Victory in Jesus (Alone!)
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A MESSAGE FROM SARA:
At the end of this entry the lyrics of a song I grew up on are posted. For some reason since I started even researching and studying for Be Victorious I could not get this song out of my head. And the crazy thing is I realize just how foolish I have been for so long.
Let me know if some of you can relate with me on this…Baptist church girl brought up on hymns. Come on…be honest!! Personally, I really miss those hymns. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the new stuff and certainly don’t miss the choir director leading us through all 3, 4, or God help us 5 stanzas because we didn’t want to miss part of the message. And listen, there were no acoustic guitars or electric guitars, trumpets, or drums. No, there was a piano stage left and a piano stage right. That was all that a good Christian church would allow. Sigh…
Nonetheless, I often sat on the bench of that piano playing the music to those words that I didn’t even really understand at the time. But I am confident that Mr. E.M. Bartlett got it. Not in one stanza did he make reference to the victory being because of how great I am. He didn’t say anything about the victory being because God was happy with me. And he didn’t say anything about my life being priceless. “Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive” (Sir Walter Scott).
I think we could say not just when we practice to deceive but when at first we are deceived…stinkin Satan.
Thanks be to God who GIVES us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)
The song begins with “I heard an old, old story how a Savior came from glory.” It all starts with a Savior…the Savior…my Savior and hopefully your Savior! God gave us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Being born again, born of God is the ultimate source of victory.” (David Guzik)
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4 ESV)
Now if you are like me, you might be thinking that this all sounds good, but every day is a battle and I don’t always feel like I am a victor at the end of the day. This is where it gets good and where I often have to stop myself and speak truth into my heart. Life is always going to be full of struggles.
“If you didn’t have problems, there would be nothing over which to have victory!” (David DePra)
I think we often get stuck in the thought pattern that if I struggle, I must be doing something wrong or God is punishing me. No! No! No! That is Satan putting those thoughts in there. Jesus promises us that we will have struggles.
In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
And just as he tells us of the struggles, He tells of the victory. You see, we see our circumstances in the scope of this lifetime; he sees our circumstances in the scope of eternity. If we could just trust that He is walking every part of this journey with us. And that He does not need us to do anything but be obedient to commands. He will work out the rest. And we can lift all of onto His shoulders!
Who we are in the image of Christ living day by day despite our circumstances and short falls, always coming back to our need for Him and understanding that the more we know Him, the more we will live according to His will…those are the things that allow to be the feet of His Gospel. (“Be still and know that I am God,” Ps 46:10) Being in Him, knowing Him, being committed to Him becomes a natural way of life for us.
The spirit becomes stronger than the flesh.
We live victoriously because we know that no matter how hard our road, how big the tribulation, or how long the wondering in the desert, the victory was won on the cross. And we know because of that victory, we have eternal life in Him. We know that Satan has already been defeated. We know that He loves us so much that He will never leave us or forsake us. It is in Him that we can face the struggles of this world because He gives us a hope, a purpose, a calling! Praise Jesus!!!
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
(Words and Music by E.M. Bartlett. Click here for the full song.)