The word "Victory" in our Christian lives is
very key, because it is the proof of the sacrifice performed by Jesus Christ on
the cross of Calvary for you and I. The victory on the cross by Jesus Christ, brought
salvation to humanity, and without it, humanity would have been doomed for
eternity. We therefore give thanks to God for releasing His blameless Son to be
a Lamb for the world, and we are also forever grateful to Jesus Christ for
voluntarily laying down His life for us, because no one took it from Him (John
10:18).
In the book of Mathew
11:12, the Bible says "And from the days of John the Baptist until now,
the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force"
The key words from the above scriptures are:
1.
The Kingdom of Heaven,
2.
Suffers violence,
3.
The violent,
4.
Take it by force.
QUESTIONS:
I.
Who are the violent?
II.
What are the violent taking by force through violence?
III.
Why Heaven?
The word "Violent" as used in the
scriptures, is not used to describe or refer to hooligans or miscreants
on a failed mission, but it used to describe;
A. That believer who is tired of being oppressed by the
devil, and has taken a bold step to reclaim his/her inheritance from the devil.
B. That believer who says to the devil and his agents "you
cannot kill me before my time" because it is written in the book
of Psalm 118:17 "I shall not die, but live, And declare the works
of the Lord"
C. That believer who says to the devil and his
agents "I cannot be barren" because there is a
promise of fruitfulness on my life as written in the book of Deut 7:13
D. That believer who is not afraid of the gathering of
the enemy because it is written in the book of Isaiah 54:15 "Behold,
they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather
together against thee shall fall for thy sake"
E. That believer who says to the devil "you cannot
have my Joy" because it is written in the book of Psalm 16:11 "....In Your
presence is fullness of joy..."
F. That believer who is not afraid to attack the devil
and his agents because there is a promise that our enemies will fall before us
by the sword (Leviticus 26:8).
The earth is a continuous battle field for resource
control, and heaven is the residence of every man's need, hence if you refuse
to take what belongs to you as a believer, no one will do it for you.
1. Victory is the manifestation of the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ in the life of a believer in any given situation (I Corinthians 15:57).
2. Victory is when God delivers the head of your enemy to
you (1 Samuel 17:51).
3. Victory is when God pushes down your enemies, and
tramples on those who rise up against you (Psalm 44:5).
4. Victory is when God answers your prayers against the
expectation of your enemies (Esther 4:15-16).
5. Victory is when God turns the plans of your enemies for
your favour or advantage (Genesis 37:28, Genesis 41:41).
6. Victory is when God uses your enemy to decorate you
with the garment of glory and honour (Esther 6:10-11).
7. Victory is when God proves Himself in your situation
(1 kings 18:20-40).
The presence of Jesus Christ in our lives, is an
assurance that whenever we are confronted with any situation, we shall be more
than a conqueror.
Victory is of two folds, and both must be present
before a believer can experience total or absolute victory. Fortunately for us,
our Lord Jesus Christ has completed the first fold, by voluntarily giving His
life on the cross of Calvary for you and I. The second fold is the responsibility
of the believer to enforce the victory that was achieved on the cross for
his/her overall development.
HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE
ABSOLUTE VICTORY?
WHO YOU WORSHIP
DETERMINES YOUR VICTORY OR FAILURE:
It would interest you to know, that your destiny has strong
ties with who you worship or take as God, because if you worship a god that has
a track record of failure, how then can you succeed? Most times, the world's
definition of success is a sharp contrast to what heaven says it is. However,
could we have said Jesus Christ was successful if He had failed His Father and
ended up in hell? The answer would have been a big NO, but Jesus Christ was
faithful all the way and He is seated at the right hand of His Father in Heaven
(Mark 16:19).
Man is on a journey, and until he gets to heaven and
re- unites with his Father through Jesus Christ, only then can heaven say
congratulations to you on your success. However, you can now see that what you
have always called success is below the standard of heaven, but experiences by
which you would be judged based on your decisions while passing through the
earth, which is irrespective of whether you make heaven or not.
Therefore, how can you be successful without Jesus
Christ?
Moreover, worshiping a god who is not recognized as
the door (JESUS CHRIST) to heaven (John 10:9), is walking on the path of
failure.
CREATE A CONDUCIVE
ENVIRONMENT FOR GOD TO FIGHT FOR YOU:
The Lord is a man of war (Exodus 15:3), and if you
want Him to fight for you, clean up your house and put on the breast plate of
righteousness. The book of Ephesians 6, tells us to put on the whole armour of
God, the breast plate of righteousness and to gird our waist with truth,
because we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers,
the rulers of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places.
These protective gear provided for us in the
eventuality of battle, would only be effective, if we are obedient to the
manufacturer's manual. Non adherence to the manufacturers manual would lead to
a penetration of the protective gear by the fiery darts of the enemy, which
would eventually lead to failure at the battle field.
HOLD ON TO YOUR FAITH:
Faith is not just a kingdom belief system, it is a
weapon that wearies the enemy in the battle field. Faith makes a believer
confident in battle, and actually makes him/her bigger than his/her actual
physical size, which was the case in the battle between David and Goliath. The
armies of Israel viewed Goliath as a giant because they lost faith in their
God, Who had given them many victories in the past, but David on the other hand
saw a dwarf, because his faith in God made him bigger than Goliath, and this was
the secret of his success against the uncircumcised philistine.
Moreover, the bible describes a person without faith
as a wave of the sea which is blown and tossed by the wind (James 1:6).
DO NOT REJOICE YET:
I have seen believers sleeping on the battle field
because they secured a partial victory against the enemy. Please can you wake
up from your slumber and remember that battles are in stages while victory is
in phases.
I recently finished reading a book by one of my
father's in the Lord, pastor Olumide Oni, titled "The mystery of
Ignorance". In this book, the author recounts the story of a man stricken
with chronic poverty, so bad that he had to beg to survive. Fortunately for
him, he had an encounter with God through the general overseer of the Mountain
of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Dr D.K Olukoya in one of the church services,
and a word of knowledge came from the altar concerning his situation. The week
he received the prophecy, God ordered his foot step and directed him to his old
time friend. The friend showed compassion on him, and he was given a contract
which made him an instant millionaire. The feeling of being a millionaire was
new, having been under the captivity of poverty for so many years, but he
thought the battle was over, and decided to engage himself in a drinking spree
which lead to his death on that same day.
Securing a victory in a particular stage of a battle,
does not mean the war is over, because the devil and his agents do not give up
easily. The capacity to envision the "big picture" would keep you
focused, and prevent any form of distraction emanating from a temporary
victory.
Absolute victory is achieved when you completely
decimate your enemies, and eliminate their capacity to regroup.
GIVE THANKS TO GOD:
There is one sight the enemy hates to see, and that is
the sight of a believer praising and giving thanks to God. This brings so much
pain and agony to the kingdom of darkness, and this is reversed when the
believer cries and looses the joy of his/her salvation, then the enemy
rejoices.
Moreover, when you allow the enemy to take away the
joy of your salvation, leaving you in a state of bitterness which prevents you
from giving praise to God and dancing in His presence like David, then you are
already defeated.
However, if you are reading this article, Jesus Christ
is calling you to surrender your life to Him, so you can experience absolute
victory, and if you have already accepted Him, it's a call to get closer to
Him.
God bless you all, and may the good Lord grant you
absolute victory in all your endeavors in Jesus name, Amen.
#TheMessenger
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