More than Conquerers

This has been a huge year for a lot of our grands related to conquerer their fears of snow skiing!

Wednesday was a day in ministry that took an unexpected turn.  My husband was hosting a weekly men's morning Bible study in our home and I was on the treadmill. The night before I suggested he visit a church member in a nursing home about an hour south of us. While on the treadmill, the Lord had me text another member whose sister was in the hospital dying of a brain tumor an hour to our north.  This gentleman texted that he was on his way to tell his parents that his sister had died.  

Heading north to be with the family of the deceased, another text came across my phone that the man in the nursing home had been found unresponsive and had been taken to a hospital.  I knew this family needed us, so we rerouted our day.

While praying for these families Romans 8:31-32, 37-39 came to mind.

"31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?...37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  

What does it mean to be "more" than conquerors? For those of us "in Christ" we know the victory has been won over any trial we face, even death.  But God is talking about us experiencing a HUGE victory.

Flash back to the Old Testament and the Israelites.  Humanly speaking, these people loved by God were no match for their enemies. God cautioned them to not be afraid, but to remember that He would fight their battles for them. One of my favorite verses is 
Exodus 14:14

"The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still."  

Think about the times when God led hundreds of Israelites to defeat thousands and sometimes even benefit (be more than conquerors) by taking their plunder or land.  Think how David defeated Goliath. That was a GIANT "by God" victory for a young boy.

Satan is our adversary and he shoots life-defeating, joy stealing, fiery darts at us to threaten our well-beig and discourage us in our faith.  Paul encourages us to stand firm and remember that Jesus is the Victor and no one can steal our eternal destiny, nor can anyone separate us from God's love right now.

We approach the darkest valleys knowing we are not alone, the Light of the World, our good, good, Father is with us.  All our sins are covered, our fears are extinguished, no temptation can overcome us, a hope greater than we can imagine awaits us and we are lavishly loved forever and ever by the Creator of the Universe.

Now that's a BIG hallelujah! Sing out there is VICTORY in Jesus. Be gone Satan and take all your wicked ploys with you. Our hearts belong to Jesus.

There is an excellent explanation of the Romans passage, by John Piper, in this 11 minute video. English teachers will love his diagraming!

https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/we-are-more-than-conquerors