Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** I just finished listened to another amazing presentation on Abundant Living by Ken Baugh. I highly recommend you listen to his entire talk by referring back to the text of this podcast and linking to his YouTube channel there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6vWCNK0xDE&feature=em-uploademail Ken spoke on a topic that, I believe holds the key to victor living. Shame is a killer when it comes to our ability to live like the victor God made us to be. Shame is such an affront to who we are. Where guilt comes at us as a result of what we do, shame threatens to change who we are in ways that cause long term damage to our psyche. Shame can be such a challenge to recognize in our lives. For many of us, shame has played such a critical role in our life that it is considered healthy and welcomed. That's a terrible place for us to remain. We just can't be all we want to be in this world when we are being driven by shame. Defining shame can be a challenge at times. I love how simple Ken made it when it comes to identifying shame in my life. Ken said that we can open the door to dealing with shame by filling in the blank in the following sentence. "I am NOT (blank) enough." What would you fill in the blank with. In other words, what areas of your life do you feel lacking. Maybe you would say you are not pretty enough. Maybe you have been taught you are not smart enough. Maybe you have been conditioned to think you are not successful enough. Maybe you have resigned to think you are not a good enough parent. The one word in this short sentence that Ken gave to help us identify potential areas where shame resides that really makes shame possible is the word enough. It isn't all that shame based to say, "I am not pretty." Shame threatens to work its roots in our life when the word enough is added to that statement. Enough implies that others are more pretty than yourself. Enough makes us believe that the good things that might be happening to others are a result of their being better than we are in any number of areas. Though others may be prettier than us, shame gets us to believe that we are unworthy of the good life that person has simply because we are lacking in something we think they have more of. It is when we see ourselves unworthy that shame takes hold in ways that make victim thinking so possible in our lives. Comparison is always a stumbling block to those of us trying to live the victors God sees us to be. When we compare our lives to the lives of others, then try to come up with answers as to what we are missing that might be keeping us from having the life they have, shame takes hold in a big way. Often what we think we need to get the life others have just isn't something we have control over. Stay in that place of feeling helpless to make our lives more and victim thinking will take hold in victimizing ways. Ken pointed out that we react to shame in two ways. Our behavior reflects the shame in our lives through fear and/or blame. Shame can drive us to fear the world and what we are doing in this world. It can make us fear who God says we are, when that identity doesn't rise to the level we want when compared to others. Shame can make fear be a motivating factor to isolate in self destructive ways. Isolation can happen as we withdraw to wallow in our own self loathing or we push everyone out of the way so we can make happen what we want in our lives. Fear can be the motivation behind the most lazy of us in this world and the most driven as well. Fear is one method of dealing with shame. The other way we deal with shame is to blame others for how we are. Shame can make us lash out in anger driven fits that work to drive people away. It is so much easier to blame others for how we are than to take responsibility for getting shame out of our lives. The more we project the feelings driven by shame on others, the more alone we become. Fear and blame make life a lonely ex

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 those dreams and your destiny are there at God’s placement, like I think they are in my life, then look at your identity and destiny the way God sees them, from heaven down not from earth up." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 197. Dreams - they can be part of what drives us forward or holds us back. Dreams, and the lack thereof, are a powerful force when it comes to living this life as the victor God calls us to be. What dreams do you have? Do you dream of having more stuff? Do you dream of a better life? Do you dream of peace and contentment? Do you dream of making a difference with your life? These are the things that make or break us when it comes to thriving in this life of ours. How we view our dreams often makes the difference when it comes to victor living and victim thinking. When viewed through the lens of victim thinking, dreams can take on a power that drives us to places we were never meant to go. It is when we connect our dreams to who we are that victim thinking takes over in ways that make victims of those around us. It isn't that our dreams are wrong. It is when we find that our dreams aren't turning out quite the way we thought they would that we can do and say things that tend to hurt those closest to us. I believe that dreams originate from God Himself. I think He is the one that puts the dreams we have in our hearts and in our heads. That's why it is so challenging to who we are when dreams don't happen quite the way we thought they would. It isn't that God has