.

Pastor Aaron said that, "The Law turns the attributes of what a relationship with God looks like from nouns into verbs." In other words, things like righteousness, faith, justification and a whole host of other characteristics of a victor, become words based on action when the victor tries to live under any part of The Law. That's what a verb is - it is an action word.

The Gospel presents those exact same characteristics as nouns. A noun is defined as something that identifies a person or a place. In other words, a noun defines something that exists. A noun isn't something you do. A noun is something you are. Viewed from this perspective, righteousness, faith and justice become something you are, not something you work to attain to.

That's why Pastor Aaron explained that The Gospel is about life. It is when we live in a place where we don't have to work to be who God says we are that love becomes a supply that brings life to the victor. It is the actions we take to try and earn what God freely gives that works to kill us all. Victors have found a way to live more fully in the supply side of God's love rather than the demand side of His justice.

Where The Law says, do good and you will be seen as good, The Gospel says you are good because of what Jesus did for you on the Cross. Trying to do to receive what is given freely is such a draining proposition in anyone's life.

Let me close with a verse that sums up the difference between life and death found in The Law vs The Gospel.

Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. Galatians 2:16 (ESV)

What will you choose today? Will it be life that comes with the supply of God's love through Jesus? Or, will it be death that comes with the demand side of God's justice as seen in The Law? The victor lives in that place where love overrides everything. Let the Love God has for you be all the justification you need to let the world see your victor status shining in your life today.

Day 299 - Hope In Being Worthless

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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"From God’s perspective we are totally worthless. That’s right. There is nothing of worth in the victim or the victor when compared to a perfect and infallible God."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 130.

I know you have heard me deal with the point I'm making from my quote today many times in these presentations. Look, I'm not trying to get you to think less of yourself with the reality that we are totally worthless before this God that loves us. I'm trying to get you and me to stop thinking of ourselves at all when it comes to how we feel about God's love in our lives. 

You see when we look to what we can do to prove that we are lovable before this God, we take the good news of Jesus and twist it into a religion that does nothing but bind us up in victim thinking ways. Worth will never be enough to prove that we deserve the love God is so desperate to give us. Worth requires that we do things to prove our identity merits what we think it is worthy of. Compared to an all-powerful, all-knowing and perfect God, how can anything we do ever compare when it comes to worth and our identity?

If this line of thinking depresses you in some way, I hope I can change that thinking in my presentation today. The fact that our worth does nothing to prove who we are to this God should be the most encouraging and freeing news you have ever heard. Why? Because if this fact is as true as I'm beginning to see in my life, all the effort that I expend on trying to prove my worth can be used to do other, more productive things. God rejoices when we come to this point of surrender as it relates to worth and identity. When we surrender to what God says about who we are, worth becomes something that we just don't have to prove. 

I love today's Bible reading. It really shows us the Father's heart through the plan of salvation we have available to us. Let's read today's verses now.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7 (NIV)

We didn't receive God's love gift of salvation because we were worthy. It was because of His kindness and love for us that He can overlook our worthlessness through Jesus' death on the cross. That's why it should be so freeing to come to the understanding that our worth before God is of no value whatso ever. It is when we accept God's loving kindness that we can stop wasting our time and energy in trying to prove our worth to this perfectly worthy God.

Not only do I love today's reading because it highlights God's plan for this world, it makes some amazing statements of fact about who we are in God's eyes. The end of our reading makes three promises the victor needs to know is there, even when victory is so far from our lives.

The first promise is that we are justified. What this means is that the fact that we are worthless doesn't carry any weight when it comes to this perfect God. Because of Jesus, the fact that we have fallen short and will fall short in our lives has no bearing on whether God loves us or not. His love is for us because God's standards for justice was met on a cross some two thousand years ago. We are free from having to defend ourselves. We are free from having to prove our worth. That is freedom indeed!

