Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** "Jesus knew that no matter how bad the circumstance, he could trust God to provide the kind of peace in the soul that can only be described as prosperity." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 114. Jesus was the most prosperous person to have ever lived. If you look to money for how prosperous Jesus was, you will be sorely disappointed. If you consider his significance as to how prosperous He was you will be shocked at how little impact on the immediate world He had when He was alive. If you take into account any of the many things you and I might think makes us prosperous, there is no way that Jesus should be considered the most prosperous man to have ever lived. Yet that's what He was.  Jesus had this ability to have peace in the soul unlike anyone who has ever lived. That peace came from the fact that He knew God wouldn't do anything that would make their relationship be less than it had been since the dawn of time. Money will come and go. Significance will shine brightly, then it will fade. All the other attributes we are so quick to pursue, when it comes to prosperity, are here one day and gone the next. Peace in the soul is something that makes the other things we settle for in this world pale by comparison when it comes to prosperity .  If that is the case, then what is peace in the soul and how do we get it? I don't know if I can definitively answer those questions, but I do have some thoughts on the subject.  Let me start by describing what I think peace in the soul is NOT. Peace in the soul is not that feeling of comfort, satisfaction, security or well being that the world is so quick to assign to what peace is suppose to look like. Each and everyone of those things are not permanent. One moment it is hear and the next moment we have lost our peace because that characteristic is MIA (missing in action). Peace in the soul is not something we can get by what this world offers. Peace in the soul comes as we seek something extra-worldly for the prosperity this quality brings to our lives.  Peace in the soul is a calm and quiet in the storm. Jesus displayed this peace in the soul as he slept in the back of the boat during that stormy day out on the lake. His disciples were scared to death. They were afraid the terrible storm they were in was going to kill them. They looked to Jesus and saw Him peacefully snoozing His and, as they thought, their lives away! Take a look at this story with me now.  One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Matthew 8:22-25 (NIV) Can't you relate to the disciples fear and angst? Even though these were experienced sailors, this storm had them all afraid for their lives. It must have been a pretty bad blow, if they were that scared. How is it that Jesus could be so sound asleep when experienced sailors were at the point of panic because of the storm? That's what peace in the soul does for us when we let it be what takes over our lives.  You see, Jesus didn't have a care in the world. First of all, He knew that he wasn't going to die in a boat, in the middle of a lake on a stormy day. Jesus knew He had a destiny with death but that kind of death on a lake that day wasn

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** "In fact, He might find that our discomfort is better for His plan of salvation for this world than our demand for a good life." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 94. I don't like that quote above. Even though I wrote those words, I don't like what they say. The implications of those words scare me. How could a loving God think that anything other than my comfortable life be what He could ever want for my life?  God's plan is something I don't think we will ever fully appreciate. You see, God's plan isn't to make our lives nice and comfy. God doesn't have anything against us having a good life. It just isn't His plan to make comfort be the focus of a life well lived.  This life is about something more. This life has more to do with the battle waging right now between the forces of good and the forces of evil. I just can't understand how Satan keeps His fighters so motivated to fight. The results of their efforts are so abundantly clear in God's Word. God wins! Light overcomes darkness. The forces of good prevail.  Why in the world would anyone keep fighting in spite of knowing that the outcome is assured? I believe the reason they continue to fight is based on nothing more than that terrible characteristic we sometimes live out in our lives. Evil is motivated to fight out of the simple word spite.  Satan knows that he will be defeated. He knows He will be separated from God for all eternity. All He can do is to take as many of us with him in the hopes that this will cause God some pain. Want to know something really amazing. That fact does cause God pain. The fact that even one of God's creations would choose to live without Him is a thought that, I believe drives God to do reckless and desperate things. You don't have to go any further than God offering up His own son to see what I mean by that.  Jesus' death on the cross is nothing short of reckless and desperate. This plan doesn't guarantee that all of God's Children with choose to be with Him. That's Satan's motive for continuing to fight. He knows that God's plan won't work unless we choose to accept that plan. He wants to make it hard for us to make that choice. He does so by making our life difficult at times in ways that can only be descried as hell on earth.  That's why discomfort in our lives can sometimes be viewed as God's plan. He may need us to be in some pretty dark places for His light to be seen. Living in a place where we expect God's plan to always make our life what we want it to be is a victim thinker's paradise. God is God. His plan is what will make this world be all it is suppose to be for His Children. Sometimes that plan makes it possible for our comfortable lives to be forfeited whether we like it or not.  Take a look at today's Bible reading with me now. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 1 John 5:4 (ESV)  Victory is described in such a different way in today's reading. Our faith is the victory that overcomes the evil in this world. It isn't the defeat of evil that is our victory. It isn't the fact that our live turns back into what we want that defines victory for the victor. Faith is what John says victory looks like. John also says that any of us that are Children of God overcomes the world. That's a powerful promise. It doesn't say that that victory will be the comfortable and pain-free life in this world. It says we will overcome. God will show us what that looks like. It might be that our overcoming will be when we pass from this life to the next. Victors have to come to grips with that being a real possibility as God's plan unfolds in their lives. I wish I could r

