7 Memory Verses to Change a Victim to a Victor, Part 7—Romans 8:37
June 11, 2007
Dear Friends,
The last verse we will consider to change a victim into a victor is:
Principle #7 – Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.†(Rom. 8:37)
This verse sums up what we have been trying to convey through our selection of these seven verses. Look at how this powerful this verse is in the New American Standard: “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us.†The word for conquerors in the Greek is hypernikomen. It literally means “super conquerors.†It is not the word one would choose for someone who just barely wins by the skin of their teeth. No, this is the word one would use for overwhelming victory.
What are we conquering? Some vast army or great territory? No. As comic strip Pogo famously said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.†It is our diabolos mind. Paul calls it “the carnal mind.†It is that same deceitful heart that we read about in our first verse in Jeremiah 17.
The carnal mind or deceitful heart wants us to remain victims. It wants us to focus on the giants in the land and the walled cities. We can’t overcome our addictions. We can’t overcome our sinful ways. We can’t live the life that Christ wants us to live. We are too weak. We are too stuck in our ways. Sin is too powerful. God and Christ can’t help us, don’t love us or are somehow pitted against us. With these lying thoughts, we muddle through life never reaching our potential as believers. We remain victims.
The truth is that if we replace the carnal mind with the mind of Christ, we have victory; we become “super conquerors.†We can overcome our addictions. We can overcome our sinful ways. We can live the life that Christ wants us to live. We see the land before us filled with milk and honey and ripe for the taking.
How do we replace the carnal mind with the spiritual mind? Start by memorizing these verses we have shared with you over the past few weeks. Practice changing your thinking from that of a victim to a victor. Stop making excuses about being “sinful flesh†and under the curse. Start believing in God’s power in your life. Every time you feel yourself going back to that lying, defeatist thinking, recite these verses. Allow God’s power to work in your life.
Let’s look again at these verses and how they relate to Romans 8:37.
- Principle #1-The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer 17:9) Here we learned that we lie to ourselves all of the time. We need to question our thoughts to see if they are true.
- Principle #2-This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (v. 24) Here we learned that each day is a gift from God. We need to focus on today and not worry about what happened yesterday or what will happen tomorrow.
- Principle #3 – And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Rom. 8:28) Here we learned that God is making ALL things work to our good; not some things or most things. We need to avoid lying to ourselves and putting our own value judgments on the things going on around us.
- Principle #4 – My brothers, consider it a great joy when trials of many kinds come upon you. (James 1:2 NJB) Trials are good and should be rejoiced in. When we face trials with the knowledge of God working in our lives, we react in appropriate and spiritual ways. We also face them with a positive attitude.
- Principle #5 – “Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.†(Luke 11:4) By forgiving others, we lessen the burden on ourselves. We allow God to do His job and free ourselves to do our job. We also benefit from God’s forgiveness because we are forgiven as we forgive others.
- Principle #6 – “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.†(1:22) We lie to ourselves and say that we want things, but then don’t do what is necessary to achieve these things. This is self-deceit. We know we really want to do things when we actually do them.
- If we were one of the twelve spies that spied out the land of Israel, which would we be? Would we be one of the ten (the majority) that saw the unconquerable land filled with walled cities and giants? Or would we be Joshua and Caleb who saw a beautiful land for the taking that was filled with milk and honey? We make the choice by our thinking to be VICTIMS or VICTORS.
Have a great week,
Kyle Tucker
Comments»
No comments yet.