Day 262 - Seeing Perfection

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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"But love isn’t about finding or attaining perfection. It is about seeing perfection through God’s eyes."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 82.

Oh if we could live that quote more fully in our lives everyday. It is when I'm viewing things through the eyes of God that perfection in this world is something I can attain to. It is also something that I start to see in all of us who are far from perfect. Seeing this world as God does gives me the perspective I need to begin living the fullness of what I think God is teaching me a victor's life is suppose to look like. 

We spend so much time trying to define, create and maintain some level of perfection. What a total and absolute waste of time. First of all, perfection cannot ever be attained as long as we live on this earth. Perfection just isn't possible, let alone sustainable. It is only when we start to see things as God does that the ability to catch glimpses of perfection come our way. 

Today's Bible reading reminds of the struggle with perfection we face in this world. 

I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself. Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above. All of us who are spiritually mature should have this same attitude. But if some of you have a different attitude, God will make this clear to you. Philippians 3:12-15 (GNT)

I have met few people who, I might be tempted to compare to the level of performance Paul applied in his walk with God. Maybe someone like Billy Graham is someone of the caliber of Paul when it comes to their faith and living out their faith like Paul did. The rest of us pale by comparison! 

How does that last statement make you feel about yourself? For many of us, realizing that we are a poor comparison when it comes to someone else is such a hard thing for us to hear. That kind of statement makes me want to double down on my efforts to try and be better at "doing" so my "being" can be seen in a better light. That's a perspective on perfection that will literally kill our ability to live like the victor God has called us to live. 

Paul and Dr. Graham would never even think themselves as being perfect. Both of these great men would look at the sum of their lives and still have a twinge of guilt that they didn't do enough. That blows me away! How could a man like Paul, whose writings have inspired and changed the life of billions of people think that he didn't do enough? How could a man like Dr. Graham, who personally spoke to over 200 million people in live events (that doesn't include those who heard Dr. Graham on the radio or saw him on the TV), ever think His life fell short? 

I can tell you how they can think that way. Their lives did fall short. They weren't perfect. Neither are you and neither am I. God is perfect. The only way we can get the twinge of guilt out of our lives, as I know Dr. Graham did and I'm sure Paul was able to do is to see perfection through the eyes of the God that made us. 

God knows we aren't perfect. God knows that our efforts will always fall short. Why do you think He took such drastic measures to make a way for us. Do you think that offering up His only son to make a pathway in our imperfection for a perfect relationship with Him to be possible was an easy thing to do. How would you feel if the only way to make something important happen in your life was to take similar steps? Don't you know the anguish God must have felt at making that kind of painful decision. 

What makes it possible for God to make such a decision? It is the perfection that comes from a perfect love. That's our only hope at attaining to and maintaining a life of perfection. Trying to make perfection happen through our doing is such a victim thinking strategy. Trying to maintain perfection through our efforts is such a victimizing endeavor. Perfection is only possible as we "be" the victors God made us to be. 

Isn't it time to get you vision checked? Don't you want to see things as perfectly as God does? I believe that is all possible as we let what God says about us rule in our lives. It is when we believe in who we are that what we do will become more of the application of perfection in our lives. Let your day be all about being perfect. Don't expect that you will attain to that perfection on your own. Let God show you how perfection is being lived out in all you do as you let your victor status be the foundation of all you put your hand to today.

Day 261 - Being outdoes Doing

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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..."'being' out-does 'doing' when it comes to drawing near to this God."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 80.

When I think of doing, as it relates to who I am, it feels so slimy. It makes me think of the quote, "Fake it till you make it." That might be a good way to live out a role I'm playing at a given time, but the thought of what it takes to make an identity work just doesn't fit this kind of living as far as I'm concerned.

You see I had rather simply be who I am than work to make others, and myself, think I am a certain way. Believe me, that hasn't always been true in my life. Doing as a strategy to make identity work in my life has been a way of making me feel like I'm something more than I think for way too long. Now, that method of getting to who I am makes me feel so purposeless and lost. All the effort it takes to live a "Faking it till I make it" kind of life is exhausting to me. Unfortunately, with identity way too many of us never make it. That means all that faking it does nothing but confuse us and all those around us.

It is when our efforts "doing" to try and be what we think we need to be to be loved or valued or accepted fall short that victim thinking can really take hold in our lives. When it comes to identity, it is best to just be who God made us to be. Even that strategy of life can be so challenging in the world that we live in.

Satan has done such a good job of making us think that who we are will never be enough. Truth is, that in of ourselves, that is really true. It is when we view identity through the lens of eternity that things start to make some sense from the world's perspective.

That' what I mean when I said "being out does doing" when it comes to how we view our lives and God in our lives. We will never be able to do enough to become what we think we need to be in order to feel the fullness of what God wants to give us for free. All our effort to become something we think the world will admire and/or love are nothing more than time wasted. The world will never admire and love us like God does. Does that last statement shock you? It should! It is so true.

God does love us. He also admires us. His admiration isn't from a place where we have something He doesn't. No, that's not the kind of admiration He has for us. His admiration comes from a place of desiring relationship. He admires the fact that we have the ability to choose to be with Him. He doesn't seek relationships with us because we can do something for Him He can't do for Himself. His drive for relationship comes from a characteristic that we too carry in our lives. God, just like us, wants to be waned. He wants a people to choose to love Him.

I know that sounds a bit unstable. It sounds that way to us because we have seen unstable love in this world demonstrated in codependent ways that are truly sick. Our view of love has been tainted by the fact that what this world says is good when it comes to love make us doubt God's Love in our lives. God's love hasn't been tainted. Our view of His love has been warped by the this fallen world. He isn't codependent in the ways we have been victimized by in this world. God's love isn't a sick thing - It is a power house of fullness that victors need to tap into more in their lives. We tap into that powerhouse more by being than by doing.

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

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)

That beauty Peter is talking about here is more than just how we look. There is a beauty that is exuded when we stop trying to "do" to be beautiful and just "be" the beauty God sees us to be. That happens more when we are in position of knowing who God says we are and simply live in that belief rather than trying to make that identity come to fruition.

Sad thing is that we often can't see how effective we are in our being. We are way too concerned with making things happen that we can quantify and measure. Those are the things we look to as proof that our identity is working. That's such a failed and victim making strategy.

I know how hard it is not to see proof of who I am all the time. Want an action that guarantees proof when it comes to who we are? Get involved in the lives of others. My guarantee is that others will see who you are as you be what God made you to be. I also guarantee that you won't see the fullness of that identity as clearly as those you are in relationship with.

Why won't you see the fullness of your identity? I think God made it that way. I'm sure you are not this way, but if I saw the completeness of my identity in the lives of those I have relationship with as fully as those people see my identity, my ego would puff my head so large I couldn't fit in my car to go see these people. God is protecting me from myself in this strategy. But, know this, others see, appreciate and are being changed by the identity God has given you by you simply being that identity as you love on other people.

So, what are you going to do today. I hope it is just be. I don't mean that you are to stop all you have planned and sit staring at the wall. Although we do need more times like that in our lives, that might not be what God intends for you today. Go and do all you have planned, but let the fact that you are all God made you to be, be what makes your doing take on a power that is nothing short of amazing. Don't let you doing be what defines you. You are already defined. Let the knowledge that you are God's Child be all you need to "be" the fullness of your victor status today.

Day 260 - Selfish Independent Nature

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 is not knowing Jesus a sin? Simply stated, God knows how futile it is to try and be holy and righteous, even in a secular way, without the power of being God’s Child."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 59.

I have a pastor friend that says "SIN" in an acronym for something we all have in our lives. Sin stands for "Selfish Independent Nature." 

So much of the world is turned off by the word sin. I think we hate the notion of sin because it divides us into two camps. One one side are those that sin. They are the bad ones. They are the ones to stay away from lest they be able to draw you into the bad camp. On the other side of the ledger are those that don't sin. They are the good ones. They are the ones we need to make examples of so that we all will be able to join that "in" group. What a crock! 

It is when we view sin from a good and bad perspective that we put ourselves in a position of death. God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He explained that by eating of that tree they would die. Equating sin to good verses bad is eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. All it does is bring death. When we make sin about good and bad we kill relationships, we kill our ability to live like the victors we want to be and we kill our ability to reflect the loving power of a God that wants the best for us. 

That's why I love my friends acronym for sin. You don't have to be particularly religious to know that when we live focused on our own selfish independent nature, sin is something that makes living with one another a real challenge. 

How many people do you know that when you run into them in public, all you are going to get is a running diatribe of their lives? Don't you know those folks who just can't seem to bring themselves to understand that your life might be filled with some challenges as well? I'm sure you can point out people in your sphere of influence that are so self focused that they can turn any event in their lives into a drama of epic proportions. 

Let me ask you a question about those people? Do you like being around them for very long? If you are anything like me, you turn and run when you see those folks in the grocery store. Sadly, even this attitude I'm exhibiting now is a pretty good example of sin, when sin is considered from the acronym of Selfish Independent Nature. My wanting to avoid those people is nothing more than my desire to not get splattered with the relational mud of someone else stuck only thinking about themselves. 

With that definition of SIN firmly in place, lets go back and revisit the premise of the quote I read at the beginning of this presentation. The Bible says that it is a sin to fail to get to know this Jesus in your life. That sure does sound like a pretty narrow view of a relationship with God. Sin - don't you think that is too strong a word for those that choose not to get to know this savior called Jesus?

Well, when you view SIN through the lens of living in a place of being selfish, I think there is a really strong correlation between sin and not knowing Jesus. To help emphasize the problem of our selfish ways when it comes to sin, check out today's Bible reading with me now. 

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 (NIV)

It is the epitome of selfish independent nature to think that we can ever get to this God in Heaven on our own efforts. God is perfect. Even if we are, somehow able to live a perfect life from this moment on, there is something in the past that was done from a place of our selfish interdependent nature. Even if it was just one selfish thing that we did, according to our reading today, we are disqualified from ever entering in to an eternal relationship with the God that made us. 

Along the same lines, we will never be able to live like the victor God has called us to be if we think we can create and maintain an identity that has world changing impact all on our own. That's a SIN approach to identity if we use selfish independent nature as the definition of sin. Not knowing Jesus and thinking we can know ourselves by the results of our own efforts position selfish independent nature as something that makes a lot of sense when we think in terms of sin working to separate us from our God. 

What's the answer to all this SIN in our lives? Well I can tell you right now it has little to do with just changing your ways. That's just the selfish side of our lives trying to fix a problem that only makes SIN more prevalent in our lives. Sure it will take some will power to make our selfish ways less and less impacting in our lives. But, will power isn't the answer. Jesus is. 

The Bible says Jesus didn't have SIN. He didn't act in ways that could ever be attributed to selfish independent nature. He told His disciples that EVERYTHING He did was done as a result of watching what His Father was doing and joining Him in on that endeavor. Jesus never stepped outside his bounds and acted in a selfish way. He was tempted to do so, just like we are on a moment by moment basis. Yet, Christ never stepped into SIN. 

God wants us to live our lives as a victor by letting our nature be seen through the perfect nature of Jesus Christ. He wants us to live in a place free from the need to strive to get our lives right. He wants us free from being trapped in that place of never ending work so that we will be ready to join Him in some pretty ambitious projects He has made plans for in our lives. That only happens when we stop doing things to try and be something and just be who God says we are. 

That's the power of living like a victor. SIN doesn't play the kinds of roles in our lives it use to. As we grow more an more into the victor God has called us to be we begin to see how a dependent nature trumps a SIN nature any day of the week. 

Take on your day today with the power of knowing who you are. Let Jesus be all He needs to be in your life to make your selfish independent nature bow down to a dependency on God like never before. In doing so your ability to shake off victim thinking and live in that place of a victor comes alive in ways your efforts could never duplicate. 

