Category: God’s Promises

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A Plentiful Harvest

For a number of years Dave and I spent our summers in Iowa when the farmland was bursting with corn stalks. Did you know that an ear of corn has an average of 800 kernels per ear and that one corn stalk only has an average of two to three ears per stalk? Think about that. One kernel of planted corn seed produces, on average, 2400 new kernels to replace itself.

Amazing!

God has placed seed within everything He has made. All of nature is created to be productive…

The Apostle Paul taught about harvest when he wrote a letter to the Christians who were living in Corinth. He was talking to them about sowing seeds of finances to help another group of Christians who were facing a rough time. Look at what He said:

      “Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop… God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. 8-11 God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon…This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.” II Corinthians 9:6-11 MSG

Everything in our lives comes by planting seeds. This need required a seed of financial help and Paul said that it would be returned to them according to their heart’s intent. He instructed them not to give because they were coerced, instead he wanted them to give cheerfully and generously. When we give with this attitude God replenishes the seed and gives us more.

Whatever it is we sow or give should be done with a  generous attitude. We can plant any number of seeds. I particularly like to plant seeds of joy, encouragement, understanding, helpfulness, tolerance, peace, and love. As these seeds grow, I bring in a harvest and can share it generously with those around me and that brings glory to the Father.

The seeds that Jesus sowed everywhere He went were the seeds of reconciliation or renewed relationship with the Father.

      “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues, and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Matthew 9:35-38 NLT

We get to help with the harvest of reconciliation. The seeds of forgiveness and new life are sown by God’s word and we are chosen to bring in those whose lives are changed.

      “… And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!” II Corinthians 5:18-20 NLT

Farmers do not receive medals like the soldiers or the victor’s crown that athletes are awarded, their reward for diligence is the harvest. When we assist Christ in the harvest, we receive a crown and so do those who grow to relationship with Christ because of the seeds sown.

Join me in planting seeds of reconciliation and forgiveness, joy, love and understanding. The harvest is amazing!

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Begin to Plant

Yesterday morning we traveled to my childhood home in Yuma. All along the way we drove past miles of alfalfa fields. It was as if the Lord was giving me a visual object lesson of what I had just shared with all of you.

If you bear with me, today I will continue with a few more thoughts on getting a harvest…

When I saw how plentiful the hay harvest was from one planting, and that it brought seven years of crop, I applied that truth to the great harvest we receive when we plant God’s word into the soil of our hearts.

“The sky and the earth won’t last forever, but my words will.” Matthew 24:35 CEV

It is a never-ending harvest!

”That same day Jesus left the house and went out beside Lake Galilee, where he sat down to teach… He said: A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. 4 While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. 5 Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn’t very deep. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough roots. 7 Some other seeds fell where thorn bushes grew up and choked the plants. 8 But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants produced a hundred or sixty or thirty times as much as was scattered. 9 If you have ears, pay attention!” Matthew 13:1-9 CEV

And for those who did not understand what He was talking about Jesus gave this explanation.

“Now listen to the meaning of the story about the farmer. 19 The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message about the kingdom, but don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the message from their hearts. 20 The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it right away. 21 But they don’t have deep roots, and they don’t last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.

22 The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life and are fooled by the desire to get rich. So, the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. 23 The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and understand the message. They produce as much as a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was planted.” Matthew 13:18-23 CEV

As a diligent farmer we are responsible to see that the seed goes into good soil, a heart that is open to believe and obey the Word of God. Rocky ground is almost impenetrable and so is a hard heart. Struggles and hard times get us to press in closer to the Lord or walk away.

Worry is a thorn that will choke out the seed. Is it any wonder that the Bible gives us over 300 verses that tell us not to worry or be anxious or fretful? God wants us to pull out worry so His word can grow and produce.

Now the seed that is planted in good soil will bring in a harvest. The farmer focuses on keeping it watered and nourished. We do this with God’s Word by placing our trust in His promises.  

The seeds of God’s word are not like the magic beans from the story Jack and the Beanstalk. They need time to grow; time builds our faith and trust. Never doubt they are growing.

