Living In Victory

Living in Victory!

2Tim 1:6-8

Before September 9th, 2001, the vast majority of Americans didn’t really have a clue when it came to terrorism. Oh, we had seen the news reports on TV and in the newspapers, but it never really meant all that much to us because we were largely unaffected by it. Physically isolated as we are from the middle east, we felt safe. It would never happen to us, and then, it did. When those planes flew into the Twin Towers, as a nation who thought they were sitting on the sidelines, we were given our wake-up call.

The devastating blow that landed on us on 911 did far more than take thousands of lives, it struck at the psyche of our nation. That’s exactly what terrorism does, its main intent isn’t so much large body counts, it’s psychological warfare. It is designed to disrupt a nation by shredding its collective sense of security and to cause panic, and from what we saw in the immediate aftermath of 911, they succeeded in their mission. They caused terror to rise in the hearts of many, which is exactly what they wanted to do. Terrorism is far more than just an attack on buildings, people, or economies; it’s a war on our minds.

And that is what the greatest terrorist to ever live has always done. He targets our minds so that we’ll live in defeat and surrender to him without a fight. Now, I’m not talking about Bin Laden, I’m talking about the devil, Satan himself. All of the earthly terrorists that we have are simply pawns in Satan’s power play. He has always tried to bring nations to their knees and make them tremble in terror.

Satan is the ultimate terrorist, and he keeps his people under his thumb through fear. He gives them a spirit of fear. The one who weakens nations and shakes kingdoms does it through the power of fear, but Jesus came to this earth to save men and destroy Satan’s power. The Bible tells us…

Heb 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, (15) and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Folks, if Satan can put fear in your heart, then he has his chains on you, and you are in bondage. He’s got you. You are his. You are his slave if you live in fear. But God has commanded us; He didn’t make a suggestion, He commanded us that Php 1:28 …in nothing terrified by your adversaries Satan wants us in bondage to fear and God tells us to fear nothing! As a matter of fact, He tells us 62 times in the Bible to “fear not!” And in our verses today, He tells us…

2Ti 1:6-8 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (7) For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (8) Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,

Oh friend, God doesn’t want us to live in fear; He wants us to live in victory! He wants us to live confident that we are His and He is ours. Knowing that the God of the Universe loves us so much that He would send His only begotten Son to reconcile us to Himself, brother, sister, that should give you confidence to face whatever may lie ahead and embolden you to walk in faith and do whatever God has commanded you to do.

Now, before I go any further, I’ve got to say that God doesn’t want us to live in fear, but some fear is of God. Some fear can be a healthy thing because there are a lot of things to fear in this world. Snakes, for one. Spiders, sharks, drunk drivers. The list could go on and on. There are a lot of things to be fearful of in this world, so we use wise caution in order to minimize our coming into contact with them. Now, that’s a good thing. It’s just smart, right? We don’t fear them so much that we’re immobilized, but we continue on, exercising caution. And that’s good.

There’s also spiritual fear. The Bible tells us that Psa 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: So, we’re to have a fear of God, but this isn’t speaking of the shaking in our boots kind of fear, it’s more like great respect and reverence out of love. But, in a very real sense, our fear of the Lord does involve a little boot shaking as well, because Jesus told us to Mat 10:28 …fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.