Victory in Jesus!

 

I absolutely love the song, Victory in Jesus. The tempo and words are so encouraging. However, (you knew there had to be a condition, or this would be a Twitter post, not a blog) there is a problem not with the song but with how we interpret the idea of victory. Victory as many see it is everything being great in the here and now. Victory is everyone saying how they love us or at least respect us. Victory is us standing at the finish line arms raised high or in the end zone spiking the football in Christian love, of course. Victory isn't that in the world and isn't what Jesus told us it would be.

Often times victory is a hard-won thing. Victory means battles and losses. Victory more often than not meant long hard fights and falling over the finish line or being tackled into the end zone. Victory sometimes means death. Even the often celebrated sports stars spend years pushing their bodies to near breaking or to breaking and then not always winning the prize. Talk to a person whose side won the war but they lost a son or daughter about victory. Victory isn't easy.

Shouldn't it be easy for a Christian? We have Jesus right? Yes, we have Jesus, and the Scriptures say that He will work all things together for good but look at the context of Romans 8:28. 

And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later...And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us...And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them...Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)  Edited for space.

Jesus's words over and over tell the disciples that his followers will suffer. However, they will be victorious.

My reason for sharing this isn't to discourage anyone but for you to take a real look at what victory may cost. Victory isn't fun in the process. Even for those who aren't Christians, victory requires a cost. Consider this, however. losing or not trying at all always leads to a bad place. 

The benefit to following Christ is that the victory is certain no matter the cost or what evil may come. I don't want you discouraged and give up when tough times come and gaining victory is hard.  In the battle or in this world we may not feel like singing, but someday we will. 

We have Victory in Jesus.

Wesley's Questions #6

  

 I have been recently asked if I could answer the 19 questions that John Wesley had his bishops ask those wanting to enter the ministry. I believed I could so in taking on that challenge I am going to post my answers. They probably won't be perfect or how you might answer them but they will be mine. Perhaps you might ask yourself how you might answer them.  

John Wesley’s Questions

Responses by Charles Wesley Areson

6. Do you know the General Rules of our Church?

The basic content of the General Rules is four-fold though at first glance there would seem to be only three. These rules like the doctrines of the church are rooted in scripture. They are more detailed but they can be summed up as can the Old Testament in the greatest commandment, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27 NLT).

The first is to do no harm by avoiding evil. After this is a list of things which are examples but not complete of activities Methodists and I would say all Christians should avoid. The only one I might question is the interpretation of profaning the sabbath which I will not go into detail here.

The second is to do good. Here again, follows a list that cannot be limiting as there are many good things Christians can do. I am especially glad to see that no one was tempted to leave out that Christians are to do good “especially” to other Christians as this seems to be frowned on by some though it is scriptural (Galatians 6:10).

The third is attending to our own salvation. This is vital because what use is it to gain in all these other areas and yet lose our own soul (1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 9:25). Here also we find a list that is not exhaustive. For myself, the spiritual discipline of journaling and writing is vital for the strengthening of my soul.

The last one I see in the general rules is the idea of mutual accountability. This is the area that not just many Methodists have abandoned but most of the Western church. Yes, there are dangers of abuse when people open themselves up to accountability, Scripture teaches accountability therefore the rewards of proper accountability are far greater than the risks (Luke 17:31, Romans 15:1-7, Galatians 6:2 Corinthians 5:1-13, James 5:19-20 Hebrews 10:24-25, 13:17).  This is something that I pray isn’t just lip service but will become the norm in the church.