Conquerors

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Romans 8:37......"We cannot confess we are conquerors unless we are actually conquering the enemy." James Robison....
It's not a matter of who I am, but who He is." Vance Havner

The above Scripture comes in the midst of Paul's listing of all the "things" the enemy can hurl at us in order to make us doubt or not believe His all consuming love and commitment to us. In fact Paul tells us that we are not just conquerors but more than conquerors in all things that come against us. What a fantastic promise. Why then do so few of us realize and walk in such victory? Why do we keep living in cycles of defeat?

When we are "born again" we are born into a spiritual battleground. Before coming to know Christ, we are unaware of this. I certainly was, and why not? We are already held captive by the enemy so we are already defeated. When Christ enters into our hearts by faith, everything changes. We will draw the unfettered interest and assault of the enemy. He wants to reclaim what was his, and failing that, he desires to render ineffective and powerless the life that has escaped his claim. Sadly, in so many lives, he's succeeded.

In more than 35 years of pastoral ministry, the greatest sorrow to me is that so many who confess Him as Savior and Lord do not live in the victory that He has given them. For them, every step forward seems to be accompanied by three steps back. Wrong teaching and poor theology are part of it. Many teach that failure will always be the lot of the believers life, though I see nowhere in Scripture that this is so. How can one be a conqueror and at the same time defeated? Sin in our lives is not inevitable. Neither is defeat. Victory in Jesus is a favorite hymn to many, but not a reality for most. Yet victory is what we're called to and created for. Why can't we live in it?

I'm not writing as one who has never failed or fallen short in their walk. I have. But failure is not what has marked my life and walk. In the failure came grace, mercy, and power to confess it, turn from it, and press on in Him. Somehow, too many have been unable to believe that such power to overcome is really available. We know the Scripture, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," but we fear that such a promise can never be our reality. We have been born into a spiritual battleground, but the battle has already been won by Him. Our part, as it was for Israel as they took the land given them, is to move out in faith, fighting faith's battles, and taking the "territory" that He's already given us. Those who believe the battle's won are the victors. They know that setbacks and even failures aren't final. They know that victory will always be theirs if they just keep pressing on. They don't become comfortable in their defeats. They allow His Spirit to expose the reason for the defeat and obtain power to overcome it. They know Who they've believed in and they're persuaded.....of all that He's promised.

His Word says that the battle is the Lord's. We stumble at that because we've been tricked into believing the battle is ours alone. If it doesn't feel like He's with us, then we think that He's not. That's a lie!....Sheila Walsh relates how when she was in a psychiatric hospital as a result of a complete mental breakdown, all she could do was pray, "God, help me." On the floor of her room she heard Him say in her spirit, "I'm here." He was and He led her to healing and wholeness. She still deals with elements of depression, but she is not defeated by them. She knows who she has believed in. She's persuaded.

I close with this. Walsh said she discovered in a Hebrew rendering of the 23rd Psalm that the verse, "When you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will be with you," found in English translations wasn't the same in Hebrew. In the Hebrew "I will be with you" in the valley of the shadow of death is rendered, "you, Me, in the valley." He's not just with us. He's one with us. He in us, we in Him. The valley is real. Being victors and conquerors in Him is more real. Is it so for you? If not, isn't it past time that it is?

Blessings,
Pastor O