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** This is the second in a series of four presentation on the issue of "thanks." Not too long ago, I talked about how the words "thank you" all of sudden confused me. It was as though I couldn't come up with a reason why those important words have such meaning and power in our lives. When this happens to me I have to take time to look at what the world thinks and what God thinks for a perspective that helps me get back on track. Last time I spoke on the connection of thanks to confession. You might remember that I found that, when it comes to thanks, confession is so important. We have to get the words "thank you" out of our heads and, at times, out of our mouth. Thank you is an obligation. It is an obligation that is a good thing. Thank you gives us the ability to confess our gratitude for things that have been done for us that provide a future, even when our present is so messed up. The confession of thanks gives our soul the ability to get involved in things eternal as they fight the weighty things of the temporal. Today we are going to focus on another element of thanks that I discovered as I studied the word "thanks" in the Bible. Not only does "thanks" have an element of confession to it, there is an element of recognition in the word "thanks" that we need to be aware of. We are to recognize the need to give thanks. Recognition is what makes confession even possible when it comes to the word "thanks." When I took a look at the times the word "thanks" was used in the Bible I found an interesting flavor to this word that caught my attention. There is an element of the meaning of the various words translated to the English word "thanks" that has everything to do with recognition. What is it that we are to recognize when "thanks" is at issue? We have to recognize the amazing grace that we have been given. More to the point, it is so important that we recognize the presence of that grace whether our life is good or not at any given moment. We have, somehow, taken the concept of grace and turned the meaning of this beautiful word on its ear. We have come to the belief that grace abounds when our life is good here on earth. If we are ever going to live in the power of thanksgiving, the victor has to get it when it comes to what grace is and what grace isn't. Put simply, grace isn’t that we get a good life. Grace is that we get an eternal life. Today's Bible reading shows us the way when it comes to recognizing grace in our lives. But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, now and forever! Amen. 2 Peter 3:18 (GNT) There is a fullness to this life that comes when we realize that this moment of pain, that might be weighing us down so completely, isn’t what we are destined to forever. Victim thinking is so much more possible when we think that grace means we will never have challenges in our lives. Getting to a place where we recognize that grace in our lives happens when we go on a journey with God in this life. Peter said that we are to continue to grow in the "grace AND knowledge" of our savior. It is as we face the good times and the bad times of life with a heart that recognizes those things to be thankful for that grace and knowledge become the foundation for all we have to give thanks for. Look, I'm just as adverse to pain in my life as the next guy. I will do and say anything to make my life the comfortable thing I want so badly. When times are good, of course I can thank God for the grace He gives. When times are bad, I should be able to thank Him just as completely. It is when I begin to think that God owes me a good live because He promises grace that this world will make me feel like a victim at every turn. When bad times hit, grace is just as sure as when good times are all we know. Sure we there are times when it will feel like a marathon as we endure the of pain that comes at us in this life. Even in

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** "But love isn’t about finding or attaining perfection. It is about seeing perfection through God’s eyes." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 82. Oh if we could live that quote more fully in our lives everyday. It is when I'm viewing things through the eyes of God that perfection in this world is something I can attain to. It is also something that I start to see in all of us who are far from perfect. Seeing this world as God does gives me the perspective I need to begin living the fullness of what I think God is teaching me a victor's life is suppose to look like.  We spend so much time trying to define, create and maintain some level of perfection. What a total and absolute waste of time. First of all, perfection cannot ever be attained as long as we live on this earth. Perfection just isn't possible, let alone sustainable. It is only when we start to see things as God does that the ability to catch glimpses of perfection come our way.  Today's Bible reading reminds of the struggle with perfection we face in this world.  I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself. Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above. All of us who are spiritually mature should have this same attitude. But if some of you have a different attitude, God will make this clear to you. Philippians 3:12-15 (GNT) I have met few people who, I might be tempted to compare to the level of performance Paul applied in his walk with God. Maybe someone like Billy Graham is someone of the caliber of Paul when it comes to their faith and living out their faith like Paul did. The rest of us pale by comparison!  