Our job during this time is to let the seed grow just like that alfalfa we planted in the Arizona desert. Give it water, this is prayer and gain knowledge of God’s ways. The Lord provides the Sonshine and the seeds grow accordingly.

However, we all have to take the first step and plant the seed of God’s word. No planting, no harvest!

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A Plentiful Crop

I grew up in the small agriculture-based town of Yuma, Arizona. When I was in school, we learned about the 4 C’s of Arizona: cattle, citrus, copper, and cotton. Three of those four were in abundance in Yuma County. My family was not involved with agriculture, but it was the passion of my heart.

About six years after Dave and I were married we had the opportunity to manage an alfalfa production farm for an absentee owner. We had over 900 acres in irrigated crop. The weather in central Arizona is perfect for growing hay. The river loam soil is rich with nutrients, water is plentiful and the weather during the summer had the crop ready to cut and harvest every 21 days. We were busy!

It was while we lived here that I learned to appreciate the parables Jesus taught about sowing seeds in a field. I understood the importance of planting good seed and making sure the ground was well prepared before planting. It needed to be well-watered and fertilized once the seeds began to grow…

Alfalfa is a crop that is planted every seven years. The plants need to be cut right before they flower to retain the highest protein content possible. You have heard the old saying, “Make hay while the sun shines” well in Arizona we say “you can’t make hay in the sunshine”. The highest quality of hay has the alfalfa leaves on the stem, if the hay is too dry when it is baled the leaves fall off and the quality decreases. So, we would wait for the evening dew before we started baling. The dew added just enough moisture to the cut hay and the leaves would stay attached during the baling process. Most of our baling time was between midnight and 3 am. Dave and I laugh now, forty years later, as we sit on the patio and feel the evening dew. We know it is almost time to bale.

This seed that is planted once every seven years will grow to the flower stage about every 21 days in the summer and every 28 days in the Spring and Fall. We would cut the hay about ten times per year; for seven years that makes seventy cuttings. That’s a very productive seed.

“Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. 5 And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. 6 And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor. 7 Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you understand all these things.” II Timothy 2:3-7 NLV

This industrious agriculturalist is persistent day and night. If he does not tend to his crop there will be no harvest. His diligence not only benefits him and his family but is also a blessing for his neighbors and community.

God’s Word is like that alfalfa seed. When planted, watered and cared for it will produce an abundant harvest.

“For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. 10 ‘The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. 11 It is the same with my word.  I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.’” Isaiah 55:9-11 NLV

May I encourage you to plant God’s word in the soil of your hearts. It will produce a bountiful harvest!

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Basic Training

Over the past several weeks I have shared with you teachings on who we are in Christ. The lessons we learn are like a spiritual “boot camp”.

“You have often heard me teach. Now I want you to tell these same things to followers who can be trusted to tell others. 3 As a good soldier of Christ Jesus you must endure your share of suffering. 4 A soldier wants to please his commanding officer, so he does not spend any time on activities that are not a part of his duty.” II Timothy 2:2-4 CEV

There are two major characteristics of a good soldier, discipline and obedience. The skills of marksmanship, navigation, physical endurance, and technical savvy can all be learned but without discipline and obedience those skills will fail.

A good soldier learns to follow orders as soon as they get to boot camp. This is the foundation for all their other training. A soldier must be willing to listen and obey or they could lose their life or the lives of their squadron.

Life for a recruit centers on discipline. They are told when to get up and go to bed, when to eat and what to eat, when to run and how far. It is a time of training. The orders are just that, they aren’t suggestions, recommendations, or choices. This is training!

Jesus was approached by a Roman officer, a soldier, who asked for his servant be healed. This story is an example for us to follow.

“When Jesus was going into the town of Capernaum, an army officer came up to him and said, 6 ‘Lord, my servant is at home in such terrible pain that he can’t even move.’

7 ‘I will go and heal him,’ Jesus replied.

