1 Pet 1:3-5 (ESV)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
When you are born again, you are born anew, into a new life with new purposes and mindsets.
Your real race finally starts.
Kingdom order is put in place.
Kingdom assignments are revealed and taken on.
Kingdom mindsets need to be reset to its default setting.
Are you ready to finish the race strong in the Lord?
1 Cor 9:24-25 (MSG)
You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.
Paul shows us 2 approaches to run this race.
He entreats us to run to win and run knowing that we have won.
Fused together, it marks the cornerstone of mental strength and toughness that any athlete would desire to be trained in; It’s a victory mindset.
As a believer, that requires colossal faith. And isn’t that how we all need to live our lives – by faith and not by sight?
The Psalmist shares that ‘Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart’ (Ps 97:11, NKJV) and we know that this light that is sown in the righteous is the same seed that will crush the head of Satan as we read the first prophetic word about our Messiah Christ in Genesis 3:15.
We can have gladness in our hearts because we know that we will be reunited with Christ, with our resurrected glorified bodies to experience the inaugural full glory of God.
This is the blessed hope we have because of the resurrection of Christ.
To the righteous, the light is already visible because we are the bearers of this light, allowing it to shine forth from earthly broken vessels; to the upright in heart, there is the confident assurance of a victory that has already been won by the undefeated ‘I AM’.
The victory is assured!
Running to win speaks a lot about consistent training, about being prepared mentally and physically, about being disciplined and committed.
Running like you’ve won brings us into a whole new dimension.
It is a posture of confidence, peace and humility. It will require a right heart and spirit to be able to still run with an attitude of excellence.
David, a young shepherd boy, who had a visceral understanding that no matter how gigantic his problem in front of him was, no weapon against him would ever prosper.
He knew in his heart of hearts that the battle belonged to Lord even as he ran passionately towards Goliath, swinging the fatal rock towards his oversized adversary with a victory mindset.
Gideon, a negative young man who had a defeatist mentality, disqualified himself before God despite knowing who He is.
Yet, God spoke to his God-given potential, called him a mighty warrior and commanded him to go for a battle with the Midianites that was guaranteed a victory.
Gideon knew his weakness, thus his faith was raised for the occasion and he obediently depended on God with a victory mindset.
David knew who God was and experienced His faithfulness and presence.
That empowered and enabled him to fight the most impossible battles in his life.
Gideon was timid, inexperienced and weak, but he availed and trusted God.
He pursued and demanded God to affirm and confirm His words.
What about you?
Do you know who God is and what He has done for you through Christ?
Do you know that Satan may have won a few battles here on earth but the victory is God’s in the end?
Do you know that Jesus is coming back to receive His bride back home?
Do you know that there is an imperishable crown awaiting the righteous?
The truth is that as believers of Christ, we can live our lives with a victory mindset.
We can claim victory over our situations because Jesus is no longer the victim but a victor!
He has overcome death through His resurrection and that same power is available to us right now. His resurrection enabled us to be constantly filled with living water, the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
And when that happens, victorious living is revived and revival begins.
Our lives are like human cups waiting to be filled.
Jesus took the cup of suffering (Mat 26:39), fulfilling His Father’s will so that our cups can be spiritually empty, ready to be filled.
When you have the victor’s mentality, you discard the victim’s mentality and move into a victor’s reality!
I hope that draws out an ‘Amen’ from you!
Let’s be encouraged that Jesus is alive and we can walk in faith, victory and hope that our own ‘resurrection’ will happen soon, and very soon as we come to the very end of the church age.
Those who trust in the Lord will be exalted (Pro 29:25), and we know that also means the literal sense of being caught up to meet our Lord and King.
Reflection and Prayer
- How can you move from a victim’s mentality to a victor’s mentality?
- Ponder whether you truly believe that there is an imperishable victor’s crown awaiting you in the end of days.
- If a victory has been guaranteed, how then should you fight your battles?
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