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 clearly see my identity, circumstances will have less of an impact on how I view the challenges this world will throw at me.” As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 44. Identity has a way of perfecting our vision. Today’s reading touches on the impact God’s perspective on our lives has on our how we see who we are. “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” - Helen H. Lemmel The verse above isn’t from The Bible. It is from a popular Christian song that is filled with Biblical sentiments. For the victor, the words in this verse hold the key to being able to throw off the victim thinking that plagues us all from time to time. When we focus our gaze on our circumstances it is so hard to see God in those circumstances. Our physical eyes are like our spiritual eyes. They can only focus on one thing at a time. Prove it for yourself. Focus your eyes on the computer screen. At the same time try to read a note on a piece of paper right next to the computer. Yes you can see the note. You can actually make out the fact that there is writing on that paper. Problem is, the note is “strangely dim.” It is out of focus. So much so that it is almost impossible to make out what is written on that paper. That’s how it is in the world for the victor. If we focus on our circumstances, good or bad, the view of God in our lives is fuzzy at best. In good times a fuzzy view of God isn’t something that bothers us all that much. But, when the bad times hit, a fuzzy view of God is the quickest path to the kinds of victim thinking that threatens the victor everyday of his/her life.. Our identity comes from what Jesus did for us on the cross. Our standing as God’s Child is what makes us victors. Focusing on the circumstances of life greatly limits our ability to see, understand and apply the fact that God’s goodness is for us even when bad times are part of our lives. We have a choice - focus on circumstances and see God dimly or focus on God and let our circumstances dim by comparison. Since our circumstances have no bearing on whether we are a victor or not, why not focus our gaze on Him? It is in that “light of His glory and grace” that you have the best chance of living the life of a victor today.

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 understanding our place before God is the start of some personal healing that might help you too break the bonds in your life that have taken hold as a result of your attempts to cope with the cloud of shame you sometimes feel around you." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 61. Our Bible reading is one we all need to take to heart. It says, Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.     Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth     and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. Isaiah 54:4 (NIV) I descried shame in our lives as being a cloud from time to time. When we are in a cloud, things are much more difficult to see. The fogginess that surrounds us when we are stuck in shame makes navigating this world a challenging and dangerous task. Just ask any sailor about navigating in fog. It is in those time when things are hard to see that we had better be paying the most attention or accidents will happen. I have said this before but it is worth repeating. Shame is all about identity. Where guilt is the feeling we have when we have done something that we think is wrong, shame is thinking that we are bad because of the bad things we have done. It is when we let our identity be shaped or confirmed by things we do that victim thinking really takes hold in our lives. Shame is all about condemnation. In Christ, there is no condemnation. That means believers should be in places where, when shame hits, they are able to quickly side step this obstacle to victor living. How do we get out of shame? I think the most powerful means of keeping shame in check is a proper view of who you are. That's where I have learned God has to be part of the picture. You see, when I use anything other than God's view of me to define and confirm my identity, I'm setting myself up for that terrible feeling of shame. When I use things I can do to make me feel like a particular identity is possible, everything is OK until the things I do don't rise to the level needed to support that identity. The more the things I do seem to fail me, the more identity comes more into question. It is in those times when things that I do can bring shame into my life in ways God never intended. When I am in a place where I understand God's view on identity, I can be a part of the process of defending my life from the debilitating effects of shame. It is when I stand in the faith of being a victor even when victory is far from my experience that shame becomes so much easier to deal with in my life. Failing to see my life the way God does makes it possible for my life to be influenced in ways that God never wanted to happen. Our reading today starts with three important words. It says, "Don't be afraid..." Fear is what makes shame possible in the first place. It is when we are afraid that those we think are important in our lives might think less of us because of what we have done or failed to do that shame can play a role in our lives. That fear of what others think is what makes shame possible. Our reading today says, "Don't be afraid..." We don't have to fear shame from God. He can't be ashamed of us. If He is, then Jesus' death was a total waste of time. Shame comes from the condemnation for the things we have done wrong. Jesus died to pay the penalty for all that we have done, are doing and will do wrong. If that is true, why would God feel shame and why would He condemn us? It was ALL paid for by Jesus' sacrifice. We can choose to live a life free of shame. Why aren't we living in that place more in our lives? I believe it is because, deep down inside, we still believe that it is all up to us. We think we have to be the ones 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. ********** "Stop doing and not doing because you are told so and start looking for what God is doing and join in with Him." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 81. Jesus had this amazing ability to deal with religion in a perfectly acceptable way. He wasn't concerned with the do's and don'ts of the day as much as He was concerned with what His father was doing. Check out what Christ said about how He applied religious duty in His life. Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. John 5:19-20 (NIV) In our reading today, Jesus was answering His critics who were ready to kill Him. What was Jesus' offense that deserved death? Christ dared to refer to God as His Father. Jesus was about to be stoned for the audacity of thinking that this unapproachable, unknowable and all powerful being was someone a mere man could call Father. To the 1st century Jew, that was unheard of. Worse than that, it was about the most debase thing a person could do to blaspheme their God. They had a picture of God that had so little to do with relationship. Jesus was rocking that boat in a big way. He made a lot of enemies on this day. At the same time, He made it possible for you and for me to be the victor God sees us to be by stepping into the middle of a controversy that continues to this day. What I find totally amazing is the first line of our reading. Jesus says that He can do nothing by Himself. That's so crazy. This is the same guy who helped design and implement a little project called our universe! To think that He can't do anything on His own is such a wild statement. What Jesus goes on to say is that what He does is only what the Father is doing. I believe that a lot of the victim thinking that happens in the Church today is a direct result of us not doing what Jesus did when He walked the earth. Let me explain that a bit more. You see, it wasn't the rules and regulations that motivated Jesus to action. He couldn't care a bit about what the Church thought about what He did. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. That meant that Jesus ran head long into direct conflict with the Church from time to time. When he healed on the Sabbath, He broke their rules. When His disciples picked food on the Sabbath, He broke their rules. When he talked to the Samaritan woman, He broke their rules. Jesus isn't concerned about religious rules to the detriment of a relationship with His Father - our God. The same should be said about our walk with God as well. It is when we try to live a life filled with dos and don'ts that we get into places where victim thinking can really take over. God doesn't consider us victors because we are good at keeping a bunch of rules. We are victors because He sees us as His children. That fact has the power to change our view of life in ways that makes victim thinking that much harder to let into our lives. Jesus was constantly looking for signs of the Father's presence. When He saw it, He responded with little regard to what others thought. When we follow the dos and don'ts put on us by others, all we can think about is what others think. Same goes with relationship with God. When we think we draw closer to God by doing and not doing we are focused on what God thinks about us. Rules and regulations do nothing for relationship other than make us think we don't measure up when we aren't able to follow those rules. Making our relationship with God about rules and regulations automatically allows us to believe

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. ********** "Our destiny isn’t determined by our ability to get our will, intellect or emotions in line with what we believe our destiny is supposed to look like. Our destiny is determined by our knowledge of God." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 115. Oh how my world would be different if I really understood and applied what I quoted. I have spent my life trying to get the powerful resources of my soul focused on making the destiny I want for my life to happen. How has all that worked out? Honestly, not all that great.  I can give you shining examples where my soul driven efforts have paid off in big ways. I can just as easily give you glaring examples where the opposite was just as true. Fact is that failures I have experienced have cost my soul way more than the success will ever be able to repay. That's the problem when we look to ourselves to make something as important as destiny happen in our lives. The identity focused aspects of destiny just can't work to our advantage by applying a "win some, lose some" strategy.  It is when we surrender to the notion that something bigger is in control of our destiny that the victories in life are so much sweeter and the defeats don't hurt quite as bad. I believe that we have taken this concept of surrender to an ends that just isn't true. Some mistakenly believe that surrendering to God means that our desires go out the window. I just don't see that to be correct. Who do you think put those desires there in the first place? Sure we have done a lot to taint those desires with motives that aren't all that God focused. I just don't think that is an issue that God doesn't pay a lot of attention to. He knows our motives are going to be mixed at best. It is when we remember that God isn't concerned about the outcome as much as the process of getting to that outcome that we begin to live more fully as the victor He sees us to be.  