1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.
Growing up, one of my favorite Saturday activities was watching ABC Sports. I can still remember the opening line — “The thrill of victory or the agony of defeat!” One of the greatest prophets of the Bible, Elijah, experienced his share of victories — but he also knew that sudden feeling of defeat. If you recall, Elijah was on Mount Carmel, the only prophet of the Lord standing against four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. (1 Kings 18) When it was all said and done, Elijah was absolutely victorious! But wouldn’t you know that in the next chapter, we find Elijah under a juniper tree saying — “Lord take my life!” (1 Kings 19:4)
We’re so quick to forget the victories that the Lord has given us, aren’t we? There are countless examples of great men of God who struggled this way. If they can go from victory to defeat so easily, how much more are we susceptible to the same attacks of the enemy? We must remember that this is precisely what they are — attacks of the enemy upon our lives — attempting to draw our attention away from all that God has done.
If you are finding yourself in the midst of a valley — try focusing on the victories the Lord has already displayed in your life. And more importantly, focus on the power of victory you can walk with today!
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]When the prophet Jonah entered Nineveh, he gave a message of hopelessness — in 40 days your city will be destroyed! He did not say, Nineveh will be destroyed “unless”, but emphatically prophesied destruction to the people of the city — seeming to say their situation was hopeless. Yet hearing this message …
If you were to visit Paris, you could see the statues of two men, both named Louis.
The first is of Louis XIV, France’s absolute monarch. He represents one of the supreme achievements of greatness through power. His philosophy of life was that the whole nation and the world, should serve him.
Knowing He was about to depart, Yeshua (Jesus) left His disciples with a final command: stay in Jerusalem, and wait…for the promise. Of the thousands who had witnessed His miraculous ministry and heard His amazing teaching, and the hundreds that had actually seen Him after the resurrection, we read in Acts that only 120 stayed and tarried until the promise arrived. But these 120 were steadfast. They waited the full term…
I don’t know about you, but it seems that the tests we’re going through are getting harder and harder. Do you remember when you took tests in high school? At the time they may have seemed hard. But imagine if you had to take an elementary school test when you were in high school. You’d probably think – oh this is so simple.
Over the past month, it seems that we’ve been dealing with different internet issues … and hopefully, these issues will be resolved sooner rather than later. Being that the bulk of our ministry is based upon the internet, it can be problematic at times, especially when you’re suddenly disconnected from the web!
As we continue this study of the Dead Sea scrolls, authorities announced the discovery of several more scrolls as their extensive search for more hidden caves and treasures continues. Given the “coincidence” of the events described in previous devotionals, God’s providential involvement in these developments becomes clear. His Word tells us what is about to happen, and new discoveries of Biblical texts seem to be directly related to modern prophetic fulfillments.
As we continue this study of the Dead Sea Scrolls we jump to 1963 and the unearthing of Masada.
Flavius Josephus the Jewish historian recorded the tragic events at Masada in “The Jewish Wars.” Masada was ignored for years as it reminded the Rabbis of the failures of the many false messiahs that appeared after Yeshua (Jesus).