Conquerors

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More Than Conquerors

 

Romans 8:37

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."

Being saved guarantees that you are on the winning side.  We sing the song, "I'm on the winning side" because no matter what Satan throws at us, the Christian will always come through victorious.  In the verse above, God shows us how secure our salvation is, thus guaranteeing our victory.  He says that tribulation, calamity, persecution, famine, financial loss, danger, war, death or powerful dominions cannot separate us from His love.  God wants you to grasp that there is nothing this world can throw at you that will cause you to lose your salvation.  Because of this, "...we are more than conquerors through him..." 

Because we are conquerors, then that means we are the victors or the champions.  One thing I have learned about champions is that they live differently.  When you got saved, you became a member of the champions team, and there is nothing that can ever take that away from you.  With this in mind, it should change the way you live because you are a champion.  

First, you should have a victorious spirit.  Christian, you are on the winning side, and winners have a winning attitude.  Too many Christians walk through life with a loser's disposition when they should walk through life with a winner's attitude.  Winners don't let petty things get them down.  Winners don't let criticism bother them.  Winners are upbeat and have a good attitude.  Therefore, you should live your life with a winning attitude, and not a defeated attitude.  

Second, you should live a victorious life.  What I mean by this is that you should be confident that the Christian life is the best life.  There is no other life that you could live that can deliver victory and success.  You should be confident that the Christian life is the only way to live if you want to win.  When you look at champions in the sports world, you will see that they don't change their philosophy and way of doing things, because they are the champion.  Instead, you find that losing teams will copy the way that the champions do things.  Likewise, if Christians would live like champions, then we could persuade others to follow our lifestyle.  Stop living like a loser and trying to find a new way to do things. Instead, live like a winner and follow the proven winning methods of God's Word to live your Christian life.  

Last, you should be cognizant of the fact that the Devil has a target on your back. When you are the winner, everyone is out to take you down.  Likewise, because you are on the winning team, all the Devil's forces are out to take you down.  At any moment the Devil can destroy you if you don't watch how you live.  One decision can ruin your life, therefore you must be so careful how you live realizing that one sin can take the winning attitude away from you.  

Yes, if you're saved, you are a conqueror.  Live like you're a champion and beware of those who would love to take you down.  No, you can never loose your salvation, but you can still allow your flesh to defeat you. You should start every day reminding yourself to live like a champion because you are one!

Bad company

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Good People in Bad Company

 

Acts 13:50

"But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts."

You would think that when Paul and Barnabas tried to bring the glorious Gospel of Christ to the Jews, that the good people of the area would have been excited.  Yet, in the verse above, we learn that the "devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city," were the ones who caused Paul and Barnabas problems.  You would expect problems from the atheists, but not from these people.  You would expect problems from wicked people, but not from these people.  These people were supposedly the best of society.  The word "devout" means devoted.  In other words, there were devoted people who turned on Paul and Barnabas.  These were people who were the honorable in the surrounding communities that turned on these men.  These people were city leaders who were known as good leaders, yet they still turned on these men.  This seems unthinkable.

So what was it that caused "devout and honourable" women and city leaders to turn on Paul and Barnabas?  The first three words of the verse above shows us the answer, "But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city..." What caused these good people to turn on God's men was that they kept bad company.  These good people got around bad company and found themselves doing bad things.

It always happens that when good people spend time around bad company that the good people end up doing bad things.  You cannot spend time with bad company and not expect it to influence or affect your actions.  Though many times you may have good intentions to influence the bad company for right, you will instead find yourself influenced by them.  Like I have always said, you can't spend time around manure without getting it and it's smell on you.  If you don't want to allow bad company to influence you, then don't spend time with them.

Christian, you are not going to be the exception to the rule.  You can't run with disgruntled church members, those who are still in the church and others who have left, without them affecting your spirit.  You can't run with worldly people and their worldliness not rub off on you.  You can't run with liberal Christians by reading their books and watching television programs without their liberal theology rubbing off on you.  You can't spend time with Hollywood and not expect their filthy lifestyle to rub off on you.  Good people spending time in bad company always produces bad results.

The best way for you to keep yourself from being influenced by bad company is to not spend time with them.  Yes, witness to them, pray for them, be kind and courteous to them, and try to get them to come to church, but you cannot run with them or else they will influence you.  If you want to continue to be a good person, then you need to spend time with good people.  

Take some time to look at your associations and those with whom you spend time, and make sure they are good people.  If they're not, then back off and start spending time with good people.  Just like good people in bad company results in bad actions, likewise good people in good company results in good actions.  Be careful with what company you run and be sure that it is the type of company that does things that you should do.

Grieving

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Grieving Properly

 

Acts 8:2

"And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him."