8 But the officer said, ‘Lord, I’m not good enough for you to come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 9 I have officers who give orders to me, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I can say to one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I can say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I can say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he will do it.’

10 When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised…13 Then Jesus said to the officer, ‘You may go home now. Your faith has made it happen.’ Right then his servant was healed.” Matthew 8:5-13 CEV

Jesus was amazed by this officer’s understanding of orders. He recognized that Jesus had authority over sickness and all He needed to do was speak the command and it would be done. This Roman captain of the guard had complete faith in the authority of a directive issued by the Son of God.

We have a book filled with the “words of God”. The Bible was written for our benefit. It provides us with all we need to thoroughly furnished for every good work. (IITimothy 3:17)

Good soldiers obey the words spoken by their commanding officer. We should obediently follow the words Jesus has given us to live by.

“You have words that give life that lasts forever. 69 We believe and know You are the Christ. You are the Son of the Living God.” John 6:68-69 NLV

The discipline and training we receive from God’s word are for our good.

“God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory” II Corinthians 2:14 CEV

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No Two The Same

A couple of days ago we had our winter snow. It happens once, maybe twice, a year. It’s generally only here a day and then its gone. I really look forward to it.

This year I was able to capture some beautiful images of the mesquite trees in our front and back yards, flocked with white. I must admit that I spent a good portion of the day staring out my window at the beauty.

When I uploaded the pictures from my phone to my computer I paused again. I did take a couple of videos when the snowflakes were softly falling. They were so big and fluffy. Junior High Science class taught me that no two snowflakes are the same…

Imagine – no two the same. I had no way of counting the hundreds of thousands of snowflakes that fell that day. My front yard, my back yard, the neighborhood, the canyons and the mesas all were covered and no two were the same.

The State of Arizona was blanketed in white. Even Scottsdale got snow. How many millions or billions of snowflakes fell in Arizona in just that one day? How many trillions of snowflakes fell around the world and how many have fallen since the beginning of time?

No two are the same.

What an amazing God we have!

If He creates each snowflake with its own unique characteristics then how much time does He devote to developing our individual uniqueness? He knows how many hairs we have on our head – He has given us disintictive fingerprints and our DNA is one-of-a-kind.

No two of us are the same! God’s love and power in creating our individuality is almost unfathomable.

“Rain and snow fall from the sky and don’t return until they have watered the ground.
Then the ground causes the plants to sprout and grow, and they produce seeds for the farmer and food for people to eat. 11 In the same way, my words leave my mouth, and they don’t come back without results. My words make the things happen that I want to happen.
They succeed in doing what I send them to do.” Isaiah 55:10-11 ERV

God’s purpose for the snow is to nourish the earth and He says the purpose of His word is similar. His word nourishes our lives and causes us to grow and succeed.

“‘I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.’ This message is from the Lord. ‘I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future.'” Jeremiah 29:11 ERV

Just as the ground welcomes the moisture from the snow, we should keep our hearts open and ready to receive the good plans that God desires to bring into our lives.

No two of us are the same and that’s by God’s design. Each of us have unique, God-given talents and abilities. We each have a divine purpose. Like the snowflake, we are truly a one-of-a-kind masterpiece of God.

“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” Psalm 139:14 NLT

Next time you see the snow fall I hope it reminds you of how wonderful you are to our heavenly Father. There’s no one else like you.

No two are the same!

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Is Hope Gone?

When we go through a long battle or struggle we are tempted to lose hope and throw in the towel. However, when we keep our focus on God’s unfailing love hope is revived and our faith is strengthened…

One final example I would like to share with you comes from the life of Samson. I am not sure if you are familiar with Samson’s life so I will recap it for you.

His parents were visited by an angel who told them that they would have a son and he would be used by God to lead the people of Israel. Samson single-handedly defeated one thousand Philistine soldiers and his weapon was the jawbone of a donkey. There was another occasion when he lifted the city gates and their door posts and “he carried them all the way to the top of the hill that overlooks Hebron, where he set the doors down, still closed and locked” (Judges 16:3)

During this time, the Israelites were being ruled by the Philistines. The leaders of the Philistines became so angry with Samson that they hired a prostitute, that Samson loved, to discover his source of strength. They knew there had to be a secret to his strength because he was undefeatable.

Delilah spent every waking moment trying to get Samson to tell her his secret. He finally gave in to her constant nagging and told her that he had never had his hair cut because it was a sign of his commitment to the Lord.

“Delilah started nagging and pestering him day after day, until he couldn’t stand it any longer. 17 Finally, Samson told her the truth. ‘I have belonged to God ever since I was born, so my hair has never been cut. If it were ever cut off, my strength would leave me, and I would be as weak as anyone else.’…”  Judges 16:16-18 CEV

The Philistines came and cut Samson’s hair while he was sleeping. When he woke up his strength was gone. The Philistines poked out Samson’s eyes, imprisoned him and then tied him to a millstone and made him grind grain like an ox.

During this time Samson’s hair was growing back but they did not notice. The Philistines had a big party and were praising their god, Dagon, for helping them to defeat Samson. To make the ridicule worse, they brought Samson out to be mocked in the temple of their god. Samson was led by a young man to the temple columns. As he stood there, he stretched out his arms and placed them against the columns.

“A young man was leading Samson by the hand, and Samson said to him, ‘I need to lean against something. Take me over to the columns that hold up the roof.’

27 The Philistine rulers were celebrating in a temple packed with people…They had all been watching Samson and making fun of him. 28 Samson prayed, ‘Please remember me, Lord God. The Philistines poked out my eyes, but make me strong one last time, so I can take revenge for at least one of my eyes!’

29 Samson was standing between the two middle columns that held up the roof. He felt around and found one column with his right hand, and the other with his left hand. 30 Then he shouted, ‘Let me die with the Philistines!’ He pushed against the columns as hard as he could, and the temple collapsed with the Philistine rulers and everyone else still inside. Samson killed more Philistines when he died than he had killed during his entire life.” Judges 16:26-30 CEV

The enemies of Samson thought they had defeated him. All hope was gone. But God!

In his death Samson had once again become an “overcomer”. His enemies had no power over him. God was his strength and his deliverer.

The circumstances of life may look overpowering, but God is a promise keeper not a promise breaker. He has given us His word to be our protection and our strength.     

“The Lord God will save them on that day, because they are his people and they will shine on his land like jewels in a crown.” Zechariah 9:16 CEV

Through Christ we overcome. Through Christ we always triumph!

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Our Sure Victory

What if I told you that the enemy who works so hard to convince us to that we can’t handle things has already been defeated?…

Satan knows if we fight, he will be defeated. If we give up, he wins. No one likes to lose, especially Satan, but in truth he has already been defeated.

“He defeated the rulers and powers of the spiritual world. With the cross he won the victory over them and led them away, as defeated and powerless prisoners for the whole world to see.” Colossians 2:15 ERV

God has done everything to secure our victory. It is up to us to enforce that victory. How do we enforce the victory that God has given us so freely? We STAND on God’s word. We believe the promises He has given us are our irrevocable inheritance. We do not let Satan convince us that we aren’t saved, and we shouldn’t let him convince us that we are weak and without power.

“ So what should we say about this? If God is for us, no one can stand against us. And God is with us. 32 He even let his own Son suffer for us. God gave his Son for all of us. So now with Jesus, God will surely give us all things.” Romans 8:31-32 ERV

Long ago, God spoke to Moses and had him give this message to the nation of Israel, he reminded them of the promises that God had made to their ancestor Abraham. What God promised Abraham’s descendants is part of our inheritance too.