Day 259 - Sever the Ties

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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"Being a victor isn’t about being victorious in this world."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 37.

Having victory doesn’t necessarily make you a victor just like missing victory doesn’t take away from the fact that you are a victor. Those who want to throw off the bonds of victim thinking hold on tight to the fact that the tie between victory and being a victor HAS TO BE severed. Whether you have victory or not in your life can’t define what it means to be a victor for the Child of God’s.

The more one relies on the outcome of each and every circumstance as proof of a victor’s status, the more they will fall into the trap of victim thinking. How can you possibly believe that you are a victor when your NEED for victory as proof is always at odds with this fallen world in which we live? Fact is, we are going to win some and some we are going to lose. It is when losses become more of what we expect in life that victor living becomes so hard to let rule in our lives. As true as I'm seeing this fact to be, I find it so easy to allow victorious living to be tied to whether I believe I am a victor or not.

This is a way of life God never intended for us. We weren't made to be bogged down in the muck and mire of self doubt stemming from failures in a failed world. In fact, the Bible is pretty blunt about circumstances in this life. It says;

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 (NIV)

Troubles are just part of the world we live in. You don’t have to have a relationship with God to know how true that statement is from time to time. It is when troubles hit that our strategy to let circumstances confirm our identity fails us miserably. Troubles make victim thinking a real possibility when we fail to sever our ties to what we do when we consider who we are.

But, God wants so much more for His Children. Today’s reading promises a powerful attribute to those who sever these ties. That promise is Peace.

I'm starting to believe that the quality of peace is what makes us rich. I know a lot of very wealthy people who don't have peace. I know a lot of very significant people who live in a state of constant internal turmoil. Have you ever been in that state of internal conflict that makes peace so elusive? I sure have. Those times are as close to hell as I hope I will ever get.

It isn't how much money we might make that makes us a victor. It isn't how well I do a task that makes me believe I am all God sees me to be. It is the quality of peace that makes victor living have the power I think God ordained for us all. Our reading today says that that peace comes with knowledge. Peace doesn't come as we know what to do. That peace doesn't come as we learn how to do what we need to do better. That peace comes as we know who we are in this God's eyes and who this God is in our lives.

Are you looking for a little peace in your life today? For the victor, peace is a promise that we can take for the asking. To get that peace we must continually disconnect our identity from the desire to have victory in our lives. Whether we are victorious or not in this world, we are victors. Grab for all the peace you can today and live the life of a victor Don’t let the presence of victories or the absence of them play any part in who you are in God’s eyes.

Day 258 - Turned on End

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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"As we have seen with destiny and identity, perspective plays the key role in understanding our rights when it comes to being a victor."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 205.

Perspective. Can we ever have too much of this amazing trait. How we see things can be so warped if our perspective isn't quite right.

I once watched as an artist friend of mind paint a picture as another friend spoke on faith and fear. Here were two very creative people using what God had blessed them with in their victor status to help get across a point on perspective that I still can't get out of my head.

As my friend highlighted how fear and faith war against each other, my artist friend painted this canvas with an image of a face obviously in fear. He added details to this piece of art that made the words my other friend spoke come alive in ways that really hit too close to home. It was as though with each stroke of the brush, the artist was telling my story. Every color, every nuance of this piece of art reminded me of those times when fear controlled my life. Those were times when victim thinking was in firm control.

As I listened to the words being spoken, trying to make sense of where this all was going, the artist did something amazing. Just as my friend began talking about how faith works to make fear something that doesn't need to be the controlling factor in our lives, the artist took the canvas he was working on and turned it upside down.

This perspective shift literally turned everything on its head. As words of faith were being spoken over us all, the artist took this piece of art that conveyed fear so perfectly and started to add small brushstrokes. Nothing dramatic was changed by the paint he added. Yet, change is what happened.

