In Christ - I am more than a conqueror

I am more than a conqueror...

Romans 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written:  “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. 

Day 98 – 365 Daily Devotions for Women by Jewell Johnson

Mary C Crowley

Christian Entrepreneur 1915-1986

“Mary Crowley, founder of Home Interiors and Gifts, said:  ‘When I realized what it cost Him to redeem me, then I fully realized my worth.’  And there were reasons why she needed her self-worth restored.

“Mary’s mother died when she was eighteen months old.  She was shuffled from her father’s care to her grandparent’s home.  At age fifteen Mary leaned about a personal God and committed her life to Him.  Yet the road ahead was rocky.  She married in her teens, then divorced and later weathered a bout with cancer.  As a single parent with two children, she lost her job.

“A discouraged adult with low self-esteem, Mary knew what to do; she consulted a pastor, took night classes, and eventually turned her life around.

“’Out of disappointment came victory,’ Mary said.  ‘You never gain by sitting around feeling sorry for yourself.  Attitudes are more important than facts.’  She began Home Interiors and Gifts, Inc., a business to help women use their talents to succeed and develop self-esteem.

“Perhaps you, like Mary Crowley, suffer from outward struggles and inner battles.  Believers are not only promised victory in the future; we are more than conquerors now.  In spite of various hardships, by faith, declare your victory in Christ today.”

If you read the list of things that Paul mentions in Romans 8:35-37 it’s clear that most of us will never face those kinds of issues in our own lives.  We’re not being killed for our faith – we’re not suffering or being persecuted for what we believe.  Most of us aren’t naked or hungry – really hungry.  There are places in the world where this is still very true for a Believer – our brothers and sisters are losing their lives to famine, persecution, and distress – and many live in countries where to be a Christian means certain death.  That’s not true for those of us in the US.  We may feel misunderstood – but we’re not hunted down and executed because we dared to name the name of Christ.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t have our own set of modern day issues – and we can still lay claim to the promise that we are MORE than conquerors in Christ!  We CAN conquer the sins that so easily beset us!  We CAN conquer the battle for our heart and mind.  We CAN conquer our fears and insecurities. We CAN conquer our poor self-image – and replace it with the truth of who we are “in Christ.”  The question isn’t whether or not we CAN – it’s whether or not we WILL.  I hope you WILL choose to live as more than a conqueror today!  Sharon