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Today's Bible reading holds a wonderful secret to victor living. It says in God's word...
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, Ephesians 3:16 (NIV)
What's the secret? It is that if you rely on God to establish, confirm and maintain your victor status you are rich. That's right. Did you know that you are rich in God's eyes? If we can live in the fact that no matter what our bank account says, no matter what our position in this world might be, we are considered one of the richest beings on the face of the earth.
It is when we live from that place of perspective that the things of this world take on a different meaning. Money, status, position, power, prestige - they all are important, but they have nothing to do with who we are. We spend so much of our time chasing those, and a whole host of other attributes, trying to make ourselves and others think that we are victors. In Christ our victor status doesn't need to be proven.
I like how The Message words our reading today. It says...
I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength... Ephesians 3:16 (MSG)
The riches we have in Christ is a strength, a glorious inner strength. Think back to a time when you felt particularly strong in who you were. Remember those times when what you were doing just seemed to turn out in amazing ways? Didn't you feel empowered during that time? It was like you could do anything. It was almost like nothing mattered - all was right with the world and that made you feel amazing.
That's the strength God is talking about when He says that in our walk with Him we are rich. When we try to make our circumstances be the driving force behind that strength, we put ourselves in positions where victim thinking will be the result. You see, in this world we will always face failure. Perfection will never be a dependable characteristic in our lives. Stay in that place where our failed attempts to get that feeling of victorious living for too long and victim thinking can't help but to be a part of who we are.
God doesn't want that for us at all. It is only when we choose to be who He says we are that our circumstances take on less of an authority in our lives. That inner strength promised by God is worth more than all the gold and silver we might be able to earn in what we do. This statement is so true in our lives because gold and silver aren't permanent! Those who are rich today are often poor tomorrow and vice versa. Depending on circumstances to make us rich just can't work for those of us wanting to live this life as the victors God sees us to be.
Thing is that circumstances do influence how I feel. Don't they do the same to you? This doesn't make us bad - it makes us human. If circumstances are going to influence how I feel and that makes victim thinking possible in my life, what's the answer to victor living? I believe our reading has the answer we need to consider. Prayer is the key to being able to sidestep the influence circumstances have in our life.
It is when we take time to be with God that His perspective starts to make the things around us strangely dim. Knowing that He is with us makes how things turn out not have the impact that they once had in our lives. Prayer connects us to Him and makes it that much easier to live out our lives in a victorious way independent of the victories we may or may not have.
I have found that we are pretty bad at living our a life based on prayer. For most of us prayer looks like bowing our heads and closing our eyes. There is nothing wrong with this posture, but prayer is so much more than that.
In it's most general sense, prayer is all about communing with God. It's like a conversation. How many of you have a conversation with your best friend with your head bowed and your eyes closed? Just like that communication with your friend, prayer is about connecting. Prayer can be as simple as the word, "HELP!" Prayer can be long stretches of silence as you sit and let God ponder your life with you. Prayer can be emotional, exuberant and exhausting, all at the same time. There is not a formula for prayer except that we need it in our lives.
I want to be rich. I'm starting to see how rich I am. My richness aren't a result of what I own. They are directly tied to how connected I am with the God that made me. Look, God isn't going to force His presence on us. In a sense, He isn't going to make us feel rich. Accepting God's riches is a choice we have to make.
All I know is that making that choice is allowing me to free up so much more of my capacities to pursue all the other things in this world that I like to have in my life. The peace and rest that comes with believing that I am already rich, makes it that much easier for me to do what I feel lead to do that might bring into my life all those other things I have looked to to feel rich in the past. Whether those other things come or not, I'm still rich. There's a power in that statement that I pray you want in your life as well.
Victory isn't what makes you a victor. It is God's presence that makes our victor status come alive. Connect with your God and let the glorious riches of His Kingdom be all it was meant to be in your life today.
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