You've Already Won

You've Already Won 

Things I often forget:

I am in the middle of a war. 

I am a foreigner, an exile, a citizen of a much better Country. I am not at home here. 

What's hard to forget—and easy to admit—is that I am easily discouraged and, at times, would rather pretend the war isn't going on. Then, I could zone out and coast through these heavy and sometimes impossible days.  

Are you like me? Do you feel like this broken world beats you into submission? Are you having difficulty pushing through the dark clouds of discouragement today? 

Here's some good news: if you have received the free gift of God's love in His Son Jesus Christ, Who loved you and gave Himself for you––if you are a daughter or a son of the Most High…

YOUR FUTURE IS REALLY BRIGHT!  

You may say, "Lord! What are you doing? I don't like it! It doesn't feel right; I don't understand it! God, I don't know what you are doing, but… I know what you've done. And that's enough."

Take a minute right in the middle of your circumstance and ponder anew all He has done for you. Say with me:    

"You have purchased me. You pulled me out of the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of Your beloved Son. You adopted me into the family of God. You redeemed me by the blood of the Lamb, and by that blood, forgave me of all my sin and reconciled me to God. But you didn't just forgive my sin; You became sin on my behalf so that I might now have Your life, Jesus! Your perfect record is now my perfect record, and I am free to live for You. You have given me Your Holy Spirit as a Helper, a guide, and a seal of Your work of saving me. You made me an heir of God, a co-heir with Christ Jesus, and everything in Him is mine!" 

He has done SO much more for us, but before this turns into a novel, let's look to the future:

 Brothers, Sisters––We know how the story ends! There is future grace available for us today. Jesus is coming back soon to make it all right and to usher us into forever, where we will see John's revelation:

"a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:1-4

So I say again: your future is bright. Our future is bright. And Jesus promises to be everything you need today in the in-between. But make no mistake; here in the in-between, we ARE in a battle! Jesus defeated sin, hell, and Satan on the cross when He said, "It is finished," but He has left us here to fight in the strength of what He has done and the assurance of what He is coming to do.   

So, let's go!  

Father, help us fight well and be free in the strength that you provide!