TRIUMPHING

PART TWO

I consider that our present sufferilngs

are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us...

If God is for us, who can be against us?...

(nothing) in all creation, will be able to separate us

from thre love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

ROMANS 8. 22-39

During our sufferings, we learn our weaknesses and our need to trust in God.

...under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure,
we despaired even of life.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 
He has...and He will continue to deliver us.

2 Cor. 1.9-10

As we struggle toward God with these attacks, God gives grace that protects, sustains, and eventually empowers us to become wiser, stronger, and better in His ways. Amazingly, we find ourselves supporting others who are facing struggles.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,....

who comforts us in all our troubles,

so that can comfort those in any trouble

with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

2 Cor 1.3-4

“My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

...so that Christ's power may rest on me....

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Cor. 12.9-10

We experience attacks as temptations and tribulations. 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers,

whenever you face trials of many kinds,...

so that you may be mature and complete,not lacking anything. 

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,

who gives generously to all without finding fault,

and it will be given to him.

James 1.2-4

... we also rejoice in our sufferings,...

because God has poured out His love into our hearts
by the Holy Spirit,

whom He has given us.

Romans 5.3.

We find this grace as we read the Scriptures and find the promises that God show us.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness

through our knowledge of Him who called us.

...if you do these things, you will never fall,

and you will receive a rich welcome

into the eternal kingdom

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1.2-11

A PLACE TO CALL HOME

The Lord gave Israel all the land...

Not one of all the Lord's good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

Joshua 21. 43-45

Now...return to your homes in the land...

But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law : 

to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to keep His commands, to hold fast to him and to serve Him

with all your heart and with all your soul.

Joshua 22. 4-5

I "roamed" many places from childhood until age 38, when Pat and I moved to Mission, TX., where we have been for the last 35 years.  Mission is our Home, our "Home away from Home," where we have put down roots and built relationships.

My father said, "Any place is a good place, once you learn to live there."

Mission has become a very good, wonderful place for us to live.

It has been and is our place to learn and live by the commands and laws of God, to love Him, hold fast to Him, serve Him,  and experience "the Lord's good promises."

We live here, as Israel lived in their villages and towns.  This is the place the Lord has settled--"assigned?"--us, to learn and to live in His grace and for His glory.  This is the place for us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."  As we eat our daily bread, learn the customs and ways of our neighbors, breaking down barriers with forgiveness and love, in holiness and righteousness in the face of temptations of the day, for the glory and in the hope of the Kingdom of God.

To the extent that our town, with its leadership in government, business, education,

courts, and culture seek and follow the ways of God, we have the opportunity to experience "all the Lord's good promises."



TRIUMPHING...BY THE CROSS

Having disarmed

  the powers and authorities,

Christ made a public spectacle of them,

triumphing over them by the cross.

Col. 23.15

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood.......but is against

the rulers, ...authorities, ...powers of this dark world,

...and the spiritual forces of evil

in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6.12

These “rulers, ...authorities, ...powers of this dark world,...and the spiritual forces” are the sources “of evil” which we must confront and defeat by the power of the cross.

How do we identify these kinds of enemies in real life? 

Consider:

 

1.  Rulers
The “rules” we are required to follow and obey every day of our lives “rule” our lives as they are “internalized” and made to be part of how we think life must be lived, whether we know it or not, whether we like it or not. We come to believe that the rules we live under are requirements we cannot escape, that we must follow, no matter how wrong we may think them to be. We may be angry and fearful of them, but we feel we must obey them. “Escaping” through changing circumstances or through “pleasurable” pastimes and indulgences are our recourses.

2.  Authorities

Our parents. Work requirements. Peers. Public opinions. Schools.  Teachers. Government. Courts.

The “Rules” that we follow come from these kinds of sources that we live with and follow as part of the generation of the nation we live in.

These “Authorities” and the culture that produce them, changing, “morphing” generation by generation, are the standards and unconscious presumptions that rule our lives and are enforced upon us in our daily interactions and activities.

3.  Spiritual Forces

Colossians 3.16-23 lists all kinds of commands and regulations imposed by unspiritual minds with worthless notions, regulations imposed by human commands and teachings. Such false teachings and hypocrisy have ever been the plague of the church of the Lord Jesus--"the righteousness of the Law."

These “Forces” come from false claim of those who gain religious leadership—church, teachers, home teachings, books, media, etc. Many are “well-meaning;” others are hypocritical. 

The capacity and tendency for pride and self-righteousness is very great and easily creeps into the beliefs and then the teachings of religious leaders.The most difficult opponents of Jesus were religious leaders, the Pharisees, who influenced and led, the people and government  to crucify Christ. 

The apostle says,

“Beware--be wary of—hollow and deceptive philosophy

...human tradition and the basic principles of this world

rather than on Christ.”

Col. 2.8

4.  Powers

The first three “enemies” are difficult because many of these influences are good.

But the negative sides of these forces become “Powers,”--called“strongholds...of the devil” (2 Cor. 12.5; James 3.15). These we must “wrestle “ and “struggle against” in spiritual warfare to gain the freedom we have in and by Christ Jesus.

“Triumphing...by the Cross”

“Triumphing” comes as we focus on our relationship with Christ, abiding in Him, and following the leadership of the Holy Spirit, daily, hourly.  As we “set our hearts...and minds on the things of Christ,” we are given power to “put off” the enemies of our “old” life and put on the new man of God's creation and image. 

Walk in the Spirit,

and you will not indulge in the desires of the sinful nature...

triumphing over them by the Cross.

Galatians 5.16-23; Col. 2.6-23