Victory247

“Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves ME… I will love him and show Myself to him”  John 14:21 (NIV)

Our goal isn’t just “sin management“. We shouldn’t be walking around just figuring out ways to avoid sin. Those wrongful actions, thoughts, and words will happened. We then confess and start over. That is what we should do, but that can’t be our focus.

An athlete can enter a game with the attitude of not making a mistake, but they won’t score. A salesman can work all week trying not to be forward or offensive, but he won’t make many sales. A student can go to school and not talk at all. They won’t get a detention, but they won’t make friends with peers or teachers.

Our goal in all these cases should be to learn how to be more effective as we strive to get better. Not sit in a bunker hoping to not mess up anything.

God wants us to learn from Him, “have His commands“. Attempt to do what is right, “obey them“. He wants us to set our focus on living an exciting life while attempting to grow and develop. Taking some chances. Striving to reach the potential that God can fuel us to be and do.

If we do this, He promises to “show Himself ” to us. Our efforts need to go toward knowing Him. Then true fulfillment happens. Sin just gets in the way of that goal. Merely confess and move on to great achievements!

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I want You to be real to me. Help me to focus on knowing You, doing right, and helping others, so that my heart’s eye can see You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Therefore, as God’s dearly loved, clothe yourselves with…long suffering”   Colossians 3:12

Long suffering means “patient with people”. Some people just rub us the wrong way, then there are others that rub everybody the wrong way.

I got a flyer in the mail advertising a seminar titled, “Toxic People: Living and working with high-conflict individuals”. I had to chuckle as I thought through all those who popped into my head. Those who are always upset, complaining, angry at someone, always pointing out flaws that disgust them, appalled at every rule change, very opinionated, always getting shorted for no good reason, can’t be corrected yet always correcting…

Toxic people can be very frustrating to be around. They make me toxic. But God wants us to be long suffering; patient. We can go to Him with our frustrations and ask for His strength to not only put up with toxic people, but be an encouragement to them as well. These people come across like they are very strong, but they usually are filled with needs and insecurities that make them toxic.

Next time you encounter (or get verbally attacked by) a toxic person, choose to say a quick prayer for your reaction, and a prayer for them. Then watch God go to work over time.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, don’t let toxic and irritating  people ruin my day or make me toxic. Remind me to say a quick prayer and forgive them. Help me to recognize when I am getting toxic so that I can confess and get Your strength to refresh. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge”   Colossians 3:10 (NIV)

We need to be willing to think through our ways of living life. We shouldn’t just do the same things over and over just because “that’s how I’ve always done it”.  We can develop patterns of thinking that go unchallenged. We have all come across an older person who is very stubborn and ‘set in his ways’. Discussing with them can be very frustrating. They don’t know why they think they way they think, they just do.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many cut and dry issues spelled out in the bible. But those gray areas that don’t really effect eternity, like “Ford is the only reliable truck”, “dinner has to be served at 5:30”, “kids shouldn’t wear jeans with pre-fab holes”, “the woman has to do the grocery shopping and cooking”, “the man has to go downstairs first if the wife hear’s an unfamiliar noise in the middle of the night (just kidding, this is a command that was left out), ….

We need to be willing to rethink and challenge ourselves so that we don’t become that frustrating person that doesn’t listen, and is always right just because that’s the way they’ve always thought. God is very willing to let us bounce all these things off of Him. He longs to help us form good thinking.

Henny Youngman said, “I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places”. He is poking fun of simple thinking. Sounds ridiculous, but we all have this capability to have wrong, shallow or untrained thinking.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, help me to think right and not just set in my ways. I want the right ways, Your ways. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge”   Colossians 3:10 (NIV)

We need to be willing to think through our ways of living life. We shouldn’t just do the same things over and over just because “that’s how I’ve always done it”.  We can develop patterns of thinking that go unchallenged. We have all come across an older person who is very stubborn and ‘set in his ways’. Discussing with them can be very frustrating. They don’t know why they think they way they think, they just do.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many cut and dry issues spelled out in the bible. But those gray areas that don’t really effect eternity, like “Ford is the only reliable truck”, “dinner has to be served at 5:30”, “kids shouldn’t wear jeans with pre-fab holes”, “the woman has to do the grocery shopping and cooking”, “the man has to go downstairs first if the wife hear’s an unfamiliar noise in the middle of the night (just kidding, this is a command that was left out), ….

We need to be willing to rethink and challenge ourselves so that we don’t become that frustrating person that doesn’t listen, and is always right just because that’s the way they’ve always thought. God is very willing to let us bounce all these things off of Him. He longs to help us form good thinking.

Henny Youngman said, “I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places”. He is poking fun of simple thinking. Sounds ridiculous, but we all have this capability to have wrong, shallow or untrained thinking.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, help me to think right and not just set in my ways. I want the right ways, Your ways. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense”  Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)

There are many chances throughout each day to choose ‘patience’ or ‘frustration’. Frustration with ourselves, with others, or with circumstances.

I know as a golfer, if you choose ‘frustration’ more than ‘patience’, your round can fall apart. I’ve experienced it, and witnessed it. Some of my favorites include; a thrown club that traveled along an electrical wire, taking a bite out of a large chunk of sod that was the result of a “fat” shot, losing a thrown putter in a nearby maple tree, watching a player have to climb a pine tree to regain his tossed 7 iron, catapulting a 3 wood farther than the ball, listening to guys put together a string of vulgar exclamatives that made no sense but communicated their true feelings, seeing a grown man beat up a fir tree with his pitching wedge, and finally, falling over in laughter as a good friend proclaimed his resignation from golf “forever” (for the 50th time) while holding his whole bag of clubs over his head, then hurling it into a pond.

‘Frustration’ can snowball our emotions. We are wired to respond in a negative way when something goes wrong, or someone offends us. To cope with the stresses that life brings, it’s almost like we need to develop an “overlook muscle”. The ability to overlook those things that push our inner frustration in to  snowball mode. We can’t prevent it or stop it on our own. So we must call on God for His supernatural “overlook abilities” to enable us.

Today’s verse reminded me of a quote from Benjamin Franklin; “Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half-shut afterwards”.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, give me the wisdom to call on You to create patience in me. Give me the strength to “overlook” without getting even, angry, or running to my best gossip buddies. Thank You that You can give me inner joy and peace that is so sweet, and so greatly missed when I am in a “frustration snowball mode”. In Jesus Name. Amen.

“Do not merely listen to God’s Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to God’s Word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror, and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like”  James 1:22-24 

I have a good friend who always tells me, “we had a really good sermon today at church. I can’t remember what the preacher said, but I remember it being really good”. Many times our minds pick up key principles from a sermon, devotional, good advice, a study group, or from just reading the bible. And we leave it as something that was good to know. The “game changer” is when we actually apply God’s principles. Those times we help someone when we don’t feel like it, those times we look to learn from difficult experiences instead of getting angry, seizing situations that require giving of our time or money when we are short ourselves, avoiding wrongful acts, encouraging a friend, stopping our busy day to pray…

When we apply, it allows the God of the universe to impact our insides and out. Those are all opportunities, they are all “game changers”. A “game changer” is a sports terminology that refers to a specific event or play that impacted the rest of the contest.

Don’t be the dude in today’s verse who forgot what he looked like. Or like Jerry Seinfeld when he got a phone call from a telemarketer who asked if he would be interested in a New York Times newspaper subscription. Jerry quickly replied, “yes”, and hung up.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, help me to learn more about Your principles. Then give me the push to apply them. I want to seize these “game changers” so that I will be blessed and fulfilled on the inside and out. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities… so great is His love… as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us”  Psalm 103:10-12 (NIV)

God isn’t out to get us, or waiting around to punish us. Some choose to parent or coach with that type of philosophy. But our Lord chooses to give us room to fail and start over. Sure, we can be corrected by Him, or experience the pain and scars of poor choices. Yet He wants us to learn from our mistakes and realize that He won’t hold them against us.

When we confess our wrongful actions and words, He puts them ‘as far as the east is from the west’ (back then I think they still thought the earth was flat). In other words, completely out of sight and mind. Gone!

