Contributor: Annie
Scriptures Galatians 2:20 Colossians 3:3 Ephesians 6:13 Isaiah 54:17 Psalm 61:2
We live in a fallen world. When sin entered the hearts of Adam and Eve and they were banished from the Garden of Eden, they had to contend every day against that sin. From the time that the water girdle, that protected this earth from the destructive rays of the sun, split asunder and flooded the earth, we have lived with an environment that can endanger our health, our well being and our life span. We are susceptible to the spiritual forces that are given time to roam this earth, Paul tells the Ephesians that they battle against these forces daily. Paul then tells them, and believers in Jesus Christ down through the ages, how to live victoriously, whatever the circumstance, trauma, sickness or pain that they are going through.
Jesus came to this earth, fully God and fully man. He lived surrounded by temptation, disease, corruption of every description, yet knew no sin. He was tortured and suffered a death that according to Jewish law meant He was cursed. And on the third day He rose, the empty tomb evidence of His victory over death and hell. He bought the victory with His battered Body and shed Blood, and He offers us the privilege of living in that victory each day of our lives.
However, living in that comes through making an intentional choice. Am I going to live shackled by my history, by my learned behaviour, by the voices of my past? Or am I going to live victoriously, declaring that it is no longer I that live but Christ Who lives in me, that my life is hidden with Christ in God, that I am clothed in His Armour, from head to foot and that no weapon formed against me is going to prosper. This choice has to be made every day, constantly and intentionally no matter what trauma or grief we are going through.
Psalm 61 says “lead me to the Rock that is higher than I”, what Rock is this? It’s the same Rock that Jesus told Peter He would build His church upon. The Rock of the Revelation that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God. This is the Rock that is so much higher than our understanding, the Rock that sets us above our enemies, the Rock where we stand in the victory bought for us on Calvary’s tree.
A Roman centurion chose to align himself with what he recognised in Jesus, rather than in the suffering of his circumstances. He saw what the Jews refused to see, that Jesus lived under the authority of God, and, being fully God, could exercise that authority for Himself. The centurion intentionally chose the Kingdom of God and saw his servant healed.
What about you and I? Do we intentionally choose each day to align ourselves with God’s Revelation, with His Kingdom? As we face the challenges of daily life, we need to keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, aligning ourselves with Him and His Kingdom. Holy Spirit, our Guide, our Teacher, has to be our plumb line, He is the One that Jesus said would lead us into all truth.
Prayer: Father God, every good and perfect gift comes from You, nothing that is not good ever comes from You. As we walk through this fallen world and we intentionally choose to put our hand into Yours, we can live standing in the Victory of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, the King of kings and Lord of lords, knowing He will never leave us and never forsake us.
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