More Than Conquerors Volume 1

As saints in the body of Christ, we have been given a beautiful hope in this life by our Apostle Paul who penned that we were more than conquerors in Jesus Christ. Most of us may know this scripture, and may have experienced it in this life being conquerors over trials and tribulations that we have gone through. To be more than conquerors, we first must understand what we have conquered. To start to answer this question we only have to turn to Jesus Christ and His life. Jesus Christ conquered the world, death, and hell by living a sinless life and offering himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Today let us look at how He conquered the world. We know that the prince of this world is Satan, and through many attempts directly and indirectly he tried to tempt Jesus to be disobedient to God’s Will. Jesus conquered the sin that entered the earth when Adam ate from the “tree of knowledge”, by never parting from the Will of God as Adam had. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, were all conquered through Jesus’ obedience. We have died with Christ, shared in His burial, and have resurrected to new life with him also. This means that we defeated the world with Christ and we are to with the aid of the Holy Spirit continue to be obedient to God’s Will for our Lives by being obedient to the Spirit inside of us. We have defeated the world through Christ Jesus and it no longer has a hold on us!!! Today, let this be our reality and live according to the Spirit as we are called to!!! Be Encouraged!!! Have a wonderful life of more than a conqueror on purpose!!!!!

Romans 8

Life Through the Spirit
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[d] because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[e] his Spirit who lives in you.

12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,[g] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 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.

Our Race Volume 3

As we run this race we have to continually remind ourselves through the word of God about His promises in our lives. The reason for this is that as we run, the enemy will throw all sorts of hurdles in our way to trip us or to set us back. We have to continually keep our eyes focused on the Will of the Father in order not to be side tracked by one of these hurdles. The shield of Faith is an excellent weapon to accomplish this great task of keeping our eyes on Christ. When the busyness of work tries to take over our lives and it seems that you are always putting out the next set of fires, we must rely on the shield of Faith that God will continue to provide protection and covering in that place. This will allow us not only to accomplish the tasks we were hired to do but to also keep our eyes and hearts open for the people God wants us to sow into and to share the His Gospel with. The same goes in our family and with our friends, we may always seem to be dealing with others drama and as much as you love them and want them to experience the peace of Christ, sometimes the best thing to do is to turn them over to Christ and keep your eyes on the race that is in front of you. This is a heard thing, especially knowing that God loves people more than anything, but at the same time God nor Jesus forces anyone to follow them. Our lives must represent the same fruit, if you find people in your life who you continue to battle with as far as their drama and getting on the right page, at some point you have to go to God and ask if this is His will for you to continue going through because you wish not to be distracted from your race and earning your prize. If God gives you the sign that it is time to release, please do so, it is for your benefit and you will just have to trust that God has a plan for that person and they will have to go to Him for their own salvation. Today, as you run, Let Go of Baggage, Let God Handle That, and press towards in the race that was set specifically for you!!! Let not the hurdles of this life trip you up any longer!!! Be Encouraged!!! Have a wonderful life of running your race on purpose!!!!!

Philippians 3

No Confidence in the Flesh
1 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Following Paul’s Example
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Our Race Volume 2

As we run our race in Christ, the enemy tries to disqualify us, one by one, in a number of ways. First , he will use the desires of our hearts to draw us away from the track subtly. We first start off maybe talking to someone new in our lives of the opposite sex. As we progress in the relationship with that person one day we wake up to see that we are no longer on the track and the people we were running with are long ahead. The relationship between two individuals is not the problem, it’s when the relationship interferes with our relationship with the Father and hinders us from running our race. Second, the enemy uses family and friends that you once may have been very real close to, to distract us from running. They will come out of the wood work trying to do some of the things we use to do with them before our conversion. Then when we try to tell them we have been changed and we try to help them find the peace in Christ we have found, they start to tear us down. They will use guilt tactics and remind us of all of the things we use to do and call us a hypocrite. Third, but certainly not last, the enemy will use the sin that may be still in our life to keep us bound. We all know the saying; “I just got this one thing I am struggling with, and you know we all got that one thing”. Well while we are struggling with that one thing the enemy keeps us in a crazy cycle of being free from it and then back in bondage. This is what takes up our time, strength, motivation, and peace. We are so busy trying to be free we don’t even notice that we stepped off the track and are no longer running. There are many other examples that we all can list but they will all fall under one of these three categories; lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, or the pride of life. Those were the same three the enemy used against Jesus in the wilderness in the form of the rock/bread, kingdoms of all nations, and proving that He was the Son of God. Today, while there is still time, look around and see if you are on the track and running, or have you been disqualified and find yourself on the sidelines. If you are on the sidelines, cry out and run back to the Gospel and your first Love, Jesus Christ!!! Jesus wishes for us all to be free and to run the race to bring His Father glory!!! If you are running, continue to press towards the mark of your calling!!! Be Encouraged!!! Have a wonderful life of running your race on purpose!!!!!

