Living Victoriously.

How about that wind the last few days??

It has been frigid, gusty, and powerful. A few days ago, I witnessed that fierce wind actually knock a person off their feet. It happened so fast; there was no time to act. The person had opened the door and started to enter a building at the same time a huge gust of wind hit the door. Boom, down they went. Thankfully, there were no injuries.

Life can happen like that. One moment we're walking through an ordinary day and the next moment finds us flat on our faces. Our faith in Jesus Christ can suffer the same pitfalls. The apostle Paul was an expert builder of hope by sharing the Gospel of Jesus. He offered it in full strength. There were no shortcuts, softened edges, or alternative ways to receive it. Take a look at a passage from 1 Corinthians 15 from Eugene Peterson's The Message.

Paul reminded the church how firm a foundation one can have when standing on the power of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. Paul did not want them to miss the point. Jesus is the real deal! The everyday possibility was real for believers in Jesus getting toppled to the ground by false teachers who were offering bad doctrine or worse. Never mind possible persecution of believers for their faith in Christ.

Near the end of the snippet of scripture displayed above one can feel a sense of importance Paul is driving forward. Believers in Jesus can stand firm in their faith and need to in order for their witness to have any credibility. The last sentence drives the point home for me. Paul says, "(I'm assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you're in this for good and holding fast.)"

These past few days have required us to walk more slowly with our feet a little wider apart than normal, and always vigilant for those strong wind gusts. Everyday can bring events and trials that threaten to topple us if we're not prepared and careful to invest our hearts into something bigger than the finite. Jesus Christ came, lived, died, and is alive forevermore so that we have victory in this life and that which is to come.

Note: I didn't say that nothing bad will ever happen after we give our hearts to Jesus. I acknowledge things will happen to us that we never asked for and am willing to stake my life and my future on Jesus Christ who died that I might live. I am going to live!

I may get knocked down. I am going to live!

How about you?