Are you living victoriously?

Are you living victoriously?

Written by: Tom Matlock

Welcome to MEN4CHRIST. Whether you’re a frequent visitor to our site, or just learning about us, you may have noticed a gap in posts over the last few months. Please allow me to express my sincerest apologies for our lack of consistency. This year has been quite the adventure as the Lord has been teaching us numerous lessons. My wife and I have struggled through seemingly insurmountable (and often painful) personal challenges designed specifically to grow our faith in Christ. We’re so thankful for His grace and your prayer support through these trying times.

I look forward to sharing with you in future posts what the Lord has been teaching me. I pray they are a blessing to you and ask you to keep us in your prayers as we continue to seek Him and His wonderful changing power in our lives.

“Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” Romans 8:37

I love the book of Romans! Often I have to remind myself of the many truths and blessings found elsewhere in the Word just to pull myself away from this wonderful book. The Spirit recently encouraged me while in Romans 8:31-39 and I would like to pass along a few thoughts.

Not long ago, I found myself struggling with large problems arising in many areas of my life. From work to finances, and health to relationships. The challenges seemed to be coming from every direction. Couple that with the fact that I really like control (a little too much) and I, without realizing it, phase God out of the picture. It’s as though I unconsciously feel like I have to deal with the struggles on my own. And with that, I fall into one of satan’s many traps designed to pull me away from the Father. Can you identify with me?

In verses 31-32, we’re reminded that God loved us enough to sacrifice His own Son. We’re further reminded in verses 38-39 of how inseparable that love for us is.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

Two things in the above passage stand out to me as being so inferior to the others; our fears for today and our worries about tomorrow. At least, compared to angels and demons, they seem small. I believe the Lord included them in this passage because He wants us to know He understands just how big these two things can become to us. He wants us to know that He is aware of what we are facing and wants us to trust Him through them. It’s certainly not part of His plan for us to weather the storms of life on our own. Instead, everything in our lives should point us to Christ – especially the trials. They should cause us to have a deeper awareness of our need for greater dependence on Him.

So what does this mean for us as men for Christ? The simple truth is that none of our fears, worries, stresses, responsibilities, etc…surprise Him. We must acknowledge His supreme control in our lives, continually seek His wisdom and guidance, take comfort in His immeasurable love for us, and commit ourselves to live courageously as His followers. We have already been granted overwhelming victory through Christ (verse 37). It’s time for us to live victoriously in Him!