How does that last statement make you feel about yourself? For many of us, realizing that we are a poor comparison when it comes to someone else is such a hard thing for us to hear. That kind of statement makes me want to double down on my efforts to try and be better at "doing" so my "being" can be seen in a better light. That's a perspective on perfection that will literally kill our ability to live like the victor God has called us to live.  Paul and Dr. Graham would never even think themselves as being perfect. Both of these great men would look at the sum of their lives and still have a twinge of guilt that they didn't do enough. That blows me away! How could a man like Paul, whose writings have inspired and changed the life of billions of people think that he didn't do enough? How could a man like Dr. Graham, who personally spoke to over 200 million people in live events (that doesn't include those who heard Dr. Graham on the radio or saw him on the TV), ever think His life fell short?  I can tell you how they can think that way. Their lives did fall short. They weren't perfect. Neither are you and neither am I. God is perfect. The only way we can get the twinge of guilt out of our lives, as I know Dr. Graham did and I'm sure Paul was able to do is to see perfection through the eyes of the God that made us.  God knows we aren't perfect. God knows that our efforts will always fall short. Why do you think He took such drastic measures to make a way for us. Do you think that offering up His only son to make a pathway in our imperfection for a perfect relationship with Him to be possible was an easy thing to do. How would you feel if the only way to make something important happen in your life was to take sim

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** ..."'being' out-does 'doing' when it comes to drawing near to this God." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 80. When I think of doing, as it relates to who I am, it feels so slimy. It makes me think of the quote, "Fake it till you make it." That might be a good way to live out a role I'm playing at a given time, but the thought of what it takes to make an identity work just doesn't fit this kind of living as far as I'm concerned. You see I had rather simply be who I am than work to make others, and myself, think I am a certain way. Believe me, that hasn't always been true in my life. Doing as a strategy to make identity work in my life has been a way of making me feel like I'm something more than I think for way too long. Now, that method of getting to who I am makes me feel so purposeless and lost. All the effort it takes to live a "Faking it till I make it" kind of life is exhausting to me. Unfortunately, with identity way too many of us never make it. That means all that faking it does nothing but confuse us and all those around us. It is when our efforts "doing" to try and be what we think we need to be to be loved or valued or accepted fall short that victim thinking can really take hold in our lives. When it comes to identity, it is best to just be who God made us to be. Even that strategy of life can be so challenging in the world that we live in. Satan has done such a good job of making us think that who we are will never be enough. Truth is, that in of ourselves, that is really true. It is when we view identity through the lens of eternity that things start to make some sense from the world's perspective. That' what I mean when I said "being out does doing" when it comes to how we view our lives and God in our lives. We will never be able to do enough to become what we think we need to be in order to feel the fullness of what God wants to give us for free. All our effort to become something we think the world will admire and/or love are nothing more than time wasted. The world will never admire and love us like God does. Does that last statement shock you? It should! It is so true. God does love us. He also admires us. His admiration isn't from a place where we have something He doesn't. No, that's not the kind of admiration He has for us. His admiration comes from a place of desiring relationship. He admires the fact that we have the ability to choose to be with Him. He doesn't seek relationships with us because we can do something for Him He can't do for Himself. His drive for relationship comes from a characteristic that we too carry in our lives. God, just like us, wants to be waned. He wants a people to choose to love Him. I know that sounds a bit unstable. It sounds that way to us because we have seen unstable love in this world demonstrated in codependent ways that are truly sick. Our view of love has been tainted by the fact that what this world says is good when it comes to love make us doubt God's Love in our lives. God's love hasn't been tainted. Our view of His love has been warped by the this fallen world. He isn't codependent in the ways we have been victimized by in this world. God's love isn't a sick thing - It is a power house of fullness that victors need to tap into more in their lives. We tap into that powerhouse more by being than by doing. Take a look at today's Bible reading with me now. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV) That beauty Peter is talking about here is more than just how we look. Ther

