Designed to Win

The following is for the active Christians.  If you're not one, then be one...

Regardless of the testy events of the previous day, despite the redundancy of an uninspiring job, even with the recurring nightmare that torments an otherwise good nights' sleep; each morning should be filled with refreshed excitement towards life the moment you are able to recognize your surroundings.  Yes indeed the cliches' here are real: we need to be overly grateful that we woke up healthy and mobile' because that's not guaranteed at any age.  We should be full of thanks that we can still perceive logically as many young adults function like senior citizens due to the same impurities we put in our bodies while having "fun".  And the most amazing part of it all is that we are part of a select group of humans that start each day with a Kingdom-sanctioned promise of success.


Not to imply that achievement isn't something we have to pray, plan, and work for; yet as a Christian you are commissioned to be the greatest among the great due to your Kingdom status (John 14:12).  If this is the case, then why are 'prosperity' churches the shame of the urban church?  And, adversely, why are so many Christians not only walking in defeat but comfortably wallowing in it?  Could be some folks' Kingdom status is inactive, which is an entirely different issue.  But it also could be that the perception of success is misinterpreted to the point where downfalls and failure is exalted; while reaching goals is something reserved for the worldly.  Whatever it is, it doesn't lend to the fact that the child of God through Jesus is designed to win.

I can imagine how this type of person may have acted if they were in the warrior Joshua's position as he approached Jericho (Joshua 6).  The nomadic Israelites, just starting their conquest against other far more established nations with intelligent and experienced armies, began their trek with a well-guarded city in their view.  The first verse in the 6th chapter tells us that Jericho, filled with fear, placed herself under a strict curfew as the Israelites advanced towards them.  The lockdown was so rigid that no visitor could enter, no native could return, and no citizen could leave.  Today's anti-prosperity Believer would have said something like, "well, what God has for me is for me", and promptly turned around waiting for God to open another door as this one was clearly shut.  Doing this would have been disobedient as God had promised Joshua previously that the land was his, and in the second verse in the 6th chapter God said "See! I have given Jericho into your hand..."  I guess the door was open after all, but one wouldn't know that if one didn't believe in God's promise completely.

It can be easy to be swayed because of how things appear to our natural eye.  And our perception of a situation can lead us to feel like God has closed doors that He really declared would be open.  To get past this, it's first critical to identify what the Lord has promised in His Word (the Bible); but second, it's equally important to remain in constant connection with the Father through faith (which can be strengthened by prayer and fasting) to hear the specific, practical promises He gives to each one of His own.  This very well may mean that as you approach the fruits of your promised land there could be a monstrous wall in your way. But don't turn tail, believe God is who He is and His Word is solid--then prepare to hear God so you know the type and level of your participation; and then watch the wall crumble.

Whining about [percieved] persecutions and other actions that express a lack of faith is actually calling God a liar...which reduces him to something He could never be.

Peace