Awaken Devotional, Day 4: Fighting FROM Victory

By Keith Cowart

​We have cried out to God, “COME ON!"

Jesus answered our cry: “I have come ..."

"I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

What is the nature of this life? It is not a life divorced from the realities of the world, but one infused with supernatural resources that enable us to live fully and freely in all circumstances. Though the Bible consistently warns us to expect trials, persecution, and suffering in this life, it also uses words like “conquerors” (Romans 8:37) and “overcomers” (1 John 5:4) and “victors” (2 Corinthians 2:14, The Message) to describe the way we respond to those challenges.

Yet, I have to confess that the abundant life we Christians proclaim and claim to possess sometimes seems fleeting. Without question, I have tasted it and found it to be incomparably good. But I also find myself missing it more often than I would like to admit. As a pastor, I have met with hundreds of individuals over the years who have been at various stages of either desperately pursuing or giving up on the hope of extraordinary life.

Why the struggle?

Jesus answers that question in the other half of the same verse: we have an enemy who opposes in every way the life Jesus came to bring. He fights to keep us from it, and once we have it, though the war is lost, he and his minions continue to snipe at us from afar like a rogue guerilla unit that refuses to admit defeat. Let’s not forget this reality as we pray for a fresh move of God’s Spirit. Our prayers will be opposed. At the same time, let’s also remember that while the battle is very real, it is not a battle of equals. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (and destroyed the power of sin and death!) now lives in us. That means we do not fight for victory, but from victory as we pray for one another.

Response

1. If you have not been able to fast this week, might you fast today?
2. Join us at 6:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. in the CCC Prayer Room to pray from victory for one another.
3. Pray from victory for:

• Those things in your life or your family’s life where the enemy is attempting to steal, kill and destroy.
• The heavy burdens of sickness, hopelessness, relational brokenness, grief that weigh down those around us. Send a message to let someone know you are interceding for them.
• The awakening to come to our church family.
• The Kingdom of God to advance in our city, country, world.