Pastor Travis Burkett
Romans 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
A.W. Tozer said, “God is looking for those with whom He can do the impossible. What a pity that we plan only the things that we can do by ourselves.” Do you live like you are more than a conqueror? A conqueror is someone that wins or overcomes something. Through Jesus, we are not just winners but more than that. It means we are able to make it through anything by the amazing power of Jesus that is constantly with us. Through Jesus, we are secure and nothing can separate us from the love of God. With that thought in mind, it should allow us to live pushing towards God’s greater purpose because, in Christ, we are more than a conqueror.
The question is, what do we have to conquer? I want to talk about two areas we need the strength of God to help us overcome.
1. Ourselves. Human nature is tough. We constantly live with a pull to do things contrary to God’s will. Galatians 5:17 tells us that our flesh and spirit are in a continual battle. It can be so easy to give in to a selfish nature and fulfill the desires of our heart. As Christians, we suffer with our flesh, whether we feed it or deny it. We are in a battle between what our flesh wants and what God wants. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” But the grace and blood of Jesus has saved those who call upon His name. Through Jesus, we have the power to overcome that battle of ourselves.
2. Attacks. It’s not just ourselves that draw us away from God’s plans, but we have a spiritual enemy as well. He hates followers of Jesus and attempts to invade our lives with doubt, discouragement, fear, anger, hate, and betrayal hoping that one will pierce deep within us and take root. The Bible shows us that we must remain on guard and be ready for the traps of the enemy.
No matter the struggles you are facing, remember that if you follow Jesus, you are more than a conqueror in Jesus. When facing any struggles, remember we don’t just have Christ’s power to go through it, we have His power to overcome it. Our issues don’t stand a chance because we are in Christ!