failed us when our dreams don't happen when or how we intended. It is the fact that we have held on to our own expectations as to how dreams are to happen that makes failure such a victim making proposition when it comes to dreams. The actual meaning of any particular dream in our lives, heck even the timing of that dream is up for interpretation if it came from God. We are so quick to demand God meet our view of what that dream means and to respond to that dream in our timing. Anything short of our expectations makes us react in victim thinking ways. If dreams are from God like I believe them to be, then isn't it kind of silly for us to be disappointed and discouraged when dreams don't turn out quite how we expected them to? That's the problem with living a life as a victor when expectations are involved. Expectations make it ever so difficult to see things from a perspective that makes sense in this crazy world. Viewing something heavenly from the perspective of our lives looking up to heaven turns dreams into nightmares when our dreams don't turn out like we thought they would. It is only when we view dreams from God's perspective, from heaven looking down, do we stand the best chance of weathering the storms that comes against our dreams from time to time in this life. This doesn't mean that we aren't to have expectations. Expectations are a sweetness of life that God doesn't expect us to do without. Victors are learning that we have to hold our expectations loosely. What we might think a dream is to look like could be exactly the opposite of what God intended. Victors realize that God's intentions are meant to trump our expectations, even when that means dreams turn into something we never intended. It is when we are driven by identity as far as dreams are concerned that we tend to do and say things to make trouble for those around us. The dreams God gives don't make us who we are. We are who God says we are. Dreams are to be empowered by our identity. Dreams were never meant to be what makes identity be what we want it to be. When we get this backwards we tend to flounder in victim thinking in ways that make victims of those all around us. Such was the case with a couple from the Old T

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** Yesterday we took a close look at the truth and how it plays a role in our Victim-Based Society. Today we will drill down on how lies work to make victim thinking more of a part of our lives. As we discussed yesterday, we need to know the truth. Truth needs to be our guiding light. Truth based on anything other than love will be something that works to divide and cause victims all around us. We also saw that when we look solely to truth for the basis of identity, others that challenge that truth will be viewed in a way that makes love powerless. When truth is the foundation for identity, we are forced to defend that truth in ways that can make victims of those around us. When it comes to truth there are two points that we need to grasp in order to make truth all it is suppose to be in our lives. The first point is that truth is something we should be willing to die for. Truth that isn't powerful enough for us to be willing to lose all we are over isn't worth being a part of our lives. The second point is similar to the first. Truth shouldn't be something we'd be willing to kill for. Defending our truth in ways to cause harm to others is a truth that is dangerous. This doesn't mean that we should never fight for what we believe. It does mean that we should be extremely careful of our actions when truth is the reason for division in our world. The seemingly opposite of truth are lies. Lies come against the truth in ways that make the truth hard to hold onto. A convincing lies is one that has some element of truth to it. This fact is what victors need to realize when it comes to dealing with truth and lies in their lives. We will rarely fall for a lie that is completely out of the blue. The lies that tend to trip us up are ones that take an element of our foundational truth and twist it in ways that convince us that the lie is believable. Victors need to be able to parse the truth from the multitude of lies that come our way. Where truths tend to be the foundation for who we are, lies tend to make us doubt who we are. Ignoring the truth hidden in a lie makes it so that we resist change. Focusing our attention on the lies drive us change in ways that just don't make sense. Where the issue of truth and lies really come into play is when we are offended by what someone says about us. For the vast majority of the unkind words used against us, there is an element of truth that we need to pay attention to in order for our victor status to have the power we need in this world. We are far too quick to let offense blind us to the truth and retaliate against the lies when we are offended by what someone says about us. I once saw Orson Wells on a talk show when I was young. Mr. Wells was a brilliant man. He was being interviewed by Merv Griffin and another guest on that show made a joke about Orson's weight. Mr. Wells was a large man at that time of his life. Merv truned to Orson and asked him what he thought of the comment that was made about how overweight he was. Mr Wells said something like the following; "The gentlemen is absolutely correct in saying I am fat. Unfortunately, he is ignorant and tomorrow I am going on a diet." This statement is a perfect example of dealing with the truth and rejecting the lies when offensive things are said about us. Let me explain that a bit. You see, Mr. Wells faced the truth head on. He was fat! I can't say that any other way. Mr Wells knew he was over weight. He wasn't offended by that comment. That comment was true. Additionally, Mr Wells knew he had control over that situation. Going on a diet was a choice he had to change the truth that was so plainly obvious for all to see. What was inferred by this comment was that Mr Wells somehow stupid because of his size. The lie was that his weight reflected on his intellect. Orson Wells made it clear that day it is easier to change your weight than to change your mental capabilities. By facing the t

