**********
"Victor living isn’t about us GETTING what we think would be best for us to live the good life we chase so relentlessly in this life. The victor’s life is about LIVING the dream. Not our dream, but God’s dream."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 227.
I have a friend who, when asked "How are you?" always says, "Living The Dream!" How about you? Are you living the dream?
There are days when the life of my dreams is nothing short of a nightmare. Those are the days when I wonder what I did to deserve the badness that might be victimizing me at that time. It is when I think my life is a nightmare that victim thinking can really take hold of my life.
It is so easy to see life in such a negative light when bad things are happening to us. It is hard to see any goodness that we have when our circumstances aren't turning out quite the way we wanted them to. Fact is, there is plenty of good in any person's life, even in some of the worst times of life.
It is when we expect a good life because of who we think we are that victim thinking can really works its way into our lives. This is especially the case when we think that our walk with God guarantees goodness to be what He always provides.
There are so many of us followers of Christ that have a warped view of what God's goodness is to look like in our lives. We have tied God's goodness to everything being good as we would define that word. It is just like when we make victor living all about experiencing victory in our lives. If victory is the only definition of what a victor's life is to look like, none of us can ever expect to be victors all the time. Fact is we win some and we lose some. If victory is the hallmark of being a victor then when we lose victor isn't something we can ever claim. Apply that line of thinking to God's goodness and you see the problem with making His goodness be all about you receiving what you want all the time.
What we have to remember is that the word good is such a relative term. I have family members who think that good is eating fish for breakfast. I have to tell you that the thought of fish, especially for breakfast is the furthest thing from good I could ever imagine. Using a word like good to describe food can cause disagreement due to the fact that our tastes are so different. The same goes for the word good when we use our lives as the primary focus for what good is suppose to look like.
What God sees as good might look to be the absolute worse thing we could ever imagine. It was "good" for Abraham to have to wait over 100 years to see his first child born. It was "good" for Joseph to be sold into slavery by his brothers. It was good that David would be viciously pursued by King Saul. It was "good" that Paul went blind at the sight of God. It was "good" for Jesus to die on the cross.
Each of these key Biblical events weren't all that good to the individual. Fact is, however, that the goodness that you and I enjoy in our walk with God might not have happened were it not for these terrible events happening to each of these people. What one person saw as bad was seen as good when viewed from God's perspective. God sees life in such a different way than we do. Sometimes that view makes the bad times we face part of a good plan for all of God's creation.
That fact doesn't make it any easier to deal with the victimizing feelings that come at us when bad times hit. That's why we have to be so careful not to tie things like victory or our definition of what good is suppose to be to who we are in the eyes of this God that made us. When we do tie our thinking to who we are, God looks to be a pretty big victimizer. This makes our walk with Him be fueled by victim thinking on our part.
So, what's a person to do when it comes to what good might mean in our lives? I think today's reading sheds some light on the answer to this question. It says...
You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Acts 10:36-38 (NIV)
Two times the word good is used here. The first time it is used to describe the Gospel. The news of Jesus is called "good news." That's what Gospel means - "good news." Think about that for a moment. What we see as good news - the death of Jesus Christ - is called "GOOD" news. Could it be that some of the victimizing things that are happening to you right now is going to be seen as something good for someone else down the road? I know that isn't enough to make what you are going through OK at the moment. It wasn't OK for Jesus when He hung on that cross either.
The second time the word good is used in today's reading describes the work Jesus did while he walked this earth. It says the good He did came as he healed all those under the power of the devil. This is more than just making the blind see and the lame walk. The power of the devil is something we need to see as being pervasive in our world. It is just as much behind the blindness and handicaps Jesus healed as it is behind the badness happening to you right now. The goodness being referred to here isn't just being taken out of the badness that is happening. God's goodness is the fact that Satan just can't win.
That's what the good news of Jesus is all about. That's why good can be seen in the terrible times that come against us. God's good news is that Satan just can't win in our lives. Though it looks like he is way ahead at times, the race isn't over. Satan is doomed. That means he can't keep us down. God's good news is that we are victors no matter how much victory seems to be missing in our lives.
It is when we stop demanding that God's goodness be what we want for our lives that victor living takes on a power unlike anything victory can ever bring. Satan is confounded by the fact that we continue to worship this God in spite of how Satan makes all the badness that happens in this world look like it came from the hands of God. It is when the don't buckle under the weight of the badness in our lives to give up our victor status that the goodness of God can be seen even in the badness that comes our way.
Even when your life feels like a nightmare, God's dream is hard at work in your life. Don't give up on who you are. You aren't defined by the victimizing events in your life. Believing you are is the epitome of victim thinking. It is good that God calls you His child. It is good that you will not be defeated by Satan's attacks. It is good that you are representing a goodness that this world is hungry for. Stand strong in who you are. Let your victor status make the life you live today a dream straight from the heavenly realm.