The second promise from today's reading is that we are heirs in God's Kingdom. Specifically, our reading says we are heirs to eternal life. Elsewhere in the Bible it says we are heirs to the Kingdom of God. I don't know that I will fully know what this means, but it is BIG. It is like Bill Gates announcing one day that he has chosen you to be one of his heirs. From the worldly standpoint, this means that all Bill owns, all his name affords his children is just as much yours to because you have been named an heir. Take that and multiply it by infinity and that's what we have access to according to our reading today. That is very exciting to say the least.

The last promise I see from today's reading is found in the amazing word hope. You don't know the power of this word until hope is completely missing in your life. My prayer is that you will never have to feel the sting of hopelessness unless you are quickly able to tap into the amazing feeling of finding hope when it seemed so absent in your life. Not much compares to the transition from hopelessness to having hope again. Those who have been there know exactly what I'm talking about. Hope is a promise that means the world to me. I hope it comes to mean the same in your life as well.

So, the fact that you are worthless before this perfect God should be a statement that brings you a feeling of optimism, excitement and satisfaction. You should be satisfied by being worthless because, through Jesus, you are completely justified in your worthlessness. You should be excited because you are an heir to a Kingdom so big and powerful, nothing in this world can ever compare. You should be optimistic because you are promised a hope for tomorrow that might just be what carries you through today.

Stop trying to prove your worth. It is a waste of time. Just let what you chose to do today be done from a place of passion and desire. God put that passion in your life. He placed that desire in your life there in the first place. Don't cloud the issue with thinking that you need to do what you do to prove who you are. Your worth is assured by the fact that God calls you His Child. Be part of spreading hope in a world filled with the hopeless strategy of trying to prove our worth to those by what we do. Let your actions be driven from a place of power that comes when we realize our worth comes from God, not by what you might chose to do in your life today.

Day 298 - Cultivate The Soul

Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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I came across a devotional the other day that really spoke to me. Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor,  of Grace Community in New York City wrote this commentary.

"The amount of online access that we have with each other has created an inordinate focus upon outward appearances. Our Facebook status or Instagram update only increase the pressure to cultivate a “personal brand” that is carefully groomed for Internet consumption. Yet God has a different way of seeing things—he looks at the heart. What would it look like to take some of the time that we spend on managing our outward image and reallocate it toward cultivating the state of our soul before God? We may be uncomfortable at first, but we also may find a deeper sense of direction and satisfaction than any outward image can produce."

It is so true that humans spend unbelievable amounts of time and financial resources on their outward appearance. We in the US tend to be the leaders of this trend. In 2016 the beauty and personal care market generated an astounding 84 billion dollars in domestic sales alone. Toss on top of that the dollars we shell out for clothing, cars, houses, vacations, food and all the other things that we love to post on our Facebook feeds, and you begin to see how true Pastor Whitehead's devotional really is.

Social media has created an outlet for our natural human drive to express ourselves in a way that is seen as unique and awesome. The social tools that we have available to us make it that much easier to portray an image we want the world to see when they think of us. The image that we might be able to create using social media is way to shallow and temporary to support what our soul needs to feel like the victor God wants us to be. Worse than that, what happens when the image we are portraying just doesn't fit the reality of how we feel. Victim thinking and victimizing events happen when we fail to maintain an image we think we need in order to be seen in the light we desperately need.

Those of us caught in the trap of having to create and maintain an image of self based on what we do and how we feel are in such danger of slipping into victim thinking ways. Social media tools have given us a platform that helps us to leverage all we do in ways to help build an identity that suits our needs. Problem is that all we really see on social media is the best of a person's life. For those of us who are struggling with identity, what we see on our social media pages do nothing more than drive us into more and more despair as we compare our lives to what we see others doing in their life.

I've used this quote before but it fits here so perfectly I want to say it again. My friend likes to say this about the dangers of comparing ourselves to others. He says, "We get ourselves into trouble when we compare our insides to the outsides of others."

Social media is all about letting others see how amazing and awesome the outside of our lives really are. Do you think I'm being too harsh with my commentary of social media expressed in that last line?  Think about this for a minute. When was the last time you saw a picture of a person feeling totally hopeless over the loss of a job? When was the last time you saw a post that expressed the angst your friend has at making a relationship work? When was the last time you used social media to share how lonely you feel and how lost you are at times?

