A Victorious Life

Don't you wish you could have been alive the week after the resurrection of Jesus? I know it would have been a fantastic time, a great day!

"After eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them; then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, 'Peace be unto you.'"

In spite of the fact that Jesus came to them, no celebration commenced. There was no singing, no festive atmosphere.

To begin this important week in history, the Bible describes the fantastic scene when Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb (John 20:1-18). She was there to anoint the body of Jesus, but the stone had been rolled away.

Instead of seeing death, doom, and despair, Mary saw an angel who encouraged her to "go and tell." It is certainly more pleasant for someone to compel you to go and tell rather than to speak discouraging words, so she went and told the disciples.

A Rough Week

That week was a rough week, a week that would change the destiny of the world. Everything about the world was being changed: mankind would be revolutionized because of one cross and one man.

But it was a rough week, because the faith of the disciples had been shaken. Their Jesus had been squeezed down, stripped of power and reduced to a symbol by a heathen world.

The disciples were presenting everything but a living Jesus. They were having a pity party. They simply quit. All of them had gone back to fishing only eight days after His resurrection.

Do you realize that Jesus appeared to them during those eight days, yet they still went back to fishing?

Have you ever done that? Have your eyes been on the problem so much that you could not see Jesus? You went to bed thinking about the problem. All you could think about was the problem. You do not solve problems with problems—you solve them with solutions!

The disciples were asleep at their posts at a time when Satan was trying to preempt one of the greatest moves of God in the history of the world. I believe the greatest move is yet to come, and I want to be right in the middle of it!

The Merry-Go-Round of Discouragement

I refuse to condemn people. I intend to build them up and say, "Go and tell!" We are serving a living Christ. If you feel alone, deserted, rejected, confused and full of doubt, you are in a great company of people. The disciples were there.

I am sure the Lord was already thinking, "Get ready, because I am coming back," and He is till trying to tell us this today.

When I was a child, I tried everything to get my father's affirmation. I picked on a huge boy, trying to start a fight. I got my face smashed in just to get a compliment from my father.

I never heard those wonderful words, "I love you, "or, "I am proud of you" from him. That is a miserable way to live. Yet many people live in a world where they never rise above their defeat.

They are always comparing themselves, always discouraged and defeated. They are always listening to someone's gossip, making excuses, going around and around on the merry-go-round of life, but going nowhere.

Jesus came to me and said, "Son, I love you, and I have a great plan for your life." Jesus Christ is risen, and He thinks highly of us. If we can ever get that truth inside of us, we will not live according to the defeating words of man.

We must be willing to admit our needs. We need to recognize, looking at the scandal of the cross, that we are guilty and the only way out of this life of sin is through Jesus' forgiveness. We must release all the garbage and defeat to Jesus.

If you let defeat go, you can only rise to live in God's potential. Many people think they are born to lose, but God created you to choose. God created you to choose life, choose joy, and have a successful home and marriage. Your success is determined by those you are listening to.

Eight Days of Defeat

The disciples suffered eight days of defeat. The stone had been removed, the devil had been defeated, the ground was open and dead men were rising—yet these men were fishing.

They were going to their daily jobs and living in discouragement. They did not see the light. There was no anointing, and they were catching nothing but a cold!

Your perspective of yourself will determine the possibilities you pursue. The disciples did not believe they could ever rise from the dead. They did not believe it was possible for any man to conquer death, for any one individual to hold the keys of death and life in His hands.

Even when they heard the ringing of those keys, they said it could not be. They did not realize that God was a good God, and He could roll away every stone—stones of depression, discouragement, and defeat. Jesus is in the stone-rolling business, the business of restoring marriages, homes, minds, and lives.

Suddenly, when the stone was rolled away, Mary and the disciples saw angels on assignment. You must learn to send your angels out on assignment.

Today, we live in a world with people who have a chronic case of what I call "sugar shock." I know I must have eaten tons of sugar when I was a child. I was the world-champion mallow cup eater!

Have you ever had your kids eat a lot of sugar and get hyperactive? You cannot get them to eat anything else because they are full.

We have a sugar philosophy in the world today. People want treats when they come to church. They think if they come to church on Easter, they should not be required to come back until Christmas.

