Victory247

“Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun”  2 Corinthians 5:17 (New Living Translation)

If you have placed your faith in Christ (see “Start the Victory” a top victory247.org), you have started on the path of walking and leaning on God until you pass through to your inherited celebration in heaven. That will be a tremendous place, but in the meantime, what we do here is very significant.

It makes me chuckle when I see advertisements that use the wording “extra strength” and “new and improved”. Then they produce an even better product, “maximum strength” and “ultra powerful”. What is next, “catastrophically potent”, or “tsunamically empowered”?

I picture someone going to the drug store with a terrible headache and choosing the “original” over the “massive strength” version pain reliever. Why are those products still on the shelf! “Well, I’ll just get the “original” because I don’t want complete relief from the throbbing pain that I’m experiencing.”

We can become a “new and improved” version of who we are. God will change us from the inside out as we walk with, and lean on Him. If we continually ask Him to direct and empower us, something happens! The Holy Spirit that indwells us will ignite within us. Then our faith grows, and our desire to learn and talk to Him heightens, which leads to a “maximum strength” version.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, make me a better version of who I am. When I stray or lose my focus, get me back on the path of blessings and fulfillment through leaning on You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Moses regarded abuse for the sake of Christ as greater value than treasures, because he was looking ahead to his eternal reward”  Hebrews 11:26

Moses had a huge decision to make. He was Pharaoh’s adopted son, which means he was in an extremely wealthly family. His inheritance would have made Bill Gates and Donald Trump envious. But he chose be go through a lot of pain, hardship, and abuse with God’s people, and left the riches and fame behind.

WHY?

Because he was convinced that his eternal reward was much more valuable (I’m sure he has no regrets right now). Not to say that having money is wrong, but for Moses had this decision that actually came down to wealth or poverty by earthly standards.

A man was walking through the mall with his young grandson. Wanting to teach the little guy a lesson, he offered him ten dollars to buy anything he could get with that much money. Right before he handed the 12 year old the ten dollar bill, he offered to give him $100 in two weeks instead of the ten. Not able to resist, he took the bill and purchased a burrito in the food court, and a pack of baseball cards. As they were leaving the mall, they walked by a video game store and saw a sign. It had a picture of two games he has always dreamed of owning, for one hundred dollars.

The grandpa, with a tear streaming down his wrinkled face, bent down to hug the disappointed youngster. “Please remember this, Billy. Please remember”.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, help me to make wise, eternal decisions that honor You. Please give me the strength to look past my yearnings for immediate pleasures. Thank You for the blessing that will follow. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God”  Genesis 6:9 (NIV)

When I was first married I tried to think of creative dates to take my new bride on. If I couldn’t think of anything, there was always going to a good movie. I remember her telling me that a great date for her would be to just go on a walk with me. Not only was that inexpensive, it made sense. She wanted to walk, talk, and so we could get to know each other better.

Walking together is a very good time to get to know and learn from another. Going to a movie is merely watching other people on a screen. There is no real communication going on.

Walking with God is a way to say that we are acknowledging His presence as we stroll through our daily routine, while chatting with Him intermittently.

Also, there are times when we can actually get away and take a walk. Those can be great times to pour out our hearts, share concerns, ask for guidance, and talk to Him about others. Those walks are especially great times to listen to what He has to say to us.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, teach me how to truly walk with You. Teach me how to listen to You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Solomon paneled the main hall with pine and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree and chain designs. He adorned the temple with precious stones…” 2 Chronicles 3:5-6 (NIV)

I always thought in was interesting how God wanted specific decorating for the temple that Solomon built for Him. It must have been beautiful.

But does this contradict His New Testament teachings about striving after money and external beauty?  Some may say that it is a reflection of the inner beauty that He can create in those who receive Christ.

I’m not exactly sure how this temple-decorating thing works, but I do know that appearance does effect perspection. I’ve walked into big, well built houses in expensive neighborhoods, and it was disorganized with stuff laying around everywhere. I’ve been around guys who have dirty clothes on, smell alittle, just disheveled. I know in my heart that the sloppy house and unkept attire really doesn’t effect how God sees us, but it does effect how those we are trying to encourage and help look at us. I know I secretly don’t like or respect my next door neighbor, and think less of them because the outside of their house and yard is so bad.

When I got out of college, on my own for the first time, I was a growing Christian who wanted be a good influence on others. I had an older, wiser man pull me aside to talk about how my apartment and dress effected how I was perceived. I was anti-materialism, but went too far with it. I don’t have to have expensive stuff like fine gold lining my apartment hallways, but being clean and organized made me feel better, and helped others not be tempted to discard me.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I don’t want to seek riches over seeking You, but help me to take care of the possessions You have given me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand”  Psalm 16:11 (NIV)

We have our plans and goals for most of our days during a regular week. Even though it may seem obvious what needs to be done in that typical day, still ask God to show you the path. Ask for His direction, His eyes to see opportunities to help someone, His strength for good choices of what we say, eat, work, and rest.

Then, as we go through the day, know His presence, hold His right hand when needed. This verse promises that joy and pleasures will follow!

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I know what I need to do today, I have my “to do” list. BUT, You show me what You want me to do, think, and say today. Remind me of Your presence. Thank You for joy and pleasures that Your path will bring. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Jesus went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray” Matthew14:23 (NIV)

Right after Jesus fed 5,000 people, and just before He “walked on water” to be with the Disciples, He went off alone to pray. He needed a quiet place to talk to His Heavenly Father.

We need that undistracted time to meet with God. It is not  just a time to share our needs and hurts, but a time to allow God to give us perspective, forgiveness, and renewed strength.

It’s almost like a cell phone charger. We plug it in when we get home, but having a car charger assures it stays energized and useful. To carry out this illustration would be that the daily charging time actually would make my phone more powerful, farther reaching, with more apps getting added each day. Consistent charging grows my phone’s power and capabilities.

Find a “mountainside” each day. Don’t miss out on this avenue that God has created to connect with Him. He invented life, He knows us, He longs to bless.

Make appointments (APPTS) with God. Here’s a suggested prayer guide;

A- “Admit”. Confess wrongful actions, words, and thoughts. Ask Him to Change you.

P- “Praise”. Thank Him that He Reigns (He’s bigger than our problems), and that He Renews.

P- “People”. Pray for Family, Friends, and Forgive our Foes(this is cleansing).

T- “Thanks”. Tell of how you appreciate Possessions, Position, and the People in your life.

S- “Self”. Give Him your Dreams, Desires, Disappointments, Direction, and Daily needs.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, help me to take the time to meet with You each day. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” Philippians 3:6 (NIV)

In sports, there is a principle that helps an athlete perform. It’s called “the follow-through”. Golfers and baseball players need to swing through the ball, not at the ball. To shoot a basketball, you have to flick your wrist after the ball leaves the finger tips.

As a youngster, my favorite football player was Dick Butkus. He didn’t just tackle runners, he demolished them (check it out on youtube). Not only was Mr. Butkus big and fast, he knew the secret of tackling. He didn’t aim to merely hit the ball carrier, he ran through the ball carrier. We could say he tackled with “the follow through”.

As we live our day to day lives around others, we can take different approaches. We can use and hurt people, completely self driven and damaging to us and them. We can go about our own business with a true apathy toward them, safe and harmless. Or we can have “the follow through”; not only coexist, but look to meet their needs. Say an uplifting word, give a gift, pray for them, hand them a bible verse (you would be surprised at how people respect the bible and are encouraged to get a verse), help them out… Don’t aim for the ball, making sure our own needs are met. Have “follow through” by going past that by reaching out to others. This will impact them, and will open the gates for God to invade our soul with inner joy, peace and blessings.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, give me “the follow through” mentality of going past thinking of just myself, and into thinking of others needs also. Develop my heart so that I can get the most out of the life You have given me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“If the LORD delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with His hand” Psalm 37:23-24 (NIV)

When someone trips and falls down, it usually makes me laugh. It’s weird that we find humor in others’ misfortune of going to the ground unexpectedly, but we almost can’t help it.

Falls generated from slipping on ice, tripping on patroded terrain, or running into others, are always good for a chuckle. But my personal favorite has to be bicycle falls.

I remember biking with my 6’6″ high school buddy. He pulled alongside of me and I kicked his front tire (why?, who knows the brain of a teenage boy). His front brakes locked up, which threw him over his handlebars in what seemed at the time to be in slow motion. I remember him getting up from his fall into an all-out sprint, trying to catch and kill me as I pedaled away. I was laughing so hard I nearly crashed.

On the other hand, I have fallen off a bike, and I wasn’t laughing. On the contrary, I was hurt and frustrated. Falling isn’t so bad, it’s the landing that hurts.

God can hold us up in the middle of a fall, and make it just a stumble. We stumble in many ways; poor choices, saying harmful words, hanging with the wrong people, fighting with someone… We can confess and ask Him to get us back on track to avoid a painful and permanent fall.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, teach me to place my steps into Your firm footing of depending on You daily. And help me to recover from wrongful choices. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“As they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature”  Luke 8:14 (NIV)

I don’t think Jesus was condemning those who are concerned about issues that arise (life’s worries), have good paying jobs (riches), or those who enjoy some refreshing entertainment (pleasures). But I do think He was warning us that if those become our focus and goal in life, we will choke!

Later in Luke 12, Jesus tells us to focus on God’s leadership and doing right. As a result, all our needs will be taken care of.

If we are consumed with all that needs to work out for ourselves, and getting more money and stuff, or figuring out ways to get pleasure in life, then we will suffocate. We eventually cut off our oxygen supply to our inner peace and joy. We gag as we attempt to breath life into our ability to have flourishing relationships. We will choke! We gasp for air, and latch on to the wrong oxygen tank.

The good news is that we have a God who longs to fill us.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, please teach me how to latch on to You. I want to seek and walk with You so that I can allow You to take care of me. Give me the strength to focus on You and others, so that my needs will be in Your hands. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you”  Colossians 3:13 (NIV)

God refers to forgiveness a lot in His bible. People will wrong us, or do and say things against us. They will annoy and frustrate us. They will rub us the wrong way.

The Lord realizes that if we don’t forgive, we will be a mess. Our heart gets hard, our thoughts get negative, our ability to have good relationships weakens, and life turns into a drudge.

It’s even more important to forgive those we care about the most. Sometimes that is a tougher task.

Realizing how much He has forgiven me, has always helped me. “Forgive as He forgave us.” Realizing how much He let me off the hook, makes forgiving so much more doable.

But forgiveness doesn’t just enhance our lives, it impacts those who are watching. Mark Twain once phrased; “Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it”. In 2 Corinthians 2:16, it states that we can be “an aroma that brings life”. We need to see chances to forgive as opportunities!

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I can’t repay You for all You have forgiven me. Let me have the strength and right perspective to be a “forgiver”. I want to be a pleasant aroma that leads others to You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.