I'm not knocking social media. I'm not even knocking our use of social media. No, social media isn't the issue at all. Pastor Whitehead hit the nail on the head when he said, "What would it look like to take some of the time that we spend on managing our outward image and reallocate it toward cultivating the state of our soul before God?" Social media isn't being used to help us cultivate our soul before God. That's a victim making reality if we don't take steps to change how we use and enjoy social media, in my opinion.

What does it take to cultivate our souls before God? I don't know that there is a definitive list that truly answers this question, but three things come to mind for me. Let's take a look at them now.

The first thing that I think we need to cultivate our souls before God is relationship. We need real, open and safe relationships with God and with others in this world. Thing is that all the adjectives I used to describe relationships need to be there or our souls won't benefit from connecting with God and with others.

Those we relate to need to be safe. That means there needs to be a level of acceptance that makes us know we will be loved no matter what our lives look like. That's why not all our friends can be a real relation. Not all things are acceptable to another person. It takes time to cultivate a safe relationship where we can be real and open. Not taking time to make those kinds of relationships happen in our lives make it nearly impossible to cultivate the state of our soul in ways that make us realize how much of a victor we really are.

Secondly, we need quiet to cultivate the state of our soul before God. Outside of your time asleep, how much of your day is spent in quite? How much time do you give your brain a chance to just shut down a bit? I don't know if you are like me or not, but shutting off my brain can be a difficult proposition. It takes deliberate and consistent work to get my brain to a place where it gets a few moments of rest. I believe we need those few moments of rest so that we might be able to hear God's quiet and still voice a bit more clear. Nothing cultivates our soul like taking time to just be before our God rather than planning all we are going to do for Him.

Last thing that comes to mind when it comes to cultivating our soul is faith. It is when I ruminate on what God says about me that my soul begins to submit to my spirit in ways that make self image less and less important in my life. It is when the basis of identity is completely left up to how our outsides appear to the world that we end up doing nothing to cultivate our soul. Holding on to the fact that God choose us to be His Child makes the identity that comes with victor living something we can attain to in a more consistent way.

Take time to stir up some things in your soul. Like Pastor Whitehead said, it might be a little uncomfortable at first, but taking time to cultivate your soul will pay dividends in how your victor status impacts all that you will come into contact today.

Day 297 - Another Look at Peace

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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"That’s what flourishing in peace can do for a human’s life. We get connected to a power that makes big things happen in this world."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 114.

I was once in Sedona AZ. What an amazing place. There are seven spots around Sedona that the locals call a vortex. Apparently a vortex is a place where people say natural energy is somehow concentrated in a way that you can actually feel it. Folks make trips to these spots to get connected to a power for all kinds of reasons in their life.

The first time I was there, my wife and I were staying a short walk away from one of these vortex spots. We decided to go check it out for ourselves. When we got there we had to climb a little hill. Once on the top of that hill, I too could feel the energy emanating from this spot. I don't know if it was some magical concentration of power like the locals want to believe or just the mere fact that on the other side of this little hill was a 1000+ foot drop off.

I have to admit that standing on that hill top was very energizing. I actually felt something that I could describe as power in that spot. I'm not sure that I need to turn to the supernatural to explain that power. Anytime I have stood on the edge of a vast expanse, I have always felt something akin to energy flowing in my veins. This spot was but another example of the power that comes when nature does things to awe us in ways it can from time to time.

Even if what I felt at this spot wasn't the result of some mystical phenomenon, I really would like to go back there and experience that feeling again. There is something appealing, and maybe even a little addictive, to being connected to a power that is greater then our own, even if that power is nothing more than adrenaline flowing through our veins. I believe that victors can make a connection to that power when they move in ways to make peace in the soul something that guides their lives.

It is when we come to a place where true prosperity is a flourishing in our soul as a result of the peace God gives that a power, not unlike that I felt on that vortex in Sedona, is available to us all. When we are flourishing in our soul, the peace that comes makes it so that we are not pulled in ways by circumstance like others in this world.

