Victorious in Christ

When you are facing tests, trials, heartache or physical illness it is not unusual to feel overwhelmed by your circumstances and often your emotions take over and your soul becomes a dark and stormy place.  It is then when you need to be reminder of who you are and of Whose you are.  My friend Amanda Byliefeldt wrote something to do just that.  May you be blessed and uplifted…and remember, He is for us, therefore nothing can stand against us!

Amanda’s post:

Let’s face it, we all have enemies and behind those enemies are one common ENEMY, called the Great Deceiver aka Satan. He is there to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). He comes to steal our joy and he comes to kill our passion from our First Love, Jesus. He comes to destroy everything that the Father has for you and me.

During our lives we come face to face with the destruction caused by the enemy and sometimes the destruction is due to own fleshly desires. Sometimes we fail to apply Scripture to our lives and then we have to deal with the consequences of our actions. The Word of God specifically calls us to submit to Him (God) and then to resist the devil…and then he (enemy) will remove himself by fleeing.  James 4:7 KJV – Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I do not want to focus on the enemy or even on what the enemy is doing in our lives.  I am establishing his part in our world and struggles. He is not even worthy of writing about, but we are not ignorant and we are not going to ignore him by acting as if he does not exist, because that would be foolish.

He is sneaky….YES. He is a liar….YES. He is the great deceiver….YES. And he is many other things too. We need to know our enemy, to know how to war against him. We have to recognise the things that he is doing in our lives, so that we can rise up against him and destroy the works he is establishing in our lives and in our world. The only way to fight the enemy is through God’s word…Spiritual warfare. Suit up with your armour, because this means war. (Read Ephesians 6:10-20)

For every situation, there is a solution in God’s word, because God’s word is a two edged sword and it is a living Word. His Word will speak to you in every situation and sometimes you would even go back to a familiar scripture and be speechless when you realise how that verse comes alive for you in your moment of need. Hebrew 4:12 – For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

My focus is aimed higher than what the enemy can do to me.  My focus is on the One who gave HIS life for me, who took all curses on HIM and walked out of hell with the keys and set us free.  I am focusing on the One who is and was and always shall be the Overcomer, the ONE who has the victory.

Jesus has overcome whatever the enemy is able to throw at us.  We just have to set our focus higher. Our focus has to be on the ONE who saves.

Graham Cooke says this:

“There are two questions you need to ask when you are in a difficult time. First – God, what do YOU want me to become through all of this? Second – God, Who do YOU want to be to me in my situation?”

We need to go through storms to really know who calms our storms.  We need to go through trials to really know who our defender is.  We need to go through the valley of death to really know who our healer and deliverer is.

What storms are you facing at the moment?  Do you recognise that Jesus is your Prince of Peace in the storm?  The ONE that can calm any storm inside or out. Isaiah 54:10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Are you going through a trial? Can you start to see that Jesus is your defender? Psalm 18:1-2 – How I love you, Lord! You are my defender. The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord!

Are you going through the valley of death? Are you in need of healing? Jesus is your healer and HE is your deliverer. Psalm 23:4 – Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 18:2 – The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Get your foot upon the Rock, Jesus Christ.  When you are secure in who you are in Christ Jesus, nothing will rock your world because you will be securely planted upon the ROCK that cannot be shaken. Psalm 62:6 – He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.

What I have learned this past few weeks is that no matter what I come to face, my God is stronger and my God is a “tide changer” and HE is the victor and because of HIM I can stand in victory over every situation or storm in my life.

Psalm 118:16 (message)
I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall,
when God grabbed and held me.
God’s my strength, he’s also my song,
and now he’s my salvation.
Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs
in the camp of the saved?
“The hand of God has turned the tide!
The hand of God is raised in victory!
The hand of God has turned the tide!”

God bless.

Amanda Byliefeldt