Celebrate the Victories

For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.

And who can win this battle against the world?

Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

1 John 5:4-5 (NLT)

Some victories are so spectacular that they take center stage on the evening news and get plastered all over social media.  Other victories are so small, no one seems to notice. For sixteen-year-old Jaden Lake, who has autism, his victory came in the form of a kiss. Debi and Mike Lake, a member of the Canadian Parliament, admit that “it’s often the small victories that count most when raising the eldest of our two children. When he was 11, I remember my wife phoning me and saying, ‘Jaden just kissed me for the first time,’ Lake said. The revelation came when Debi had been teaching their son to blow, using a straw she placed in his mouth. ‘She noticed that when she pulled it out, a kissing sound sprung from his puckered lips,’ he said. ‘She used that to teach him how to kiss.’” (https://222.cnn.com/2012/09/28/health/new-york-autism-event/index.html)

            You may not feel like there’s much to celebrate right now. Yet           God reminds us that in Him we are victors. We won the battle against evil the day we accepted God’s gift of grace. Through His power – and not our own – we can celebrate daily victories over sin. When we say ‘no’ to temptation, we’ve won the victory. When we trust rather than worry, we’ve won the victory. When we surrender our will in order for His will to be done, we’ve won the victory. When we pray, we’ve won the victory. And all of heaven rejoices with us because each one of those victories, which might seem so small to you and me, are huge triumphs in the fight against evil. Every such victory is worth celebrating.

Thought: “When we pray for the Spirit’s help … we will simply fall down at the Lord’s feet in our weakness. There we will find the victory and power that comes from His love.” – Andrew Murray

For further reading:

• Psalm 20:5
• Psalm 60:12
• Psalm 21:1
• Luke 15:10

Excerpt from my devotional, A Year in God’s Classroom

https://a.co/d/fZlJGkx

https://222.cnn.com/20129/28/health/new-york-autism-event/index.html