Now, that face filled with fear was a face changed by faith. Within seconds, a dark and hopeless image was filled with light and hope. It wasn't that the artist repainted a dark image in a way to make it light. That light image was actually in what was created from darkness. In other words, the face of faith that was so hard to see in the middle of fear was actually there all along. All it took to make me be able to see the image of faith was a perspective change. Turning that canvass upside down made it possible for my brain to see what was there all along.

That's how perspective works. The truth we need so desperately to make it another day is there. It isn't lost or being hidden from us. It is simply that our natural faculties get duped into seeing things a certain way until perspective is introduced.

It is the same with whatever we find important in our lives. Destiny, purpose, hope, faith, success, worth, value... all are doomed to be viewed in a way that allows victim thinking to enter the picture if perspective isn't taken into account.

Today's Bible reading really highlights the need to let perspective be all it can be in the victor's life.

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (MSG)

If we are viewing our life from the perspective of a natural orientation we are doomed to failure. Being stuck in a place of failure can't help but make us live trapped in victim thinking. It is when we view our problems, our challenges, our circumstances and our prospects from a perspective of eternity that victor living takes on a power that can't be denied.

You see, when we look at things like our destiny or our purpose or our identity from the perspective of our circumstances we are seeing things upside down. It is when perspective is shifted so radically that we begin to see the picture of hope and faith that was there all along. Had my artist friend hadn't turned that canvas over, fear would have won out. That radical change in perspective made it so that I could understand faith beats fear in ways I would have never understood if perspective wasn't emphasized in such a dramatic way that evening not too long ago.

How about your life? Are you seeing things in a way that could benefit by a radical perspective change? Join the club. All of us are in that boat. It's time to step out of that boat. Maybe it is our time to walk on water. That can only happen as we let things get flipped on end. The miracle of victor living can only be possible as our perspective changes.

Take time today to consider all your circumstances from the perspective of Heaven. I can't say that your circumstances will change. Remember, that piece of art my friend painted didn't change. It was the change in perspective that made that dark painting become a representation of light. The same might just happen in your challenging circumstances. Heavenly perspective might make what you face today take on a different power. That can only happen with perspective change.

Let you victor status be empowered by how God sees you. Don't let how you see things be all that makes your day be all it can be. Make God's perspective be all it needs to, to turn your world upside down. The image of destiny, purpose, hope, faith, success, worth, and value you need to make your victor status be all it can be is in all that is happening right now in your life. Let God's perspective open your eyes to the image that has been there all along.

Day 257 - Confession & Thanks

Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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I had the opportunity recently to stop and think about the true meaning behind the term "Thank You." Have you ever done that? Have you ever come to a place where something you have said all your life just doesn't make any sense any more? It isn't that you don't know what you have been talking about, all this time. It is more that what you have been saying has been said so many times that the true meaning is hard to put your finger on. At least that is how it is for me from time to time.

Such was the case this one day when "Thank You" just didn't make a lot of sense to me. Thank God for the Internet on such occasions. Google has opened the door to a world of knowledge that makes days like this a real joy to me.

I have been learning that I am more able to live this life as a victor when I am intentional about staying in the moment. It is the failures of the past or the fears I have for the future that make it so easy to slip into patterns of thinking that make victor living that much more difficult for me to achieve.

Few things help me to stay in the moment better than does being thankful. There is something about being thankful for what is happening right this moment that is so difficult for me to explain. All I know is that taking time to be thankful, even when my circumstances don't seem to warrant thanks, makes it so much easier for me to live in the moment. Thanks helps me to be content. When I'm content it is much more difficult for me to react to the past or obsess about the future.

For that reason, I really wanted to get back to a place where "Thank You" had a meaning I couldn't take for granted. As I dug into some things written on the Internet about the origin of the word "Thanks" I was drawn to see what the Bible said as well. I found that in the version I was looking at on that day the word "Thank" was only used 25 times in God's Word. I decided to take a look at the origins of each of those words and see if "Thank You" could be better explained to me.

What I found was really very interesting. Unfortunately what I discovered is too long for just one presentation, so over the next few weeks, we are going to revisit the issue of giving thanks. Today we are going to focus on one element of the word "thanks" that I found particularly interesting.

