The Triumphant Church, Part 5

Let’s look at Romans 8 beginning with verse 31. Paul says, “What then shall we say to these things, if God is for us, who can be against us?” This is the first thing you need to determine. Is God for you or against you? Here are a couple more things to consider. Are you for or against God? Are you working with or against Him and His will for your life? Every decision you make is in agreement with either your adversary or your friend.

Your enemy, the devil, roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. You’re either aligning yourself with your adversary, or you’re lining yourself up with your very best friend, Jesus Christ. In order to be in right alignment with Him, you have to be in agreement with God’s Word. In order to be in agreement with His Word, it is necessary to know what it says! Therefore, you must study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). 

If you don’t know whether you’re walking in agreement with God, find out. How? Discover what His Word says! Come into agreement and align your life with what He has spoken.  

The Psalmist said that God showed His works to Israel but revealed His ways to Moses. What are we most focused on? What are we most interested in? Simply seeing the works of God (which are great and glorious and thank God for them), or are we intent on learning His ways? Will we allow His ways to become our ways? Many in the Church have this mindset, “Well, you know, God’s ways are higher than my ways. I can’t think like God thinks.”

Once you get your mind renewed and understand that you have the mind of Christ, you can think the way He thinks! I’m not saying that God’s thoughts still aren’t higher than ours or that His ways are not beyond our comprehension at times. What I am saying is that in any given situation, you can know the mind of God for your life. It is necessary to have knowledge of God and His Word!

Too many Christians are spending too little time in the Word of God, and then they can’t understand what’s going on in their lives; therefore, they become weak. This causes them to be defeated, live to a great extent “purposeless lives,” walk and run in circles, and never really accomplish that which God has created them to do. God has called you to be victorious! It is imperative that we get this truth established in our hearts and minds so we can live a triumphant life.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Emory

The Triumphant Church, Part 4

We’ve been talking about the Triumphant Church and the fact that God has called us to be just that. The Church has been and always will be eternal. You can read passages of Scripture such as Revelation 19 regarding Christ who is faithful and true coming down from heaven and being followed by a great army riding white horses. Those are folks just like us. God has always had a Church, and He has always sought a people through whom He could work that would bring victory in the earth and bring glory to His name as a result.

Here’s the essence of what I’m conveying today, my friend. God has called you to always triumph! God has not called you to be defeated. Christ is not returning for a defeated, weak, or sickly bride. He is returning for a glorious Church, a radiant bride, and a victorious army. The triumph begins now! We don’t have to wait until we die, go to heaven, and follow Jesus on a white horse. God has called us to triumph and be victorious now.

I shared with some men recently something that I had learned years ago from reading a friend’s book. He said, “Here, read this; it will help you.” One of the things that has always stuck with me from that book is the Champion’s Formula. It is: I + M = R. You can turn the equation around, and it will work as well. The formula is: Intent + Mechanism = Results. Your results are equal to your intention plus the mechanism. God will always supply the mechanism for you to succeed if you intend to succeed. It’s amazing to me how many Christians don’t even intend on succeeding! They are fixed on defeat! They’re intent on being weak, sickly, and confused. If they intended to be otherwise, then they would have moved in that direction. 

God will always supply a mechanism. In fact, usually we have the mechanism within arm’s reach, but we don’t always see it or recognize it as such.

In Romans 8, Paul gives us a real word of encouragement. Now, this is the same Paul who had been shipwrecked on various occasions, beaten several times, abandoned, betrayed, and experienced lack and famine. Yet through all of that he says things like, “But thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph.” That needs to be our attitude today! Thanks be to God who always causes me to triumph!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Emory