You see, us getting things done isn't very concerning to God. He doesn't need us to get done what He wants. The Bible says He created all we see, know and experience by speaking everything into existence. Compared to that kind of power, why does He need such limited creatures as humans to do everything from this point on? It isn't that He needs us to make our destiny happen. It is that He wants to be in relationship as we work together to see destiny be all it can be in our lives.  I used a word earlier that made me think of today's Bible reading. Tainted is what happens when we let the world sway us into thinking we are on the hook when it comes to destiny and how it effects identity. Check out our reading with me now. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27 (ESV) There are only two things that God sees that we need to do to make religion be all it can be in the lives of a victor. The first is to visit orphans and widows. This has to do with relationship and compassion. God wants us to love Him and to love others. Love takes time. Love requires an intentionality about it that we sometimes just don't think we have time to let happen in our lives. Without this kind of love, we are but a clanging gong in the world we live in as far as religion is concerned. The second thing God says keeps us pure and undefiled is when we keep ourselves unstained by the world. I believe this goes to motive. Why do we do the things we do? What is the real reason for wanting your destiny to happen in the first place? I said it earlier, that God knows our motives will always be mixed at best. What I think this verse is saying is that we too need to recognize our mixed motives and be open w

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** The last two days we have taken time to go off on a tangent that started when a friend called me puzzled over a couple of verses from Romans chapter 14. Here's the verses my friend brought up for discussion.  So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. Romans 14:22-23 (NIV) If you are joining this presentation without first listening to the past two days, I strongly recommend that you take a few minutes and listen to those podcasts before taking on what I want to say today. These two verses speak so clearly to the issue of victor living that I would hate you to miss something God has for you.  The last thing I wanted to address from the Romans reading today is the issue of faith vs sin. Paul says in the last part of verse 23, "everything that does not come from faith is sin." That's a pretty condemning statement, if you ask me. I'm kind of worried that so much of what I do is not out of faith. That means so much of what I do is filled with sin. Ouch - that's not a very pleasant thought. This line of thinking comes from the previous verse. In that verse, Paul points out that if we have doubts about what we think when it comes to drawing closer to God, condemnation will be the result. That condemnation comes as we step beyond the confines of faith and that is what moves us into this murky area called sin.  What sometimes gets us all messed up is the notion of sin. Sin has been taught in the context of good and bad for so long that condemnation can't help but to be the result when we think that sin is in our lives. I'm not trying to minimize the issue of sin, but I think for this context we need to use my pastor friend's acronym for sin - Selfish Independent Nature. I think that every one, believer and non-believer alike can relate to this definition of sin. All of us are afflicted with this characteristic from time to time. It is when we think more fully of self as defined by our self-centered and independent nature that the ravages of S I N can make the effects of victim thinking a reality in our lives.  Let's go back to my Bible reading example I used yesterday to illustrate what I think Paul is saying. I mentioned yesterday that there was a time when I thought that reading and studying significant portions of my Bible on a daily basis would help draw me closer to God. That strategy actually worked for a good while. It was when my Bible reading wasn't giving me that feeling of being drawn closer to God that doubts and ultimately condemnation entered my life. Now we need to consider the issue of faith vs Selfish Independent Nature, aka sin as it relates to this example.  What today's reading is saying to me is that at first my Bible reading was something that was being driven by faith. I had a faith, based on teaching, that made me believe my study of God's Word would make me feel closer to Him. That faith was rewarded with a closeness that I wanted more and more of. It was when I leaned on my Bible reading more and more to help make that closeness happen that faith was being compromised.  You see, there is nothing I can do to make this God of mine come closer to me. He is with me all the time. In fact He lives inside you and inside me. It doesn't get much closer to that. It wasn't wrong of me to read my Bible to try and get close to God. That was the extent of my faith at that time. As I grew, God wanted me to experience something better than a strategy of doing in order to be what He says I am.  Slowly, He made it harder and harder for my strategy of doing (reading my Bible) to give me the result I wanted (feeling closer to Him). It was my Selfish Independent Nature that made me keep on trying to a

