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. ********** "1 Peter 5:8 doesn’t say Satan IS a lion, it says he is LIKE a lion. Satan is LIKE a roaring lion. Jesus IS THE LION!" As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 150. Here's what our Bible reading says today. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. 1 Peter 5:8 (MSG) It is when I try to be LIKE something that I bring trouble in my life. I have let my identity crisis be so complete in my life that I have looked to other people as example of what I am to be like. Don't get me wrong, it isn't incorrect to let the lives of others be motivation for my actions. It is when I want my identity to be like others when trouble begins. Same went for our enemy, the devil. Satan wanted to be like God. There was something so broken in His own amazing, God-give identity that He took steps that are impacting our lives to this day. Satan's drive to be LIKE made it possible for us all to find identity something that we come to question from time to time. It isn't that Satan was some slouch in heaven. That just isn't the case. He was described as the Angel of Light. His beauty and radiance was only eclipsed by God Himself. Yet, as so often is the case when we have so much, it wasn't enough for Satan. Comparison to God made it so easy to overlook the amazing identity God had given Satan and jealousy drove him to take a stand that the world has yet to recover from. Trying to be LIKE something other than what we are is such a victim driven and victim making process. It is when we reject the identity God has given us and work for all we are worth to pursue an identity LIKE someone else that we end up hurting ourselves and those around us. What is worse is when we try to get others to believe that we are LIKE something that we are not, we end up doing and saying things that make victims of those all around us. We can never be LIKE someone else. They are an original copy - so are we. There is a power in our uniqueness that we forfeit when we abandon our identity for the identity of someone else. Our drive to be LIKE others is what makes it so easy to get lost in the victim thinking ways our society seems to settle for so easily today. I get how alluring it is to be LIKE someone else. I love thinking I have the talent to play basketball like some of the superstars I idolize. I enjoy the feeling that comes with thinking that I can spend money LIKE the rich and powerful that I look up to. I cherish the attention that I get when I'm as smart or as wise or as impacting as those I want to be LIKE. Problem is that when it comes to basketball, money and change, I'm who I am, not who I would want to be. If I let that fact twist and turn my insides the way it did Satan, I'm just as doomed to failure as he was in the past and will be in the future. Oh how things would have been different if Satan would have simply basked in the power of who God mad Him to be and let God be God. Same goes for you and for me. Life is so much more livable when we simply be all God has made us to be and put comparison aside. When I cease to compare my unique life to the uniqueness of another life I open the door to the power of my victor status. The only person I have any ability to be LIKE is me. That's the way God designed it. That's the only approach that will work in this world that is trying to victimize us in ways that will get us to doubt our victor status. God isn't LIKE anyone or anything anywhere in the universe. He is 100% unique. He can't be duplicated. Powerful thing is that those statements hold just as true for you and for me. Isn't it time that we let our uniqueness kill the drive to be LIK

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. ********** "We are aliens in a strange land. The problem is that most of us have decided to settle into this home in ways that we weren’t meant to. We have gotten comfortable in our surroundings and have started to believe that we deserve the goodness that others have when times are good in their lives." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 144. There is a real danger in getting comfortable. A friend of mine and his wife quit their high paying jobs at the pinnacle of their careers. They gave it all up to travel to Africa to be a part of what God was leading them to do in that distant land. When I asked them why now they gave me an incredible answer. They said that they had seen how stuck we get in our ways when we get old. They decided that they would rather get old being stuck in serving rather than growing old and being stuck in comfort. Now, there's a victor statement I would like to live up to.  Isn't it true that it is so easy to let the comforts of this life be what drives us at times? It is so tempting to compromise our values and beliefs when our comfortable life is in jeopardy. I wish I wasn't that way but I am. The same can be said of the Israelite in the Old Testament. It was when they decided to settle in where they were at that things turned sour in their lives.  Unless we come to grips with the fact that God sees this place as a temporary residence for His Children we will be caught up in victim thinking tendencies that come as this world fails us over and over again. This world is just too small to house the creative and redemptive power that God has placed inside you and inside me. It is as we live out this life as the nomads we are that that power starts to come alive in those of us He calls His Children.  Today's Bible reading is pretty direct about how we are to view this world. It says... Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15-17 (NASB) It is when we let the love of this world be what makes us feel safe, accepted, worthy and filled with purpose that the love of God takes a back seat in our lives. God's love is what is to sustain and fulfill us. Yet we turn to things other than God's love so quickly in this world. Why do we do that? I think it is because it is easier to believe what we can see - the things we think we can grab and control through our own efforts than to trust an unseen God to give us what we think we need.  That's not something that surprises God. In fact the Bible says the angels in heaven stand in amazement at our choices at times. We amaze all of heaven as we choose to follow God in spite of what this world offers up. I know we don't do that all the time, but when we do we are viewed in awe filled ways. And why wouldn't we be - we are a chip off the old block! As God's children we have the very image of our perfect and powerful Father residing inside each and every one of us. We aren't God, but we carry the image of God as part of our DNA. That's why it is so important that we turn to God for all we need to live out the status of a victor we all work so hard to maintain. Nothing in this temporary and fallible world will ever come close to matching the permanence and completeness of what God offers when it comes to identity and purpose. It is when we get too comfortable with life and with our ability to provide in this life that we get ourselves in places where victim thinking is an inevitabi

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** I thought we'd do something a little different today. If you have listened to these presentations for a while you will notice that I often turn to the lines in worship songs to help highlight a point I want to make. Music has such an amazing affect on us all. Today I was listening to and watching a worship video by Hillsong. As I was watching the words come up on screen I started thinking about our talks and how victor living is found in the lyrics they were singing. I felt led to take their song and allow the words tthese amazing artists have written guide us on our journey today. The song I was listening to today was Behold by Hillsong. Look it up on YouTube and watch and listen for yourself. I'd like to take several of the lines Hillsong wrote and let it lead us where it will today. The song begins with this beautifully challenging line, "Behold The Father's Heart..." The word behold speaks to such a powerful combination of our senses. Behold is more than just seeing something - it expresses a need to do more than just observe. I can see a flower but when I behold it I am transformed by how my senses take in all that is offered in what I behold. The line goes on to direct that we need to behold the Father's heart. It is as though the artists are telling us that the heart of God is more than just something that we should see and maybe come to some understanding with. It is when we behold the Father's heart that we are changed. That heart is in us all. As His Children we are created in His image. It is when we take time to experience His Heart, like only happens when we behold it, that we begin to sense the same wonder and power of that heart in our lives as well. The song goes on to explain a bit about the Father's heart. His heart is described as, "The Mystery He Lavishes On Us." It is as though we should be prepared that no amount of our beholding will every completely explain the Heart of God. There will be a mystery about God that will always keep us wanting more. I love that about God. Too much is never enough. No matter how much I get to know this God that loves me there is always more to learn. Maybe that's why heaven lasts forever. It will take that long to feel the fullness of the power of the mystery God is lavishing on us and will lavish on us forever. The next line is a haunting line straight out of the Psalms. It says, "As deep cries out to deep". I have always been drawn to this line in the Bible. There is a depth in my soul that I feel, almost in a tangible way. That depth has taken me to some pretty dark places as I have found that nothing in this world could ever fill this seemingly dark and never ending cavern. Yet that depth is being called out by the depths of God Himself. It isn't that that deep place is wrong - it is just beyond our total understanding here on earth. What is right about that depth is that God is in there calling us out of the shallowness that we can find ourselves in when victim thinking takes hold. Listen to those cries from the depths of your soul today - that's God calling you to something more in your life. Then Hillsong get real from the heavenly perspective. They say, "Oh, how desperately He wants us". This could be and maybe should be the anthem of those of us wanting to live this life as a victor. It is when we shift from the view that God needs us to the fact that God wants us that powerful change can happen in the lives of victim thinkers. Living in the fallacy that God needs us to do anything is where we trip ourselves up. Sure God has work for us to do but putting the kinds of pressure that thinking it is up to us to get done the kinds of God sized works happening all around us is a fools way of thinking. God is desperate. His isn't desperate for workers. He is desperate for a relationship with you and with me. What an amazingly powerful victor making thought that is. Then comes these next two lines, "The th

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. ********** "Victim thinking takes things and twists them into pretzels of logic that make perfect sense at the time to the victim thinker." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 125. There was an old commercial on the radio a few years ago that had a tag line that went something like this, "Conventional wisdom isn't!" I loved the thought behind this statement. I think it was pure genius that they ended this short sentence with the word isn't. Conventional wisdom simply isn't - It isn't conventional. It isn't really wisdom when you come think about it. Conventional wisdom is just what we make it to be. That's the way I have found myself living when victim thinking has taken hold in ways that made it so easy to twist logic into pretzels of thought that suited my warped way of processing all that goes on in my life. Logic, like conventional wisdom truly only works in the eyes of the beholder. In other words, conventional wisdom and logic makes perfect sense to the one who is creating that wisdom or logic in their own life. What may seem completely out of control, lacking in wisdom and absolutely illogical might be the epitome of control, wisdom and logic to the person applying that line of thinking. Perspective is such a tremendous ally for those trying to live out their life as a victor. It is when we can see things from a different perspective that a powerful trait comes into play in the lives of those of us called Children of God. Acceptance is a characteristic that is highly touted but rarely applied in our Victim Based Society. Everyone wants to be accepted but few are willing to accept. Just look at the multitude of dividing lines in our world today. One group is demanding acceptance from another but is so unwilling to accept any position or opinion that may be viewed as different than their own. The byproduct of all this lack of acceptance is offense and ultimately bitterness. It is when we get sucked up in the vortex of offense and bitterness that acceptance loses the power God wants it to have in our lives. Acceptance isn't about ignoring the truth. Truth is truth as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately this fact has been diminished by a socialistic inability to accept each other in our own dysfunctions. Truth has been sacrificed on the alter of tolerance in ways that make truth something hard to find let alone understand and apply in our lives. That's why I have found it so important to find something extra-ordinary when it comes to the foundations of my life. Truth can only be seen when we look outside of our circumstances to things that might not be so easy to explain for the basis of our purpose and identity here on this earth. When we let the things of this world be what drives us acceptance, tolerance, truth and a whole litany of other relational characteristics go out the window. I believe this is the reason our society is so caught up in victim thinking these days. Our focus has been trained on the horizontal when our gaze needs to be shifted vertically. The author of Psalm 121 got it right. Check out today's reading with me now. I look up to the mountains;     does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God,     who made heaven, and earth, and mountains. Psalm 121:1-2 (MSG) Whoever the psalmist was writing about was going in the right direction. They were in the process of taking their eyes off themselves, off the path they were on and began looking to the high places for their help to arrive. From a military standpoint, the high ground is typically the best place to be. From that place on high you can rain down on your enemy and better protect your position. It is an unenviable place for a warrior to be when they are below their ene

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. ********** "When I stop the frenetic activities my soul gets me into and choose to move directed by my spirit connected to God, I have to believe that the results are in God’s hands." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 115. Frenetic is an interesting sounding world. I like how the word rolls off the tongue. I had to look up what this word actually means. Frenetic means fast and energetic as in a rather fast and uncontrolled way. If that weren't enough to make me want frenetic to not be a part of my life, just consider the origins of this word. It comes from an Old English term that basically means "insane." Frenetic happens when I get overly concerned with how things will turn out. It is in those tasks that I have labeled as being important to my well being through identity that the insane nature of frenetic really takes over in my soul. When I tie who I am to anything that I put my hands to, frenetic is what I feel and insane is how I might act as victim thinking takes hold in my life. The victor was never meant to live a life of insanity. Frenetic isn't something the victor needs to consider when tasks are the concern. Sure there is a lot to do. Many of the things we will put our hands to are important. But are they so important that our very mental health should come into question? From God's perspective, nothing is that important - not even the work He puts before us. What Father would task His child with activities that would put their very soul at risk? Only the most evil of evil would do that to their own children. Yet that's how we view God from time to time when our doing doesn't rise to the level of what we need in order to feel that we are all God wants us to be in this world. It is when our frenetic activities of life fail to produce the results that we think we need to be all the victor God wants us to be that victim thinking can really take hold. Much of the frenetic activities that threatens to destroy the peace in our souls comes from a quote that is credited to the Bible. How many of you have heard the following? "God helps those who help themselves!" Did you know that that quote isn't found anywhere in the Bible? Attributing to God what God never said is a time tested way of being mislead into life altering ways. Adam and Eve are prime examples of twisting what God said in ways that made life something it was never suppose to be. God doesn't help those who help themselves. God is with those that call upon His name. His help is always there for the asking. It is when we turn our activities to getting exclusively what we think we need, deserve and/or require in this life from God's hand that frenetic activity can lead to the kinds of insanity that victim thinking so easily exhibits. I said earlier that it is when I get the frenetic activity out of my life that there is a peace in my soul that allows me to be OK with leaving the results of my actions in God's hands. Why does peace some when I turn my life over to God's ways? Take a look at today's Bible reading for the answer to that questions. My hands made the earth's foundations     and spread the heavens out. When I summon earth and sky,     they come at once and present themselves. Isaiah 48:13 (GNT) God has some pretty competent hands. Today's reading is saying that it was the Hand of God that made everything in existence today. At His call, everything in our universe comes running to attention before the creator. If God's hands are that skilled, I think that I can place my plans under His guidance. There, and only there, can the frenetic be weeded out of my life. Maybe it is time to recognize the difference between a busy life and a life filled with frenetic activity. Victors, like victim thin

