Victory in Christ

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57) We can always expect victory in Christ because all things are possible for God and he loves us beyond our imagination. If we serve Christ with faith, we will have his power and comfort to overcome anything Satan places in our path. We overcome and endure the world which includes anything that happens to us, even death. The following topics shows the process to have a closer loving relationship with Christ, and through that close relationship comes victory in Christ.
This blog describes the process that the Lord guided me through, to have faith pleasing to God, live as Christ’s servant, and have my heart filled with God’s love. This process took approximately eighteen months, but it gave me an increasing loving relationship with Christ, with his power working in me to have victory that overcomes the world.

Live by Faith

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) Everything in our Christian life is based on faith, because faith shows how well we know God. Our faith increases as we go through life, because as we serve the Lord, we will draw closer to him until our last breath. We pray that the Lord will increase our faith, and he will guide us to know him and depend on him, causing our faith to increase. The Lord wants us to always have more faith, and if we pray for more faith, then we will have more faith.

Servant of Christ

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. (John 12:26) Serving the Lord is the greatest most fulling life we can imagine, it takes away stress and frees us from the world and from ourselves. We live each day following Christ through the Spirit, and we know he is always with us, guiding us and comforting us.
The more we serve the Lord the more we depend on his guidance to be a Light in this world. We soon learn how ineffective we are in ministry without the Lord guiding our thoughts, scriptures, and words. Serving the Lord depends on knowing the Word, because the power is in God’s Words. For example, when ministering to others we need to know the Word to answer difficult questions. It always helps our ministry when we can explain our experience when obeying God’s commands. Being a servant brings us closer to Christ, which increases our faith, giving us victory in Christ.

Heart of Love

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7) The more of God’s love we have in our hearts, the more we are motivated to bring God’s love to others; and the more we can identify with the Lord’s heart because God is love. We live as the Lord’s servant bringing Christ to the world, and God’s love continually increases in our hearts. Love motivates us and draws us closer to Christ in a loving dependent relationship.
Love frees us from self and places our focus on God and others. This is not the way of the world but it is the way of God. We put serving Christ first in our life, and the Lord makes it possible to always take care of our self and our family. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Mathew 6:33) God promises our worldly needs when we put him first. We experience God’s love more, when are hearts are filled with his love.

Christ is Our Priority

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 5:20) This statement from the apostle Paul identifies someone whose priority is to serve Christ, with strong faith that pleases God. Paul was totally dependent on Christ being with him, especially when ministering to the churches and writing letters to the churches. When we live according to Paul’s statement, we are closer to Christ and we are free. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters–yes, even their own life–such a person cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26) This verse tells us to love the Lord more than anyone or anything in all creation, and with our hearts filled with God’s love, we have more love to give to the world and to our families. It is a great blessing to love God more than anyone, because it brings us closer to Christ, increasing our dependence on Christ, faith, security, and victory.

Our New Heart

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2) The Lord renews our thinking, and our thinking changes by reading the Word, praying, fellowship with other Christians, and serving the Lord.
The Word goes into our hearts as we are obedient to his commands. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22) As we obey God’s Word we start caring about people, both their worldly life and their spiritual life. As we continue to minister personally to others, our hearts begin to change, because God’s love begins filling our hearts. The circle of spiritual growth is ministering to others, which drives us into the Word, prayer, and fellowship, which further prepares us to bring Christ to others. This circle of spiritual growth continually increases our motivation because the Lord is filling our hearts with his love. Now all the commands in the Bible become our new Godly character, and the commands become natural and desirable to us.

Eternally Minded

He has also set eternity in the human heart. (Eccelesiastes 3:11) When our hearts are filled with God’s love, we have the desire to be with the Father and the Son which keeps us eternally minded. This world is no longer our home because we see Heaven as our permanent home. We overcome the fear of physical death, because physical death is our door to Heaven. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. (Matthew 10:28) We live eternally minded to have victory over physical death.

Summary

We have faith, we live as Christ’s servant, our hearts are filled with God’s love, serving Christ is our priority; and we are close to the Lord living in victory. We now have the power of God in us to be victorious. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. (Ephesians 3:20) With the power of Christ within us, we overcome the world. Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:4) We have victory to overcome and endure anything Satan places in our life, through the power of Christ which comes from a close loving relationship with the Lord.