This doesn't mean that we aren't taken aback when bad things happen to us. It is only natural to be caught a bit off guard by the way evil can work in and around our lives. Flourishing in the soul with God's peace makes it so that even in the bad times our circumstances don't have the power to alter our identities in victim making ways. In other words, we can be a victim of evil without letting victim thinking take over when God's peace is something that soothes our soul.

Take a look at today's Bible reading with me now. Check out what God wants us to know about His peace in our lives.

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 (ESV)

If we think that peace means that nothing challenging will happen in our lives, we are setting ourselves up for victim thinking. It is mighty easy to read today's verse and believe that God is saying that we will always have peace. In fact, that is what He is saying. Problem is, He is the one that decides what that peace is to look like. We don't have any say in the matter. 

It is when I think peace is the result of not having troubles in my life that I can really get myself into places where victim thinking controls my actions. Flourishing in the soul with God's peace happens as we take the last sentence from today's reading and apply it to our lives. 

Our reading today ends with the line, "The Lord be with you all." This isn't a hope or a desire of the author for the readers. This is a statement of fact. God is with us all the time. I know it is hard to feel His presence sometimes. That's simply the result of living in a fallen world. In Heaven, I don't think we will ever feel like His presence is missing in our lives. 

It isn't that we need to hope God will be with us in the bad times. He is there whether we know it or not. It is when we start to live with that understanding more and more in control that the kind of peace God is talking about in our reading today starts to be seen in and through our lives. It is when that kind of peace is seen that our souls relax in a way that makes flourishing a reality no matter what our circumstances look like. 

There is nothing wrong with wanting peace. What I'm hoping is that I will get better at seeking and finding a peace that lasts. That happens the more I believe I am all God says I am. In that place I can believe that God is with me in ways that calms my soul. 

Let the peace of God well up in your life today. Let it spill out in ways that others see it and respond to it. Let be the driving force behind all God has prepared for you to do. Let this be all the prosperity you need to let peace in the soul empower your victor status today. 

Day 296 - Finding Who I Am

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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“Self-centeredness leads to a demanding spirit that will ultimately leave victimization in its wake. ‘I AM’ leads to openness, freedom, acceptance, generosity and love that goes so far beyond what you and I will ever be able to provide on our own.”

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 98.

God often referred to Himself as "I AM" in the Old Testament of the Bible. I believe that self-centeredness comes as we fail to realize what this "I AM" is all about. When we take on the responsibility of defining and making happen our own identities in life, "I AM" takes on a meaning that makes victimization happen in ways God never intended.

“I AM” is such an appropriate description for the name of God. Basically what God is trying to get across is the fact that when it comes to anything good, God is the “I AM.” In other words, if you think good is all powerful, God’s name is “I AM POWERFUL.” If you think good is loving then God’s name is “I AM LOVING.” There are so many attributes that might be associated with a good God that it is just easier to shortened His name to “I AM.”

The Bible says that we are made in the image of God. I believe that this means that the name “I AM” is something that has meaning in our lives as fully as it does in God’s. Problem is that we either have no idea as to what “I AM” means in our lives or we take “I AM” so personally as to eliminate God completely from the picture.

Even though we are made in God’s image, we are not the “I AM”. Only God has that name. We do reflect His name in ways that make this world see Him in the light needed. It is when we take on the identity of “I AM” that we live in a place where victim making is the norm. There is nothing wrong with reflecting who God is. It is not a prudent strategy to believe that we somehow are what God says He is.

Most people deal with the issue of not having a clue when it comes to the “I AM” living inside them. These are the folks that are working so hard to prove something that God has already made happen. It is when we come to grips with the “I AM” inside each of us that identity starts to have the power to make victors of us all.

When it comes to God’s name reflecting in our lives, we need the Bible to help us flesh that out. Today, instead of reading just one verse, I want to take a look at some of the places where we too can apply an “I AM” based identity. Each of the verses below are connected in one sense. Each verse is a summation of what Jesus said as He made “I AM” statements.