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. ********** "A victor is one who lives in a place where all he expects is to see God. He doesn’t put all his hope in the expectation that God will provide his next meal, a healing, a good worship service, a revealing word... A victor is grateful when those things come from the Hand of God, but doesn’t expect them." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 90. Have you been in a position where you have caught a glimpse of God? I have met so many people who say that they have no idea what I'm talking about when I ask that question. Maybe I'm just crazy, but I believe we have abundant opportunities to see God each and every day.  God often appears in the simple things of life. Maybe that is why we fail to see Him so often. We have ourselves looking for the grand encounters - sightings of God that are of Biblical scale. I am witness to the fact that those BIG sightings of God do happen, but they aren't the norm. What should be the norm is seeing God in all that we do. That's what I'm hoping these presentations help us to realize and live out as our victor status takes hold in our lives.  It is when we let our expectations of what an encounter with God should look like take over, that disappointment, and ultimately victim thinking, will be the result.  Look, I want God to appear in a BIG way just like the rest of us. I want my prayers to be answered in ways that can only be seen as an encounter with God. I want the things I do be successful on a scale that is undeniably a God thing. I want my relationships to be nothing but positive and uplifting in ways that shows just how relational this God I serve is. I want God's love to be seen in ways that make the love in this world overtake the evil and wrongdoing that we see happening all around us.  It is when I use my ideals, my interpretation and my perception of what these appearances of God should look like that I back my self into a corner that ultimately leads to victim thinking. What happens when my prayers don't get answered the way I thought they would? How do I react to my failure to achieve the kinds of success I think is needed in this world? What am I thinking when I let my relationships be taken to places where hurt and confusion is the result? How do I respond when love falls so short of what is needed to make evil flee? Anything that makes it so that it looks like I can't trust God is exactly what Satan wants me to lean on when it comes to seeing God in my world.  Psalm 139 is such a powerful read. Take time to read through the entire Psalm and realize that God is talking about you in those amazing verses. Take a closer look with me now at a couple of verses that will help us to focus on today's topic of seeing God all around us. Where can I go from your Spirit?     Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there;     if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn,     if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me,     your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me     and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you;     the night will shine like the day,     for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV) There isn't anyplace we can go to get away from God's presence. He is in the good as well as in the bad. He is there when we succeed and when we fail. God can be seen when we feel like a victor and when victim hood is all we seem to be able to make part of our lives. The sooner that we get into our thinking that God is there for us, guiding us, supporting us and holding us close,

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. ********** "Religion is such that we are only as good as our last performance." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 75. If the quote above was a good definition of religion, it would be easy to classify some of our relationships, some of our jobs and some of our activities as religious endeavors. We are so often judged, and we so often judge ourselves by how well we were able to complete the task at hand.  I have worked for people in the past who had little to no appreciation for the hard work it took to get something done. As soon as a project was completed they acted as though they wanted to ask the question, "What have you done for me lately?"  I have also witnessed interactions between loved ones where there didn't seem to be any recognition for all the work that it took to make something happen that could be credited as a job well done. The disappointment in the face of that hard working soul when the other choose to overlook their efforts and focus only on what wasn't done is something I won't soon forget.  Using performance as a basis for relationship is such a demoralizing way lead and to be led. Believe me, I totally understand the need to get things done. If we stay in that place, where performance is the foundation for all that is good between two people, victims are sure to be made as time goes on this way.  I have seen way too many instances where Church is exactly this way. It is so easy to get caught up in the mission of the organization. People who are viewed as being a part of making that mission a reality can get burned out in the performance trap. It might be the staff at a church, or maybe it is specific congregation members... Whatever the case, performance isn't what God is concerned with. Relationship is God's foremost focus when it comes to the organization that He founded as being what will represent Him here on this earth.  Take a look at how God described His Church in today's Bible reading.  I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 2 Corinthians 11:2 (NIV) We, the Church, are called the bride of Christ. I don't see much that I can point to as performance based when it comes to this personal and extremely relational description of what religion is suppose to be. Yet, we have taken this charge to be presented pure as a personal challenge to DO all we can to make this happen. We then pass all this DOING on to those around us and make what is suppose to be a beautiful interpersonal connection, into an arrangement that looks more like a business than a marriage. Sure there is a lot to do when it comes to Church life. Someone has to be responsible for planning and implementing all that God puts on the hearts of the leaders of our Churches. It is when we allow performance to be the guiding light for what we do that victim thinking is sure to be a part of the results of all our doing. Performance should play a role in getting done all that we have before us. If performance is all we look to to help us judge the relative strength of our church organization, then we have missed the mark and are on the path of making victim hood a part of what we do.  The same goes for all you and I do both inside and outside the Church. Performance and the results of our performance just can't be what we rely on when it comes to determining how well we are at living out the victor status God has granted us. If there is any single thing that we should look to as a measuring stick when it comes to how well we are performing as God's Child it should be relationship.  How many deep and impacting relationships do you have in your life? How much time do y

Click here to link directly to the audio file. A friend of mine and I were talking with each other not too long ago. We were catching up after not having seen each other in quite a while. As we met, we talked about our families, our ambitions and the various projects God has us working on in our lives. I love talking to this friend due to the fact she is so creative and filled with a wonder about God that really inspires me.  At the end of our time together we prayed for each other. As she was praying for me she got a word for me. The word she heard AND SAW was dignity. Yes, she actually saw what this word meant for me. Like so many of the words that come from God what she was trying to communicate was so hard to put into words. I was deeply blessed by her speaking this out into my life and couldn't wait to dig in a bit deeper into what this word might mean in my journey with God on this victor living process.  Some time later I sat down and did a little study on the word dignity. Like I often do, I started with looking up the word in the dictionary. Here's several definitions to this interesting word.  Dignity can point to the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect. It can also point out a sense of pride in oneself; self-respect. Dignity can also be used to describe a high or honorable rank or position. And, finally, dignity can highlight a composed or serious manner or style. Isn't it interesting how a word that we use all the time can take on such complexity when we take a closer look at what it means? In addition to the definitions of the word dignity, I found that our English word has its origins in a Latin word that means "worthy." When I saw that, the word dignity really got me intrigued.  You see feeling worthy is something I struggle with. I have spent vasts amount of my time doing things to try and overcome the feeling deep down inside that I am not worthy. The more blessings that I helped to make come my way the greater I felt the pangs of worthlessness in my life. It was like those kids toys that lock your fingers together. The harder you pull the tighter the trap becomes. That's how I felt about the success I sought to find hoping to try and overcome the feelings of not being worthy. The more success I attained, the less worthy I felt.  If you have been listening to these presentations for a while, I hope you are beginning to recognize the characteristics of what I just described as being stuck in victim thinking. Even success can act like failure when it comes to the process of moving from victim thinking to victor living. Not even all the success in the world can ever be enough when victim thinking makes it possible to let issues like worth, love-ability, acceptance, and significance are concerned.  I think that is why my friend's word on dignity was so perfectly designed for me. My victor status is so fragile when it comes to the issue of worth simply because I find it hard to believe that I would ever be worthy of the kind of love God shows me.  Each and every one of the definitions for dignity I stated earlier have one flaw when it comes to breaking the victim thinking ways that have haunted me over the issue of worth. They all read like it is completely up to me to live up to those definitions. I have failed to live up to those lofty statements in the past and will fail to do so in the future. For that reason, victim thinking lurks around every corner if I let the world's definition of dignity be what underpins my victor status.  The next thing I did with this word dignity was to search out the Biblical conversations on the Web surrounding the word dignity. You have to be careful about what you read on the Internet when it comes to Biblical issues but this has turned out to be a great tool for those of us trying to understand more about this relationship with God. What I found is so conformation when it comes to these talks on our victor status.  You

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. ********** "If there is no guilt, then there should be no shame. Shame can’t coexist with being a Child of God’s because both are polar opposite identities. Either you have one and forfeit the other, or you claim one and deny the other." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 57. Guilt and shame. We often confuse these two issues in life. Guilt is all about what we do. It is a result of our actions that make guilt a possibility in our lives. Shame, on the other hand is a totally different subject. Shame is about who we are. Guilt might lead to shame if what we feel guilty about continues in our lives but the two should never be considered equal. Let's dig into the issues of guilt and shame in relation to how victors might go about living their lives. Guilt can play an important role in the life of a victor. Guilt comes when we realize that the actions we have taken are below who we are. Guilt can help us to work to make changes in our life to more fully let who we are be more consistent with what we do. It is when we use guilt as a tool to try and motivate others that guilt turns into something that victors need to be very careful with. If someone is placing guilt on you, they are probably stuck in victim thinking in ways that will ultimately victimize you in one way or another. Like I said earlier, shame can come after prolonged periods of guilt. Shame was something we were never intended to have to contend with in our lives. Check out what happened the moment shame entered into the human experience. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:7 (NIV) As soon as Adam and Eve turned against the perfect plan God had for them, their eyes were opened to the fact that they were naked. The sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness. In another translation it says that they sewed fig leaves together to cover their shame. Ever since that dark day we have been working just as diligently to cover our shame over things that we have done in our lives as well. After eating the apple, Adam and Eve jumped straight from guilt to shame. Their shame was so pervasive that their identities changed in significant ways. Shame never was meant to be a part of their lives or ours either. Shame makes us doubt who we are. It makes us see ourselves that one moment seemed perfectly good and the next we are trying to cover ourselves in ways that God never intended for us to consider. When shame becomes part of our identity we are forced to make choices that greatly limit our power at living fully in the status of a victor God made us to be. I said earlier that shame and our identity as God's Child are polar opposites. I say this because what God says about us can't be said if shame is part of the description. God has no shame. He doesn't allow shame to exist in His presence. The Bible says that in Christ there is no condemnation. Shame is what makes condemnation a reality. That's why our identities have to be so completely devoid of shame as possible. When we try to live the live of a victor with shame in our lives victim thinking is always the result. God gives us a choice. We can either choose to walk in shame or forfeit the power that comes with being God's Child. God wants us to stake a claim on who we are. By believing and living in the place where God's calls us His Child we step into the power needed to make this world all it is suppose to be in our lives. By claiming our identity in Christ we enable shame to be denied access into our lives. When we choose to stake our claim to shame we deny our true identity and the power that comes with being God's Child. What's your choice going to be? Th

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. ********** "The cup of deliverance is what is needed to get the old ways out of us so that we can live in the power of being God’s Child; a life of victory." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 46. During the passover meal, four cups are taken by the participants. Each cup has a very specific meaning to the lives of the followers of God for the Jewish people. The second cup that is taken signifies the cup of deliverance. It comes from the verse we will use for today’s Bible reading. It says: “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.” Exodus 6:6 (NIV) The cup of deliverance comes from the words “bring you out” in the verse above. The original language used for this word speaks of deliverance, like a rescue from something terrible. That's what we all need in our lives as we face the prospects of how to live in the glorious freedom that Christ has provided those called Children of God. The power of victory doesn’t come with victorious events in our lives. The power of victory comes as we live fully in our identity of God’s Child. When bad times come, of course we are going to call out to God for our deliverance. Sadly for us, that isn’t always the best according to God’s plan in our lives. His best for the victors we are is to experience and thrive in His presence, even when His Presence is felt in the middle of some horrific stuff happening to us in this life. Deliverance happened for us once and for all when Jesus died on the cross and rose again. We no longer have to face the prospect of eternity separated from our maker. We are His Children. That makes us victors. It isn’t how many times God comes to bail us out of bad things that makes us victors. Though those times are sweet and should be sought after when bad times hit, we aren’t to limit the power of God’s Presence to just getting what we want when things turn bad. The cup of deliverance is something we will all drink of when we turn to Christ for our salvation It is also something we partake everyday of our lives as we battle the fallenness of this world that brings to light the badness that comes against us. Victors know that deliverance from evil has been done on the cross. The removal from all badness in our lives will happen when the fullness of time has arrived and evil is destroyed. Until that time, victors can only hold on to the fact that they are who God says they are. Their identity is secure no matter what their lives look like. Today you will be faced with challenges that might threaten the belief that you are a victor in God’s eyes. When that happens, remember that you have been delivered and are being delivered every step of the way simply because God’s Presence is with you.