Victory in service is to be expected from supernaturally born men who are supernaturally delivered, supernaturally sustained, and supernaturally directed. We are thus supernaturally created for a supernatural work which is supernaturally prepared and is to be supernaturally performed.
~L. L. Legters
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
~ 2 Peter 1:3-8
So, how in the world are we supposed to live a life as described in the passage above?
The Bible is abundantly clear that victory like this is truly possible, even normal, for the Christian who has simply (but absolutely) surrendered their lives to the One who has laid down the terms. He wants everything, and upon giving Him everything, this sets the stage for Him to bring about these victories in our lives. And just as clearly the Bible shows us that it is His Spirit’s power filling us and enabling us to both desire and to do His good and perfect will.
But, what does this look like in our lives? What do we “do” as we live our actual physical existence in this world to help the process of living in victory?
What follows can be a dangerous exercise for someone trying to express some of the things that a Christian should actually “do” to live in a constant state of victory. The temptation is to somehow think that if we are “spiritually disciplined,” God will be more happy with us, that we are doing things that get us closer to God and help complete the victorious path He has laid before us. Could this writer ask you to abandon any of those thoughts (not just here – everywhere and always).
What i am talking about is actually yielding our lives in such a way that we get “out of God’s way.” We may, by His grace, practice some things that enable us to better hear Him, discern His will, obey Him fully and experience His Presence (which is a place of great strength born of joy).
Ready?
1> Pray. No, not just before meals. Not just a couple times a day. We gotta be praying like a Chicago Democrat votes – early and often. Get out of bed early, roll out onto your knees and get on your face before the One who has begun the good work in you. And may i be so bold? Be quiet. Listen. He knows your request already. He knows how to intercede for you already. Just listen. And let Him speak to you. He will. Pray all day. Pray into sleep. Pray, pray, pray.
2> Read your Bible. No, not just for 3 minutes before you gotta leave for work. No, not just listening to it on the stereo in the car. Get quiet a few times a day, and read a chapter or three. Yeah, really. And may i be bold again? Quit reading it like it some interesting book about God. His Word is HIM talking to you – right now. Listen. Let Him teach you. Ask Him to help you apply and live out what you have just read.
Repeat 1 and 2 constantly….
And to get the most out of the above:
> Turn off the TV. Unplug it. Put it in the closet for emergencies. What?
> Stop consuming copious portions of printed media, images and news. Huh?
> Trash the video game consoles. Oh, don’t go there buddy!
> Fast from food and other stuff once in a while. Crazy legalist!
> Be very careful about what you put into your body. Who is this nut?
> Listen only to music that is uplifting to your spirit. Oh come on!
> Drink lots of clean water. You gotta be kidding me!
> Get good rest and physical exercise. Oh, now this guy is starting to sound like a Puritan!
Please, beloved, it is not about rules. It is about getting this stuff out of our lives, so there is room for Him to more fully fill our existence. We know this. Yet, we simply over-indulge in the world under the guise of freedom in Christ. We know that if we remove most of the shiny, loud, crunchy, entertaining stuff – we might actually be able to hear Him speak. And that sometime scares us. Because once we can hear Him speak, we know that He will have places He wants to take us, and things He wants us to do.
Do it anyway.
Want to always live in victory? Get out of the way!
~Eric Ludy
