Today’s New Covenant nugget is from 2 Corinthians 2:14
Now thanks be unto God, who ALWAYS causes us to triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
WE ARE NOT GOING TO END UP AS A DEFEATED, DISCOURAGED, FEARFUL, TINY REMNANT HIDING IN CAVES AND WAITING TO ESCAPE THROUGH THE RAPTURE…
WHEN THE LORD COMES BACK FOR US HE WANTS US TRIUMPHING, VICTORIOUS, STRONG IN FAITH, FULL OF JOY AND FULL OF EXCITEMENT!
The Passion Translation says, “God always makes His grace visible in Christ, who includes us as partners of His endless triumph. Through our yielded lives He spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go. We have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God…”
You and I as believers have been pre-destined to win every battle! The fight has been fixed and the devil has already been disarmed and defeated. No matter what the plans of the devil are in these last days that we are living in, no matter who get’s elected as president… we live by the Word, and our victory is sealed.
Colossians 2:14-15 (NLT) says, “He (Jesus) canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross.”
The Passion Translation says, “He canceled out every legal violation we had on our record and the old arrest warrant that stood to indict us. He erased it all - our sins, our stained soul - He deleted it all and they cannot be retrieved! Everything we once were in Adam has been placed onto His cross and nailed permanently there as a public display of cancellation. Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were His!”
This scripture tells us that the devil has nothing on us… everything we once were in Adam has been placed onto the cross and nailed permanently there as a public display of cancellation…. Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us. Now the devil is totally powerless towards us in all things.
There are only two ways that we can be defeated as believers… the first way is if we try to ‘win’ in our own strength and ability. The second way we can be defeated is if we give up, give in, or opt out. Both paths to defeat are because of self-destruction and not because the devil has overcome us… so, we can self-destruct, but the enemy can never defeat us.
BELIEVERS IN CHRIST ALWAYS WIN BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH WITH ENDURANCE
THE FIRST WAY TO SECURE OUR TRIUMPH IS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH…
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Paraphrase - We have been ‘sozo’d’ (saved prospered, protected, healed, delivered and given continual victory over all things) by grace (unmerited, unearned favor) through faith [in the finished work of Jesus]: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
When we try to triumph over things in our own strength and by our own power, we make trouble for ourselves and give place to the devil. Abram received the promise, but got impatient and then tried to bring God’s promise to pass with his own works, instead of steadfastly waiting for the Lord to bring His promise to pass. Ishmael was the result… if you want Ishmaels in your life, then do what Abram did instead of letting God do it by grace through faith.
THE SECOND WAY TO SECURE OUR TRIUMPH IS THROUGH JOYOUS UNSWERVING ENDURANCE…
Romans 5:3 (AMPC) says, “Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.”
The word ‘exult’ means to feel or show triumphant elation or jubilation. We need to show, or demonstrate that we are triumphant in our sufferings, pressure, affliction and hardship. You see, triumph is as much an occupying attitude as it is an end result. See yourself triumphant and see yourself having already received your promised victory, and then walk like a victor!
Let me give you an example, ‘if a poverty-stricken man is provided with legal documents that he is heir to billions of dollars, he will immediately show triumphant jubilation, even though he may still be homeless, hungry, dirty and without money. He believes the legal document and begins to act like a billionaire in the midst of his hardship.’
Friends, we have been given a legal document, signed in the blood of Jesus that says, “we win!” - it says, ”you are healed, you are prosperous, you are victorious!” Believe the Word and begin to act like it is true!
Romans 5:3 says, that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance… patient, unswerving endurance!
People without endurance or steadfastness give up, give in, or opt out before victory manifests. A baby takes nine months to be born, the seed that holds the record for the longest germination time is a lotus seed, that sprouted in 1995 from a seed that radiocarbon dating estimated to be a whopping 1300 years old.
In the Far East, there is a tree called the Chinese bamboo tree. This remarkable tree is different from most trees in that it doesn’t grow in the usual fashion. While most trees grow steadily over a period of years, the Chinese bamboo tree doesn’t break through the ground for the first four years. Then, in the fifth year, an amazing thing happens – the tree begins to grow at an astonishing rate. In fact, in a period of just five weeks, a Chinese bamboo tree can grow to a height of 90 feet.
Some things take time… it does not mean that you have lost, just because something takes a long time to manifest. Do not give up, that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance so that you will have the stamina to stay in faith until breakthrough manifests.
THERE ARE ONLY TWO WAYS THAT BELIEVERS CAN BE DEFEATED…
#1. ATTEMPTING TO WIN THROUGH THEIR OWN WORKS BY THEIR OWN STRENGTH AND ABILITY…
#2. BY GIVING UP BEFORE THE VICTORY IS SEALED…
“I THANK YOU FATHER THAT ‘IN CHRIST’ WE ALWAYS WIN! I THANK YOU FATHER THAT WE GO FROM VICTORY TO VICTORY IN ALL THINGS!
JESUS CONQUERED EVERY BATTLE, NOW I AM MORE THAN A CONQUEROR IN CHRIST!
IN CHRIST I AM STRONG, CAPABLE, ANOINTED AND FULLY EQUIPPED TO LIVE IN CONTINUAL VICTORY, REGARDLESS OF CIRCUMSTANCES, IN JESUS NAME!”
Blessings on you, Nick