There are harsh, self-imposed consequences to continual and habitual sinning. But He wants us to break that cycle and begin to confess and ask for His help. Then He won’t ‘treat us as our sins deserve’. He doesn’t expect us to be sinless, but to sin less. Going in the right direction, and not beating ourselves up in guilt.

When we confess He tells us, “okay, that’s gone. Don’t feel guilty, just keep working on it”.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You for not treating me as my sins deserve. Give me the strength to keep growing. I can’t do this, but You can. I know this battle is so worth it. Thank You for the fulfillment that will follow. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“He (Jesus) is before all things, and in Him all things hold together”  Colossians 1:17 (NIV)

Ever think about those huge mansions that sit back from the road? I can’t help but to think about how anyone can use that much square footage to get ready in the morning, go to work, then come home to watch television. If I had a home like that, I would have to create a putt-putt course, a nerf basketball arena, and a movie theater to watch sports.

Those mansions are very expensive. The heating and cooling bills would be more than my mortgage payment. But the major item that holds those gigantic structures together are very small, very inexpensive items; nails. Take those little pieces of metal away, the building collapses! It won’t hold up.

We all have our personalities, responsibilities, and appearances. But something has to hold us together. Many times people have emotional breakdowns, go into a depression, can’t cope with normal living, or “go off of the deep end”. We see the outer building, but what is holding it together? God can strengthen our inner-nails, and even give us more nails to make us stronger. He longs to get to our insides so that He can be our source of life. Abundant life.

We need to open ourselves up in intimate prayer with Him, spend time pondering the words in His bible, and make efforts to incorporate His principles into our daily experience. As this becomes our focus more and more, then the nails in our inner-being develop and multiply so that we can support a mansion, not a rickety shack.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I need You to invade my life, thoughts, and my very being. Harden the nails of my insides so that I can support a mansion of blessed and fulfilled living. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert”  Hebrews 3:8 (NIV)

Many times we don’t feel God’s presence. We don’t feel like He cares. We may even have many times that we don’t feel like there is a God at all. These dry times come and go. Some dry times stay longer than others. It can feel like a spiritual desert.

We can’t base our faith and communication with God on our feelings. It has to be based on the facts laid out in the bible, history, and on all the evidence that Jesus walked on earth (Read “Evidence that demands a Verdict” or “More than a Carpenter” by Josh McDowell).

We can experience great growth in our faith if we stay the course during those desert times. Just like the great athletes who choose to train, even on those days they don’t feel like it.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I know my feelings and emotions vary throughout each day, week and year. I need You to help me to keep walking with You, especially in those dry times. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“… when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down”  2 Corinthians 13:10 (NIV) 

The Apostle Paul was writing to the believers in Corinth. He understood that if he wanted them to grow and develop in their faith, he would need to instruct them founded in encouragement rather than instruction based on just continual correction.

I talked to a 70 year old man who told me of a recent experience he had with his father. He went to visit his 95 year old dad and noticed the rickety, small TV that he was watching. He decided to help his father by rearranging the room and installed a big new TV set. Now, he grew up under this father who only corrected him, never a thank you or word of encouragement. The next day he gets a phone call from dad. Completely expecting his never-pleased-father to tell him all the mistakes he made setting up the upgraded room and TV, he braced himself. But then heard for the first time; “thank you, son, for everything you did with the new arrangement and television. You did a great job”.  My new 70 year old friend told me that he has longed to hear that all his life.

Coaches, teachers, friends, bosses,…, and parents all tend to only correct as they feel they are molding and helping to develop those they influence. But the truth is that without a foundation of encouragement and praise, true learning will not happen. In fact, frustration, bitterness, and a resistance to instruction will raise it’s ugly head.

God is a great teacher, appreciating any efforts we put forth to know Him and grow in our faith-walk. He gives us room to make mistakes and start over. He longs to encourage us like He did when He told Jesus, “this is my Son who I love and am well pleased”. Or when He said,”well done my good and faithful servant”. We need to look to encourage, praise, and thank those who we direct or instruct.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your patience with me. Help me to pass that on to those I interact with. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.