"God gave me a new daddy!" This is the phrase I heard Sunday after Sunday from Shawn, a young lady in the mission church Susan and I started a few years back. Her father, Mike, was an avowed but sincere atheist who took a challenge from me to come to church on "a month of Sundays" to give God (if he were real) a chance to work in his life. But...before the month was over Mike also accepted a much greater challenge from Jesus who dared him to, "Come and follow me." (Matthew 19:21). Although being "born again" implies growth over a long period of time, the change in Mike's life was immediate and noticeable to all.
Can people really experience victory in forty days? Most certainly! Jesus proclaimed a "conversionist" message that we all have seen in operation with our own two eyes. Not only can change happen in forty days, but it can happen overnight..indeed, in an instant. I've never seen a wife change a husband, or a husband change a wife, but I've seen people come to Jesus and truly be changed.
Knowing all of this makes me want to be a "lazy" thinker when it comes to the subject of victory and declare that "this is the victory that overcomes the world our (my) faith." (1 John 5:4). But learning from John's message yesterday that half of the references to "lostness" in the Bible refer to Christians, has set me to more stringent thinking.
Even as a believer, are there areas of my life in which I've allowed the enemy to 1) steal my identity in Christ, either through insecurities or vaulted self image, 2) are there addictions in my life that give me fulfillment over my relationship to Christ (I'll have to admit that, sometimes when I'm worried, I choose an ice cream sundae over prayer!), and 3) how does my response to broken relationships, depression, or stress provide either a positive or negative witness for Christ to those around me?
They say that it only took a few seconds for a man to look down and discover gold at Sutter's mill, starting the California gold rush. But it took days and even years to dig the mines to realize the full wealth of the claim. I know I have discovered immediate "Victory in Jesus" that comes from being a follower of Jesus Christ. I've staked my claim to the "gold" of victory in my conversion. But maybe now it's time to actually concentrate a little harder on digging the mine and plumbing the depths to realize this victory in my daily life. And...digging a mine takes time...maybe forty days in this case!
Toby Frost
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It's been my experience (and a pattern you can find in scripture) that most of the time, victory really takes work. Having been brought up in the era of the prosperity gospel, Burger King-have-it-your-way 80s, I learned quickly that you must sow for a season, then reap in another season. Victory comes most often to me as I walk daily with God, making daily choices that produce life. I see the 40 days as a time of building momentum for victory, the time that the daily disciplines help build the habits that produce the character that helps us MAINTAIN victory. Love you guys/gals (staff people). Thx for sharing. sherry peveto
ReplyDeleteWhat a truth! The fact that you can live your life as a Christian...yet still live lost used to be my testimony prior to coming to First West almost 3 years ago. Even now, I still have struggles with many of those things, however, when it's time for change...God starts pressing a little harder and lining things up..We still have choice, but as a Christian...he still holds the reins!
ReplyDeleteI love the mine digging analogy. As many of you know I began to pray for dad at age 6----it was at age 36 that he came to know Christ--and even several years after that when my dad began to produce lots of fruit in his life! Thirty years of praying; thirty years of believing God---and believe me there were many days of doubt, too.
ReplyDeleteMine digging is hard work at times! Thank you Lord that your grace and mercy were enough to save my dad and to spur me on to continue to pray even when I didn't see an answer!
http://fubah-promisewall.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteGod Bless !
Thanks Dwight for the posting help !