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Devotional

Conquerors Through Christ

Hey there, friend! Are you battling something in your life? Is there an emotional or spiritual war going on? Does it seem as if the enemy is winning? Well, guess what! You’re a conqueror. More than that.
Maybe it doesn’t seem like that now. And I understand. Trust me, I do. It’s hard, I get that! There are so many hardships in life. Death, betrayal, fear, broken trust, sickness, anger, rejection, tears, confusion, hate, abuse, unfairness…the list goes on. But you have to realize this. No matter what’s happening, you are going to be alright. Cliché, I know. But it's true.

When you’re in Christ, have Him living inside you…nothing, absolutely nothing, can break that. You are tied to Him for an eternity and the bonds can never be broken. No matter how hard the devil tries to pull – how hard he tries to deceive with his lies, tempt with the pleasure of sin, attack, and harm: God is, and always will be, stronger.

Have you ever sat alone in a dark room with your eyes closed, and just said “God, where are you?” Have you ever thought “How can I ever make it through this?” Have you ever wondered if Satan is just too strong? Well, God has an answer!

Romans 8:37-39

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Are those verses promising that life won’t get rough? Is there a place where God tells us we won’t experience pain? Sadly, no. But there is hope. A promise, an understanding, that we will make it through because nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. That we can overcome anything or anyone that attempts to steal our faith.

So maybe God never said life would be all sunshine and rainbows. But through the storm, through the struggle; the hard wind trying to blow you over – the driving rain, pounding out the words “Give up. Give up," the lightning, brightening all your fears, making them grow a million times worse…
God promises that you’ve already been given true, outstanding, amazing, powerful, unquenchable…victory. In Jesus. ‘Cuz your God will fight with you and by your side and you will WIN. You’re a conqueror. I know it’s hard at the moment. But don’t focus on that. You won’t walk the same road forever. Look ahead, lift your chin, and tell Satan to back off.

Because you are a warrior. The same God who defeated enemies in the Bible will still defeat yours today. Nothing ever can and nothing ever will overcome our Lord. And no matter how hard Satan tries, no matter how many tears you’re crying right now – one day soon, God will wipe away every tear and make your smile light up the dark.

You’ve won. You’ve made it through. You are a conqueror. God will fight with you through this.
You are loved. <3
-Abri

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Vote of the Month

Which is a better picture of Phil Wickham:

1. You Cannot Be Stopped

2. Worthy of My Song

3. Till I Found You

4. Where I'm Standing Now

Quote of the Month!

"Part of being great is recognizing other people's greatness." -Daniel, my rock climbing instructor //We'll put this in the "big quotes" when we post this in WC

If you have any quotes you want to make it into next month's quote column, post them in the comments below! Enjoy!

-Kara @BunniesAndRockClimbing

Song of the Month

Hymn of Heaven by Phil Wickham

How I long to breathe the air of Heaven

Where pain is gone and mercy fills the streets

To look upon the one who bled to save me

And walk with Him for all eternity

There will be a day

When all will bow before Him

There will be a day

When death will be no more

Standing face to face

With He who died and rose again

Holy, holy is the Lord

Every prayer we prayed in desperation

The songs of faith

We sang through doubt and fear

In the end we'll see that it was worth it

When He returns to wipe away our tears

There will be a day

When all will bow before Him

There will be a day

When death will be no more

Standing face to face

With He who died and rose again

Holy, holy is the Lord

On that day we join the resurrection

And stand beside the heroes of the faith

With one voice a thousand generations

Sing worthy is the Lamb who was slain

On that day we join the resurrection

And stand beside the heroes of the faith

With one voice a thousand generations

Sing worthy is the Lamb who was slain

Forever He shall reign

So let it be today

We shout the hymn of Heaven

With angels and the Saints

We raise a mighty roar

Glory to our God

Who gave us life beyond the grave

Holy, holy is the Lord

So let it be today

We shout the hymn of Heaven

With angels and the Saints

We raise a mighty roar

Glory to our God

Who gave us life beyond the grave

Holy, holy is the Lord

Holy, holy is the Lord

Holy, holy is the Lord

How I long to breathe the air of Heaven

Where pain is gone and mercy fills the streets

Wouldn’t it be indescribable to even just breathe the air in heaven? To be free of sin, sadness, pain, and death, and to be fully embraced in the presence of God? It’s a true miracle—us broken humans have done everything to deserve eternal torture, but God’s amazing gift of mercy allowed us to go into a place of eternal peace.

To look upon the one who bled to save me

And walk with Him for all eternity

Even better than the place is the person. To actually see Jesus face to face--the same Jesus who gave up His live on the cross and poured out His blood to save us from our own sin--to meet Him in person and walk with Him forever--would be incomparable.

There will be a day

When all will bow before Him

Where the first verse shows a longing for heaven, the chorus starts out with the phrase “There will be a day,” saying that we won’t just be longing forever—one day, all the world really will bow before Him.

There will be a day

When death will be no more

The wages of sin is death, and all humans have sinned, meaning all humans have to die. Most of us have lost someone in our lives, and we know how terrible it is. But can you imagine—there will be a day when death will be no more! No one will ever die, and us believers will all live together within the gates of heaven.

Standing face to face

With He who died and rose again

This line is very similar to lines 3 and 4, about actually getting to meet Jesus face to face—the Jesus who has the power to conquer death itself and raise to life again.

Holy, holy is the Lord

You’ve probably heard people say “God is holy” a zillion times, but what does the word “holy” really mean? The Merriam-Webster definition of the word “holy” has many facets, but the most applicable is definition 1: “exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.” So when Wickham says “holy is the Lord,” he is really saying four different things: the Lord is exalted, He is worthy of complete devotion, He is perfect in goodness, and He is perfect in righteousness. I could spend pages and pages talking all about the word “holy,” but there’s so much I could say that probably deserves its own devotional—for now we’ll just have to stick with the dictionary definition.

Every prayer we prayed in desperation

The songs of faith

We sang through doubt and fear

In the end we'll see that it was worth it

When He returns to wipe away our tears

Even through doubt, fear, and desperation, we will pray and sing songs of faith to God because no matter what we go through, we are confident that it will be worth it when Jesus comes back to comfort us, wipe away our tears, and escort us through the gates of heaven.

On that day we join the resurrection

And stand beside the heroes of the faith

This verse comes right after the “there will be a day” chorus and it’s talking about the same day. On that day, we will join all the other resurrected believers and get to stand united as one. You and me and the heroes of the faith and every other Christian that has ever lived all standing together as one church, one body, the body of Christ. We will get to stand beside the “legends” (in the hero sense) like Peter and Paul (and may I add, Phil Wickham) and, far most importantly, stand behind Jesus, the King of Creation, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Light, the God over all.

With one voice a thousand generations

Sing worthy is the Lamb who was slain

Not only will the bride of Christ be united, but we will be together with a purpose, singing the praises of the One who created us, sustains us, and loves us unconditionally, and, as Cory Asbury puts it, recklessly¹. We will be singing of how the Lamb of God, slain on the cross, is forever worthy of our song².

So let it be today

We shout the hymn of Heaven

With angels and the Saints

We raise a mighty roar

Glory to our God

Who gave us life beyond the grave

This is a variation on the original chorus—but instead of “there will be a day,” saying that one day this will happen, it’s “let it be today,” let us not have to wait, let this glorious day unfold not in the future but in the present. Let it be today that we shout the hymn of heaven, let it be today that united with the angels and all of God’s children we raise a mighty roar of worship glorifying our God who gave us eternal life beyond our death to this world.

References: Hymn Of Heaven (Official Music Video)

Reckless Love: A 40-Day Journey Into the Overwhelming, Never-Ending Love of God by Cory Asbury
Worthy Of My Song by Phil Wickham and Maverick City Music

Featured Artwork

Lego Mosaic of Phil Wickham, Kara @BunniesAndRockClimbing

Star Wars thing, Tim @ItsTimeForTim

Deer Hunter, Pastor Sam @wsswan

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