Deuteronomy 3-4

A question I have written on a pale yellow sticky note sitting on the desk in my office says, 'Q: What does it mean to live victoriously? a.k.a. victorious life' I think often about the difference between walking out and speaking life through victorious speech and the alternative of self-defeating language and living. There is wisdom in understanding our fallen human nature and tendencies to sin while knowing that we are no longer sinners, we are saints who sometimes sin. Our testimony is one of ever increasing faith, it's a witness of the power and righteousness of God placing no emphasis on deprecating and defeated living narratives reinforcing wrong identity. One thing I hear often in Christian circles is the phrase, "I am just a sinner saved by grace" sometimes it also takes this form: "We're all broken, we're all messed up, we all make mistakes, but thank you Jesus!" This is not a compelling witness, there's no faith in this witness. I recall a quote by Leonard Ravenhill calling this wrong thinking out. 

"A saved sinner is like saying one is a married bachelor, I am an honest thief, a holy harlot. You are either saved or a sinner." ~Leonard Ravenhill

When surrounded by 10 fearful men, Joshua and Caleb stood and spoke out in great faith on the promises of God. They saw with their own eyes all that God had done to provide and protect Israel from Egypt all the way to the Jordan river in over 40 years. There was no wavering in their trust of what God couldn't do. 

Deuteronomy 3:21-22 (NKJV) "And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, 'Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings; so will the LORD do to all the kingdoms through which you pass. You must not fear them, for the LORD your God Himself fights for you."

Tell me this last sentence doesn't fire you up knowing that the LORD our God Himself fights for us? Our identity must be rooted in the truth that those who have professed and believe in Christ alone for salvation have been made right in the eyes of God by His matchless grace alone. We walk in faith and victory over sin, death and Satan because Jesus overcame and has given us the keys to the kingdom of God to cast out demons and heal the sick. I was a sinner, I am saved by grace. II Corinthians 5:21 says that I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6 says that I have been set free from sin and have become a slave to righteousness. There is freedom in Christ alone for us to win each day through the faithful declaration of our mouth, Romans 8 says we are conquerors in Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit and the work that Jesus did on the cross, I choose to rid my vocabulary of fearful, passive and defeated living and instead walk and speak in faith and victory because God Himself fought for me, defeating sin, death and Satan through His work through Jesus on the cross, and actively fights for me today strengthening me for every good work. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deuteronomy 1-2 (Psalm 69)

In these first few chapters of Deuteronomy after Israel's exodus from Egypt and 40 desert years Moses reviews their history of God's hand of power, provision, protection and purpose. Consistently the Israelites are faced with the decision of operating in faith and courage in the way God has for them though they continually with stubborn hearted rebellion walk in fear and discouragement. The theme of presumption continues to resurface in the story of the Israelites and I am greatly convicted of this even in my own life. Deuteronomy 1:42-43 (NKJV) "And the LORD said to me, 'Tell them, "Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies."' So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the LORD, and presumptuously went up into the mountain." This presumption is referring to when the Israelites invaded the Amorites on a mountain after the 12 spies came back with a bad report from Can...
Read more

Genesis 16-18

 Today's reflection in Genesis 17 and 18 is on how God said he wants Abram to walk faithfully and blameless, similar to Job in his blameless and upright life, I align my life in a way that pleases and honors God by being faithful (consistent, demonstrative of unwavering trust in action). Additionally, I found the comparison of God's will for the destruction of Sodom and Nineveh (in Jonah) to be interesting. In Abraham's case he pled for God to be merciful and spare Sodom, while for the Ninevites God intended to display the liberality of his grace all while Jonah wanted God to destroy the people.  Psalm 86:15 "But you LORD are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." As an image bearer of God, we must aim to be faithful like God is. The mighty God we serve is unendingly faithful and full of unfailing love - I want to be more loving and faithful the older I get! 
Read more

Exodus 22-24

 Exodus 23:2 (NIV) "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong." I was watching NHL hockey with my wife the other night and the teams that were playing began getting frustrated and consequently began playing unfairly and fighting. When penalties are given it's not indicative of cheating per se, though you would be hard pressed to find a definition making the distinction between a cheating scandal and a game misconduct or penalty. Often penalties can be properly called by the official referees, though at times it seems the calls are made incorrectly - it's ultimately the best judgment of the ref on the ice at the time and sometimes after the time the rule infraction was witnessed, many times to the great dismay of those in attendance of the hockey game even when the hockey players admit guilt in some instances. Fighting is an entirely different scenario. In just the past 3 years I have noticed a marked increase of violence in the NHL though I'm told that "original...
Read more