"Victory in Jesus"

Victory in Jesus

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 
 1 Corinthians 15:57

Ask yourself if you have ever known victory through Jesus?  What does it feel like and what do you do after you get it?  Do you just say, “Okay” and then forget about it?  Are you so excited you just have to tell others about it?  You might be shocked when you think back to your reaction to when you actually had victory.

Victory in Jesus can be explained quite simply. It is when you have been faced with a life decision and Jesus intervened and you came out the victor.  It is when you are in a situation where you don’t know what to do and by faith trusted in the Lord and he took care of it. It might be more understandable to give you my personal experience.

Let me begin by saying that I would not suggest you do what I did – only if you feel this is what God tells you to do.  Five years ago I received the news that I had breast cancer.  I can’t say I was extremely shocked by this.  My younger sister had just passed away from terminal brain cancer about 2 months prior. She was treated by chemo and such, and it was one of the greatest tragedies of my life.  I didn’t want to go through the same thing.

I prayed about it, and my family can tell you I wasn’t even afraid.  God immediately gave me peace and I felt he filled me with a stronger faith than I ever had.  I remember going to the surgeon the first time and his words to me were, “From now on we call this cancer.”  I said to him, “I don’t care what you remove, but I will not consider chemo or other treatment; I’m going to trust God for the outcome.” 

I had a double mastectomy and over 5 years later I am fine.  Some told me I was foolish and some told me I was crazy, but I knew that God told me to trust him and I did.  Today, it seems like I never had cancer and even my family never mentions it, because I had victory in Jesus and fear never entered in.

This may seem extreme, but I know I did what I needed to do.  You may have already had your biggest victory when you received Jesus as your Savior.  You know that heaven is your goal and Satan is defeated.  Victory can’t be any better than that.

I am not always strong, nor do I always find victory over situations, but I keep trying.  Sometimes my faith is so weak and fear creeps in, but I am a child of God and he has promised he would never leave me or forsake me. I think back to the time I had cancer and stood by these words, “God is enough and He is all I need.” 

You may be facing a time of tragedy or a time of doubt; don’t concentrate on the worse outcome, but think on the victory.  You may have to go through some hard times, but the outcome will be the best thing for you. God is God and our heavenly Father wants you to have the very best.

I’ve been writing this from a woman’s point of view but now I’m switching to a man’s side of things.  Some years ago, a country western song was written; ‘Stand by Your Man’.  What that song is saying is no matter what a man does, he wants to come home to the arms of a woman who forgives him over and over again.  I think that song was written for the abused woman who will take anything to hang on to her man while the man gets away with it all and is selfish and uncaring. That is the world’s viewpoint.

We have both kind and loving husbands on one side and then there are those who only think about themselves. In Ephesians 5:25-26 (NLT) it reads, “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.”  Wow! Think about what all Jesus has done for us.  What a huge responsibility you men have to your wives. This is God’s viewpoint.

Now I know men who think they are doing the will of God by taking care of the wives. They provide for their wives, take care of them if they are ill, but are angry and bitter men.  They talk mean to their wives and lose patience quickly.  Many years ago when I was about 9-years old, my grandmother had a stroke and not having the means for a wheel chair, my grandfather tied her in a kitchen chair so she wouldn’t fall off.  My grandfather loved to read the Bible which he did day after day.  One day I walked into their house and my grandfather was yelling at her because she couldn’t talk.  He called her ‘old woman’ then swore at her. I’ve never forgotten that scene of her sitting there and the tears falling down her face.  I ran home very upset and confused.

What does God think of that?  Here’s what he says in Colossians 3:19 (NLT), “Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.”  This is how Jesus loves us; men and women alike.

If we trust in the Lord, have faith in him and treat one another with love, we will have victory in our lives!  Love is the basis of Victory.

“But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT)