Living in Victory is serving, praising, obeying and praying to God to glorify and magnify the mighty, powerful, and wonderful name of Jesus Christ. When you are Living in Victory you will surrender your life to God Almighty so that He may be glorified as you conform to the image of His Son, your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
In John 3:3 (NKJV), Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you immediately have the opportunity to lead a meaningful and fulfilling life. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV), “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!” God takes up residence in your heart in the person of the Holy Spirit. He wants a personal relationship with you. God has a plan and a purpose for your life. If you surrender to His will, follow His plan, and serve your purpose, the end result will be that God is glorified, and you receive immeasurable joy!
Unfortunately, most people will not choose the path of victory. In Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV), Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and there are many who go by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” You must know who you are in Christ to live the victory. You will live to love Christ more than life itself. In Philippians 1:21 (NKJV), Paul said, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” You must live with an eternal perspective. Everything in this life is temporal, but the best is yet to come for Christians. Live each moment on this earth to fully glorify God, in spite of any trials or difficulties you encounter. Living in Victory means you enjoy God’s presence in your life, RIGHT NOW, regardless of your circumstances. Praise His name when things are going good, and praise His name when things are going bad. Life is just a vapor, and you are only dust (James 4:14, Genesis 2:7 NKJV). This present life is the blink of an eye compared to eternity. When you Live in Victory, you understand that when you die, you will arrive at your final destination in heaven with God, and it will only get better, PERMANENTLY!
Living in Victory means you understand that you are not only a new creation, but a child of God, adopted in to His family. Romans 8:16-17 (NIV) tells us, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” Everything really belongs to Jesus, but what He has is held in trust for you. By faith you claim your inheritance. This is NOT about material goods and possessions! This is about claiming the victory by having your victor, Jesus.
Jesus is your hero who rescued you from death and destruction. If you have Jesus, you have EVERYTHING! In a more practical sense, it’s about loving God and letting Him mold you into the person He wants you to be. If you love God, you will want to become more Christ-like each day with a strong desire to live your life to serve God’s purposes and glorify His name. This is not done by self-reliance, but by God-dependent effort! John 15:5 (NIV) says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” The branch does NOTHING! The vine takes living water, and light from the Son to help the branch to grow, bear fruit, and climb to heights it could NEVER attain on its own! The vine is life and it gives the branch the power to live. Others will look and admire the growth of the branch, the amount of fruit it bears, and its beauty. It is ALL the result of the work of the vine! You can do nothing of spiritual value without God.
To Live in Victory, you must understand that IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU! It’s about God. For you, it’s all about doing God’s business. Your relationship with the Lord involves love, obedience, faith, and trust. 1 John 5:2-5 (NIV) says, “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
Once you realize it’s not about you, the next and most difficult step to Living in Victory is surrendering to God’s will for your life. The Bible says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. For the LORD will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:5-7, 26 NKJV). Surrender occurs when you give your life to God. You no longer lean on your own understanding, and you put your absolute trust in His hands. You must trust God more than you trust yourself! You are now living for Him when He is guiding your steps. In Matthew 16:24-25 (NKJV) Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Jesus wants 100% surrender from you. He knows that when you give your life to serve Him you will discover the true purpose of living. It’s about loving God with all of your heart, mind and soul and you giving yourself for something other than, greater than, and beyond yourself. John 13:34-35 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” You are here to learn to love and treat others as God has loved and treated you, AND THEN DO IT EVERYDAY as long as God gives you air to breath!
To Live in Victory, you can’t just read the Bible and agree with what it says, you have to apply the scriptures to your life and put them into action. James 1:22 (NIV) says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” The primary aim of the bible is for you to know and to love Jesus and have eternal life in Him.
One of the final aspects of Living in Victory is often neglected and unrecognized. It’s the reality of spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6:12 (NIV) says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” You must understand that you are in a spiritual battle. It’s a battle of the mind and of words: Satan’s lies verses God’s truth. The enemy seeks to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). Deuteronomy 20:4 (NIV) says, “For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” YOU MUST ENDURE THE BATTLE TO HAVE THE VICTORY! But, ALWAYS REMEMBER…the battle is not yours, but God’s (see 2 Chronicles 20:15).
CONCLUSION
To Live in Victory is to live the life Jesus died to give you. There are 86,400 seconds in a day and each and every moment you have is a gift from God, and each moment should be used to glorify Him!