“I AM” in the life of a vctor only happens in Christ. “I AM” doesn’t happen as we work hard. It doesn’t happen by desiring it to be. It only happens as we are in the one that the “I AM” describes in the first place. Take a look with me now at several places Jesus makes “I AM” statements. Let’s see if we can’t figure out what “I AM” might look like in the life of a victor.

• In John 14:6 Jesus says - I am the way, the truth and life. This means we can know the truth and move powerfully in that truth.
• In John 15:5 He says, I am the vine - This means we have a connection.
• From Revelation 1:8, Jesus tells us  - I am the Alpha & Omega - Jesus will always be there.
• John 6:47-50 has Jesus saying - I am the bread of life – I take this to mean we find the nourishment needed for life in Jesus.
• In John 8:12, Jesus says - I am the light of the world - We don't have to face the darkness alone.
• He says in Matthew 28:20 - I am with you always - We are never alone.
• And in Revelation 1:17-19, Jesus claims that - I am alive forever more - We have a hope for eternity.

There’s some “I AM” statements that make sense to me. Those are characteristics of who we are in God that I believe He wants to be the foundation for all we are and all we do. Take time today to let the “I AM” of God be what makes your identity be all you need it to be. Your victor status is what will be empowered when you reflect the “I AM” in your life today.

Day 295 - Taken Captive

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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"Why do I think God hates religion? It is because religion, in its worst form, makes us victims."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 83.

When we are stuck in victim thinking, we are in a kind of captivity that God hates. It is when the evil of this world does things to us that makes us believe that we will always be victims that we are bound up in ways that makes it nearly impossible to live out the destiny God has prepared for us to live.

Religion can be just as binding as any evil Satan might use to get us off track. Religion imposes rules and regulations with the hope that we can work our way into who God wants us to be. Jesus spoke harshly against such religion. Why? Because Jesus came to set us free. He paid a high price for that freedom. Anything, including religion, that threatens to put us back into bondage is something all Heaven will war against.

God is serious about our freedom. He wants us to live our life as a victor in as free a manner as possible. Check out what God says about freedom in our reading from today.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8 (NIV)

The wording from our reading today really makes me stop and think. Hollow and deceptive philosophy is what threatens our freedom. Human tradition is what gets in the way of the life Christ wants for us. Religion can be filled with philosophy and tradition that might be getting us off track.

How do we know if our freedom is in jeopardy? It is when rules and regulations based on traditional interpretation of what God wants from us overrides the love and acceptance we are to have for one another that red flags should be seen.

God isn’t about rules and regulations. He is about love. That love doesn’t happen as a result of letting tradition or philosophy dictate our worship style. That love happens as we enter into a symbiotic relationship with each other and with God Himself. Religion can’t do that if religion is based on dos and don’ts. That’s why Jesus spoke so strongly against religion. Religion binds. Love frees.

Our reading today has the answer to all this mess. The answer is Jesus. By relying on Him, religion becomes what God wants it to be – a safe place where people can be set free. Anything short of that is something that God detests. We should as well.

Drop all the rules. Crush the regulations. This doesn’t mean become lawless. That’s just foolish. What this means is don’t let rules and regulations be the basis from which you find identity. Let rules and regulations be the tool they were meant to be. Making rules and regulations the foundation of anything is such a damaging and captive making endeavor.

If you are a victor you were meant to be free. Don’t let anything bind you up when it comes to who you are. Yes you will be in positions where freedom will seem so restrictive. Circumstances aren’t the judge of who you are. They shouldn’t be the judge of your freedom either. Let the fact that God loves you be all the proof you need to live as the victor He is calling out in your life today.

Day 294 - Righteous Thinking

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 reality is that our efforts to be righteous will always, always fall short. There are times when we will find ourselves in a position of failing. Our righteousness is never as good as God’s righteousness for our lives."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 60.

If you don’t believe that last line I quoted from my book, then check out today’s Bible reading with me now.

