“…we are more than conquerors ….”

(Romans 8:37)

We have in another place considered the “more” nature of God. He is always “more.” He always provides “more.” He always does “more.” That is just the way He is. Now it is good for us to see and know how His “more” affects us in a more personal way.

God’s “more” is personal for US. He is not “more” just for Himself. He is “more” on OUR behalf. He knows WE need His “more.” We see that in so many of His assurances. He manifested it in His declaration that He had come in order that WE may have “life… more abundantly.” (John 10:10) We see it in the promise that His grace is sufficient for US for his strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

That is why our Bible tells us that “WE (emphasis added) are more than conquerors….” We are not merely more than the ordinary. We are not in the category of those who “barely make it” in our efforts to overcome the problems of this life. We certainly are not those who are held captive by desires and circumstances. Neither are we captive to the pressures of peers. Corrupted culture holds no claim over us.

Neither are we the ones who merely study about the conquerors. True, those stories of conquerors are exciting. They raise some hope and excite some discipline in those who would like to join the ranks of the victorious. They encourage other conquerors that share the victory. But the promise to us is that WE are the conquerors. In fact WE are the ones who are “more than conquerors.” We are the ones who wear the crown, occupy the throne and hold the victor’s sword. Are you now saying that such is not the case in your life? Are you saying that your struggle for such victory continues? Are you wondering why this victory has not replaced your defeat?Why should we ask? The answer to victory is so obvious. For “we are more than conquerors THROUGH HIM THAT LOVED US.”

Have you not claimed your crown, your throne and your Victor’s sword? Have you not claimed your victory in Christ?

Robert L. Alderman

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1-3; Matthew 1

Today’s Freedom Fighter is from REAL VICTORY FOR REAL LIFE — 365 Daily Meditations on Victorious Christian Living.

“The heart must have in it the grace of prayer to sing the praise of God. Spiritual singing is not be be done by musical taste or talent, but by the grace of God in the heart. The conscious presence of God inspires song.

The angels in heaven don’t need conductors to lead them, nor do they care for paid choirs to chime in with their heaving doxologies of praise and worship. They are not dependent of singing schools to teach them the notes and scales of singing. Their singing involuntarily breaks forth
from the heart.

God is immediately present in the heavenly assemblies of the angels and the spirits of men made perfect. His glorious presence creates the song, teaches the singing, and impregnates their notes of praise. It is so on earth. God’s presence begets singing and thanksgiving, while the absence of God from our congregations is the death of song, or, which amounts to the same, makes the singing lifeless, cold and formal. His conscious presence in our churches would bring back the days of praise and would restore the full chorus of song.

Where grace abounds, song abounds. When God is in the heart, heaven is present and melody is there, and the lips overflow out of the abundance of the heart. This is as true in the private life if the believer as it is so in the congregations of the saints. The decay of singing, the dying down and out of the spirit of praise in song, means the decline of grace in the heart and the absence of God’s presence from the people.

The main design of all singing is for God’s ear and to attract HIS attention and to please HIM. It is ‘to the Lord,’ for HIS glory and to his honor.” written by E. M. Bounds

(from MAGNIFICENT PRAYER — 366 Devotions to Deepen Your Prayer Experience published by Zondervan)

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.” (Psalm 95:1-2)

My reading this weekend was interesting in that the two books I have been reading brought to my mind and heart the SUPREMACY OF CHRIST. Here are some thoughts from Dr. John Piper as we celebrate this Lord’s day, 2005:

* The supremacy of his deity: equal with God the Father in all his attributes — the radiance of his glory and the exact imprint of his nature, infinite, boundless in all his excellencies
* The supremacy of his eternality that makes the mind of man explode with unsearchable thought that Christ never had a beginning, but simply always was; sheer, absolute reality while all the universe is fragile, contingent, like a shadow by comparison to his all-defining, ever-existing substance
* The supremacy of his never-changing constancy in all his virtues and all his character and all his commitments — the same yesterday, today, and forever
* The supremacy of his knowledge that makes the Library of Congress look like a matchbox, and all the information on the Internet look like a little 1940’s almanac
* The supremacy of his word that moment by moment upholds the universe and holds in being all the molecules and atoms and subatomic world we have never dreamed of
* The supremacy of his power to walk on water, cleanse lepers and heal the lame, open the eyes of the blind, cause the deaf to hear and the storms to cease and the dead to rise, with a single word, or even a thought
* The supremacy of his purity never to sin or to have one milli-second of a bad attitude or an evil, lustful thought
* The supremacy of his trustworthiness never to break his word or let one promise fall to the ground

THAT’S WHO WE WORSHIP TODAY! MAY YOUR HEART BE OVERFLOWING WITH
CEASELESS PRAISE!

The book of Hebrews “summarizes so succinctly and penetratingly how appropriate it is that Jesus Himself — His worship, His praise and His glorious honoring — should become the focus and essence of everything we think about, plan, prepare for, arrange, produce, program, and DO
when we we worship. His honor and glory must be the ultimate object of all we pursue as worshippers, whether we lead or follow. His ultimacy is revealed clearly in the Word of God: All worship must flow from that fountain of revelation so as to maintain a full and worthily glorifying
perspective on Him.

The opening three verses of Hebrews 1 make seven statements about our Lord Jesus Christ. Each should be explored as they might be elsewhere in Scripture, for an inexhaustible mine of truth waits to be found in each statement. It is impossible to spend time with passages like this and not be conditioned to keep our perspective when we worship!

The PERSON we worship is:
* predestined Heir of all things (1:2)
* the avenue of God’s power by whom the world was made (1:2)
* the radiant Representative of God’s glory shown to humankind (1:3)
* the ultimate expression of the ultimate reality (1:3)
* the Sustainer of all that exists in the universe (1:3)
* the Savior from sin and Redeemer of sinful humankind (1:3)
* the exalted and ascended Lord — His Majesty on high (1:3)

This is the One to whom we come with our praise and thanksgiving. He is the One whose love and grace prompt our rejoicing and laudation. His Father, our Creator, is the exceedingly glorious One who gave us this Jesus. His commissioned Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is the One sent to us to overflow us with enabling power and give us the capacity to glorify Him — Jesus, our Lord! (from MANIFEST PRESENCE by Dr. Jack Hayford, published by Revell)

Take some time today to read through Hebrews 1 as you prepare your heart for the Lord’s day! Good words to consider.

As you prepare your heart for the Lord’s day, here are some thoughts on worship from the pen of the composer of the marvelous praise song, MAJESTY:

“True worship takes place when you declare the Lord’s worth:

* When we come before Him to honor His character, not parade our music or ministry talent
* When we come before Him with humility, not protecting ourselves from the penetrating power of His Spirit
* When we open as children to the truth of His Word, rather than smugly defending our narrow-minded, doctrinaire attitudes that produce more division than unity in the body of Christ’s Body.

The weight of His glory, exalted in worshipping the Father and magnifying His Son in the power of the Holy Spirit, impacts, reshapes and alters our character and conduct. It liberates, releases and loosens us from the hold of sin and self and unleashes the ministry life of Jesus Christ to course through our daily lives. ‘From glory to glory’ is the Word’s description of a life being progressively transformed to walk in the fellowship and blessings that were always God’s intent for us.”

from MANIFEST PRESENCE — Expecting a Visitation of God’s Grace Through Worship by Dr. Jack Hayford — published by Revell

Take some time these next two days to get alone with God to prepare your heart for the Lord’s Day. Worship is not just for Sunday — It needs to be a daily part of the fabric of our lives!

Dr. Ron Cline, Chairman of the Board of HCJB, has been our Adventure Week speaker and his series is called “WALKING WITH JESUS.” Last night we celebrated by remembering “GO GOD” moments in our lives — those situations where we God shows up and does His thing — things that are only explainable by God! David wrote: “Oh give thanks to the Lord. Call upon His name. Make known HIS deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him. TALK OF ALL HIS WONDROUS WORKS! Glory in HIS name. Let the hearts of those who rejoice seek the Lord.” (Psalm 105:1-3)

I want to encourage you to do just that. Have you had “Go GOD” moments in your life? If so, write them down in your journal. In fact, I want to encourage you to send one to me so that I can share them with the rest of the Freedom Fighter family as an encouragement of God’s faithfulness.

Last year at this time we were praying for the funds to repair the roof on our Activity Center. Initial quotes on the job were $175,000 and more. Through a series of “Go God” moments, the price was lowered to $125,000. I wrote an appeal letter on Monday morning that would be sent
to our Keswick friends and gave it to our Director of Marketing. Our in-house printing press broke and that meant we would have to outsource the job to a local printer. The letter would not be printed for another 5 days!

On Thursday morning, a donor came into my office and shared that he and his wife wanted to write the check for $125,000 for the roof project. Wow! Now I know why the press broke down! But the story gets better. Our Director of Maintenance call the next morning to order the materials and the man who was helping us with the materials looked at the quote in
amazement. Had we waited another day to order the materials, the costs would have gone up another 30%!!! God’s timing in all of this was AMAZING! It was a “GO GOD!” moment.

Well what about you? How about sharing your story with us. Look today for Him to work in your life. Then do what David said — TALK OF ALL HIS WONDROUS WORKS!