I found that in the Old Testament, the original word used for our English word "thanks" had an element of confession to it. In other words, the exact same word that was translated as "thanks" in one part of the Bible was more often used to mean "confession" in another part of the Bible. As I thought about this seemingly mismatch in terms, I started to see something that really opened my eyes to the issue of thanksgiving.

When I thought of the word confession, I begin to think about obligation. The way the definition of the original word "thanks" was worded it appeared that we have not choice when it comes to giving thanks. We HAVE TO be thankful. More than that, we HAVE TO speak out our thanksgiving, both in our heads and out loud. That's what confession is all about. When we confess, we speak out in ways others can understand.

If you have been listening to these presentations for any time now, you know that I hate using the words HAVE TO. Those words speak of obligation. Obligation makes me feel trapped. God has come to set us free so how could thanksgiving be anything about obligation? Where is the freedom in that thought?

Fact is we ARE obligated to give thanks. We aren’t not obligated because we feel like it, or because all is going well in our lives. We are obligated because we owe so much to who we are being thankful to. Even if our situation is nothing but filled with the worst life can offer, we still are saved. We still are loved. We still are valued and purposed. We still have a future filled with what this life might not be able to offer us right now.

We have to confess our thanks because we have so much to be thankful for. Failing to do so puts us in a position where the weight of this world will overwhelm our ability to exude the power God has given us to change this world. Failing to give thanks doesn’t make us any less loved. It just makes it harder to feel and/or to see the power of that love in our lives. Giving thanks opens the door to God’s loving power for us and for all those around us.

At first out confession of thanks is hard to do. “With my life like this, why should I give thanks?” As we move in the direction of letting thanks fill our lives, our thanks will have so little meaning. “Why am I thanking God for all this mess in my life?” There will be times when we feel so helpless in giving thanks. “Shouldn’t I be doing more to show my thanks to God - what’s the use of a stupid word like “thanks?” After a while though, our thanks becomes automatic. It becomes an attitude that reinforces our lives in ways few things will ever be able to do. When we choose to live a life of thanksgiving, irregardless of our circumstances, we eventually find ourselves thanking God constantly. Then when the stuff really hits the fan, we find out our confession of thanks is what actually sustains us.

Better than that, we start to experience God’s greatness in the little things. It is like our eyes are opened to the world in ways we missed before. Here’s a real life example. I was driving home from a meeting one morning. I remember saying over and over again in my head, “Thank you Lord, thank you Lord!” I didn’t have anything in particular I was thanking Him for, but thanks is all I had. Then this little, cotton-white seed floated across the hood of my car while I sat at a stop light. I’ve seen a million of those seeds float by this time of year. For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off that seed. A joy filled my heart - I was almost in tears.

In that moment, that seed reminded me of a dear person in my life - a person filled with life, a person whose life is not easy at the moment. This seed was God’s way of showing me that even in the hardships this person faces, life is promised. Then I said “Thank You God” and I felt the power of those words in a way that I think rocks the world.

Thanks brings us to a place from which we can dip into the power needed so that we can take another breath, pick up one foot and place it in front of the other, and step forward towards where God wants us to go. That’s what the confession of Thanks is suppose to be in our life. It is to be a wellspring of power to keep us going in a world that will do all it can to make us stop. Our effectiveness in this world depends on Thanks. Satan wants us to be stuck, mired down in the mess he throws at us so that we have no impact.

Thanks blows Satan’s mind! The thought that we would give thanks in the worst of a situation confounds him. It confuses him to the point where, I believe he begins to leave us alone. If we are crazy enough to give thanks for the worst he can throw at us, this person is too insane to bother with! Confessing thanks has a power to make evil flee!

Take time today to stop and give thanks. Don't thank God because you are getting your way. Thank God because He is God. Thank God because He sees you in a way you might just be catching a glimpse of in your life. Thank God because His love for you is beyond anything you can ever comprehend. Thank God because He is worthy of your thanks. Thank God because you are the victor He calls you to be.

Day 256 - Who Do You Think You Are?

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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"Floundering in the knowledge that we mean absolutely nothing to God is a victim’s paradise."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 166.

I hope you noticed that I didn't say that it is wrong that we mean absolutely nothing to this God in my quote above. Truth is, we are so insignificant, how could we ever think we rise to some level that would ever allow us to approach this unapproachable being? It is when we allow ourselves to wallow in that thought that victim thinking really starts to take us to places we just don't need to go.

Truth is that, in of ourselves, we are nothing to this God. This fact is clearly highlighted in many places in the Bible. None more directly than in the Book of Job. At one point in the story of Job's life, God shows up and helps Job remember his position before this awesome being. Check out the following questions God pelts Job with. As I read these questions, think about how you would feel if you were on the receiving of this kind of smack down like Job found himself on this amazing day.

Where were you when I created the earth?
And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!’
    told Dawn, ‘Get to work!’
So you could seize Earth like a blanket
    and shake out the wicked like cockroaches?
Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things,
    explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean?
Do you know the first thing about death?
    Do you have one clue regarding death’s dark mysteries?
Do you know where Light comes from
    and where Darkness lives
So you can take them by the hand
    and lead them home when they get lost?
And who do you think is the father of rain and dew,
    the mother of ice and frost?
You don’t for a minute imagine
    these marvels of weather just happen, do you?
Can you catch the eye of the beautiful Pleiades sisters,
    or distract Orion from his hunt?
Can you get Venus to look your way,
    or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out and play?
Do you know the first thing about the sky’s constellations
    and how they affect things on Earth? Job 38 (various MSG)

I don't know about you, but I would feel pretty puny if I were on the receiving end of this lesson God was teaching Job. You see, Job had gotten to a place where he was questioning whether God knew what He was doing or not based on the terrible circumstances Satan had made happen in his life. Don't you know how easy it is to question God when things take a turn for the worse?

How many times have I asked God - "Are you kidding me?" when something bad happens in the middle of all the things I'm involved in that I consider doing work for God. It is as though I'm saying to God, "Don't you see how good I am - how could you let this badness happen when I'm being so good?" Those words are nothing more than a direct affront directed at God's abilities. I dare to question God's plan because His plan might intersect with my life in ways that jeopardize the comfort of this life I work so hard to try and maintain.

Sometimes I need to be reminded of who I am. I'm not God's equal. I'm His Child. Is your 2 year old son or daughter your equal? Too many parents today think their kids are their equal and the world is getting to be more of a mess because of the confusion that ensues from such a ridiculous view on life.

Today's reading helps remind me just how small I am to this God. Amazing thing is that God doesn't want us to wallow in the pity of being in that small place. Our God doesn't owe us anything because of how good we are at serving Him. We are blessed to be able to relate to a God who doesn't need a single thing - us included.

Staying in that place of thinking too lowly of ourselves is what makes the victor flounder in life. The answer to feeling lowly isn't to think more highly of ourselves. The fix to feeling lowly is to think more highly of who this God is. Since our victor status is something we can experience as a direct result of the fact that God chooses to commune with us is a fact that shouldn't be a pride puffing exercise in self awareness. His choice is based on what He sees, what He has done and what He thinks of us. It doesn't have anything to do with us at all other than we are the objects of His love for reasons that have nothing to do with our circumstance, ability or determination.

The fact is that we really don't amount to much at all when compared to this God. If we live in that place for too long we will begin to take on a victim thinking attitude that is so dangerous for this world. All we can do is to realize our worthiness before God and let the worth He sees in us be all we need to live in the power of what it means to be a victor.

Don't think too highly of yourself or pride will knock you down. Don't think too lowly of yourself or despair will rule the day. Think as little about yourself as you possibly can. Think about what God thinks about when it comes to who you are. You are His beloved Child. You are His special workmanship. You are purposed and empowered for a destiny. You are everything you need to be to live out the victor status God has done so much to provide for you to have today.