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** Yesterday we talked about keeping certain thoughts between you and God as you talk with others in the Church as well as those outside the Church. I indicated that God wants us to do so, so that we are better living out a life like He does. God is a relational God. All He does revolves around relationship. Doesn't it make sense that we, His children, should be relational as well. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  Today, I want to continue our discussion surrounding the Roman's verses my friend woke up early one morning this week to read. As you might remember from our discussion yesterday, the following verses had my friend puzzled. Let's read these verses again and take a look at a different aspect of keeping our thoughts to ourselves that really has victor living written all over it.  So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. Romans 14:22-23 (NIV) As I thought about the concept of keeping our religious thinking between God and ourselves, I started to realize why this is so important. Not only is relationship hard to maintain when I'm busy trying go convince people to my point of view, sometimes my point of view isn't all that correct in the long run. How much of what I thought was gospel truth ten years ago is now thinking that I now see not to be all that important. When it comes to religious thinking, the best strategy is to keep the toothpaste in the tube for as long as you can. Getting that stuff back in the tube is so hard to do after you have squeezed it out all over everything. How did I come up with this kind of thought process? Check out what the second sentence in our reading says today. "Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves." This is a pretty confusing sentence when you look at it on the surface. Combining blessing and condemnation is a mix of words that really makes my brain have to do back flips to try and figure out what is going on in Paul's head. The beginning of the third sentence really opened my eyes to what Paul was getting across. It says, "But whoever has doubts is condemned..." Blessing is lost when our thoughts about how we are to relate to this God of ours doesn't seem to work in the ways they use to or in the ways we thought they would any longer. When our religious actions don't work any longer to make us feel closer to this God, condemnation comes in in ways that I believe highlight the kinds of victim thinking that I talk about in these presentations. Let's go back to the subject from Romans 14. If you remember from yesterday, Paul was writing on the issue of whether it was right to eat meat sacrificed to idols. For one camp, they believed that eating meat sacrificed to idols was OK. In other words, they believed their eating of this meat had nothing to do with whether they were loved by this God or not. The other camp thought the opposite. They thought that by keeping idol worship out of their daily meals was a way to get closer to this God of theirs. When you read Chapter 14 you will see that Paul doesn't argue for who is right and who is wrong. Why? Because, when it comes to both strategies, they have nothing to do with getting closer to God or not. Paul basically says, eat meat or don't eat meat. Getting more of God's love has nothing to do with anything we do. His love for us is there whether we subscribe to this religious tenet or to that one. Notice also, that Paul doesn't say do or don't eat meat. In fact, He doesn't even say do or don't eat meat thinking it will draw you closer to God. He says, whatever you think about what it takes to draw closer to God, keep between you and God. Paul knew from experience that even wrong ideas about God might

Click here to link directly to the audio file. ********** A friend of mine gave me a call the other morning with a Bible question. He had one of those experiences where he felt God woke him up this particular morning really early just to read the Bible. My friend said that he fought that feeling and tried to go back to sleep but time and time again he was jolted awake. It was obvious that God had other plans than my friend's desire to sleep to a reasonable hour.  He said that he finally quit fighting the feeling he was to get up and just got out of bed. He sat in his favorite place and opened his Bible to Romans chapter 14. This is a really challenging chapter of the Bible to be reading early in the morning after a short night's sleep. Paul, the author of Romans, is writing about a subject that was dividing many in the Church at that time. Specifically, Paul was writing about whether to eat meat sacrificed to idols or not.  Can you start to feel my friend's pain about being woken up so early in the morning to read about this abstract subject? What in the world does Paul's discussion in this chapter have to do with our lives in today's age? Turns out it has a lot to do with the entire discussion of victim thinking and victor living.  My friend said that the last two verses of the chapter really had him puzzled. He read them to me over the phone and I found it pretty easy to relate to his feeling of confusion. I told him I needed a bit of time to let those verses settle in a bit. I was hoping God was going to help us get a perspective from these verses that might help us see this life as the victor God has called my friend and me to. That's exactly what God had in mind.  Here are the verses in question.  So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. Romans 14:22-23 (NIV) The "these things" Paul opens with in verse 22 has to do with what the readers believed about eating meat sacrificed to idols. You see, some believed it was perfectly OK to eat that meat. Others thought it to be sacrilegious to do so. The two camps were firmly entrenched in their thinking and division in the Church was the result. I love what Paul says about such thinking. He simply says, "keep it between yourself and God." In other words, if you don't think God cares if you eat meat sacrificed to idols. then eat it in quiet. If you think God is telling you that meat sacrificed to idols is wrong, then quietly abstain. Both camps need to be quiet about the subject, because it is a minor thing. Division happens when we major on the minors. Church after church has divided over things that really aren't all that important. I know of Churches that had horrible and hurtful splits over what version of the Bible they should be reading. Not only does this kind of public division hurt those in both camps of thinking, it makes those outside the Church see a way of living that isn't all that appealing. Majoring on the minors is something that makes victims of us all. It lets victim thinking take over in ways that put God and His people in a bad light. I think that is why Paul was saying that we need to be so careful in what we say to our brothers and sisters when it comes to differences we might have in our Church traditions. It is when we keep our thoughts between us and God that division is that much harder to make happen. God is pretty serious about unity among His Children. I think Paul's advice is a powerfully unifying strategy that the Church needs to bring back into it's midst if we are going to have the kinds of impact God has planned for this world. This doesn't mean that we can't agree to disagree. There is a power to being able to have an open and honest discussion with a brother or sister in Christ abou

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. ********** "Even the 'have to’s' a victor faces turn to 'get to’s' as they live out their God given identity as His Child. Crazy thing is that the bad circumstances can even take on a 'get to' attitude for the victor when they dwell in that place of Love that comes with being God’s Child." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 183. I'm beginning to realize the power of God's love in my life. It is changing the way I view things. Even the challenging things that come my way are starting to take on an entirely different view as I let the fact that God's Love is for me take a greater hold in my life. It is as I live a life built on "get to" living that I think God's Love can be seen by others through the circumstances that come my way.  It is as I let the fact that God is for me irregardless of what my circumstances look like that makes His power be more of what people see as I deal with what this life tosses at me. I'm not preaching a message on positive thinking with this notion. I am sick of trying to talk myself into better days when the stuff hits the fan in my life. I'm just as sick of letting bad times define who I am. I have gone down that well worn victim thinking path way too many times now. I want something different than what has resulted when victim thinking was so strongly in control. I believe that difference is possible as I start to change my thinking when challenging times hit. Telling myself that I "have to..." do this or do that when obstacles seem to be blocking me to the good life I want to have and protect in my life, hasn't done a single thing to help me see God in those obstacles. There is a power that comes when we just surrender to who we are in the middle of what life tosses at us that can't be explained in any logical or empirical way.  All I know is that when bad times come, my thoughts play a critical role in how I might see God in the middle of those times that threaten my good life. The more I lean into the fact that God is for me the better I'm able to weather the storms of life. If God is as big as we think He is and if His plans are for the benefit of this world like the Bible teaches, then even the bad times we have have a meaning that I want to get behind. Purpose goes a long way in helping God's power come through us in ways that really do change the world.  That's what "get to" living does for our soul. It makes our will, intellect and emotions come alive in powerful and unmistakable ways. When we combine that power with the heavenly direction that comes with faith in who God is and who God says we are, I believe that God-sized things happen in and through our lives.  Listen to our Bible reading today. This is the kind of power that we have available as our soul and spirit combine to live out God's love in this world. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5 (ESV) Now, that is one hope filled and power packed set of verses. This the essence of who we are. When bad times hit, what God is saying about us doesn't change. We are in the middle of a living hope. What God promises doesn't perish. It cannot be defiled. It doesn't shine any brighter when our times are good and it doesn't shine any less when times are challenging. If there is any "have to" thinking that needs to be part of our lives, it is the fact that we "have to" get this kind of God-sized thinking into our lives. The

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. ********** "Victors realize that through God’s grace they have an identity that is complete now and forever more. The foundation of identity is a powerful place from which real and life-changing generosity can be made possible." As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 132. The key to being able to be generous with all that the victor has been given is the realization and application of grace from God. It is when we believe that our ability to be generous is a direct result of the fact that we have done all we can to receive that grace that victors are flirting with victim thinking. Grace that comes from a fullness of identity based on something other than what God only can provide is a grace that is counterfeit and so destructive to those of us trying to live this life as a victor.  I came across this quote that sums up how grace can be a double edged sword. Thomas Watson says, "None so empty of grace as he that thinks he is full." It is when we think our good situation is a direct result of our efforts at receiving grace that emptiness is what we will experience. Grace is a gift. It isn't earned. It can't be bartered and it definitely should not be a characteristic that makes anyone form an opinion as to who they are. Going down this road takes us to straight to victim thinking. In truth, it is a fine line we walk. Our identities as a victor happens only because of the grace of God that is on us. Were it not for God's grace, we would be left to our own devices to create and maintain an identity that we hope works in this world. It is when we come to define who we are based on worldly views of what grace should look like that trouble starts to happen.  