More Than Conquerors

“It is the way of Christ. Instead of asserting ourselves, we crucify ourselves. Instead of imagining all the things we can accomplish, we ask God to do what only he can accomplish. Yes, we work, we plan, we organize, and we create, but we do it all while we fast, while we pray, and while we constantly confess our need for the provision of God. Instead of dependence on ourselves, we express radical desperation for the power of His Spirit, and we trust that Jesus stands ready to give is everything we ask for so that He might make much of our Father in the world.”—David Platt

Sitting here and pondering on areas of my life where I haven’t let The Lord have His way in terms of the process of sanctification, and am asking myself, “Why?” Could it be pride? Sure. Could I be thinking that these areas of my life aren’t bad, because other people do things 1000 times worst in my eyes? Yes. Am I just at times flat out deceived and give way to my flesh? Absolutely.

This presents quite the challenge, because at times I see these conflicts, in addition to my own stubbornness, as competitors in the process of sanctification, and more times than less, they inhibit my growth. BUT, they don’t have to. Yes, sanctification can be challenging because its hard for us to surrender our fleshly desires, but God is so much bigger than that, AND HIS PRESENCE IS THE GREATEST REWARD! The reward is what keeps us going! We are being transformed into the image of His beloved Son moment by moment, and we have the assurance, as we continue to live in faith, that we will be able to enjoy this glorious reward for eternity. Christ in you, the hope of glory. As Paul said to the church of Philipi, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 3:12-14)

Let’s keep our eyes on the prize!

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”—1 Thessalonians 5:14-24

It really might seem like the war’s still goin’
People still dyin’, sin is still potent
The devil’s still temptin’, and evil ain’t slowin’
Just wait until that trumpet gets blowin’
The general is comin’ with keys in His hands
The death and Hades they’ll freeze where they stand
To see they’ve been defeated, please understand
If they don’t wanna see Him, bro the King is the man
He’s the man of war, a beast on the battlefield
Obliteratin’ all the evil forces that are killed
Where’s your sting death? Oh you don’t got it, bro
Where’s your victory? Oh you’ve been swallowed whole
And when He’s back ain’t no fightin’ Jehovah
He’ll toss you in a lake of burnin’ fire and sulphur
He’s a titan, a soldier
He’ll wipe away our tears, and our fears, and all our pain and death will be over

“We look back upon history, and what do we see? Empires rising and falling. Revolutions and Counterrevolutions. Wealth accumulated and wealth disbursed. Shakespeare has written of the rise and fall of great ones, that ebb and flow with the moon. I look back upon my own fellow countrymen, once upon a time dominating a quarter of the world, most of them convinced, in the words of what is still a popular song, that the God who made them mighty, shall make them mightier yet.

I have heard a crazed, cracked Austrian announce to the world the establishment of a Reich that would last a thousand years. I have seen an Italian clown say he was going to stop and restart the calendar with his own ascension to power. I have heard a murderous Georgian brigand in the Kremlin, acclaimed by the intellectual elite of the world as wiser than Solomon, more humane than Marcus Aurelius, more enlightened than Ashoka.

I have seen America, wealthier and in terms of military weaponry, more powerful than the rest of the world put together, so that had the American people so desired, they could have outdone a Caesar, or an Alexander in the range and scale of their conquests.

All in one lifetime, all in one lifetime, all gone. Gone with the wind. England part of a tiny island off the coast of Europe, threatened with dismemberment and even bankruptcy. Hitler and Mussolini dead, remembered only in infamy. Stalin a forbidden name in the regime he helped found and dominate for some three decades. America haunted by fears of running our of those precious fluids that keeps their motorways roaring, and the smog settling, with troubled memories of a disastrous campaign in Vietnam, and the victories of the Don Quixotes of the media as they charged the windmills of Watergate. All in one lifetime, all in one lifetime, all gone. Gone with the wind.”~Malcolm Muggeridge

“Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are My servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to Me for I have redeemed you. Sing for Joy, O Heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, He displays His Glory in Israel.” —Isaiah 44:21-23

He who calls you is Faithful. ALWAYS! Never let a lie from the enemy deceive you from believing this Truth. Because of what Jesus accomplished at Calvary, we have unhindered access to the Father’s Presence. Your sins have been dealt with by the all sufficient sacrifice that is Jesus Christ. The Lord is all about Redemption. Jesus told the adulterous women in John 8 that He does not condemn her and she should go forth and sin no more. The Cross did not only give us the Grace from God to have our sins forgiven, but what Jesus did literally set us free from the power of sin. Just like He told this women, the invitation has been extended to us as well. Receive His forgiveness, love, grace, and mercy and walk in freedom. Let us walk in the power of the Holy Spirit that conquered sin and death and raised Jesus from the grave. Yes and Amen. Keep doing Work for the Kingdom.

Yup, in Christ, we overwhelmingly conquer the power of sin and darkness, because the resurrecting power that raised Christ unto the right hand of the Father mightily works within us. Thank You Father for Your consistent faithfulness in our lives. Sin, You will not be our master. We are slaves to righteousness. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”—Ephesians 3:20

This song is really ministering to me right now. Yes and Amen to the Truth that the Lord makes ALL thing new! “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here!” -2 Cor. 5:17 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” -Isaiah 43:18-19