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** "Why is not knowing Jesus a sin? Simply stated, God knows how futile it is to try and be holy and righteous, even in a secular way, without the power of being God’s Child." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 59. I have a pastor friend that says "SIN" in an acronym for something we all have in our lives. Sin stands for "Selfish Independent Nature."  So much of the world is turned off by the word sin. I think we hate the notion of sin because it divides us into two camps. One one side are those that sin. They are the bad ones. They are the ones to stay away from lest they be able to draw you into the bad camp. On the other side of the ledger are those that don't sin. They are the good ones. They are the ones we need to make examples of so that we all will be able to join that "in" group. What a crock!  It is when we view sin from a good and bad perspective that we put ourselves in a position of death. God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He explained that by eating of that tree they would die. Equating sin to good verses bad is eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. All it does is bring death. When we make sin about good and bad we kill relationships, we kill our ability to live like the victors we want to be and we kill our ability to reflect the loving power of a God that wants the best for us.  That's why I love my friends acronym for sin. You don't have to be particularly religious to know that when we live focused on our own selfish independent nature, sin is something that makes living with one another a real challenge.  How many people do you know that when you run into them in public, all you are going to get is a running diatribe of their lives? Don't you know those folks who just can't seem to bring themselves to understand that your life might be filled with some challenges as well? I'm sure you can point out people in your sphere of influence that are so self focused that they can turn any event in their lives into a drama of epic proportions.  Let me ask you a question about those people? Do you like being around them for very long? If you are anything like me, you turn and run when you see those folks in the grocery store. Sadly, even this attitude I'm exhibiting now is a pretty good example of sin, when sin is considered from the acronym of Selfish Independent Nature. My wanting to avoid those people is nothing more than my desire to not get splattered with the relational mud of someone else stuck only thinking about themselves.  With that definition of SIN firmly in place, lets go back and revisit the premise of the quote I read at the beginning of this presentation. The Bible says that it is a sin to fail to get to know this Jesus in your life. That sure does sound like a pretty narrow view of a relationship with God. Sin - don't you think that is too strong a word for those that choose not to get to know this savior called Jesus? Well, when you view SIN through the lens of living in a place of being selfish, I think there is a really strong correlation between sin and not knowing Jesus. To help emphasize the problem of our selfish ways when it comes to sin, check out today's Bible reading with me now.  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 (NIV) It is the epitome of selfish independent nature to think that we can ever get to this God in Heaven on our own efforts. God is perfect. Even if we are, somehow able to live a perfect life from this moment on, there is something in the past that was done from a place of our selfish interdependent nature. Even if it was just one selfish thing that we did, according to our reading today, we ar

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** "Being a victor isn’t about being victorious in this world." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 37. Having victory doesn’t necessarily make you a victor just like missing victory doesn’t take away from the fact that you are a victor. Those who want to throw off the bonds of victim thinking hold on tight to the fact that the tie between victory and being a victor HAS TO BE severed. Whether you have victory or not in your life can’t define what it means to be a victor for the Child of God’s. The more one relies on the outcome of each and every circumstance as proof of a victor’s status, the more they will fall into the trap of victim thinking. How can you possibly believe that you are a victor when your NEED for victory as proof is always at odds with this fallen world in which we live? Fact is, we are going to win some and some we are going to lose. It is when losses become more of what we expect in life that victor living becomes so hard to let rule in our lives. As true as I'm seeing this fact to be, I find it so easy to allow victorious living to be tied to whether I believe I am a victor or not. This is a way of life God never intended for us. We weren't made to be bogged down in the muck and mire of self doubt stemming from failures in a failed world. In fact, the Bible is pretty blunt about circumstances in this life. It says; I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 (NIV) Troubles are just part of the world we live in. You don’t have to have a relationship with God to know how true that statement is from time to time. It is when troubles hit that our strategy to let circumstances confirm our identity fails us miserably. Troubles make victim thinking a real possibility when we fail to sever our ties to what we do when we consider who we are. But, God wants so much more for His Children. Today’s reading promises a powerful attribute to those who sever these ties. That promise is Peace. I'm starting to believe that the quality of peace is what makes us rich. I know a lot of very wealthy people who don't have peace. I know a lot of very significant people who live in a state of constant internal turmoil. Have you ever been in that state of internal conflict that makes peace so elusive? I sure have. Those times are as close to hell as I hope I will ever get. It isn't how much money we might make that makes us a victor. It isn't how well I do a task that makes me believe I am all God sees me to be. It is the quality of peace that makes victor living have the power I think God ordained for us all. Our reading today says that that peace comes with knowledge. Peace doesn't come as we know what to do. That peace doesn't come as we learn how to do what we need to do better. That peace comes as we know who we are in this God's eyes and who this God is in our lives. Are you looking for a little peace in your life today? For the victor, peace is a promise that we can take for the asking. To get that peace we must continually disconnect our identity from the desire to have victory in our lives. Whether we are victorious or not in this world, we are victors. Grab for all the peace you can today and live the life of a victor Don’t let the presence of victories or the absence of them play any part in who you are in God’s eyes.

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** "As we have seen with destiny and identity, perspective plays the key role in understanding our rights when it comes to being a victor." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 205. Perspective. Can we ever have too much of this amazing trait. How we see things can be so warped if our perspective isn't quite right. I once watched as an artist friend of mind paint a picture as another friend spoke on faith and fear. Here were two very creative people using what God had blessed them with in their victor status to help get across a point on perspective that I still can't get out of my head. As my friend highlighted how fear and faith war against each other, my artist friend painted this canvas with an image of a face obviously in fear. He added details to this piece of art that made the words my other friend spoke come alive in ways that really hit too close to home. It was as though with each stroke of the brush, the artist was telling my story. Every color, every nuance of this piece of art reminded me of those times when fear controlled my life. Those were times when victim thinking was in firm control. As I listened to the words being spoken, trying to make sense of where this all was going, the artist did something amazing. Just as my friend began talking about how faith works to make fear something that doesn't need to be the controlling factor in our lives, the artist took the canvas he was working on and turned it upside down. This perspective shift literally turned everything on its head. As words of faith were being spoken over us all, the artist took this piece of art that conveyed fear so perfectly and started to add small brushstrokes. Nothing dramatic was changed by the paint he added. Yet, change is what happened. Now, that face filled with fear was a face changed by faith. Within seconds, a dark and hopeless image was filled with light and hope. It wasn't that the artist repainted a dark image in a way to make it light. That light image was actually in what was created from darkness. In other words, the face of faith that was so hard to see in the middle of fear was actually there all along. All it took to make me be able to see the image of faith was a perspective change. Turning that canvass upside down made it possible for my brain to see what was there all along. That's how perspective works. The truth we need so desperately to make it another day is there. It isn't lost or being hidden from us. It is simply that our natural faculties get duped into seeing things a certain way until perspective is introduced. It is the same with whatever we find important in our lives. Destiny, purpose, hope, faith, success, worth, value... all are doomed to be viewed in a way that allows victim thinking to enter the picture if perspective isn't taken into account. Today's Bible reading really highlights the need to let perspective be all it can be in the victor's life. So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (MSG) If we are viewing our life from the perspective of a natural orientation we are doomed to failure. Being stuck in a place of failure can't help but make us live trapped in victim thinking. It is when we view our problems, our challenges, our circumstances and our prospects from a perspective of eternity that victor living takes

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** I had the opportunity recently to stop and think about the true meaning behind the term "Thank You." Have you ever done that? Have you ever come to a place where something you have said all your life just doesn't make any sense any more? It isn't that you don't know what you have been talking about, all this time. It is more that what you have been saying has been said so many times that the true meaning is hard to put your finger on. At least that is how it is for me from time to time. Such was the case this one day when "Thank You" just didn't make a lot of sense to me. Thank God for the Internet on such occasions. Google has opened the door to a world of knowledge that makes days like this a real joy to me. I have been learning that I am more able to live this life as a victor when I am intentional about staying in the moment. It is the failures of the past or the fears I have for the future that make it so easy to slip into patterns of thinking that make victor living that much more difficult for me to achieve. Few things help me to stay in the moment better than does being thankful. There is something about being thankful for what is happening right this moment that is so difficult for me to explain. All I know is that taking time to be thankful, even when my circumstances don't seem to warrant thanks, makes it so much easier for me to live in the moment. Thanks helps me to be content. When I'm content it is much more difficult for me to react to the past or obsess about the future. For that reason, I really wanted to get back to a place where "Thank You" had a meaning I couldn't take for granted. As I dug into some things written on the Internet about the origin of the word "Thanks" I was drawn to see what the Bible said as well. I found that in the version I was looking at on that day the word "Thank" was only used 25 times in God's Word. I decided to take a look at the origins of each of those words and see if "Thank You" could be better explained to me. What I found was really very interesting. Unfortunately what I discovered is too long for just one presentation, so over the next few weeks, we are going to revisit the issue of giving thanks. Today we are going to focus on one element of the word "thanks" that I found particularly interesting. I found that in the Old Testament, the original word used for our English word "thanks" had an element of confession to it. In other words, the exact same word that was translated as "thanks" in one part of the Bible was more often used to mean "confession" in another part of the Bible. As I thought about this seemingly mismatch in terms, I started to see something that really opened my eyes to the issue of thanksgiving. When I thought of the word confession, I begin to think about obligation. The way the definition of the original word "thanks" was worded it appeared that we have not choice when it comes to giving thanks. We HAVE TO be thankful. More than that, we HAVE TO speak out our thanksgiving, both in our heads and out loud. That's what confession is all about. When we confess, we speak out in ways others can understand. If you have been listening to these presentations for any time now, you know that I hate using the words HAVE TO. Those words speak of obligation. Obligation makes me feel trapped. God has come to set us free so how could thanksgiving be anything about obligation? Where is the freedom in that thought? Fact is we ARE obligated to give thanks. We aren’t not obligated because we feel like it, or because all is going well in our lives. We are obligated because we owe so much to who we are being thankful to. Even if our situation is nothing but filled with the worst life can offer, we still are saved. We still are loved. We still are valued and purposed. We still have a future filled with what this life might not be able to offer us right now. We have to confess our thanks because we have so much to be

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** "Floundering in the knowledge that we mean absolutely nothing to God is a victim’s paradise." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 166. I hope you noticed that I didn't say that it is wrong that we mean absolutely nothing to this God in my quote above. Truth is, we are so insignificant, how could we ever think we rise to some level that would ever allow us to approach this unapproachable being? It is when we allow ourselves to wallow in that thought that victim thinking really starts to take us to places we just don't need to go. Truth is that, in of ourselves, we are nothing to this God. This fact is clearly highlighted in many places in the Bible. None more directly than in the Book of Job. At one point in the story of Job's life, God shows up and helps Job remember his position before this awesome being. Check out the following questions God pelts Job with. As I read these questions, think about how you would feel if you were on the receiving of this kind of smack down like Job found himself on this amazing day. Where were you when I created the earth? And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!’     told Dawn, ‘Get to work!’ So you could seize Earth like a blanket     and shake out the wicked like cockroaches? Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things,     explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean? Do you know the first thing about death?     Do you have one clue regarding death’s dark mysteries? Do you know where Light comes from     and where Darkness lives So you can take them by the hand     and lead them home when they get lost? And who do you think is the father of rain and dew,     the mother of ice and frost? You don’t for a minute imagine     these marvels of weather just happen, do you? Can you catch the eye of the beautiful Pleiades sisters,     or distract Orion from his hunt? Can you get Venus to look your way,     or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out and play? Do you know the first thing about the sky’s constellations     and how they affect things on Earth? Job 38 (various MSG) I don't know about you, but I would feel pretty puny if I were on the receiving end of this lesson God was teaching Job. You see, Job had gotten to a place where he was questioning whether God knew what He was doing or not based on the terrible circumstances Satan had made happen in his life. Don't you know how easy it is to question God when things take a turn for the worse? How many times have I asked God - "Are you kidding me?" when something bad happens in the middle of all the things I'm involved in that I consider doing work for God. It is as though I'm saying to God, "Don't you see how good I am - how could you let this badness happen when I'm being so good?" Those words are nothing more than a direct affront directed at God's abilities. I dare to question God's plan because His plan might intersect with my life in ways that jeopardize the comfort of this life I work so hard to try and maintain. Sometimes I need to be reminded of who I am. I'm not God's equal. I'm His Child. Is your 2 year old son or daughter your equal? Too many parents today think their kids are their equal and the world is getting to be more of a mess because of the confusion that ensues from such a ridiculous view on life. Today's reading helps remind me just how small I am to this God. Amazing thing is that God doesn't want us to wallow in the pity of being in that small place. Our God doesn't owe us anything because of how good we are at serving Him. We are blessed to be able to relate to a God who doesn't need a single thing - us included. Staying in that place of thinking