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** Victor living hinges on dealing with the truth and rejecting lies that come our way. Sadly, it is difficult to separate the two in some situations that we come against. I happen to believe that the vast majority of the situations that have driven our society into such a Victim-Based frenzy is the fact that we are all too willing to accept the lie and reject the truth of any given situation. People are so scared of the truth. Scared, that is, unless the truth happens to align with what that person happens to believe is correct. Society has degenerated to the point where truth has become so relative. Truth is what you feel is correct. Hold a truth that differs from mine and relationship becomes a causality. The polarization of relationships into groups of those who agree with my truth is a place where horrific victimization opportunities abound. It is so easy to let hate and evil be a part of my actions when whatever I hold as truth is so closely tied to who I am. That's why there is so much divisiveness in our world today. We don't know who we are. We are using our believes and the resulting truths from those beliefs to be what forms the basis of identity. Come against that truth and you are directly assaulting who I am. When identity is threatened it is so easy to make victims of those all around us. This principal is just as true if we use religion as the basis of who we are. If you see your identity steeped in what it means to be a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim, it is so easy to allow radical thinking to take hold in victimizing ways. Same goes if the foundation of your identity is based on your sexual orientation, your ethnic background, your socioeconomic standing, your political affiliation, or any other worldly identifier. If you look to this world for the basis of who you are those who aren't like you are going to come against your understanding of truth in ways that will cause division and ultimately victimization. It all comes down to right and wrong. If I hold the belief that my thinking is right and yours is wrong, we now have a situation where victim thinking can take hold. If my belief is a cornerstone to who I see myself as being, then our disagreement just can't be tolerated. I have to be proven right and you must be proven wrong. Can't you hear the potential for victimization in that last statement? Our current political and social environment is a prime example of what I'm talking about here. There is a level of hatred and animosity in our world today that is actually celebrated, as long as you are on the right side of the truth that some hold so dear. School shootings, racial discord, churches being burned, abortion clinics being bombed, beheadings, and a host of other atrocities have their roots in the radical believe that one truth is worth killing for over another. If acts of violence are the result when truths are too closely tied to who we are, the potential fixes to these issues that plague society are just as divisive. Often times the division that comes when trying to find answers to the victim making problems of society cause just a many victims as does the horrific things one person does to another in the name of truth. We need to know what the truth is. Sometimes, the truth hurts. Often the truth makes us dig in deep into who we are in ways we really don't want to do. What I am finding is that truth has to be something we are extremely committed to but not something that we use to define who we are. That even is the case with the information I'm presenting in these podcasts. Truth is, that truth is something we have to believe in but shouldn't be willing to divide over and make victims in defense of that truth. That's a lot easier said than done. The truth that has made a difference for me is that my identity is becoming more and more based on what God says about me. This is a truth that I hold very closely to who I am. I am not willing to

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. ********** "'Get to' living is a radical means of throwing off the bondage with which victim thinking saddles us. 'Get to' living makes it more possible to live like victors, even when life doesn’t deal us a victorious hand." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 183. If there is one single thing that has helped me to live like the victor God sees me as it is the transition from obligation to opportunity. It is how I am choosing to view the arduous tasks that come my way that is making the peace I so want for my life be more attainable. As I step into a lifestyle that allows me to see I have choice in all I do that victor living is something I can believe in more and more. I'm sure you aren't this way at all, but when challenges come my way, I can react pretty badly. I really don't like it when I don't get my way. When obstacles arise that make my comfortable life somewhat of a challenge, I can react in some pretty self destructive ways. This attitude also spills into everyday tasks that don't turn out the way I'd like them to. Let me give you a pretty simple example. I recently discovered that a set of sprinklers at my house weren't working. This discovery was made during a particularly busy time in my life. My list of "to-do's" at this time was pretty long and, frankly pretty overwhelming. Having my sprinkler system act up just wasn't part of my planning process. Due to the damage to the area this part of the system was suppose to be watering, this problem pushed all my other to-do's down the list a bit. As I started troubleshooting the problem, I discovered that it appeared to be a break in the line under the front wakway of my house. Honestly, the problem couldn't have been in a more difficult place for me to fix. One Saturday I decided to roll up my sleeves and tackle this project. Six hours later I was wasn't any closer to making the sprinklers work than I was when I woke up that morning. Here's where victim thinking really started to creep in because of the words "Have To." When I finally decided to stop working on this project for the day, I was pretty dejected. I consider myself a pretty competent person when it comes to figuring out how to get things working. This stupid sprinkler system was threatening to prove that, when it comes to competency, maybe I'm not all that I thought I was. To me, this is a direct affront to who I am. Anytime identity gets challenged by what we do, victim thinking is sure to follow. For about an hour after I quit working on the sprinklers, I felt pretty victimized. I had wasted the entire day - time I desperately needed to do other things on my to-do list. My thoughts spiraled out of control. All I could think was "I have go get this sprinkler system working." What I was really thinking was, "If I don't get this thing working, people I love will think less of me." My reputation was tied to this project. My relationships were linked to getting the job done. When I put myself in that position, failure is so much more of a crushing event than it is suppose to be. I literally had to take some time and get my head on right. I had to go back to what I have been presenting in these podcasts and let the truth God has shown me be my guiding light. My reputation doesn't hinge on getting a sprinkler system working. My relationships aren't hanging in the balance of whether I succeed at this, or any other project on my to-do list. My "have to" thinking was placing me in a bondage God and any one else who loves me had no intention for me to experience. After going over all this, I started to see how much I loved the challenge this broken sprinkler was tossing at me. I started to realize that the process of doing this fix is what I really enjoy. I really like taki

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** I am currently reading a book that contains simple prayers to start my day. It's called "One Minute Prayers For Men" - Harvest House Publishers. The last line of today's prayer really struck me. It said, "I want to experience Your will, Lord, not the trappings of another person’s path." This is such an important statement for those of us fighting to stay out of the victim thinking ways that have plagued us in the past. Comparing our lives to the life of another is such a crippling strategy when it comes to who we are. I am so quick to look at what another person is doing and find fault in who God has made me to be. When I read today's prayer, I was struck with the difference between living out God's will and wanting to live life like what another person is experiencing. I realize how that last paragraph could be confusing. Let me give you and example of what I'm talking about. I have a couple friends who are nothing short of amazing. They are kind. They are so spiritually connected. They love the Lord in obvious ways. To top it all off they spend a significant amount of each year ministering in China. When I look at their lives and compare my friends to the life I have, here's what goes through my head. When it comes to kindness, I'm really moving in the right direction. I still have a long way to go but I feel that this is an area of my life where I see God making a big difference in how I approach others that He brings into my sphere of influence. I get a gold star for kindness. As for being spiritually connected, I also feel like God has taught me so much over the years in this area. I don't know if I earn a gold star in this area or not, but I'm not self condemning when it comes to how being spiritually connected works in my life right now. As for loving God, I believe this is one of the areas where God has really done some miracles in my life. This part of my journey has been such a wonderful experience for me. The last area of my friend's life is where I feel I fall short. Watching this couple give up so much to go and be a part of what God is doing in China is such a double edged sword for me. On one hand, I'm amazed at them for their ability to listen to God and respond to what He is doing through them. On the other hand, I'm brought to a place where I think less of who I am. I have next to no drive at all to travel long distances to minister in foreign lands. What is wrong with me? If God is all about saving the world, how could I be so off base and not be drawn to doing what my friends do and make foreign missions a priority in my life? This is a prime example of being driven by the "trappings