Remember, grace is defined as getting something we do not deserve. No amount of our own efforts will ever make us deserving of a gift as great as God's grace. We can never do enough to be what the deep recesses of our souls long to be. All we can do is believe. It is as we believe what God says about us that grace takes on a power that it is suppose to have in order to be considered truly generous.  Check out today's Bible reading as it relates to the subject of grace. By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. Romans 5:1-2 (MSG) We spend so much time trying to stand tall in this world. We want this world to take notice of us, to find us of worth, to see our lives as having meaning. to believe that we are making a difference. Today's reading says that, that is only possible as we stand in the "wide open spaces of God's grace and glory. Jonathan Edwards says, "Grace is but Glory begun, and Glory is but Grace perfected." That's what is happening in our lives. God is perfecting His grace in us and that is producing glory all around us. That's the power that is suppose to be behind our generosity in this world. It isn't the perfection we can maintain as a victor that makes grace turn to glory. It is the fact that our victor status is being perfected by God that makes glory something we can come to expect from this life. What is it going to take for your perfection to happen today? I can tell you this for sure - it isn't going to take more of your effort! Your effort to get grace is exactly what will keep God's Glory from being seen in your life. Believe what God says about you, His child. You are a victor because of H

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. ********** "Victims tend to remain in a pattern where they have to rely on their own cunning to get by even in a place where they are being lavished with love. " As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 127. I am often amazed at the ingenuity of mankind. We don't have to look much further than the rapid growth of technology for support of that last statement. It wasn't too long ago that the prospect of having driver-less automobiles a part of our reality was stuff of science fiction? That reality is but a heart beat away from happening on our roads today. I believe one of the greatest gifts our God gave us was the ability to use all our faculties to make life different than it is today. Just like so many good things that are given to us, those same faculties that we use to make good happen can just as easily work against us in ways that I can't help but to label as being bad. It is when we use our intellect, our drive and our ever growing self sufficiency to support thinking, that comes from that place of victim-hood, that we flirt with disaster in this world. There is no doubt that victims have to draw on their God-given powers of survival to make it through the day at times. It is when those challenging times end that these past victims often look to themselves to gain what they need to feel safe and secure that makes victim thinking a real possibility in their lives. Relying on self is a strategy that will, ultimately fail us and that kind of failure does nothing but drive us deeper into our victim thinking ways. What's the danger of using our cunning ways to provide for all we need to feel like what we think we are suppose to be? It is when we find ourselves in a place where our cunning ways fail to live up to the standards we require to feel like a victor that victim thinking can really take hold. When victim thinking is fueled by repeated failure, it is so easy to become a victimizer to those around us. I believe this fact makes our current status as a Victim Based Society something we need to take so seriously. Victims causing victims is an epidemic that needs to be stopped. I recently ran across this quote that completely supports my talks on this subject. Steve Maraboli, author of the book "Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience" wrote, "You are not a victim. No matter what you have been through, you're still here. You may have been challenged, hurt, betrayed, beaten, and discouraged, but nothing has defeated you. You are still here! You have been delayed but not denied. You are not a victim, you are a victor. You have a history of victory." I like that last line. We have a "history of victory." You may say that your history is filled with badness. Mr. Maraboli isn't saying that you are incorrect with that. What he is trying to get across is that, in spite of all that badness that has happened in your life, you are still here! You haven't been defeated. You have been delayed. That fact makes it so easy to stay stuck in victim thinking. That's why I think our world is behaving like it is today. We think we are victims but we are actually victors because, if for no other reason, we are still here! I want to get all the cunning I have been given to get behind that kind of thinking. I want to use all the faculties of my soul to get busy living in those times when delay seems to be ruling the day. As long as I am still here, I haven't been defeated. Can't you feel that rush of adrenaline in your veins from letting that kind of thinking take over in your life? That's what makes it possible for those of us being victimized by this world to ever consider the fact that we could be called victors. We are still here and that makes us a victor! Take a look at what G