There are days when the life of my dreams is nothing short of a nightmare. Those are the days when I wonder what I did to deserve the badness that might be victimizing me at that time. It is when I think my life is a nightmare that victim thinking can really take hold of my life.
It is so easy to see life in such a negative light when bad things are happening to us. It is hard to see any goodness that we have when our circumstances aren't turning out quite the way we wanted them to. Fact is, there is plenty of good in any person's life, even in some of the worst times of life.
It is when we expect a good life because of who we think we are that victim thinking can really works its way into our lives. This is especially the case when we think that our walk with God guarantees goodness to be what He always provides.
There are so many of us followers of Christ that have a warped view of what God's goodness is to look like in our lives. We have tied God's goodness to everything being good as we would define that word. It is just like when we make victor living all about experiencing victory in our lives. If victory is the only definition of what a victor's life is to look like, none of us can ever expect to be victors all the time. Fact is we win some and we lose some. If victory is the hallmark of being a victor then when we lose victor isn't something we can ever claim. Apply that line of thinking to God's goodness and you see the problem with making His goodness be all about you receiving what you want all the time.
What we have to remember is that the word good is such a relative term. I have family members who think that good is eating fish for breakfast. I have to tell you that the thought of fish, especially for breakfast is the furthest thing from good I could ever imagine. Using a word like good to describe food can cause disagreement due to the fact that our tastes are so different. The same goes for the word good when we use our lives as the primary focus for what good is suppose to look like.
What God sees as good might look to be the absolute worse thing we could ever imagine. It was "good" for Abraham to have to wait over 100 years to see his first child born. It was "good" for Joseph to be sold into slavery by his brothers. It was good that David would be viciously pursued by King Saul. It was "good" that Paul went blind at the sight of God. It was "good" for Jesus to die on the cross.
Each of these key Biblical events weren't all that good to the individual. Fact is, however, that the goodness that you and I enjoy in our walk with God might not have happened were it not for these terrible events happening to each of these people. What one person saw as bad was seen as good when viewed from God's perspective. God sees life in such a different way than we do. Sometimes that view makes the bad times we face part of a good plan for all of God's creation.
That fact doesn't make it any easier to deal with the victimizing feelings that come at us when bad times hit. That's why we have to be so careful not to tie things like victory or our definition of what good is suppose to be to who we are in the eyes of this God that made us. When we do tie our thinking to who we are, God looks to be a pretty big victimizer. This makes our walk with Him be fueled by victim thinking on our part.
So, what's a person to do when it comes to what good might mean in our lives? I think today's reading sheds some light on the answer to this question. It says...
You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Acts 10:36-38 (NIV)
Two times the word good is used here. The first time it is used to describe the Gospel. The news of Jesus is called "good news." That's what Gospel means - "good news." Think about that for a moment. What we see as good news - the death of Jesus Christ - is called "GOOD" news. Could it be that some of the victimizing things that are happening to you right now is going to be seen as something good for someone else down the road? I know that isn't enough to make what you are going through OK at the moment. It wasn't OK for Jesus when He hung on that cross either.
The second time the word good is used in today's reading describes the work Jesus did while he walked this earth. It says the good He did came as he healed all those under the power of the devil. This is more than just making the blind see and the lame walk. The power of the devil is something we need to see as being pervasive in our world. It is just as much behind the blindness and handicaps Jesus healed as it is behind the badness happening to you right now. The goodness being referred to here isn't just being taken out of the badness that is happening. God's goodness is the fact that Satan just can't win.
That's what the good news of Jesus is all about. That's why good can be seen in the terrible times that come against us. God's good news is that Satan just can't win in our lives. Though it looks like he is way ahead at times, the race isn't over. Satan is doomed. That means he can't keep us down. God's good news is that we are victors no matter how much victory seems to be missing in our lives.
It is when we stop demanding that God's goodness be what we want for our lives that victor living takes on a power unlike anything victory can ever bring. Satan is confounded by the fact that we continue to worship this God in spite of how Satan makes all the badness that happens in this world look like it came from the hands of God. It is when the don't buckle under the weight of the badness in our lives to give up our victor status that the goodness of God can be seen even in the badness that comes our way.
Even when your life feels like a nightmare, God's dream is hard at work in your life. Don't give up on who you are. You aren't defined by the victimizing events in your life. Believing you are is the epitome of victim thinking. It is good that God calls you His child. It is good that you will not be defeated by Satan's attacks. It is good that you are representing a goodness that this world is hungry for. Stand strong in who you are. Let your victor status make the life you live today a dream straight from the heavenly realm.
No comments:
Post a Comment