In the verse above, Stephen was given a proper burial after he was murdered by the angry mob.  It is interesting that God mentions that "devout men carried Stephen to his burial." What is interesting to me about this is that God was as concerned about how people dealt with his death as He was about the life of Stephen.  In other words, God was showing us that properly dealing with the death of a loved one is part of the process that helps us to move on in life.  

Death is one of those unpleasantries of life. I have found that most people don't like to deal with death.  Don't get me wrong, I don't enjoy it either, but I know that there is a proper way to deal with the death of a loved one.  Christians ought to be as concerned about having a Christian burial as they are concerned with living the Christian life.  Let me give you a few thoughts that will help you in dealing with death.  

First, get buried properly.  What I mean be this is that you should make sure that your body is dealt with in a Christian manner.  I believe the examples in the Scriptures show that cremation is not the Christian way to bury a loved one.  Remember that Jesus is our example, and we should follow how He dealt with death.  When they buried Jesus, they did not cremate his body, but they gave Him a natural burial.  The reason for not cremating a body is to show that you believe one day that body will come out of the grave when Jesus comes again.  Though some will disagree with this, I believe you will have a hard time seeing anyone who was cremated in the Scriptures.  

Second, give yourself time to mourn.  You have just lost a loved one and mourning is natural.  There are some who try to avoid mourning only to hurt themselves later. Mourning is part of the release of the grief that you carry for your loved one.  When a loved one goes to Heaven, give yourself time to grieve.  

Third, plan to end the mourning period.  You must eventually move on after a loved one has passed away.  Christian, your loved one would want you to move on.  They are in Heaven, and they know that you will be better off moving on.  I'm not saying you should forget them, but you cannot carry that grief forever.  You must have a time when you decide to end your mourning period.  

Fourth, immediately after the funeral watch your spirit.  Though this may sound strange, I warn people about listening to music on Heaven after they have buried a loved one.  My reason for saying this is because it will throw you back into the mourning process and you need time for your spirit to heal from the grief.  Yes, we should listen to songs on Heaven, but be careful about listening to them immediately afterwards so that you can avoid going back into the mourning process.  

Last, periodically give respect and grieve for your loved one.  There should be times when you plan to grieve for the one you loved.  Maybe at a certain time every year you remember them for what they did for you in your life.  Periodically you should go by the graveside to mourn and remember their influence upon your life.  This is natural and should be done.  

Christian, these steps will help you to move properly through the grieving process when a loved one passes away.  This is how I have dealt with the home going of a loved one in my life, and I believe that you will find it will help you too.

Change

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Initiating Change

 

Acts 2:14

"But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:"

The actions of Peter in the verse above are quite different from when he was denying Christ the night that Jesus was being tried.  In the verse above, Peter was standing up and speaking out about Christ. When others were criticizing the disciples, instead of cowering to the criticism, Peter stood and spoke the truth that could change the lives of those in attendance.  Though the other disciples were there with Peter, it was Peter's vocal stance that made the change that day.  

We live in a day when evil is present.  I look at nations all over the world and see regimes that are changing the core of those nations' values.  I look in Christianity and see leaders who continue to compromise and destroy fundamental doctrine all for the sake of the "bigger picture." Places that once stood for truth are now the places that seem to be attacking truth.  Men who once stood firm for the old-time religion now avoid confrontation at all costs for the sake of keeping their crowds.  Yes, we need change!  Not change to unchartered territory where nobody knows what will come out of the change, but change back to tested truths and principles that have proven to change lives and societies.  

In order for change to occur, three things are necessary. First, it takes the Holy Spirit power to make change.  In the verse above, the reason Peter was able to make a change was because the power of the Holy Spirit was upon him.  You can attempt change without the Holy Spirit's power, but you will never make the type of change that will change history.  Quite often changes are made without the Holy Spirit's power, but those changes only last for a short while.  When the Holy Spirit is involved, then changes are made that last decades.  

Second, someone must stand for truth to initiate change.  People can sit by and wait for someone else to take their stand, but you must we willing to stand alone if you want to initiate change.  Too many people are measuring which way the wind is blowing to decide whether or not they should stand.  Too many people are trying to see who will stand with them before they take their stand.  If you wait for these things to happen, then change will never occur.  

Last, someone must stand up and speak out for truth in order to initiate change.  It's not enough to quietly stand, but people need to be vocal for truth if change is going to be initiated.  Quietly standing is fine, but people must be vocal about truth if they are going to change others.  I'm not talking about being obnoxious, but I am talking about firmly revealing error and speaking truth.  When you see that truth is under attack, you will only make a change if you stand up and speak out.  Yes, you will be criticized by others, but if nobody speaks out, then error will continue to prevail.  

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do and say nothing.  We live in a day when a change is necessary.  Will you quietly sit by as error prevails, or will you stand and speak out for truth?  If you want to initiate change, then you must firmly stand for truth and speak out about any error that is attacking truth.