of another person's life" mentioned in the prayer I read this morning. It is so easy to look at another person's life and find fault in ours when we don't consider God's will for each of us. It is clearly God's will that this couple be drawn to China. When I sit back and consider my life, it is clearly God's will that I not go to China. Both my friends and me need to be open to considering how God's will might change in the future and respond accordingly. God might just as easily call me to the mission field just like He could change my friends' calling and keep them at home. It isn't that either of us is doing anything wrong. It is when we look at each other's lives and try to make sense of who we are that we set ourselves up for failure. I'm not missing God's view of identity by staying home unless I'm rejecting God's specific call for my life to be a part of foreign missions. I have been made for what God is doing right here in my own back yard. Thinking I am less for not going to China is exactly what Satan wants me to do. He wants me to think that my God given identity can't be trusted. He wants me to think God's will is something that is not all that critical in my life. It is when we look at what others are doing as motivation for allowing our identities to come a

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. ********** "I believe that this convergence is a moment-by-moment thing. If I were to come up with a process for convergence then convergence wouldn’t be the focus ― the process would be. Humans are such a process-focused species." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 170. Moment by moment. I believe this is the key to living like the victors God made us to be. It is when we live in the past or fret about the future that our ability to be exactly what God sees us as becomes something we really do need to worry about. The here and now is all we have the ability to completely deal with. It is as we interpret our here and now through the lens of the past or worry about how the here and now will propel us towards the future we want that victim thinking is so easily entertained in our lives. A group of friends and I were talking about the power of living in the moment this past week. As we were discussing how difficult it is to just be in every moment of this life, I saw one of the guys grab his phone and start sending a text. A few seconds later each of our phones buzzed as a test was received. As we all have been trained to do, we ignored the amazing things happening at that moment and chose to let the text we all received divert our attention. What we saw was something that I have gone back to time and time again. My friend was the one that sent us all that text. It was a picture of a man wearing a watch. At the top of the picture was the headline that read, "World's Most Accurate Watch." As we looked closer at the watch, we saw a digital time piece on a man's wrist with the word "NOW" displayed on the face of the watch. The most accurate watch shows the most important time we need to be concerned with - NOW. Time plays a critical role in victor living. It is when we live in the time that is this moment that we stand the best chance of making victor living happen in our lives. Victim thinking happens as we look at time from the perspective of it being wasted in the past or too short in the future. Both the past and the future are impossible to control. It is in this moment that we have the chance to exercise the control over our lives we desperately want. Why is living in the moment so important for our victor status? Because God says so. Check out today's reading with me now. Forget the former things;     do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!     Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness     and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV) God is pretty clear on timing in this verse. He starts today's reading with a command. He wants us to forget the things of the past. He's not saying to forget the lessons learned from our past. What He is saying here is to forget those things that make us feel like we just don't measure up. Learn from the regrets of the past but don't let those regrets make us feel like He somehow doesn't care for us. What we have done isn't the basis for who God sees us to be. Don't let the past be more than it is suppose to be in your life. Then God says one important word needed for us to be victors in this life of ours. God tells us to, "See!" He wants us to open our eyes. He wants us to see what He sees. He wants us to see what He is doing. Notice He doesn't say what he WILL do! No, he commands us to see what He is doing right here and right now. It is this moment that has the power for change in our lives. Change has nothing to do with what has happened or will happen. Things can be different in our lives if we can see the power of the here and now. Of course, everything that is happening now will build to something in the future. That's just a natural course of action in this

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** Oswald Chambers, in his work, My Utmost For His Highest, said this about habits. "When we first begin to form a habit, we are fully aware of it. The right thing to do with godly habits is to immerse them in the life of the Lord until they become such a spontaneous expression of our lives that we are no longer aware of them." May 12th devotional Habits, like just about everything else we have control of in this world, work like a double edged sword. On one hand, habits are necessary so that we can make progress in whatever the habit focuses us towards. On the other, habits can turn into ritual. Ritual almost always leads to stagnation and death. Victim thinking is rooted in the stagnate state some of us are stuck in when it comes to ritual that has results from certain habits in our lives. Victor living happens as habits take us to places of growth that we could have never gone had not we put in the effort for change. Chambers tells us that, with habits, at first we are fully aware of them in our lives. That's not a bad thing. What makes us aware is the fact that habits make change something very noticeable. That can be a good thing. It's like when we decide that it is time to lose some weight. When we institute a habit of eating differently we often notice immediate change. The result of losing weight as the habit is formed makes it easy to see the cause and effect relationship between the habit and what we want to happen. Unfortunately most of us never let habit move to the next level of integration in our lives. It is when we are fully immersed in the actions surrounding a habit that we become unaware that the habit is there in our lives. Where we are fully aware of the habit at first, it is when the habit becomes fully integrated into who we are that that habit unleashes a power in our lives like nothing we could have ever hoped before. Chambers calls this time a "spontaneous expression of our lives". When a habit is fully integrated into our lives, we don't have to think about making that habit happen. It is a part of our lives as naturally as breathing. That's how spiritual habits are suppose to be in the life of a victor. Our spiritual life is negatively impacted in two ways when it comes to habits. First of all, many of us fail to establish habits that help us fight off the effects of victim thinking. Whether it be church attendance, bible reading, prayer, worship, fellowship or any number of disciplines, without taking deliberate steps toward making these things happen in our lives, we will never benefit from what God promises that these disciplines can do for His Children. Failing to institute a godly habit is what keeps many of us trapped in victim thinking. Just as bad as failing to institute a godly habit in the life of a victor is the fact that we allow the world to shortchange that habit when it comes to being fully integrated in our lives. For so many of us, we have instituted habits surrounding any number of Christian disciplines but those habits are nothing more than tradition. Chambers says this about habits that aren't allowed to fully integrate in our lives. "Your god may be your little Christian habit— the habit of prayer or Bible reading at certain times of your day." Way too many of us have many gods (with a little g) in our lives. Some of these gods are, on the surface, things that appear to be really good for us. Bible reading, prayer, worship and any other Christian discipline can become an idol that blocks our vision of the God (with a capital G) that made us. It is when we turn to idols to help us find and maintain who we are that victim thinking takes a hold in our lives. Habits become idols in our life when we don't allow them to become part of who we are. How do we know if habits are becoming idols in our lives? Chambers has it right when he says one word makes the difference between habits that are good for us and habits that are drawing

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. ********** "God so craves relationship with a being that He created who would choose Him that He has staked His reputation on us to use the power of choice for His good no matter what kind of bad comes our way. Absolutely reckless, wild and wonderfully filled with love is this relationship in which we have the chance to partake!" As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 146. Reckless and wild. That's what God's plan for salvation of this world is really all about. Why is it reckless and wild? Because He is banking on you and me to live in the fullness of who He says we are. Anything less than this and God's plan for salvation falls completely apart. I have heard hundreds of sermons that push the notion that salvation of those lost in this world is up to us. In a sense, it is. What I'm starting to realize is that the action that preachers are getting us ready for is exactly what makes it possible for us to fall into victim thinking. God's plan of salvation might hinge on us taking action, but I think we are being told to move out in ways that just aren't that effective. I happen to believe that if each and every follower of God were to act in a way that demonstrated who God sees us to be, the world couldn't help but to be attracted to God. Way too much time is being wasted doing in hopes that our actions will make identity evident to those we come into contact with. In other words, hitting the streets to evangelize is often used as a method of proving that we are followers of this God that loves us. It's like we believe the more we do in the area of sharing Jesus, the better we will look to those God wants to save. Maybe this strategy worked in the past, but I just don't think it is working all that well in today's age. I do believe that God is serious about people getting to know Him. I also believe that we have taken that fact and developed an action plan that we hope will make who we are something God can get behind. That is utterly backwards when it comes to how I see God working in the world today. Whether it be at our jobs, with our family, or any with any role we play in this world, using action to make identity happen is what allows victim thinking to take over in victimizing ways. Action is critical to any plan working in this world. Things don't happen by just sitting by and watching the wind blow. We have made action the focus when it comes to God's plan coming to fruition. God sees it differently. God wants action to be empowered by identity. It is when we know who we are that what we do takes on a power we could never muster up on our own accord. When we know who we are, we exude a confidence that is hard to ignore. When we rely on actions to prove who we are, success in what we do makes confidence turn to arrogance. The world loves confidence and hates arrogance. I think God feels the same way as the world does. Arrogance divides and separates. Confidence has the ability to draw together in ways that makes God's plan more readily attainable. When we know who we are our circumstances just don't impact us quite like they did when we were working to make an identity happen. Standing on the solid footing of a God given identity makes it possible to weather storms in a way that people admire and are drawn to. Standing on that same solid footing of identity makes it possible for times of plenty to be seen in a way that is just as attractive as when we weather the storms that come against us. Identity is the key. We had better know who we are. We need to be walking in the power of that identity in all that we do or victim thinking will eventually be the result. The way God sees you has nothing to do with your talents and abilities. Your relative success in life sheds no light on who y

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** Check out today's Bible reading with me now. So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion. But we’re not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We’ll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way. Hebrews 10:35-36, 39 (MSG) I have always admired people who have perseverance. Sometimes I wonder if I have this quality in my life as fully as I should. This world can make it so easy to just cut and run when the going gets tough. This is especially the case when victim thinking is in control of our lives. I have found that there is a fine line between being obsessed over the completion of something we are part of and using common sense with regards to when is the right time to just move on. There are people in this world who just can't give up no matter what. That's a great quality to have in many situations. In some areas of life, that quality is borderline sick. Being obsessed with getting the job done might be the very thing that makes you a victimizer in the lives of those who love you. Having an obsession to get things done, when tied to something we believe impacts our identity, is nothing more than victim thinking ruling the roost. Unfortunately, judging when obsession has moved into the danger area is difficult to do until damage occurs. It is usually after we have caused other people harm by our focused actions at getting something done that we wake up to the fact we have gone too far. Today, I'd like to use our Bible reading to help us figure out how to make perseverance be what God wants it to be in the life of a victor. Perseverance is defined as applying the quality of "steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success". That's a pretty broad definition. No wonder perseverance can be a strength and a weakness in our lives. If we use perseverance in the wrong way we are prone to damaging those closest to us in ways we never intended. Let's look at perseverance from God's perspective and see what we can learn about victor living. One thing I notice immediately about what God sees when He talks about perseverance is the fact that He doesn't really care about the relative worldly success that we may have in areas where we have to persevere. So many of us think of perseverance as a trait we need that, when applied properly, will make the good things of this life possible. Some actually use the Bible to back them up on this line of thinking. Paul talks about athletic events and the perseverance required to "win the race." The winning Paul is alluding to isn't being on top. It isn't getting all we want out of life. Paul is talking about making it through this life and stepping into the next with a relationship with this God that has made a difference in our world. Thinking that perseverance is a tool we can use to get what we want is what makes victim thinking possible in our lives. When God talks about perseverance, He is talking about letting faith help us stay the course. It is about not giving up on who God says we are. It is about not giving up on God. Odds are that things will come our way that will make us want to give up on God's call in our lives. It is during those times that God doesn't want us to give up on Him. Give up on the things you do, but never give up on who you are. Though we may be forced to give up on what we are doing because of bad times, we aren't to give up on who we are no matter how good or bad our life is at this moment. That's what our reading today is emphatically presenting. The second line says, "You were sure of yourselves then." Paul is talking about a time when the audience first believed in Jesus. That was such a sweet time for these new believers. They had just come into contact with who they really were through their savior. Because of Jesus, they could see tha