After I became a Christian, there were many years when I had no victory in my daily life. I was miserable because I still had wounds in my soul from being abused by my father as a child—a past that made me insecure, angry, suspicious of others and hard to get along with.
Even though I loved God and went to church every week, I had no idea that there was power available to me to overcome the hurts from the past and the struggles of everyday life. And everything that came along that was hard to handle defeated me.
But I was so grateful when I found out in God’s Word that not only is He powerful, but He wants to fill us with His power. He promises in His Word that we can have abundant life in Christ because He has overcome the world (John 10:10, 16:33).
The truth is, as believers in Christ, we don’t have to live weak, wimpy, pitiful, pathetic, barely-getting-by lives. We can have God’s power working in us to enable us to do whatever we need to do in life.
Some people have the misconception that when they give their lives to Jesus, they will no longer have any problems. It would be nice if this were true, but in this world, we will have trials and tribulations. The good news is we can cheer up anyway because Jesus has overcome the world.
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In John 16:33b (AMP), Jesus says, “In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.”
No one can promise you a problem-free life, but God promises that if you will put your trust in Him, He will give you a faith that enables you to rise above the problems you face. And when you get through them, you’ll be stronger on the other side than you were before you had them.
Knowing you can have power from God to live in this world is one thing, but learning to believe this truth and walk in it is the key to having victory over the trials and suffering you face. I love Philippians 3:10 because it says we can actually experience the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
In this verse, the apostle Paul says his determined purpose was to:
Know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did] (Phil. 3:10).
This is an amazing and encouraging promise from God, because we all face problems and have weaknesses we can’t overcome in our own strength or effort. But if we are determined to trust God in every situation, all the time, we can fight the good fight of faith by His grace.
Romans 8:37 says: “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us].” I love this phrase “more than conquerors.” But what does it really mean?
Being more than a conqueror means that before you ever have a problem, you are confident that you have whatever it takes to overcome it through your relationship with Christ. In other words, you know you have the victory before you ever get the problem.
Now, in order to qualify to receive the power of God, we must first come to the place where we recognize that in and of ourselves, we are weak and have limitations without God. If we didn’t have any weakness, we wouldn’t realize we need Him. And one of the best prayers we can ever pray is “God, I need You, and I’m nothing without You” (John 15:5).
It’s so important for us to understand this, because if we wait until we have a problem that’s too big for us to handle before we rely on God’s strength, we’re setting ourselves up to fail.
The best thing we can do to live this life in victory is to continually seek God with our whole heart, realizing we’re desperate for Him all the time. Spend time with Him in prayer and studying His Word every day. Then, when the storms of life happen, you will be confident that in Christ, you already have everything you need to overcome them—and you’ll experience the power of His resurrection as you rise above them!
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For more on this topic, order Joyce’s four-part teaching resource “How to Release God’s Power in Your Life.” You can also contact us to receive our free magazine, “Enjoying Everyday Life,” by calling 800-727-9673 or visiting www.joycemeyer.org.
Joyce Meyer is a New York Times best-selling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries Inc. She has authored more than 140 books, including “Battlefield of the Mind” and “Overcoming Every Problem” (FaithWords). She hosts the “Enjoying Everyday Life” radio and TV programs, which air on hundreds of stations worldwide. For more information, visit www.joycemeyer.org.
Please note: The views and opinions expressed throughout this publication and/or website are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Joyce Meyer Ministries.