Hebrews 12

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

God Disciplines His Children
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Warning and Encouragement
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

Our Race Volume 1

As we journey in this life as a new creation made holy through our faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, we find ourselves placed on a track in a race. We learn that our lives are no longer our own and we have but only a set time on this earth to complete the task of our creation. Many saints in our beautiful Word of God has referred to this journey as a race. The illustrations we are given are very vivid in the same terminologies we use today to describe the sport of running. Our hope in this life is that we finish our race by the Grace of our Lord and at the end of our race we will have stored up treasures and crowns based on our placing in this race. Many souls are wondering the earth trying to find their purpose in life, while for us we have the play book and have found the hope in a life after death. We should run this race in a manner that will allow those who are standing off the track being spectators, find a desire building in their souls to run with us. Our running is not to please man or show others that are running beside us how fast we can run, but solely for the glory of the one who placed us on the track. Today, run in the blessed purpose of your salvation and allow those around you to burn with desire to run with you!!! Be encouraged!!! Have a wonderful life of running your race on purpose!!!!!

Acts 20

Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders
13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. 14 When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. 15 The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Chios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. 16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.
17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Distractions Volume 4!!!

We know that we are new creations in Christ when we choose to believe that He died for our sins, resurrected, and is seated on the right hand of His Father in Heaven. When this took place and we were sealed with the Holy Spirit, we started on a journey for the Lord and our lives would never be the same. Sadly, after a while most of us hit a season were we want to go back to our old lives. There are many reasons for this regression back to our old nature and lives, one because it is comfortable. Life can become very scary at times when we cannot see our tomorrow. Our faith covers this fear with an assurance of a sound mind, knowing that a loving Father would never put on us more than we could bare and who would never leave us nor forsake us. Second, we have learned to operate in that world all of our lives, up until the point of our salvation. We trust in our own abilities in that world, yet God calls for us to Trust in Him and in Him alone. Third but not last by any means, we tend to get anxious when we are not sure what we are to be doing in a season. We have to be dependent on God’s timing even when it’s His will for us to do a certain task. God is continually building on dependence on Him and Him alone, this requires us to be still and wait on the Lord which is totally contrary to our flesh. Today, have we settled back into a life that distracts us from pressing forward in our Father’s will, or are we keeping our eyes focus and waiting patiently for the Father to tell us to move??? Rest in Him and He will finish the work He started in you to the coming of our Lord!!! Be Encouraged!!! Have a wonderful life of being a vessel of God on purpose!!!!!

John 21

Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish
1 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.[a] It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus[b]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.[c] 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Distractions Volume 3!!!

God will continue to use those who avail themselves for His Will. We see this in Mary when she is lead to pour perfume on Jesus head to prepare Him for the journey He had to take to the cross. When the disciples saw this in their nature they wanted to sell the expensive perfume so that they could use the money for the poor. We have to be connected in the Spirit when moving in God’s Will, because there will always be someone to try and sway us from our task that we know was given to us by the Father. Our intimacy with the Father will continue to allow us to hear His voice clearly and not have the mixing and mingling of our flesh and our rational judgment. The disciples look at this as an opportunity to serve the poor, which would be a great thing. This on the other hand had a Godly purpose to prepare Christ for His burial. Here God used the same woman that was caught in fornication and was brought to Christ for His approval to stone. God has a plan for all our lives and we must humble ourselves in order to receive His Will so that we may be “Good and Faithful Servants”. Do not let the talk of men discounting your service for the Lord become a distraction and hinder your purpose. Keep your eyes focus on God and He will keep you in His Will!!! Have a wonderful life of being a vessel of God on purpose!!!!!

Mark 14

Jesus Anointed at Bethany
1 Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages[a] and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you,[b] and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Distractions Volume 2!!!

People can many times, not in a malicious way, but in a way distract us from the task our Father has set before us. We find an example of this with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God, always intends to have “His Will”, done in “His Power”, and in “His Timing”, so that no man can boast in himself and that God would receive all the glory as well as His timeline of events will take place. When Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus gets sick and is close to death, they send a message to Jesus to come quickly and heal him. Jesus receives this message but knows His Father has something else in plan for Lazarus’s sickness. If Jesus succumbed to the pressure of loving Mary and Martha more than He loved God He would have moved before God’s timing which would have not been in God’s Will. Jesus would have ended up doing a good thing in healing Lazarus life and not God ‘s Will in raising him from the dead, so that the next steps would be made leading to the cross. God’s timing and man’s timing seems to always be off, the reason is we can only see what’s in front of us while God sees the whole timeline at once and he knows what needs to happen now in order for events to take place days, weeks, months, years and even centuries from now. We have to have a heart that wants to please the Father and Him alone, if not we will please men and not the Father!!! The beauty and grace of the Father is when we are in the Father’s timing all the glory goes to Him. To summarize, if Jesus healed Lazarus, Mary, Martha, and the rest of the Jews might have praised Jesus alone and Jesus would have not pleased His Father, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He pleased His Father and the Father got the glory, Jesus also set into motion the necessary motivation the Jews needed to kill Jesus so that His purpose would be fulfilled!!! Today seek to please God in His timing and give Him the Glory for all He does through you!!! Be Encouraged!!! Have a wonderful life of being a vessel of God on purpose!!!!!

John 11

The Death of Lazarus
1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”