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Your more than a conqueror
Paul
in his letter to the Romans (Romans 8:35-39) said: ‘who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … In all these things, we are more
than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither
death nor life, neither angels nor demons neither the present nor the future nor
any powers, nether height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’.
As
God’s children, chosen according to his divine will, we are called to
understand that God and not the devil is in full control; that the forces of
evil that scheme against us are powerless when compared to the power of God that
resides within us. We, who are called by His name, have an unfair advantage over
the principalities and the powers of darkness that try to impose themselves over
our lives. We are, indeed, ‘more than
conquerors’ through Christ
Jesus.
As
we look at what is happening in the world today, it sometimes seems as though
the devil is winning. From the terrorist attacks in New York on 11 September
2001 when terrorists exploded two planes into the World Trade Centre; the
unending crisis in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc; the many millions
who continue to die daily of hunger; incurable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, SARS
and the Bird Flu in Asia; the 1994 Rwanda Genocide that left almost a million
people dead, we could very easily doubt whether God is still in control. One may
even be forgiven for wondering why we should trust Him and depend on His power.
This is the message that the devil is trying so hard to drive home. He wants us
to doubt and completely lose hope and trust in God. But you and I know that the
devil is a liar! God has always been, and will always be, in full control.
With
calamities, chaos, wars and rumours of war doing the rounds on a daily basis,
how then can we say we are more than conquerors?
Who
is a conqueror?
A conqueror is a person who overcomes by force. A conqueror presses through,
irrespective of opposition forces, until he wins the battle. A conqueror looks
at failure as a lesson and then presses on towards success. Even in the face of
defeat, a conqueror does not quit. He persists until he gets his breakthrough. A
conqueror attains victory by overcoming the enemy.
Who
is more than a conqueror?
In
2 Kings 7:3-8, we meet four leprous men sitting at the entrance of the city
gate. After assessing the pathetic situation they are in, they come to a
philosophical conclusion: “why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘we will
go into the city’; the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here
we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Syrians and surrender. If
they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
At
dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Syrians. When they reached the edge
o the camp, not a single Syrian was there. The Lord had caused confusion among
the Syrians. Incidentally, they had fled in terror after hearing what they
thought was the sound of chariots and horses, an unmistakable indication of a
great army furiously charging towards them. And so they said to one another;
‘look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittites and the Egyptian kings to
attack us!’ With this they fled into the night, abandoning their tents, horses
and donkeys.
As
the four leprous men entered the camp fearing for the worst, instead they found
an abandoned camp. They entered one of the tents and stared in disbelief at the
vast amount of food and drinks that the Syrians had left behind. They ate,
drank, and then carried away silver, gold and clothes. They entered another tent
and took more stuff before spreading the good news to the Israelites, the very
same people who had thrown them outside the city gate.
As
the four men matched towards the enemy’s camp, I believe that God amplified
the sound of their footsteps. The result was that the Syrians didn’t hear four
men approaching, but the host of a great army charging furiously towards them.
These four lonesome, sickly, hungry men took a step of faith and decided to do
the seemingly impossible! They chose to trust God, irrespective of their health
and insignificant strength. As a result, a battle-hardened and experienced army
fled in terror! God literally went before them and put the Syrians into flight!
These four lepers were more than
conquerors. God had already given them victory even before they arrived.
As
a child of God, you are more than a conqueror through
Christ. There is no other way you can win the battle. You can’t win the battle
by might or by power, but only by the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6). The Bible
says in 2 Chronicles 20:15; ‘be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this
great multitude; for the battle is not
yours, but God’s.’ The battle belongs to the Lord.
Stop
struggling! Stop fighting! He will fight for you! When your enemies plot to harm
you, stand firm and you will see the deliverance of the Lord. When sickness and
diseases afflict your body and those of your loved ones, stand still and know
that the Lord God your healer will surely make you whole! He is the God that
heals your infirmities (Ex. 15:26). When poverty comes knocking at your door,
call upon God and he will do battle with it for you. He will supply ALL your
needs according to his riches in heaven (Philippians 4:19). At your lowest
moment when hope appears to ebb away from you, even as you walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, do not be afraid. He is with you and He will
bring you out!
To
be more than a conqueror, you must surrender your will to God’s will. As
opposed to using force or might to win a battle, a more-than-a-conqueror
candidate moves by FAITH and attains victory by the Spirit of God. Our weapons
of battle are not carnal. They are spiritual. Our fight and struggles are not
against flesh and blood but against the principalities and spiritual wickedness
in high places. Conventional weaponry will therefore not help. We must put on
the FULL ARMOR of GOD. After we do this, we then need to STAND in FAITH and let
GOD do battle for us. This is what makes us more
than conquerors.
Through
Christ Jesus
We must realize that the only way we can be more than conquerors is through
Jesus Christ. Any other way leads to death and destruction. Jesus is the Way,
the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. You
won’t win any battle except through Him. The winning has nothing to do with
us. It has everything to do with Him. Your battle may be a debilitating disease,
a strained marriage, debt, demonic oppression, etc. It really doesn’t matter
what you are going through. There is no battle to hard for Him to fight. There
is nothing impossible with GOD. Allow him to fight for you today and very soon,
that sickness will fade away! Your marriage will be restored. Your runaway child
will come back home. Your finances will get back into shape.
To
be more than Conquerors through Christ, we must:
- surrender
our lives to Jesus Christ.
- believe
that He will win the battle for us.
- have faith
in God and stand firm in His Word. If we abide outside His Word, then He
will not fight for us.
- not be afraid
even when the enemy appears like he is winning.
- always encourage
ourselves in the Lord even when the battle is raging.
-
be
holy and righteous
before God.
- die
to ourselves and allow Christ to live in us. In Galatians 2:20, Paul says;
‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.’
- fall completely in
love with
God just as He is in love with us. As John says in 1 John 4:16, ‘... we
have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he
that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.’
God
will fight and win the battle for you when you obey His commandments diligently.
Love the Lord your God and trust Him with ALL your heart. Walk in ALL His ways
and keep his commandments. Cleave unto him, and serve him with ALL your heart
and soul. Finally, always remember to give Him ALL the glory. Since the battle
is the Lord’s, it goes without saying that the Glory is His too. Thank Him for
all that He has done for you. It’s the least you can do. Only then will you
truly be more than a conqueror!
by
Innocent Mwangi
March 2004
Email: img@ssmk.net
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