Victorious Living

Victory is defined as the overcoming of an enemy or antagonist; achievement of mastery or success in a struggle or endeavor against odds or difficulties; a win over an opponent or over difficult problems. There’s no doubt that God has called us to live victoriously. He has called us to be victorious over Satan our enemy, over sin, over our own flesh, and victorious in life overall. But if you look at the state of many in the church, you would think that it’s normal to fall into the same sins over and over for years, to have one foot in God and the other foot in the world, to be double-minded, to proclaim Christ but never really grow to look like Him, and to constantly feel defeated by the enemy. Sometimes we use phrases such as “I’m only human” as an excuse to stay where we are. But if you study the word and what Christ came to do, you know that what He did on the cross was not intended to be a coverup for our sinful nature, but a means of victorious escape. Christ didn’t come so that we could remain defeated by sin, He came to give us the power to overcome and to walk in VICTORY!

Sometimes we can’t live victoriously because we honestly think we have no real power over our sinful nature, the enemy, or the things that have us bound. We have a defeated mindset that we’ll always struggle with the same things over and over. We either can’t see ourselves free from certain things or deep down we don’t really want to be free from those things. The truth is, we were never meant to be lukewarm, double-minded or unstable in our walk. THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THE NORM OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE! John 8:36 says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” It doesn’t say you’ll be half-way free or somewhat free, it says you’ll be free indeed. You will have true freedom when Jesus makes you free! When Christ comes into your life, there should be an expectation of freedom from things that had you bound! But in today’s Christianity, we’ve adopted a mindset that says you can accept Christ but still live how you want to live. We’ve adopted a mindset that says no one is ever truly free from their human nature and all of us are expected to do things that are contrary to God even though we confess to be His children (i.e. cursing, fornicating, clubbing, listening to secular music, gossiping, etc). We’ve made this lie the standard of the believer’s life instead of the actual word of God. That’s why when a believer calls out another professed believer about something that is contrary to the word, they say you’re “judging them”. We’ve replaced God’s word with man-made beliefs and wonder why we can’t get free from certain things. When you find it acceptable within yourself to continue a habit (that’s contrary to the word), then you’ll continue to give that habit a foothold in your life. But when you believe and understand that you weren’t called to be bound, not even to your own flesh, you will make war with the things in you that are contrary to God. And through the power of Christ in you, you will overcome.

In the past, I used to be in a constant struggle with so many things. I used to be bound by insecurity (how I saw myself), believing God’s word concerning me (how I thought God saw/felt about me), if I was really valuable to God, comparison, and perversion, among other things. I was in a constant war between my own thoughts and feelings and God’s word. I bounced between feeling defeated and feeling like an overcomer. The enemy was constantly feeding me lies and trying to get me to give in to my flesh, I gave in often and found myself always having to go back and ask for forgiveness/deliverance from the same issues. I was in a cycle that I thought would never end. I couldn’t see myself free and the enemy was constantly taunting me that I would never truly be free from these issues. I couldn’t walk in my God-given authority because I was bound, I couldn’t help others get free because I myself was not free, I was double minded and constantly torn between two opinions. Although in the spirit I had power because I was God’s child, I didn’t fully believe it or know how to walk in it. In all honesty, we will go through these seasons in our Christian walk (usually early on) but we are not meant to stay there. We’re not meant to stay bound. We’re not meant to be up one season and down the next, we are called to REIGN with Christ, not be in Him yet live defeated. We’re called to have victory over the battles of our flesh and to MASTER our flesh, not give in when we want to or when we get tired of fighting. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that we are being transformed into the image of the Lord from glory to glory. That means we are constantly becoming more like Him, we are constantly changing and shedding off our old nature to put on Christ. Once I got tired of constantly getting my but whooped by the enemy and decided to start believing God’s word at face value and STAND on His word, those strongholds had no choice but to be broken off of me. When the thoughts came in, I learned to exalt God’s word above them. Believing the word helped me to become victorious in walking it out.

So, what if you’re trying to live this walk out but you keep finding yourself falling and then overtaken by condemnation?… When you fall, get back up! You can’t be victorious if you give in to condemnation. Likewise, you can’t be victorious if you keep giving into sin. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). If you’re in Christ and you’re not making a practice of sin but pursuing righteousness, there’s no condemnation for you – you’re not sentenced to hell. Although you’re in a fight, if you are truly pursuing Christ, God sees the blood, not your shortcomings (and He knows those that are really trying to grow in Him vs. those that are abusing His grace).  Christ loved us while we were still sinners, how much more now that we actually live in Him (Romans 5:8-10)? Condemnation is the thing causes us to feel like we aren’t worthy of God and can’t overcome sin. Condemnation is sometimes what keeps us from really overcoming. If you believe that you are truly free and forgiven, you will overcome, you won’t go back to the same sins.

Years ago, I realized that the enemy will pull out every trick to get you to fall into sin, then when you finally give in to the tricks he will taunt you with condemnation (shame and guilt). Once I caught on to this, I stopped giving in so easily to the same things over and over. The enemy doesn’t offer you anything without a hefty price. The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy, so when he offers you sin, it’s not going to stop there. Once you fall for it, he’ll do all that he can to make you feel like God won’t forgive you, so you might as well stay where you are. I eventually got tired of this cycle. I got tired of believing the same lies. I got tired of feeling like I wasn’t worthy of God’s love, I got tired of feeling like certain parts of the Bible didn’t apply to me because I wasn’t good enough. I had to fight with the word, fight by worshipping God, and fight in prayer. I had to learn to exalt the word of God over the temptations of my flesh and over my feelings. These are tools that God has given us as His children. I had to see myself FREE and no longer living defeated. The word tells us that “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). This is such a powerful TRUTH for the believer. If the Spirit of God dwells and lives inside of you, that means freedom lives in you. You are not bound, you are free! You are not bound to sin nor are you bound to condemnation. Christ has called us to FREEDOM! Freedom is our birthright!

You have POWER! That power is not in you, it’s in Christ Jesus who lives in you. Luke 10:19 says, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” This is what is written in God’s word concerning those who are in Christ Jesus. You have power AND authority to trample over (overcome) ALL the works of the enemy!! Every trick, every plot, every sin, every temptation, every lie, every sinful desire of your flesh, etc., God has given you the power to defeat. If Christ is our example and we were called to be like Him, then if He was victorious over the enemy and the same Spirit that’s in Him is now in us (Romans 8:11), what do you think is expected of us? The same Spirit that defeated death and the grave and the same Spirit that resurrected Christ literally lives in us! This is the same Spirit that enables us to be free from sin. The same Spirit that gave Christ the ability to not give into sin, we now have access to. A victorious life is possible. It’s not just for a chosen few, it’s for ALL who call upon the name of the Lord and receive His Spirit. This power isn’t just power to lay hands and heal the sick, it’s power to live a transformed life!

Don’t believe the lie that you’ll always struggle with the same sins, don’t believe the lie that you’ll always be bound. Yes, we will have bad days and things won’t always be perfect; in fact, the Christian walk isn’t an easy one, but we were meant to be triumphant in it. How can we truly represent Christ on the earth if we are constantly struggling with the elementary things? It’s true that in every season God will show us areas where He wants us to grow and increase, but it should not be the same things every season. You should not still be struggling with the same things that you were struggling with when you first got saved. There is truly an expectation of growth and transformation when you come to Christ. You cannot “stay as you are” for very long.  Christ died on the cross, but He didn’t stay there. He rose again in POWER and sat down at the right-hand side of The Father – He reigned, and He continues to reign today. When we read the new testament, we don’t see the disciples falling in and out of sin. Once the Spirit filled them, they went on to do greater works. They progressed in God and God was able to use them in great ways. They were able to fulfill their assignments on the earth because they received the power to live victoriously over their adversary the devil. Today many can’t fulfill what God has for them because they won’t let go of their sinful nature.

As my pastor has been saying lately, we have to go from CROSS to COVENANT. The cross is where sin was dealt with, it’s where you go for the forgiveness of sin. Covenant represents when Christ sat down and reigned with God. We have to get to the place where we can walk in true VICTORY, walk in our true authority, and reign with Christ Jesus. The cross is where we are in a battle with our sinful nature, but when we begin to walk in covenant relationship with God, we don’t battle with the same things anymore and we can walk in our authority in Christ. It doesn’t mean that everything is perfect, but we no longer give sin a foothold in our lives. When you stop making room for sin, then God can entrust you with more! If you find yourself in a battle, don’t settle there, don’t let that be your norm, SEE yourself free and know that God wants you to be free. There’s so much more for you in God. If you’ve been struggling with the same things for years, cry out to God for deliverance and practically walk out the instructions and tools that God gives you to get free. The things that I used to be bound to, I can now help others get free from only because of the POWER of Christ that lives in me! The demons that used to chase me down and torment me even since childhood, I now have been given the power to bind up and cast into the lake of fire! And guess what? I’m not going back!! Once Christ set me free, I don’t go back there. Yes, those old things (familiar spirits) try to tap me on my shoulder from time to time, but I rebuke Satan and keep going forward. I have been given the power and the authority through Christ to do this and so have you. I’ve chosen to walk in VICTORY through Christ Jesus!

THERE IS MORE IN GOD!! The world is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:19). The world is waiting for us to walk in our VICTORY!

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 15:57