“All of you are God’s children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes. 28 Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman. 29 So if you belong to Christ, you are now part of Abraham’s family, and you will be given what God has promised.” Galatians 3:26-29 CEV

These are some of God’s blessings to the nation of Israel:

“Be faithful in obeying the Lord your God…And the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 All these good things will come upon you if you will obey the Lord your God. 3 Good will come to you in the city, and good will come to you in the country. 4 Good will come to your children, and the fruit of your ground, and the young of your animals…6 Good will come to you when you come in, and when you go out.  7 “The Lord will cause you to win the battles against those who fight against you…8 The Lord will send good upon you in your store-houses and in all your work. He will bring good to you in the land the Lord your God gives you. 9 The Lord will make you a holy nation to Himself, as He promised you. But you must keep the Laws of the Lord your God and walk in His ways…12 The Lord will open for you His good store-house, the heavens. He will give rain to your land at the right time. He will bring good to all the work you do. You will give to many nations. But you will not use anything that belongs to them. 13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail. If you listen to the Laws of the Lord your God which I tell you today and be careful to obey them, you will only be above and not below.” Deuteronomy 28:1-13 NLV

These blessings to the nation of Israel are for us as well. They are our inheritance. When we obey God’s word we have His assurance of victory!

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Stand Guard

The last couple of days we have seen how David defeated Goliath and how God gave Gideon victory over the enemies of his land…Each of these examples, and there are many more, deal with physical enemies and victories but God’s Word also promises victory in spiritual things.

“Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory.” I John 5:4 CEV

“Children, you belong to God, and you have defeated these enemies. God’s Spirit is in you and is more powerful than the one that is in the world.” I John 4:4 CEV

In both these verses the old King James language says that we are overcomers. With God’s power working through us we have been promised victory. Even if we are relatively young or new to spiritual matters, we can have victory over wickedness. The victory isn’t ours because we are spiritual giants; it all comes from having Christ live in us.

It’s part of our inheritance.

“To end my letter I tell you, be strong in the Lord and in his great power. 11 Wear the full armor of God. Wear God’s armor so that you can fight against the devil’s clever tricks. 12 Our fight is not against people on earth. We are fighting against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness. We are fighting against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly places. 13 That is why you need to get God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil, you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing.

14 So stand strong with the belt of truth tied around your waist, and on your chest wear the protection of right living. 15 On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong. 16 And also use the shield of faith with which you can stop all the burning arrows that come from the Evil One. 17 Accept God’s salvation as your helmet. And take the sword of the Spirit—that sword is the teaching of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times. Pray with all kinds of prayers and ask for everything you need. To do this you must always be ready. Never give up. Always pray for all of God’s people.” Ephesians 6:10-18 ERV

The armor we put on isn’t of our own making. It’s given to us by God. I remember hearing a man recall his time in Germany after World War II. He was part of the US occupational forces. He was a seventeen-year-old kid and it was his duty to patrol the streets, making sure that nothing illegal was going on. He remarked that he was small in stature and did not command any respect by his appearance. However, when he put on his Army uniform and had that US patch on his shoulder, he represented the US Army and that commanded respect from the forces that had been defeated.

On our own we will fall short but when we are dressed in the armor of God Satan and all his demons tremble.

If we are not winning the battles in our life, we need to check a few vital issues. 1) Do we have our armor on? 2) Are we being obedient to God’s leading or are we trying to fight using our own rules? And 3) Do we know our rights or is Satan cheating us?

Satan tries to trick us into thinking that God’s power will not work for us. He makes a lot of noise to scare us, tells us lies to deceive us and manipulates circumstances to make us think that we are defeated. He wants us to give up. It is at times like that we need to remember the instruction we received from the Apostle Paul to stand. And when we have done that, keep standing.

When we stand we are a representative for God Almighty. We have His authority and power to overcome the enemy!

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More Than is Good!

Words have true meaning. In yesterday’s verses we saw that the Bible says we are MORE THAN conquerors in Christ…

When we are a conqueror, we are the winner. How can we be more than a conqueror?

I asked the Lord about this one day and He reminded me of the times in the Old Testament when He went with the Israelites in battle and they were victorious without engaging in the fight. They showed up trusting God, but it was the Lord who did the fighting. They just gathered the spoils of war when it was over.

 Let’s look at a couple of those battles. There was Gideon; in his obedience he was required to break a few water pots and blow a few horns. The Lord caused the enemy to become confused, the army killed themselves and Gideon carried home the riches.

“The camp was huge. The Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern nations covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. And it would be easier to count the grains of sand on a beach than to count their camels. 13 Gideon overheard one enemy guard telling another, ‘I had a dream about a flatloaf of barley bread that came tumbling into our camp. It hit the headquarters tent, and the tent flipped over and fell down.’

14 The other soldier answered, ‘Your dream must have been about Gideon, the Israelite commander. It means God will let him and his army defeat the Midianite army and everyone else in our camp.’

15 As soon as Gideon heard about the dream and what it meant, he bowed down to praise God. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and shouted, ‘Let’s go! The Lord is going to let us defeat the Midianite army.’

16 Gideon divided his little army into three groups of one hundred men, and he gave each soldier a trumpet and a large clay jar with a burning torch inside. 17-18 Gideon said, ‘When we get to the enemy camp, spread out and surround it. Then wait for me to blow a signal on my trumpet. As soon as you hear it, blow your trumpets and shout, ‘Fight for the Lord! Fight for Gideon!’

19 Gideon and his group reached the edge of the enemy camp a few hours after dark, just after the new guards had come on duty. Gideon and his soldiers blew their trumpets and smashed the clay jars that were hiding the torches. 20 The rest of Gideon’s soldiers blew the trumpets they were holding in their right hands. Then they smashed the jars and held the burning torches in their left hands. Everyone shouted, ‘Fight with your swords for the Lord and for Gideon!’

21 The enemy soldiers started yelling and tried to run away. Gideon’s troops stayed in their positions surrounding the camp 22 and blew their trumpets again. As they did, the Lord made the enemy soldiers pull out their swords and start fighting each other.” Judges 7:12-22 CEV

Gideon was definitely more than a conqueror.

Gideon was an unqualified soldier, an unproven leader and God chose him anway because his heart was right. It wasn’t Gideon’s might or ability that won the battle, it was his availiablity.

God will use any of us who are willing and available. His plan is that we, too, are more than a conqueror!

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And the Winner Is!

I used to wish I could play on a winning team, be a gold medal winner or the world champion of something. I always wanted to be the best at whatever I did. The song “We are the Champions” played over and over in my dreams.

I was telling my husband that the only trophy I ever won was at a speech tournament. I was never very athletic, so I never played school sports and although, I was on the honor roll all through high school that never earned me a trophy. But Speech Club was my thing!

My senior year in high school I started going to speech tournaments. I had always had a gift for talking so I was a natural. My focus was extemporaneous speaking and that was when I took first place and won a trophy, I was also awarded a speech scholarship for college.  

I did not realize those desires for success and leadership were placed in my heart by my Heavenly Father. In fact, honestly, I felt I was being prideful to want to be noticed and recognized for doing something well. It was not until much later that I learned the desire to excel was placed in my heart by God.

“If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.” Deuteronomy 28:13 NLV

When God first created man, he was created with the qualities of leadership and authority. God created Adam to have dominion over the animals and all that was in the Garden. As a result of the fall man became subservient to Satan and his powers.

Through a very intricate plan, God, the Father, was able to return all power to His creation. Jesus died, was buried and when He rose again, He came back with all the power in heaven and earth.  Before ascending into heaven, Jesus returned this power to his followers and told them to go into all the world telling what they had seen Jesus do. The disciples were to repeat those same works.

“Jesus came to them and said: I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth! 19 Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.” Matthew 28:18-20 CEV

…The disciples followed that commandment of Jesus and they saw the power of God at work in their lives just the same as it was in Jesus’ life. They then carried Jesus’ commandment to the next step – they gave Jesus’ instructions to all believers.

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37 NKJV

“In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us.” Romans 8:37 CEV

These verses tell us that we are more than conquerors or that we have won more than a victory. When we are a conqueror, we are the winner!

And the winner in life’s circumstances is you and I because of Christ and God’s amazing love. Give God the glory!

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