If we let Him, God will be our victory

How would you like to know the key to overcoming anything? This post will show how victory over sin is needed first. Then, however, it'll discuss how we must seek repentance and God's favor over worldly things, but that He can still provide revival. Even with our current political situation.

They say love conquers all. Can it? The question is, which love? There are four kinds in Greek. The right kind of love - agape, God's love - can, because only God loved us unconditionally while we were against Him, before we knew Him. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.(Rom.5:8)

God values us in a special way, each of us special to someone, especially God - as Psalm 139:14 says, we are each "fearfully and wonderfully made." God is a much better way than even the most individualistic of the world's systems does.(After all, giving someone the freedom to do anything also means that anyone is free to do anything to you.) So, part of this involves God's system versus the world's system(peoples'), a battle discussed more in a post from this ministry blog I've mentioned that has some similar content at times.

Here, though, there is plenty new. For instance, we'll tackle a few things - violence, bullying, etc. - and then political points and how God is the best solution over anyone, along with how to choose and even how to pray for God to change hearts of leaders, too. We can trust Him to - and know He must solve them - because the world's system comes from sin and a desire to defeat God and His perfect system. Because involves His caring for each of us personally, because He is a personal God, as I discuss elsewhere in this blog.

1. Victory Over Sin Needed First

The system people create will never be perfect because of our sin nature. "By one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, so that death passed unto all men, for that all have sinned.(Romans 5:12) So, it doesn't matter if you like Trump, Hillary, Bernie, or Cruz, or any other candidate, they can't measure up to God, who works in peoples' hearts.

Sure, you could argue that people know this and voters don't expect perfection, but that doesn't matter - God does, and He has a way to change hearts. That change in hearts is needed for us to have true national healing, which is what will give us victory over the worst problems. We can't legislate it out - there will always be people doing evil no matter how much we try to stop them or no matter how much we reason with them

God's love is perfect. it is unconditional. He loves each of us even those who do that evil, but He hates sin, and must justly condemn sin. However, He also must lovingly save us when we call on Him for salvation.

So, what did He do? He came to this world as a man, Jesus Christ - He was fully God and fully man. He then lived a perfect, sinless life. Then, perfect justice was meted out in that all of the world's sin was placed on Jesus Christ - He was made sin for each of us, even though He Himself knew no sin.(2 Cor.5:21) He bore our sins in His own body.(1 Pet.2:24) So, when he died, he took the punishment for your sins, my sins, everyone's sins. Then, He rose triumphantly from the dead!

 Many other verses can be used to show this, but the important thing is, along with that perfect justice - every single sin every committed being punished - we see perfect forgiveness, because every one of our sins is forgiven if we simply trust Jesus Christ to save us.

Here is God's simple plan of salvation - you can also see it on the ministry I mention's website, where even the front page has a simple ABC's of salvation - Admit you're a sinner, Believe Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for your sins and rose from the dead, and Choose to Call on Jesus by faith to forgive you. You can talk to God right now and receive His forgiveness for your sins and invite Him to save you and live in you through the Holy Spirit. You are only a single, sincere prayer of repentance away from eternal life - life that begins the moment you trust in Jesus to save you.

This radio show page features many good shows on the simple fact that we must trust Jesus Christ by faith to forgive us, and everything else is world, God made it so that it is "by grace are ye saved

 through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."(Eph.2:8-9) it is only after we are saved we can truly do works for the Lord, when we are in Christ Jesus.(Eph.2:10)

Once this happens, however, it's just the beginning - we don't have to serve Him, but we get to - it is our reasonable service(Rom.12:1) given all He did for us.

So, God considers each of us as individuals. he knows we each miss the mark of perfection. However, he provided a way for each of us to get to His perfect Heaven - where nobody has seen, heard, or even imagined the wonders He had prepared for us.(1 Cor. 2:9) He has a mansion for each of us(John 14:1), he has a perfect Heaven where there will be no suffering or pain or any bad stuff(Rev.21:3-4), and so on. We know all these things and yet it will be even more wonderful than anything we can imagine. Just the snippets are wonderful.

And, His system also provides for each of us a wonderful life here on Earth - He came that we might have life and life more abundantly.(John 10:10) He wants to heal each of us from the pain we've felt, the heartache we've been through, and use us on His team to help others sense His love and receive His forgiveness and salvation.

