You are Called to Overcome

There are three battlegrounds that are important to win.

The battle is in your mind; it’s about what you believe. You can believe truth from God’s word (the Bible) and His Spirit or you can believe the messages that bombard your mind each day. Some of the messages are from other people or society at large and do not carry the weight of God’s truth. However, many of the messages are lies straight from the mouth of the enemy.  So, which is worse, a slight deception or a lot of deception? Either way, it’s deception!   

The three battlegrounds can be summarized this way:

1. YOUR VIEW OF GOD is really a battle for your identity. Are you a child of God or a random accident? Does He intimately know you, and does He want a relationship with you or is He distant and uncaring? 
2. YOUR VIEW OF SELF  is really a battle for your design. Did God really make you unique and special, or is life really a cruel joke?
3. YOUR VIEW OF OTHERS is really a battle for calling? Does God really care for all the people you come in contact with, or are most of them just in your way causing problems or making work for you?

You are not a mistake and your life is not an accident. You are loved, valued and you have a purpose that you can pursue with clarity and passion! The people around you need you to be filled with God’s hope.

Your spiritual gym is set up to help you overcome these battlegrounds, help you receive hope from God, and flow it to others. So, what does victory look like? When you have a healthy view of God, self and others then your life is filled with:

1. AN AWE OF GOD AND HIS AMAZING CREATIVE POWER.  Your identity is solid as a “beloved child of God.” You are in Christ and Christ is in you.
2. ACCEPTANCE OF GOD’S LOVE AND DESIGN FOR YOUR LIFE. You receive a sense of worth that is almost unexplainable.
3. YOU SEE OTHERS THROUGH A “HEAVENLY LENS.” Your heart is full of compassion and purpose. You are one who can carry hope into any situation because the Holy Spirit flows through you.

Signs of Deception: 

View of God: You become suspicious of God and His ways. You decide that you can run your life by your own rules. This leads to rebellion. When rebellion is in full bloom, then you become very selfish and God becomes distant and unimportant to you. After a while your identity is attacked, and you feel unworthy. Or even worse, you begin to judge God. 

View of Self: From a position of unworthiness you feel shameful. You look for things that will make you feel better. You go toward people who will “accept you for who you are.” But in reality, they are accepting you for who you have become. Deep inside you know this and an inner tension increases. Eventually, depression overcomes. If that doesn’t work, then your other option is to emotionally detach and become “untouchable” but then feelings of isolation and loneliness become your reality. 

View of Others: From a position of depression or isolation, your view of others becomes tainted. You see people as objects or if you have any warm feelings for them, it seems as if they can easily annoy you. You doubt that God loves anyone, and life becomes one problem after another. Bitterness or weariness is the road you find yourself often traveling.