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; Romans 3:10 (ESV)

Our righteousness will never be as good as God’s. If that weren’t enough, our reading today makes it clear that none of us are righteous! The quicker we get those thoughts into our heads, the faster we will be able to get victim thinking under control in our lives. It is when we believe that we can do things in order to prove something good about ourselves that victim thinking waits to pounce on all we do.

It isn’t that we are a bunch of slouches that can’t do anything right. Nothing could be further from the truth. What makes our efforts something that we just can rely on when it comes to identity is the fact that we aren’t perfect. It is when we fail to live up to some standard we have set for ourselves that victim thinking can start to take control.

Righteousness is really all about being perfect. Do you think you will ever be able to fall into that category? If you do think that way, good luck with that! Perfection just isn’t in the cards for us on this side of Heaven. That’s why relying on our actions to prove our identity is such a failed strategy. Without perfection, our actions can never be all they need to be to make who we are have lasting meaning.

Glen Cook, in his book, “Dreams of Steel” makes this important point about righteousness - “More evil gets done in the name of righteousness than any other way.”

This is a profound statement. More victims have been made by victors trying to “do” in order to “be” when it comes to proving righteousness in their lives. It is when the victor is driven to do things in order to establish and maintain an identity that those around them get victimized in ways God never intended.

By now, I hope you realize that I’m not saying that victors are to do nothing. What a waste of God-sized talent if we chose to just sit by and watch the world go by. No, do all you want. Just don’t let your doing be tied to who you are. Some of what you put your hand to will succeed in ways that make you feel like a victor. What you have to hold on to is the fact that even if your doing fails miserably, you still are a victor in God’s eyes.

I think God is desperate for us to see our lives the way He does. He doesn’t see us as useless and undesirable because of our imperfection. Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross He doesn’t even take our imperfection into account. He sees us as perfect because Jesus was perfect. I hope that fact is as freeing to you as it is to me.

When we are driven by the pressure to perform at a perfect level, we will do and say things that will cause victims all around us. That’s the evil Glen Cook is talking about that happens in the name of righteousness. If you want to live this life as the victor God sees you to be, that has to stop. It stops when you begin living your life the way God sees your life.

As God’s Child you are perfect. As God’s Child you are a victor. As God’s Child you are righteous. With this in mind, go and let your victor status change the world around you today.

Day 293 - Being Reminded

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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"When we are offended, we begin to create rules in our lives. We institute generalized regulations about people who remind us of the one who offended us in the first place."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 211.

Think of the last person who really offended you. Can you see their face? How does it make you feel to think about this person?

If you are like me, the mere thought of the person who last offended me makes me kind of angry. I even get a bit of a sick feeling in my stomach when that person comes to mind. Sad thing is that if we fail to deal with those feelings properly, they will drive us to do things in this life God never intended for us to take part in.

I said in my quote above that offense can make us institute rules regarding people who remind of those who have offended us. Certain nationalities, races, genders, occupations, roles, and even religions can become off limits when offense is allowed to linger in the life of the victor. If we fail to deal with the effects of offense for long periods of time, the world in which we are allowed to function gets smaller and smaller. When this happens, our impact on this world diminishes as well.

Take a look at what the Bible says about offense.

The way we know we’ve been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn’t love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don’t go together. 1 John 3:15 (MSG)

John says that the way we know we have been transformed by God Himself is by the characteristic of love. He says that transformation is the result when we show love for our brothers and sisters. Who are our brothers and sisters? I hate to tell you this but everyone is your brother and sister. Even that person that last offended you so badly is a brother or sister. You have been transformed when you are able to love that person just as fully as you can love someone who has treated you kindly.

Look, I’m in no way saying you have to have a deep and profound relationship with someone who has offended you. Some people are down right dangerous and need to be avoided. I don’t for a minute believe God is saying that we are to put ourselves in harms way and let dangerous people take advantage of us. At the same time, I do believe God is saying we are to love those people. How are we to do that?

I believe the place love begins is forgiveness. It is when we forgive those who have offended us that we are showing a love that is nothing short of Heavenly. Remember, forgiveness isn’t saying what the person did is alright. It isn’t saying that you have to be best buddies with the offender. Forgiveness isn’t even saying you have to forget what they did. Forgiveness is all about bringing freedom to you, not giving the person who hurt you a pass.

