Live in Victory – The Joy of Champions – Purity 965

Live in Victory – The Joy of Champions – Purity 965

Purity 965 02/13/2023 Purity 965 Podcast

Purity 965 on YouTube: Coming Soon!

Good morning,

Today’s photo of the sun shining bright through a
less than clear windshield over I90 West about a mile east of Exit 32 comes to
us from yours truly as I decided capture the sun while speeding towards
Syracuse because I wasn’t sure if it would be there when I got there with
minutes to spare before sunset.  

Well, It’s Monday and it turns out the sun was in
Syracuse when I got there yesterday but any inclination to capture sunset
photos from my hotel’s parking lot was not.  The drive out west wasn’t terribly long but
all I wanted to upon arrive was to grab my bags, get to my room, and
relax.   It was Superbowl Sunday after
all and even though I hadn’t really watch any significant amount of football all
season, I felt that old familiar pull to watch the big game.   I didn’t have much of an opinion on which
team I liked better.  The truth is that I
have friends or acquaintances that are fans of both the Eagles and the Chiefs
and so I wasn’t sure who I would root for. I had picked the Eagles to win in my
family’s Yahoo pick ‘em league earlier in the week but when I saw that ALL
(literally all) the Fox pregame commentators picked the Eagles to win, I suddenly
found myself emotionally invested in the underdog – the Chiefs.  So I decided to root for them.

But I am not the football fan that I used to be, by
half time – with the Chiefs down by 10 points and the Chiefs quarterback limp
jogging off the field after being injured on a play late in the 2^nd quarter,
I decided to avoid the emotional roller coaster and probable disappointment and
decided to call it a night and go to bed before the third quarter was even
under way.   I had hoped that the Chiefs
would win, I guess, but with Patrick Mahomes injured it looked like they were
destined to lose.   

But I awoke to discover that the Chiefs and Patrick
Mahomes had other ideas.  I haven’t
watched any of the highlights yet but apparently the Chiefs overcame the half
time deficit and are champions once again.  

As I stated- I haven’t watched the highlights but I
know that Patrick Mahomes has led his team in come from behind wins before and
apparently he did it again.  And that is
one aspect of the experience of our lives that I would like to encourage us all
with on this Monday morning – drawing from

2 Peter 1:2-4 (NLT2)
²  May God give you more and
more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
³  By his divine power, God
has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received
all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of
his marvelous glory and excellence.
⁴  And because of his glory
and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the
promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s
corruption caused by human desires.

So whether you have overcome and
experienced freedom and victory before or if you are striving to overcome in
certain areas for the first time, let me encourage you that God has given us
everything we need to do it because He enables us by sharing His divine
nature.  

So whether you are continuing an ongoing
victory parade or find yourself back to the drawing board let me encourage you by
telling you that our victory lies in Christ and abiding in Him.  

The world, the flesh, and the devil can
tempt us and draw us away from the people God created us to be.  Superbowl Sunday is one of our man made feast
days that is a veritable trap of over indulgence, possible sin, and strife as a
sporting contest that should give glory to God is inflated with pride and
surrounded by vice. Many people may be not at work today because of hang overs
from too much food or drink. Dejected Eagles fans could be depressed, bitter,
or angry as all the hopes and emotions they invested in someone else’s achievements
were not realized.   And elated Chief
fans may be filled pride until next year over a victory that someone else has
won.  

The only vicarious achievement that we
can truly share in is the victory that Christ has won for us through His death
and resurrection and when we put our faith in Him not only do we have the
victory over death and the grave, we receive the power to be transformed and
set free from the sins and negative emotions that so easily beset us.   

Not only is the joy of the Lord are
strength because of our salvation, we can be joyful because Christ gives us the
power to overcome.  

Philippians 4:11-13 (NKJV)
¹¹  Not that I speak in regard
to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
¹²  I know how to be
abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned
both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
¹³  I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me.

So whether this Monday finds you high or
low, remember to be content and that Christ has given us everything we need to
live a godly life.  

Whether we have to dig ourselves out of
a deficit, maintain the freedom and victory, or to boldly take on new
challenges, the Lord enables us to do all things through Christ who strengthens
us.  We can overcome our sinful desires and
have a life that is defined by peace, love, and joy when we live according to
God’s precious promises that are given freely to those who put their faith in
Christ and decide to follow Him.   

So, let’s turn the page on last week and
any defeats we may have suffered by making the decision today to keep walking
and talking to God so we can share in His power. We already have been given all
we need to live a godly life so let’s walk in it and experience the abundant
life that comes from living in freedom and victory.   Christ has already won the victory, so let’s
live with the determination and joy of champions.

———————————————————

Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible
Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Acts 5:41 (NLT2)
⁴¹  The apostles left the high
council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the
name of Jesus.

Today’s Bible reminds us that we should
rejoice when we suffer because of our faith in Christ.   

It may seem strange that the apostles
would rejoice because they were persecuted by the high council but we have to
remember that it wasn’t the suffering and insult they were taking joy in but
that they received it only because they represented Jesus and the kingdom of
God.  

Sometimes in our walk of faith we can
doubt whether or not we are faithful Christians, but when some one treats you
badly or rejects you because of your faith in Christ you can rejoice because
they are confirming you in your faith!    

As painful as rejection and mild or
not so mild persecution can be, we can at least find solace in knowing that our
faith is true and that it is what is to be expected as Christ warned his
disciples that they would be hated because of Him.   

When we suffer we are in good company,
we are not only a part of the fellowship of the saints that have gone on before
us who suffered or died because of their faith, we become partners in Christ’s
suffering. 

1 Peter 4:12-13 (NLT2)
¹²  Dear friends, don’t be
surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange
were happening to you.
¹³  Instead, be very glad—for
these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will
have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the
world.

So don’t be surprised if persecution comes but be
assured that through it you not only receive a confirmation of your faith, you
also have the wonderful joy of seeing Christ’s glory when He comes to rule and
reign forever.

___________________________________________

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The
Sovereignty of God.”

As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.

THE
SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

By  ARTHUR W. PINK

CHAPTER SIX

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN OPERATION continues

God’s
method of dealing with the righteous: continues

2. God exerts upon His own elect an energizing influence or power.

The apostle prayed to God for the Ephesian
saints that the eyes of their understanding might be enlightened in order that,
among other things, they might know “what is the exceeding greatness of His
power to usward who believe” (Eph.
1:18), and that they might be “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the
inner man” (3:16). It is thus that the children of God are enabled to fight the
good fight of faith and battle with the adverse forces which constantly war
against them. In themselves they have no strength: they are but “sheep,” and
sheep are one of the most defenseless animals there is; but the promise is
sure—“He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He
increaseth strength” (Isa. 40:29).

It is this energizing
power that God exerts upon and within the righteous which enables them to serve
Him acceptably. Said the prophet of old, “But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord” (Micah 3:8).
And said our Lord to His apostles, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you” (Acts
1:8), and thus it proved, for of these same men we read subsequently, “And with
great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus:
and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33). So it was, too, with the
apostle Paul, “and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing word of
man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Cor. 2:4).
But the scope of this power is not confined to service, for we read in 2 Pet.
1:3, “According as His Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” Hence it is that the
various graces of the Christian character, “love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” are ascribed directly to
God Himself, being denominated “the fruit of
the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22). Compare 2 Cor. 8:16.

3. God exerts upon His own elect a directing influence or power.

Of old He led His people across the
wilderness, directing their steps by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of
fire by night; and today He still directs His saints, though now from within
rather from without. “For this God is our
God for ever and ever: He will be our
Guide even unto death” (Psa. 48:14), but He “guides” us by working in us
both to will and to do His good pleasure. That He does so guide us is clear
from the words of the apostle in Eph. 2:10—“For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Thus all ground for
boasting is removed and God gets all the glory, for with the prophet we have to
say, “Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for
Thou also hast wrought all our works in us” (Isa. 26:12). How true then
that “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps” (Prov. 16:29)! Compare Psa. 65:4; Ezek. 36:27.^[1]

—————————more
tomorrow————————

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, “Freedom in Christ” series of Discipleship Classes via the
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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship