Today daily devotional / Be Victorious!

[ladylovesJesus]

Be Victorious!

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 10:12-13

. . . observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good . . .

— Deuteronomy 10:13

Think about the many things you may not have wanted to do or liked to do, but you did them anyway because it was for your own good. Growing up, you might have had a long list of undesirable things that your parents asked you to do. And maybe you heard them say, “You’ll be glad you did this.” I ate my vegetables because my mom said they were good for me.

We don’t always want to do what God says is good for us. It can be difficult to engage in some things that God asks us to do, but they are in our best interest. Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). We are called to put up with one another and forgive if we have a grievance with someone (Colossians 3:13). We put off the old self and put on the new self to be like the Lord in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24). These commands can be really complicated.

God’s Word is more than a list of rules. We believe what God asks of us in his Word. We don’t have to face these complicated teachings on our own. We have the help of the Holy Spirit and the community of God’s people. God’s love and example motivate us to be victorious, even when that can be difficult!

Righteous God, help me always to do what is right, that I may glorify you. May your love motivate me to be victorious. In Jesus, Amen.

About the author — Denise Posie

Denise Posie served as a pastor in an urban church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for thirteen years. She also served the Christian Reformed Church in North America as a congregational consultant and as director of leadership diversity. Since retiring in 2020, she has served part-time at Calvin Theological Seminary as a pastor in redemptive kingdom diversity, and in her spare time she enjoys writing and meeting new people.

 

[Still Learning]

Righteous God, help me always to do what is right, that I may glorify you. May your love motivate me to be victorious. In Jesus, Amen.

Our righteous God has made a way for us to ALWAYS do what is right. And we DO have victory IN CHRIST.

If anyone wants to be right with God and to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, then you'll need to die to the Law and the realm of the flesh, and be born again of God's Holy Spirit. Here's how to stop sinning the way we are told to in the Scriptures. It's very different from the way so many self-righteous pride filled people tell me how to stop sinning. But here is the biblical way to stop sinning.

YOU MUST BE BLAMELESS before the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 18:13)​

BE PERFECT, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)​

When Jesus had lifted up himself again, and saw no man, but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn thee: GO AND SIN NO MORE. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am that light of the world: he that followeth me, shall NOT walk in darkness, but shall have that light OF LIFE. (John 8:10-12)​

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. FOR THIS PURPOSE the Son of God was manifested, that He might DESTROY the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does NOT sin, for His seed remains in him; AND HE CANNOT SIN, BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN BORN AGAIN OF GOD. (1 John 3:8-9)​

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It's very clear that we are not to sin. And it's very clear that this can be accomplished by being born again of God's Spirit into the realm of the Spirit which is Christ's New Covenant of the Spirit where we have died to the realm of the flesh's Old Covenant 10 Commandments/Law which is a ministry of death and condemnation. Christ's New Covenant of the Spirit is a ministry of eternal life and perfect righteousness.

He has enabled us to be ministers of HIS NEW COVENANT. This is a covenant NOT of written laws, BUT OF THE SPIRIT. The old written covenant ENDS IN DEATH; but UNDER THE NEW COVENANT, THE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE. The old way, WITH LAWS ETCHED IN STONE, LED TO DEATH, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way, which brings CONDEMNATION, was glorious, HOW MUCH MORE GLORIOUS IS THE NEW WAY, WHICH MAKES US RIGHT WITH GOD! (2 Corinthians 3:6-9)​