What follows shows how to have victory once that victory over sin has occurred

2.. Victory over bullying, violence, oppression comes through God

We've done a great job of talking about problems, and sometimes have come up with good laws. At other times, we have been too much like Pharisees. Let's look at the good things God provides to deal with these problems to see how we can have victory.

God's word gives us many great things such as the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5 22-23 and some great things to focus on in Philippians 4:8. The Bible also tells us to look on the heart of a person, not the outward appearance, as 1 Samuel16:7 and Psalm 139 show; we are each fearfully and wonderfully made.

Those things - fruits like meekness(power under control), longsuffering(patience), temprance(self control), and so on aren't in abundance int he world's system, because people try to make all those things fit only their own desires instead of realizing that others matter. Those things of Philippians 4:8 - truth, loveliness, etc. - aren't even accepted at times, as some people scorn truth, virtue, purity, etc. - often so they can have their own selfish way. Yes, there are people that are like Pharisees and try too hard - but when you think of it, legalism is just another of the ways people try to control things with their own system instead of relying on God. After all, Jesus saved His toughest criticism for the Pharisees.

Why? because they didn't consider the individual the way God does. He understands what each person has gone through and wants to lovingly help them out of that pain, to heal them like the woman at the well in John 4 who tried to hide in physical relationships(she'd had 5 husbands and was with yet another man) till she found the unconditional love of Jesus that could heal whatever problem she'd had.

That concern that God has for each individual shows He can provide the victory for us, knowing each of our needs. He knows us better than we do ourselves.

So, He provides us with vast amounts when it comes to gifts, fruit, and so on. I have said often before that repentance revival must begin with us. However, it is easy to see how that can spread if we trust God to send His Holy Spirit to really take hold in this country. That is something He can do if we humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways.

As one example, if people simply had a Godly attitude of love, compassion, understanding, etc. regarding others, there would not be bullying. However, it would also be harder for someone to be intimidated, which is a very good thing. After all, that person would realize that they are special in God's eyes just as we all are.

This does bring up an important side point. I touched on it in the post about the need for context, and that is that we should be less defensive about everything in general. But, even that is just as much about realizing that others matter and therefore having a civil discourse and not just putting others down - we are called to build others up and encourage them. Kindness, compassion, etc. are Godly virtues which we need to return to, turning away from our present sinful ways. There is a spirit of anger, frustration, etc. that is part of our human nature but which we must trust the Lord to replace with the common sense we used to have, including ability to understand context. This is what lets us try to grasp others' views in a constructive way..

  Of course, some ways of doing things are mean, abusive, etc. on their face, and shouldn't be done, such as bullying. As a example, a man and woman in a relationship must be partners, and one should not try to control the other, and certainly should never use physical force to make the other do something. Such things are clearly spelled out in the Bible as being ungodly - men are to love women as they love their own bodies and to treat them with respect, love, and so on. In fact, "there is neitehr...male nor female, but all are one in Jesus Christ."(Galatians 3:28) It is explicitly stated that a pastor or other leader must be "no striker" - meaning not one to lash out violently.(1 Tim.3:3, titus 1:7) And, of course, the fruits of the Spirit include self-control(temprace), gentleness, etc..

God's way is the only way to Salvation because it is by Grace we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest any man should boast.(Esp.2:8-9) All other ways are of works. This is something that is clear from the Bible. It is a fact like that of 2+2=4. One is free to say 2+2=5, but one must deal with the consequences - if one does that on their taxes they are likely to get in serious trouble. As John Adams said, facts are stubborn things.

So, we must trust God to give us victory through us changing our own hearts and turning back toward the common sense compassion, forgiveness, self-control, etc. we used to have, and treat all people with these virtuous things. Our nation as a whole has had 400 years of evil, not just 50, starting with our focus so much on greed that we didn't care one bit about other races. However, there is forgiveness at the cross.

Not only that, but through this civil discourse, when we seek forgiveness, others can grant it and we could have national reconciliation. Which leads to the final point.

3. Victory in Election Comes Through God

All the leading contenders have serious flaws. They are all looking at things from man's perspective. So, when I mentioned certain ones, remember that this is true of all of them, it is just they do it in different ways.

Remember, God cares about us. He doesn't require a Godly leader to heal a nation. He merely requirees His people, called by His name, to be humble and pray,seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways.

Briefly, as discussed in numerous places here, that means to realize we're not perfect and need God's help and honestly seek HIm, turning away from sinful ways and to Godly ones. We can't do this ourselves becasue of our sin nature, even once we trust Jesus Christ as Saviour we must constantly rely on Him for help in avoiding sin.

So, you may ask, why do we need a good leader?

It's not to "make America great again," at least not in the way people mean it. Remember, people are focused on worldly things. They seek worldly office. Are there followers of Christ in office? Yes. However, they aren't necessarily going to call America to prayer and repentance like King Hezekiah and King Josiah did in the Old Testament when the land was filled with evil and violence. In fact, some are part of a group that preaches a dangerous doctrine which says we can produce the Millennial Kingdom ourselfs. That is wrong. Only Jesus can usher int he Millennium. Shows 59-63 here explain very clear that the Jews are still God's chosen people and He and he alone will usher in the Millennium.

So, how do we vote? Let the Holy Spirit guide, not our wallets, not our anxiety. Focusing on the thigns of this world is one thing which can cause God to not hear our prayers, as are others Some candidates try to play on peoples' fears, but if they don't follow a Godly path, it will be much harder for God to bless us because He will be fighting against the ruler himself. He still could, but why make it harder? The Holy Spirit lives in each believer.

Instead, we need to pray certain people repent. I have tried to begin a hashtag "PrayTrumpRepents," and perhaps it will become popular enough to trend - social media is great for getting the word out about needs. However, we can't just be hearers (or readers) of the Word, we have to be doers.

In other words, pray that he turns his heart toward God and receives His forgiveness, which he admits he's never done. While he later backtracked on this, the fact he uttered it at first shows he is - as one mministry friend put it - a Nebuchadnezzar at best.

However, notice that the Babylonian emperor did eventually accept God was sovereign over him, and it's important for evangelicals to realize he still appears to support more Godly positions than his opopnents and vote for him. Each of the other candidates has issues, and did during the primaries, too. Ted Cruz is influenced by worldly thigns and that "Kingdom now" movement I warned against," John Kasich has Common Core, the Democratic contenders want government control of a different sort while totally ignoring God - they almost didn't mention Him in their 2012 platform, and if they do this time it will be mere lip service. They want man's system to prevail, not God's perfect plan for each of us.

That plan, as noted above, involves a major heart change. We can pray for America to have a Godly leader, but if we're not willing to take the lead ourselves in turning from our wicked ways, the Godliest leader in the world won't help one bit.

So, to have victory, we must focus on God's perspective. Pray that leaders and candidates repent, and retweet hashtags like that PrayTrumpRepents - you can do it with any candidate's name. however, most importantly, take the lead in praying for revival.

Remember, the world's system does not give people freedom. As we get closer and closer to the End Times - and as these prophecy updates, among others, show we are very close - we will see more and more movement toward the world's system trying to take over completely. However, God will one day descend and place His feet upon the Mount of Olives and usher in the Millennium. In order to make it there, though, you have to be ready by knowing Him as your Saviour now. Global media Outreach's sites like this are one tool to find out how and talk to Christians who will help you grow in your faith.

The "good thoughts" to focus on for a better world (Phil.4:8)

God gives us lots of great things to think about and look forward to when we know Him. We should be the most joyous people of all. This is why I've said we must focus on the positive and share what we are for,  not just what we oppose. The world loves to be negative, but we have a message of unconditional love to give people.

As stated before, God doesn't want to ruin our fun. God wants to enhance it. Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly.(John 10:10) So, when God's Word gives a list of things to think about, he is showing he wants us to have the maximum possible true enjoyment, not the false joy of the devils things.

This is why at the end he lets it all out in Philippians 4:8. If there is any virtue at all, if there is any praise at all, go ahead and think about these things. There are so many things that are wholesome, good-natured, and so on, which we can focus on.

Of course, we did not always do this effectively. However, society was much more wholesome way back when, and when we are committed to calling on the Lord to heal our broken country in repentance revival, He will help us and save us. But we should do our part in working to focus on the things mentioned and trust Him to help us to continue to do so, to be our strength when we struggle..

This is only one reason why Philippians 4:8 is so helpful. The importance of the thinds mentioned for a repentance revival will be apparent. These are things it can be hard, with our fleshly nature, to focus on ourselves, especially with the world so filled with the opposites. Yet, with God's help we can, and as we fill our hearts with them more it will be easier.

The verse starts with "finally." What came before is important but this starts a new thought. God the Holy Spirit inspired this to be written so we could see that by focusing on the items we would really benefit. These things help create the peace that passes understanding of the previous verse, the confidence that "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me," and so on because we focus on them. (As I've mentioned, using the terms in the KJV)

The first listed to think on is whatsoever things are true. It is wonderful to know that in all the problems of this world, there is absolute truth you can rely on. There is absolute love, for instance, unconditional love that we know God has for us. Then, there are facts such as this: You are fearfully and wonderfully made. What a great truth to think about when tempted to compare yourself to someone else. Our looks are fleeting, but God looks at the heart and He can help you to have a heart that is more loving, kind, gentle, and many other wonderful things.

Indeed, to have that peace that passes understanding, we can focus on that promise and many other promises that God has for us when we trust in Him. The world tries to tell us to conform to it and its standards with all the vulgarity and meanness and cruelty. however, we know we can focus on God and His Word and be sure of His truth. Being honest, not cheating, putting others first, and so on will pay off even if such things don't right away.

Things which are honest are listed next as things to think about. What is the difference between that and things that are true? The "true" part focused more on absolutes like I discussed above and on God's promises. "Honest" refers to personal honesty, not deceiving people but always being a person of your word. Lying and cheating have become far too common in society, and we should be different. As we pray for God to heal this nation - and this is one big area where it must begin with us - the Holy Spirit will convict more and more people in their consciences, even the unsaved, and society will be more honest, forthright, etc..

The next part, whatsoever things are just, reminds me of a few other posts on how we have neglected to do justice so much in our country. We are supposed to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God(Micah 6:8), but, but we struggle because of our sin nature causing us to focus on ourselves. Thankfully, we must simply commit ourselves to doing it and then letting God change our hearts so that we can. The four C's of making Godly choices which have been spoken to youth are just as important to adults. 1. Consider the choice. 2. Compare it to God's Word. 3. Commit to Godly principles. 4. Count on God's protection and provision.

Ravi Zacharias notes that perfect justice is one of those absolutes that everyone has in mind. This is where Romans 2 talks about how everyone has some idea of justice in their minds, and one thing that condemns us is that we do not adhere to our own ideals of justice in every case. The fact that there are so many different ones shows why that perfect justice must come from God, because otherwise two people can have very opposing views of what is just.

Perfect justice requires that there be a penalty for sim.

Thankfully, God's perfect love was also present at the cross,  so as Mr. Zacharias says, perfect laws, perfect goodness, perfect evil, and perfect justice came together there, when thankfully Jesus Christ took our punishment, dying on the cross for our sin and rising from the dead, so we could call on him for salvation and have that wonderful relationship with God He wants us to have. What an awesome Savior! Anyone can call on Him right now to be saved from sin if they haven't.
 

Of course, it is not just that we should think about, but as noted first, the justice that should be done to everyone. Because, God truly sees everyone as equal before the cross,but we should do what's right and just for others, too.

The next one is something that our society struggles with perhaps more than any of the others.

We should focus on whatsoever things are pure.

The word actually means without stains, without interference from sin. We all sin and come short of the glory of God, of course, but there was a wholesomeness to life in the past, not just to entertainment. We need the Lord to return to us the joys of it by trusting Him to make that change in our hearts.

This is where the way our culture uses it is creates a huge importance for us to think on things that are pure to have repentance revival. 

Our culture makes too much of the sensual. There are many reasons for this, and to keep this family friendly, I'll just discuss things in general and how they show thinking about pure things is better. After all, there is a wonderful, wholesome place for one aspect of it, and that is between a married couple, just as a lawnmower is a wonderful tool to cut the grass but is not meant for trimming hedges or deadheading geraniums.

First, the Greeks have four words for love - I go into detail about them in this blog on another blog on this site. If we focus only on the external we miss out on the deeper, more lasting,  forever love that is unconditional.

That often can be traced to a lack of such unconditional love early. It doesn't have to come from those connected biologically, though it should. When some people feel they've missed that they turn to the superficial rather than to God's unconditional love, just like the woman at the well(John 4) kept turing to men till she met the Saviour, Jesus.

Jesus will fill all those holes in their hearts if they just turn to Him, however. And, when people respond to His Spirit's wooing, He can work in those people to be the family they never had to one who craves such love. Or, just friends who fill little needs, those best friends forever who a person can turn to if they don't feel like going to family and who can be like family.

Some, of course, simply fall for youthful lusts the way David did. King David doesn't seem to have had family problems except for brothers who taunted him, but even that wasn't as bad as some people have. Also, some brothers do that because they want their youngest brother to succeed through very hard work. It is even possible that his brothers tried to warn him away from the battle with Goliath to protect him. So, his home life was probably pretty good. Suffice it to say that there is a reason the Bible warns so heavily to flee youthful lusts. They can become very addictive and even rewire the brain if one is not careful, just like any addiction, even for someone from a very healthy background. This includes not looking at certain things, and also being modest in appearance.

