True Victory; True Defeat

Victory is a coveted thing. A measure of heavenly immortality on mortal earth. Victory is when you truly get triumph in the face of a struggle.

And defeat. Defeat is not a "knocked down but never knocked out" attitude. Defeat is when you lose. In effect, the battle is over. No one takes defeat well.

I've felt victory before. True victory that was so longed-for and coveted that it almost hurt me for the exitement that I felt. It was a swelling of joy and longing in my heart that almost burst my spirit. And I've felt defeat. I've felt completely crushed, as if victory was not at all possible.

In fighting my flesh, victory and defeat are real things. In spiritual warfare, both of these can be felt. Sometimes just a whiff of victory can be very encouraging at a point in life where the campaign seems marked by defeat.

Most of the time, victory cannot be acheived because our battle efforts are not passionate enough. We lack the energy and will to do what is necessary in certain battles to gain victory. Then we get knocked down. We suffer losses. We take steps backward.

A lot of times, a defeat can aggravate me to the point that I will go all out, sparing no expense, and doing drastic things physically and spiritually to gain that victory. I'm a winner, and losing is not something I do well. And if anything good can come from losing, it is the determination that pushes me over the top to gain the victory, because I've made the effort necessary to win.

And that's where you need to get if you seem to never gain the victory. Get in a mode of win-or-die syndrome. And give it all you've got! You cannot go too far in putting forth an effort to gain a victory for God. Do the drastic things that seem overboard if that's what it takes. Fast for long periods of time. Pray at crazy hours of the morning and night. Get close to God in ways that you need to in order to get the upper hand on the flesh. You have to make the flesh weary and wasted before the spiritual man can get a solid foothold. Make the old flesh weary and tired. Then get a hold of God, and beg him for his strength. Victory is possible. Especially after defeat. God wants Christians to be victorious, and with his help and a sincere will-power, it can be acheived.

This is the purpose of the altar in the Bible--for flesh to be sacrificed. Burn the flesh. When the stink of burning flesh begins to rise out of your life towards God and for God, he says it will be a "sweet smelling savor." What stinks to you in the flesh will smell good to our Savior. Lay yourself on the altar, and kill the wicked flesh, sacrificing it to the Lord.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1

"I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Galations 2:20

More than just forgetting...

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be BLOTTED OUT, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;" Acts 3:19

"I have BLOTTED OUT, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." Isaiah 44:22

In your bible, you find that God forgets our sins. Our iniquities he will remember no more. But in these passages, I find an even deeper description of God's mindset toward our sin, past, present, and future: Blotted out.

When I forget something, it doesn't mean that it ceases to exist (I wish that were true in school). It simply means that I am unaware of it. But when something is blotted out, it literally ceases to exist! How can this be?

The almighty God that created our very being, hung stars we can't imagine in places we can't comprehend, and orchestrates the thunder I hear outside my window right now, said that your sins are "blotted out." I don't presume to understand my God in these things, but I have chosen to believe him when he says them. My sins aren't in a closet somewhere to be brought out by the adversary at the judgement. They simply don't exist. When I call to remembrance my sin, the Father turns to his Son, and says, "What is he talking about?"

I don't know about you, but many times when I pray it seems my sins are ever before me. I can't shut the sin out of my mind long enough to even talk to the Lord! If that happens to you, then that is the devil trying to distract you, hinder you, and stop you from praying. From now on, do what I do. I say to the Lord, "Lord, please hold on one second." Then I turn to the devil, and I say, "Devil, that sin is what Jesus took to Calvary, and I appreciate you reminding me of all that God did for me when he blotted out my sin. Anything else you need?" Then, without further delay, I continue praying.

That may seem strange to you, and you may think I'm crazy for talking to the devil like that. But just think of it this way--He doesn't mind interrupting you and God to talk to you, so you might as well take the time to shut him up. Just tell him that anything he wants to talk about is already gone in the blood of Jesus Christ, so he needs to go kick a coke can down the street, cause you don't have time to talk to him today. AMEN! Don't waste time with that old fool!

Remember saints, your sins are forgiven, and on top of that, they're blotted out!

The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad!