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by Buzz Dahlen One of my favorite old time hymns is, “Victory in Jesus.” I find myself singing the chorus from time to time. It is especially helpful in times of challenge. Do you know it? O victory in Jesus, My Savior, forever, He sought me and Bo’t me with His redeeming blood; He loved me ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him, He plunged me to victory, beneath the cleansing flood. He plunged me to victory… That’s like I don’t really have a choice. Have you ever been plunged? I have. Back when I was in Junior High, I used to go out to Green Lake, which was a few miles from where I lived. Everyday, during the summer months we would hang around the beach, swim in the swimming area and bother the lifeguards. It was fun and I supposed mildly entertaining for them. But it never failed, when the open beach hours came to an end and the lifeguards were off duty, they would come out in force and plunge us, beneath the water. That’s what Jesus did for us, He plunged us into the victory that He paid for with His blood on the cross on Calvary. We, like I wrote last week, have been made to be victorious, that’s the truth. Our problem is that we believe the circumstances and not the truth. The devil would like us to believe that we have lost the victory, that we are defeated. He enjoys nothing more then to get us to believe that every negative situation we are faced with is just a defeat waiting to happen. We get so focus on our potential defeat that we forget our victory in Christ. Here is the amazing thing; you have had many situations that seemed like they were going to destroy your life. You have found yourself in many circumstances that you were certain were not going to work out with any good result. But then after time had passed, you experienced something wonderful. You experienced the victory in the midst of it all. Then you forgot… The devil knows that he has lost the battle, but if he can get you to think that you have lost, then he can take advantage of you while you are down. If you are down, then you might start worrying about things. If you start worrying about things then you might try to take life into your own hands. And we all know what happens when we try to take life into our own hands, we lose. Peter wrote: Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:7-10 No matter how bleak things look, we must look to Christ. If we take our eyes off of the circumstances and keep them on Christ, we will enjoy the victory. If we are focused on the circumstances and not on our Savior, we will suffer the consequences. Jesus paid such a high price for our victory, it seems such a shame to waste it and live in defeat. God has a plan for each and every one of us. If we can just trust in Him, we will see His plan unfold. If we can be patient, we will see His will for our lives. If we can just stand firm in faith, we will see the victory. We’ve all seen those movies where the single person standing, with a small unloaded gun, surrounded by those who were ready to kill him, covers his eyes and points the gun and the all of a sudden everyone turns and runs. When he opens his eyes in amazement, he looks at the gun and stands amazed, until he turns around and sees the army that has come over the hillside behind him. Well no matter what we are facing, we can have the confidence that God and His army is standing behind us. We may not look victorious, but we are, in Christ. |
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