This is because there is an element of selfishness in those "lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life" that 1 John 2:16 warns about. They cause people to only want what they can use for themselves and not how they can help and give to others; true love is ultimately all about giving, not getting. I've mentioned in several posts that is one of the big problems in our society, one that God must heal for us to have repentance revival, which means confessing and forsaking any and ourselves and then in our nation as a whole.

Instead, think on things that are pure. This lets you to focus on that unconditional love and to keep your mind on things of God. It allows you to focus on giving, which is more blessed than getting anyway. It also causes you to stop worrying about yourself and put your mind on following the Lord and His perfect wisdom and plan for your life. God will provide someone special in His time for those without someone. But, the Bible says being single is a gift also, because one can focus totally on Him.

There are many other things that can be included in things that are pure, however. Pristine, beautiful nature, for instance is so wonderful to observe. It is exquisite. It is lovely.

We should think on whatsoever things are lovely. The above is not the only thing that is lovely. It is just something that more people might think about nowadays.

When we think about things that are lovely, we think about anything that produces the right kind of pleasure. the kind that brings great joy internally that lasts, instead of the very temporary things involved in what came in the examples before.

The best things in life are free, such as that unconditional love. Every good and perfect gift cometh from above, from the Father of lights.(James 1:17) Also among those lovely, precious things are the Fruit of the Spirit(Gal.5:22-23) such as love, joy, peace, longsuffering(patience), temprance(self-control),etc.. Those are thigns that last. Money, fame, etc. are fleeting. It is those warm, family memories, those joyous occasions, that are lovely and should be focused on. This, in turn, helps us to avoid focusing on the bad - the fights, the battles, and so on.

Whatsoever things are of good report is sort of a general, catch-all phrase that captures whatever wasn't mentioned before. I suppose a wonderful, home-cooked meal or your favorite food at your favorite restaurant could be called lovely, but I tend to think of it as more of what fits here. "good report" just means that it is something that causes one to grow in favor with Godly people, to increase in reputation as a person who is reliable, dependable, hard working, and so on - all things that allow God to use them more and more for greater and greater things.

King David, for instance, had a couple things that prepared him for killing the giant, Goliath. One was that he obeyed in taking meals to his brothers in the field. That showed a caring servant's heart. He had also killed a lion and a bear that were trying to get at their father Jesse's sheep.

When it comes to entertainment, getting back to a previous subject, a "good report" can still be comical or involve a mistake, but it will be one with humility. My great grandmother lived to be 95, and she always said the secret to long life was "at least one good belly laugh a day." but, that involved good, clean humor, not crass, vulgar stuff that belittles people. I love laughing at my own mistakes nd making fun of when iImisunderstand things, because I have lots of self-confidence, I know that when i mess up it doesn't mean I'm some awful person.

So, it's really just humility. having fun with life instead of being so critical about everything. A teenager who called my office had that. He was trying to call a consulate in a foreign country, but did a country code wrong and so when he asked for that consulate, having had this happen to me once before, I started laughing and told him what he'd done. Now, had he been sad I would not have gone further but reassured him, but because he started laughing, too, I went on and said, "Your friends are going to tease you so much."(He was there with some sort of school group.) We both had a very good, lighthearted laugh over his "7,000 mile wrong number" as we spoke for a moment before he hung up. To this day, several years later, I'm sure that he looks back on it with his friends and laughs, and it has become part of their shared experience. It is something of good report, an honest mistake that was a real whopper, which ultimately showed that we are only human. We need to know when to be serious but also to look at the bright side of life and accept when thigns come our way that are not what we expect.

So, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Like the above, this is a catch-all term that means to focus on that positive. Accepting our failings with humility

There are plenty of things that have praise from the world's viewpoint, but of course this is praise from God's perspective. Still, as noted, that covers a wide range of things. There is a wonderful list of things we can focus on while staying sober, laughing, having fun, and so on.

So, instead of covering the world with meanness, vulgarity, anger, sensual stuff, and so on, focus on the things which build others up, which last forever. Focus on the positive. And, focus on the things of God - the promises of comfort, peace that passes understanding, etc..

Because, God wants you to be more confident and positive. He says so in His Word - a merry heart workth good like a medicine.(Prov.17:22)