The Well- Live Victoriously- June 15, 2021

Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.

Scripture- “No, 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, neither 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.” Romans 8:37-39

Insight-  As we continue on our journey of what it means to live victoriously, I can say that it starts with proper alignment. A simple formula I use is God is 1st, family is 2nd, and everything else is 3rd. This helps get our foundation set and it helps us to prioritize things the right way, which leads to us being able to live victoriously more easily. We talked yesterday about how Acts 20:35 and Mark 10:45 get us in alignment with Jesus’s heart and make us think about things in a radically different way than how unbelievers would think. It is better to give than receive and it is better to serve than to be served are antithetical to how the world views living victoriously. But as we said yesterday, the Kingdom of God is always upside-down compared to what the world values. 

Here’s a good mindset we can incorporate into our lives to help us live victoriously: We can remove all fears by focusing on the promises of Christ. Because the Tomb was empty, His promises are not! Now that’s a good start, but we need much more than that in order to truly live victoriously. Here are a few ideas below that I hope will help you:

1. The Gospel means “Good News.” – It is the greatest treasure available to us and it is free. Ronald Reagan once said, “The answers to all of our life’s questions are found in this one book. All we have to do is open it.”
2. Learn to live above the fray. Unplug from social media on a regular basis and tune into God’s voice. He speaks to us through His Creation, through reading the Bible and through prayer and quiet time. Devote more time to this and less to the noise pollution found in social media.
3. Remember that you only really need to be really,really right once in your life to reach your destiny.
4. Perspective is so important. We need to keep things in perspective constantly. Tough times don’t last but prayerful people do. Winston Churchill once famously said, “Success is going from failure to failure without ever losing your enthusiasm.” Now that is a good perspective to have when times are tough.
5. Take massive action. Don’t wait for others to validate your ideas, just do it if it aligns with God’s word and it is in your DNA.
6. Be selfless even when it’s hard. What you get makes a living, but what you give makes a life. Freedom is found here!
7. Shine your light into a dark world. When the world gets darker, your light shines brighter.
8. Start each day with what you are grateful for. Nothing is too small.
9.  Enjoy the beauty of God’s Creation all around you. Inhale it- it is cathartic to your soul to be in rhythm with the beauty that God has created. See the beauty in all the little things and the big things will begin to jump out at you.
10. Be more patient with yourself and with others. We live in an instant gratification world, but true blessings come with time.

We will continue this list tomorrow, but remember this one truth above all else and at all times. You are God’s most special Creation and He paid a huge price to reconcile you back to Him for all of eternity when He sent His Son Jesus to bear the weight of our shame and guilt and forgive us of our sins on the Cross of Calvary. ( 2 Corinthians 5:19 )

Prayer- Father God, your Creation is full of beauty and life that is truly remarkable. Help us to notice it more every day by eliminating things that distract us from your Grand Design. We pray for our eyes to be opened to all that you have in store for us on this earth and in eternity, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen!