Victory over Death and Life Challenges
Praise GOD! Jesus was not defeated that day at Calvary! Satan had his moment of gloating only to be defeated the moment Jesus rose out of the tomb! Death was not the end. . .but only the beginning of what would be the most glorious victory for all! John 11:25 says, “. . .I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”

As believers we do not have to be afraid of death! We know we have an eternal home in Heaven with the Savior. He has gone to prepare a place for us. His promises are true and eternal. As the Apostle Paul stated, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

We can experience peace and joy in the midst of trials and difficulties that will come our way. John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Victory over Sin
“Victory in Jesus” is an exciting topic to explore! Just saying those three words should bring joy to your heart. As a believer, what victory do we have in Jesus?

None of us deserve forgiveness, but that is the amazing thing about grace! God loves us so much that He willingly took our sins to Calvary and nailed them to the cross. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” He bore the burdens of my sin that day — my sin, and yours — so that we may have victory in Jesus through the blood that He shed on the cross. Jesus is waiting and willing to forgive you of your sins!

It doesn’t stop there, however. Not only does He stand ready to forgive, He also forgets your sins! He graciously wipes the slate clean, transforms your heart and mind, and gives you the Holy Spirit to guide you.

Eccl 9.12 “For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”

One night about 11:30 PM, I received a phone call from my sister who lived 200 yards from me. She said, “I’ve been trying to call you for 30 minutes but all I got was a man cussing me out.” I immediately felt the presence of evil and sensed that what she was about to tell me was something the devil did not want me to hear. She said, “One of our cousins, 38 years old, suddenly fell sick at work, and he was in intensive care in the local hospital.” Well, I knew he had been running from God and was not prepared to meet his maker.

I began to pray for him as I drove over to the hospital. I asked God to save him before He takes him. Outside the doors of the intensive care where the family had gathered, I prayed for my cousin. We were born three days apart and grew up together. As I had no brothers, just four sisters, he was like a brother to me. About 1:30 AM, I went in to see him. His wife spoke his name and said, “Irvin is here.” I said, “You know God loves you, and I love you.”

Despite his condition, tears began to roll down his face as he lightly squeezed my hand. I felt the powerful, overflowing presence of Jesus Christ. He was alright with the Lord.

The devil did not want me to go to the hospital to pray for my cousin. He thought he had won, but praise God for the victory in Jesus.

My dear brother cousin died within a few hours. All his organs shut down. At work that afternoon, and in the presence of Jesus the next day!

James 4.7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Not too long ago, I was looking into a scripture and come across the word VICTORY in the Bible. When I get inquisitive, I will often go back to the original language using a Greek or Hebrew Lexicon and investigate the original meaning of a word. On this particular day, this one word seemed to leap from the page. The scripture was First John 5:4

“For whatever (whoever) is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the VICTORY that has overcome the world – our faith.”

My study led me to the Greek word for VICTORY, nike. I thought this was a bit funny for obvious reasons. As I am sure you know, Nike is a huge athletic shoe and clothing company. Interestingly they adopted the name ‘Nike’ back in 1971 and sales took off. They of course adopted the name from the winged goddess of victory named Nike… thus the reason for the ’swoosh’ logo. In fact, in ancient times, when the Greeks experienced national victory, it was often said, “When we go to battle and win, we say it is NIKE.” Nike Corporation wasn’t around back in ancient times so; I am fairly certain they were referring to the goddess Nike and not referring to their Nike shoes or sports gear.

Victory in Jesus

Words and Music by E.M. Bartlett
© 1939 – Administrated by Integrated Copyright Group, Inc.
All rights reserved 1 Corinthians 15:57
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

• • • • • Chorus
          O victory in Jesus,
          My Savior, forever.
          He sought me and bought me
          With His redeeming blood;
          He loved me ere I knew Him
          And all my love is due Him,
          He plunged me to victory,
          Beneath the cleansing flood.
          Chorus
          O victory in Jesus,
          My Savior, forever.
          He sought me and bought me
          With His redeeming blood;
          He loved me ere I knew Him
          And all my love is due Him,
          He plunged me to victory,
          Beneath the cleansing flood.
          Chorus
          O victory in Jesus,
          My Savior, forever.
          He sought me and bought me
          With His redeeming blood;
          He loved me ere I knew Him
          And all my love is due Him,
          He plunged me to victory,
          Beneath the cleansing flood.

        I heard an old, old story,
        How a Savior came from glory,
        How He gave His life on Calvary
        To save a wretch like me;
        I heard about His groaning,
        Of His precious blood’s atoning,
        Then I repented of my sins
        And won the victory.

        I heard about His healing,
        Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
        How He made the lame to walk again
        And caused the blind to see;
        And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
        Come and heal my broken spirit,”
        And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
        To me the victory.

        I heard about a mansion
        He has built for me in glory.
        And I heard about the streets of gold
        Beyond the crystal sea;
        About the angels singing,
        And the old redemption story,
        And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
        The song of victory.