Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Win it

As we sit at the end of the first month of the year we must still be reminded that it is still the beginning of a New Year and no matter how things are for you right now you should be seriously glad and joyfully happy because the grace of the Lord made a way for you to be here.  After all that last year and the beginning of this year has brought you, beloved I want you to be reminded that you have crossed the threshold of a year that you have never seen before and will not ever see again and by the mercy of a loving God you are in it.  No doubt this year brings to all of us the blessings and burdens of its uncertainties, and we are already feeling some of them most likely.  There are and I know have been moments where you confronted obstacles that you will need faith in God to conquer, there will be times when you are faced with blessings that will flood you like a rapidly running river that overflows its river banks, and there will be seasons where you plant and have to wait for the increase to come.  No matter what you are faced with my prayer for you is that you would win it while you're in it.

If there is anybody in the world that knows how to win it, and serves as a great teacher for us it is that great Apostle for Tarsus, the man of God whose name is Paul.  He is the kind of man that wins no matter what he finds himself in.  If Paul is in trouble he says "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed..." (2 Cor. 4:8a); if he was having a bout with depression he would cheer himself up by saying "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice" (Phil. 4:4) and if Paul was facing enemies that hated him he would declare with boldness "and we know that all things work together for good for those that love the Lord..."(Romans 8:28a)!  You see, Paul was not just in it, but he knew how to win while he was in it.

As we walk in this year it is my belief that God wants you to not just be in it, but to win it while you're in it.  And there is a verse that will show you step-by-step how to do it.  Here's what it says, "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,  According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.   For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you" (Philippians 1:19-24).  What Paul is saying is that I have an attitude that says I plan to win no matter what and DJ Khalid and company ain't got nothing on this.  If Paul can win while he's in it you can too!  The question here is this, how do we win it while you're in it?

First of all, if you are going to win it you have to have an attitude of complete deliverance.  There's an old saying that comes from the words of a hymn that holds true, and older saints used it quite a bit.  When they did not know how things were going to work here's what they would say "The Lord will make a way somehow!"  This was simply a way of saying the Lord has brought me to where I am and now I am trapped between a rock and a hard place and I do not know how I am going to make it on my own.  But, with God with me I am certain of this, everything is going to be alright.  Paul gives us the makeup of the "somehow" that leads to his complete deliverance and victory.  He says, "I know".  He then says "...your prayers..."  And finally he adds for a point of clarity "....the supply."  In a nutshell Paul says it's been rough man, but it's okay because God is going to deliver me.  There is an interesting figure of speech here called a metenomy.  It is the intermingling of one idea for another.  Paul says it was your prayers but it was God's provisions.  The more I know, and the more you pray the more God supplies.  The word used to describe the supply is epichorgia.  It is the same term used to describe the flowing waters of a river.  Like God's blessings and provisions in your life it flows all of the time.  Beloved I declare and decree for your life, that the blessing of the Lord will flow in your life all year long, and overtake you.  It will flow in every season summer, winter, spring and fall.  It will flow on good days and tough days as there is no such thing as a bad day.  The river will flow and it means that God will keep on providing.  The blessing of this Year in your life is going to be this, God is going to provide for you like you have never seen Him do before.       

If you are going to win it you must have the attitude of confident discovery.  I do not know how many of you all do this, but I am as guilty as I can be.  But, I have learned how to live the Christian life with a degree of expectancy.  I know that God is able and I live expecting God to do things for me that no one else could ever do.  I walk with God expecting God to do supernatural things.  I expect great things from the Lord, as miracles signs and wonders follow them that believe (Mark 16:17).  It is my spiritual attitude that I live with each day.  I have learned that if you expect nothing you often get nothing.  But, when you expect great things from a great God, He does great things for you.  This is the attitude of the Apostle Paul in Philippi.  In fact, he says "...my earnest expectation...."  It is a tongue twister in the Greek.  It comes from the word apokatadokia.  It is a trilogy of words that make up one word.  Apo means to lift the head.  Kata means to stretch the neck.  And, dokia means to strain the eye.  Thus, great expectation means to lift the head, stretch the neck and strain the eye.  That is the position that you should be in when you are looking for God to move in your life.  If you are not it is because you are not expecting anything from God at all.  But, there are those of you that are expecting healing, blessing, deliverance and strength in this year and because you are expecting it from God it is going to come to pass. 

If you are going to win it you must have an attitude of Christ-Centered determination.  Here's the bottom line to this I pray you don't miss it.  The enemy wants you to quit.  He wants you to give up.  He wants you to lose.  He wants you to worry about things that you cannot control, lose sight of things that are real, forget about God's goodness and lose.  But, if you are going to win in life you have to be determined to do it.  Listen to the words of Paul here.  They are filled with this attitude of spiritual determination.  They are far reaching and deep flowing.  Here's what he says "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."  What words of total determination.  Paul says I am going to win no matter what.  If I live, I win Jesus is with me.  If I die, I win because I've always desired to be near the Lord anyway.  If I live, I win because I help you in the faith.  If I die, I win I'll be done with all of this.  I am determined to win.  When you are determined to do something everyone else thinks that you're crazy.  If you are determined to pray, hell shutters.  If you are determined to worship, demons panic.  If you are determined to press your way, quitters will talk about you.  But, when you win everybody will want to be a part of your blessing and your victory.  So here's what I think, why wait to celebrate a victory when you can shout about it right now.  Ladies and gentlemen this is the year of your blessing because you are not just in, you are in it with an attitude to win it.

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