More Than A Conqueror

"More Than A Conqueror"

Romans 8: 28 –39

-Rev. A. LaMar Torrence, Pastor

Cross of Life Church

In one of my favorite scenes of Charles Schultz “Peanuts” Lucy says to Charlie Brown “ Sometimes, I feel we are not communicating: You, Charlie Brown, are a foul ball in the line drive of life. You’re often in the shadow of your own goal post. You’re a miscue. You’re 3 putts on the 18th green. You are a 7-10 split in the 10th frame. You have dropped a rod and reel in the lake of life. You’re a missed free throw. You’re a shanked 9-iron, a called 3rd strike, a bug on the windshield of life! Do you understand? Have I made myself clear?”

There may be times when we feel like Charlie Brown. There may be some days when we feel that life itself is against us. We are always coming up short. We are just missing our victory by a hand’s length. I would even say, that there have been times in my life where I have even felt that God almighty was against my gaining success. I pray for certain situation hoping that it is in his will for me to have it; and, later, when it flops, I would just surmised that God did not want me to succeed in the venture. But, it is just that type of thinking I believe that God wants me to dispel this morning. Because he has been that type of thought process that has hinder the saints from achieving their visions. It has been that mentality that has kept churches stagnated. Well, maybe God did want us to have a house or a car. Maybe it was not meant for me to be married happily ever after. Maybe this is my cross. Maybe I am always to be sick or poor. Because certain things have not gone our way, we have assumed that God was working against us; keeping us from been happy at what we thought we deserved. Many of us have become our own worst enemies. Because of past failures and disappointments we are filled with doubts, anxieties, and phobias. Our fear paralyzes us and hinders our potential. Yet, in spite of all of his comical imperfections, when I consider good old Charlie Brown, even he had dreams and hope for a better future. That was the primary reason for Charlie to never give up or give in. (You can’t give up and you can’t give in.)

In his book, “Releasing Your Potential,” Myles Monroe once said, “The poorest man in the world is the man without a dream. The most frustrated man in the world is man with a dream that never becomes a reality. Every individual regardless of race, culture, or class has a dream. We have a God given desire placed inside of us that drives and motivates us to take risks and confront challenges in everyday of our lives. We are not animalistic in our reasons for living. We do not live just to eat, sleep, and reproduce. No, what makes us higher than the beasts is our ability to dream and pursue our visions. We were created with purpose - to filled the earth, subdue it, and have dominion. We were created to be more than conquerors. We are destined to become rulers.

That’s why I believe and still proclaim that the Gospel may be summarized in four small words. God is for us. Every Christian who desires to share the good news should know that all they have to tell a dying world is that short declarative sentence. God is for us. No matter who you are. Regardless of what you have done. In spite of where you may be in your walk with him. You must know that God: Yahweh, Jehovah, Elohim, Adonai, the Lion of Judah, Emmanuel, Jesus the Christ, is for us. God is on your side. You are not on the battlefield alone. God has your back. He is walking with you. He is talking to you. He is with you and I. God is with us and for us.

And that’s good news. It is good to know that we, as believers in Christ, have an omnipotent God on our side (omnipotent meaning all powerful). His power is my strength. His authority is at my command and in his name, I can cast our demons, speak in new tongues, pick up serpents, and if we drink any deadly thing it will not hurt us. We have his power. Power to heal the sick. Power to raise the dead. We have his dunamis power to be his witnesses in the uttermost parts of the world.

His omnipotence is for us, as well as his omnipresence; that is, his eternal and infinite presence. David once wrote that, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Our God is present in each of our troubling times. Jesus said himself that, lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Where ever you are, what ever your situation, and who ever you may be God is with you and for you.