It does not mean we won't have failures or frustrations. The general direction of our life follows God's course. Living in victory means we make the choice to accept what God has offered us in Jesus Christ. We allow the goodness of God in Christ to saturate every aspect of our life and relationships. We are transformed in that process.
Zaccheaus is a perfect example of a man who embraced Christ and by doing that embraced victory. He was being defeated by greed. Love of money was his addiction. He was a tax collector, and they were notorious for being corrupt in their collection of taxes. He gained victory one day when he heard Jesus was coming his way. He ran ahead and climbed a tree in order to see Jesus. He was looking for more. The Bible tells he was short in stature. Jesus called up to him in the tree and basically told him "I am coming to your house to stay."
Zacchaeus responds with joy. The crowd begins to grumble about Jesus going to the house of Zacchaeus. The greed thing - what the enemy wanted to use to defeat Zaccheus - was rearing its ugly head. What would Zaccheus do in this moment to insure victory? He had to prepare the "house" of his life before Jesus came into his home.
No holding back...Zaccheaus was all in.
Instead of running and hiding, he met his past head on. He promised half of his wealth to the poor. He also promised to pay back 4 times over anyone .
So we see theses things from Zacchaeus:
1. He responded with joy.
2. He came down and gladly welcomed Jesus to come to his home.
3. He made right what he had done wrong.
4. He began to do what is necessary for victory.
Let me challenge you to enter into the joy of victory even before the results arrive. Joy brings on victory.
With Christ, we will not lose. That's reason to be joyful!
Dwight Munn
I really liked what you said about joy!! We went through something in our life dealing with an adoption. We had alot of fear and doubt about the outcome. So many things were happening and the adoption process with that family ended after 4 months. After being prayed over by our Life Group, we had such peace that God was in control. Four days later we received an unexpected call from our attorney and we became parents that afternoon to a new baby boy!! Although we were discouraged we never felt desserted by God and continued to feel his joy. At times, we felt like we lost alot financially and emotionally through that battle, but in the end we won through Jesus!! We knew we had won the battle and had victory when we held our new baby in our arms. I am so thankful for the staff and our pastor....God Bless each of you and your families!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chanda, for the great testimony.
ReplyDeleteDwight