This past week I was thinking through the subject of "having victory": and "being victorious" and the thought occurred to me that in-order to be victorious, there must be some kind of a conflict or a battle. For example, if I am looking to win a 5k race, I must compete in the race and even risk losing the race and being defeated if I will ever have the chance of winning the race. I must engage myself in the battle in order to have victory in the battle. The more that I marinated on this, the more it became apparent to me in my own life that my flesh will rear it's ugly head at times and crave victory in situations, yet I do not want to endure and go through the battles that are necessary in order to achieve genuine victory.
I believe that many times God uses our struggles and challenges as "points of victory" to remind us how much we truly do need and depend on Him for every step of every day. As God provides, heals, opens doors, closes doors, strengthen relationships, and shows His grace in unexplainable ways each and every day, these are great reminders of how sovereign He really is, and how He is in total and complete control.
In today's audio sermon, we learn from 1 Peter 1:6-7 that we should greatly rejoice in difficulties and hold high and precious our faith that is more valuable than gold. Because genuine faith is grounded and rooted in The Hope - Jesus The Christ, we can lean on Him to carry us through the obstacle course of life as He leads and we obediently follow.
Are you in the midst of the battle as we speak? Do not lose heart. Press into God and the peace that only He can give.
Be encouraged, and be Engaged in the Truth.
Psalm 115:1
Pressing on toward His calling,
Jon
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