Consider it!

“Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Romans 12: 10)

Dr. John C. Maxwell in his new book WINNING WITH PEOPLE says, “if you put yourself in the place of others instead of putting others in their place, it changes the way you see life, and it changes the way you live it.” He goes on to share this neat story about author and speaker Dan
Clark as he recalled standing in line with his Dad to buy tickets for a circus.

“As they waited, they noticed the family immediately in front of them. The parents were holding hands, and they had eight children in tow, all well behaved and all probably under the age of twelve. Based on their clean but simple clothing, he suspected that they didn’t have a lot of
money. The kids jabbered about the exciting things they expected to see, and he could tell that the circus was going to be a new adventure for them.

As the couple approached the counter, the attendant asked how many tickets they wanted. The man proudly responded that he wanted to buy eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets so he could take his family to the circus. When the attendant quoted the price, the man’s wife let go of his hand, and her head drooped. The man leaned a little closer and asked, ‘How much did you say?’ The attendant again quoted the price. The man obviously didn’t have enough money and he looked crushed.

Clark says that his father watched all of this, put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a worn twenty-dollar bill, and dropped it on the ground. His father then reached down, picked up the bill, tapped the man on the shoulder, and said, ‘Excuse me, sir, this fell out our your pocket.’

The man knew exactly what was going on. He looked straight into Clark’s father’s eyes, took his hand, shook it, and with a tear streaming down his cheek, replied, ‘Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family.’

Clark and his father went back to the car and drove home. They didn’t have enough money to go to the circus that night, but it didn’t matter. Because they had put themselves in the place of others, they had done something important.”

How about you? “Outdo someone today in showing honor!” Good words to ponder today on this hot, July 27th, 2005.

Last night as we were heading into dinner, Julia Bitler, one of our “adopted grandkids,” came running over to me and my wife to hand us pictures that she made of us. I have tucked mine in my Bible as it was really precious. She sees me quite differently than I see myself — she gave be brown curly hair! I WISH I had brown hair — it was brown once — now its mostly gray and white.

There are some tremendous insights in this little “God moment” that came to my mind. I am thankful this morning that God sees me so much differently than I see myself. He created me and he created you. Psalm 139 reminds us that He fashioned us while we were in our mother’s womb! God doesn’t make junk — He creates masterpieces! He sees in us something totally different than what we often see. The New Living Translation puts it this way: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he
planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:11)

Several years ago we visited the Precious Moments Chapel in Missouri. At the front of the chapel is a huge mural that has been in progress for a number of years. The artist has created a masterpiece that is “still in progress.” He keeps adding more and more beauty to his project. It is a work in progress.

That my friend, is what you are — a work in progress. God is molding and shaping you, conforming you to the image of His dear Son. One day you will be complete! Don’t take yourself off the easel! Allow the Master to continue to do His work in your life today.

Good thoughts to ponder on this hot summer July day.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.” (1 Thess. 5:11)

WHAT KIND OF PERSON ARE YOU TODAY?

There are two kinds of people on earth today;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.

Not the sinner and saint, for it’s well understood,
That the good are half-bad and the bad half-good.

Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man’s wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.

Not the humble and proud, for in life’s little span,
Who puts on van airs, is not counted a man.

Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.

No; two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.

Wherever you go, you will find the earth’s masses,
Are always divided in just these two classes.

And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,
There’s only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the load?
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labor, and worry and care.

(from Ella Wheeler Wilcox, “Which Are You?” Custer and Other Poems as quoted in Dr. John C. Maxwell’s book, WINNING WITH PEOPLE published by Thomas Nelson.)

Are you a leaner or a lifter? With your spouse? Children? Employees?
Employer? Good words for you to ponder on this Monday, July 25, 2005.

Today many of you will sing the Doxology as a part of your worship. The word doxology comes from the Greek word doxa, meaning “radiance,” “splendor,” “glory,” and are expressions of praise to God.

The New Testament is filled with DOXOLOGIES and I encourage you to think through them on this Lord’s Day:

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways!

For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His
counselor?

Or who has ever first given to Him, and has to be repaid?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the
glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

Now to Him who has power to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the sacred secret kept silent for long ages, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic Scriptures, according to the command of the eternal God, to advance the obedience of faith among all nations– the only wise God, through Jesus Christ — to Him be the glory forever! Amen.
(Romans 16:25-27)

Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly ABOVE all that we could ask or think, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (1 Timothy 1: 17)

The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
(2 Timothy 4:18)

Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now, and forever. Amen.
(Jude 24-25)

Fill your hearts with praise this morning on this glorious Lord’s Day!