Thursday, May 3, 2007

Choose Sides

Everyday we must choose sides... Will we be victims or victors? A victim is someone who is deceived or cheated, as by his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of others. A victor is someone who has overcome or defeated an adversary, a winner in any struggle or contest. (courtesy of Dictionary.com)

Based on those fairly clear definitions, we have a decision to make. There are too many times in my life were I chose to be a victim instead of a victor. I allowed circumstances and events to dictate my mental state. In doing so, I allowed the enemy to gain another foothold because I would not stand up and fight. How often do we forget that the fight is fixed on our behalf. Yes we all have trials and difficult things in our lives. But that does not mean we should walk around with the smell of death and our grave clothes on. It is a victim mentality that I believe is all to prevalent in our society now. People looking to make excuses for why they don't have the things they desire in life. Instead of finding a way to win we come up with a laundry list of who or what is responsible for us not reaching the brass ring. Can I tell you that victims never won a thing. They may have been able to reap the benefits of someone else hard work, but never on their own.

The Israelites were operating in victim mode when they reached the Jordan. Only Joshua and Caleb were in victor mode. We see the results of their fearful tendencies. We all can find our place at one time or another standing on that river bank saying we can't go over. But let me tell you, for you and me to truly walk in the anointing and power that God gave us we must change our minds from victims to victors. Regardless of our circumstances, we must declare victory.

I am through being a victim. Jesus called me to victory. Sometimes to get it you have to fight for it. " To the Victor, go the spoils"

5 comments:

Kevin Thomasson said...

It's going, going, gone...
Knocked that one out of the park!
Thanks man for the reminder and encouragement. Just got hit by something the other day and The Spirit reminded me that nothing is more important than my Jesus and my joy is in Him.

Thanks brother.

Hbomb said...

The Lord reminded me last summer when we were going through some serious stuff, victim and victor both start our the same way the only difference in their spelling is the last 2 letters. The same is true in our life. Any situation we are faced (whether we had control of the "beginning" or not)allows us the opportunity to control the outcome (the end). We chose how we will respond to life. It's kind of the same principle of "No one can offend me unless I give them permission." I can't control what people say, but I can control whether I get offended and habor bitterness. Thanks Babe...Love ya bunches

RJ said...

That is the same message we try to convey to our kids over and over again. You can be angry, hurt, sad, confused or whatever... but it is what you do with that anger and emotion that counts. It is the choices we make that let us stand victorious or fall in a flat out KO. Very good post... thanks for the encouragement.

Real Life Sarah said...

This reminds me of Heather, who I wrote about in my blog today. She has a chronically ill child, and is having brain surgery today. Up until yesterday, she was writing with such faith like I have never seen. She is truly a victor!

PS. I loved reading Helen's posts; she is an awesome woman! And I do sing on our worship team at Alliance Bible Fellowship here in Boone. We have 3 teams, and I am on one of them.

Jan said...

Good word, Johnny! That strikes really close to home with what we are dealing with here in Mexico. Basically we have seen that 99 percent of latinos live under the victim mentality, which causes them to be dependent on other nations and other people because they don't believe they can be victors. We are trying so hard to instill in them that they are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus! That doesn't mean that we ourselves don't struggle with being victims at times. It's tough! Thanks for the encouragement.