His Life is Enough

What does the Lord require of us? Everything we have—our very lives! What will God give us in return? Not a thing, because He has already given us HIS LIFE! If that is not enough, we simply don't know what enough is.

His life in us will determine the destiny of the world. If you have it, you will not know the meaning of depression or defeat. It will turn you from a child who was a stutterer, like I once was, into a person with boldness.

People are having themselves beaten or nailed to crosses in distant countries because they want to be forgiven of their sins. They do not realize that Jesus does not require this of them. He does not want stripes on your back. He does not want you to live under the thumb of the accuser.

He came to set the captives free. That is the glory of the cross. When you have a sugar mentality, you will starve to death. Your teeth will rot, and you won't have direction in your life. Many people today want to be happy without holiness, rich without righteousness. They want to have a crown without a cross, a conquest without a conflict, a testimonial without a test. But that is not possible.

What is God calling His Church to do? He is calling His Church to fasting, not feasting, to praying, not primping. He is calling His Church to sacrifice, not selfishness, to redeem the list and to set the captives free. He is calling us to soul-winning, not sleeping, to be fishers of men, not catchers of fish.

When you have a sugar mentality, you are weak and susceptible to diseases. The slightest thing will offend you. You can be sure that the people who saw Jesus crucified were offended.

God's Formula for Victory

They said, "I am not following that Jesus. How can I trust Him? I am offended. He is not resurrected from the dead. Look at that guy Judas, and look at Thomas. He was a doubter."

Jesus' own disciples would not even believe He was who He said He was. Even Jesus asked the Father, "Why are You rejecting Me?" The masses were offended and went on their way into various diversions, into the carnivals of life.

While they were being diverted, God had a formula that would transform captives, by the millions, into conquerors. The formula would extend for 2,000 years, into Zimbabwe and Uganda and Israel. It would raise up the afflicted, a paralyzed man, and a rabbi.

It was a formula that would shake the world and transform it in the midst of perversion and lies. Its flame would burn so brightly that no one could put it out. It would have enough power to blow up the universe.

It would be the last round of the championship fight of the world.

The Lord Jesus Christ had defeated the devil and all hell, yet His disciples were quitting, giving up. They were easily offended and hurting. In their eyes, it was still Friday. All they could see was the cross.

They were thinking that He was still nailed there. Why, after all, they had seen Him stabbed in His side. The tears were flowing. His Father rejected Him—that is all that they could see for awhile.

Sunday is Coming

It may be Friday in your life right now, but Sunday is coming! While Sunday is on its way, there is a world just a heartbeat from hell, a world which knows only defeat. But 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

It was as if Jesus looked in His wallet and pulled out a picture of His boys. It was a picture of Peter and James and John. You say, "Jesus, you can't be proud of them. They quit on You." But Jesus replied, "Yes, but they quit on Friday. Sunday is coming. They are still my boys."

Jesus knew that even in the midst of men who were easily offended, the Holy Spirit was coming. The Comforter, the wind from heaven, would blow the squalls of life out onto distant shores and keep man fueled when he felt discouraged and defeated. Fuel up—Sunday's coming!

Not only would the Comforter come, but Jesus knew once He approached the throne room, once He brought His precious blood and placed it in the Holy of Holies before the Father and the angels, never again could a man or woman say they were not forgiven. From that moment on, they would hear the words, "Forgiven. Not guilty!"

Death and hell itself would be dealt a lethal blow when Jesus challenged the demons and defeated them. Then, He moved into His rightful position as intercessor.

He said, "Okay, holy angels, head in the direction of my disciples. It is the eighth day. They have My name now. No one will ever challenge My blood again. When I hear them confess, I forgive them. It is finished!

A Finished Work

There is room at the cross! Jesus' work is finished. The tomb will always be empty. This truth is not part of a great myth. We have a risen Lord whose power is stronger than ours. It is stronger than the past or the present. He has power, so get ready!

God still loves you. You may say you are not perfect, but God already knows that. You say you do not see the glory of God or the power of His resurrection, but Sunday is coming! God knows all about your discouragement.

Jesus is risen! Get ready for His return!

**********

Dr. Michael D. Evans is the #1 New York Times bestselling author, and author of Jimmy Carter: The Liberal Left and World Chaos and Atomic Iran.