The more we forgive, the more the love John is talking about happens in our lives. Transformation happens as we learn to love through the lessons of forgiveness.

Our reading from John makes an interesting connection between love and death. He says, “Anyone who doesn’t love is as good as dead!” Those are pretty strong words. I don’t think John is talking about physical death. I think he is taking about a death that happens inside when love isn’t what God intends it to be in our lives.  It is when we fail to forgive that love dries up, and I believe John’s words about death become more real than we might want them to be.

Do you want to feel dead or alive in all you get to do today? If you want to feel alive, then love. You love as you start forgiving all those in your life who have offended you. The power you need to live out your victor status comes as you are transformed by God Himself. Let the love God has for you be all you need to make forgiveness be a power in your life like never before.

Day 292 - Timeless

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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“My mistake wasn’t in thinking that God is going to use me for something BIG. It was in limiting God to these 80 or so years I have here on earth to make that BIG happen.”

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 195.

Do you know how long eternity is? It is a really long time. When it comes to time and the understanding of what time means, perspective is such a critical thing to have.

My son-in-law was born and raised in the UK. He has helped me see the importance of perspective when it comes to time. I often see the look on his face when I say some structure in our state is old. I once asked him what that smile meant when I was pointing out some antiquity to him. He said, that compared to structures in the UK, the age of everything in the US is nothing short of young.

He is so right. Old to one person is something quite different than to another. Anything, like age, that relies on time has to be discussed from a consistent framework or the discussion won’t make any sense. That is just as true when the life span of a person is taken into account.

I believe much of the thinking that has made us into a Victim-Based Society stems from the fact that we view time from the perspective of our time here on earth. Eighty or so years is but a drop in the bucket when it comes to eternity. Yet, we live this life thinking that we have such a short time to get so much done. That kind of thinking drives us to actions that threaten to make victims all around us.

Our Bible reading today paints a powerful picture of eternity. More importantly, take a look at the role of identity when it comes to forever.

May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed! Psalm 72:17 (ESV)

Psalm 17 is a chapter written by Solomon. Solomon is said to be the wisest man to have ever lived. He is writing this Psalm as a blessing on the King of Israel. This is a position he will hold before his time on earth is done.

In this chapter of the Bible, Solomon paints a picture of entreaty when it comes to the reign and the name of the king. It is an allusion to the reign and name of our King – God Himself. I don’t think Solomon is overstepping his bounds when he asks God to bless the King with staying power. I believe Solomon is showing us how we are to live when it comes to time. Solomon is working from an eternal perspective when it comes to blessing. I think we are to do the same.

I found a quote from Rick Warren that highlights my point. Pastor Rick says; "When you live in the light of eternity, your values change." There is so much truth in that statement. If we view our purpose, and the time we have to make that purpose happen, in light of our earthly existence, our values are going to be such that victimization can’t help but to be the result. When we view purpose from an eternal perspective, our values work to make victors of all we come into contact with on this journey called life.

When we think that we have but a hand full of decades to live out our destiny, we can become driven. Relationships can take a back seat. The needs of loved ones become distractions to a purpose that makes those needs pale by comparison. It is so easy to step on and over people when we think that time is short to make purpose happen.

When we view the time we have to make purpose happen from an eternal perspective, things change. Distractions become opportunities to serve. Purpose takes on an entirely different meaning when eternity is how we view the time we have to make that purpose happen. When eternity is what drives our view of time, even our failures take on a power that just can’t happen when we feel pressed for time to get life moving like we think it should.

God isn’t pressed by time. Why should we be. This doesn’t mean that we waste the precious time we have here on earth. At the same time, we don’t horde that time in ways that exclude those God might be bringing into our path for eternal purposes. Don’t let time be your taskmaster. You have all the time in the world. That’s the reality a victor has at their disposal. They are eternal! Live a life of eternal consequence as you let forever be the basis from which your destiny happens.