Victory is In Following Jesus

I like to Win. That’s It!

I remember my grandmother, she lived in Ohio so we didn’t often get to see her. She would live with us a couple weeks out of the year and while my mother taught piano she would play games with us.

One of my favorites was Skipbo and the idea was to get rid of the pile in the middle first. While she wasn’t looking, I would take some from the pile, just to make sure I would win.

I would win all the time. And the one time I didn’t I remember stomping off in an absolute rage.

I like to Win. That’s It!

It is hard for me to watch Louisiana sports this year. LSU. The Saints losing three time in a row.

My beloved Pelicans. Seriously. Do we have to be the absolute worst.

And then these couple of years.

Do you know that not one event that we have planned has gone according to plan.

Torrential rains, cancelations, modifications. Covid has raged over and over again.

And if that wasn’t enough Hurricane Ida came for the gut punch. Homes and Jobs destroyed.

Everyone is in some type of rebuild that will be indefinite.

My real job is as executive director of Hope Extreme which is the nonprofit side of what we do and last week was in a meeting with important people from Terrebonne, Lafourche, and Grand Isle. And wow!!

As I was sitting at my table heading discussions with layers, sheriffs, judges, Lafourche Parish vice superintendents, and Fema it became so overwhelming. Food shortages, rebuild, inadequate insurance and fema representation, mental health, education, and overall well being which Louisiana was already last in….

You just started feeling like a loser with a capital L. (You know when they post it on foreheads)

And then we haven’t even talked about things happening within our homes individually.

Our marriages that we know are not where they need to be, as our selfishness continues to rule them. Children that we pray for, that we see absolutely no difference in. Loved ones that we cry out for in salvation, and they continue to do their own thing. Jobs that we struggle to live for the Lord in.

And then the voice of the Lord that has seemed so distant, bible times that lack his power…

Struggles and sin that continues to overcome…every situation that seems to end in defeat.

And we question, “Is God Really Victorious? Does He really keep His promises?

Even when your situation is not victorious, God is.

Hebrews 11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

1. Victory is in Drawing Near (when was the last time you drew near?)

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

2. Victory is in Obedience (the results are Lords, my part is obedience)

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised (losers in this world), but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

3. Victory is in turning away from Sin

29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,[a] they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

4. Victory is in our Future Promise

Maybe we have a distorted view of what winning is.

We think Victory is winning. Victory is Being seen. We think trophies are victory.

But in the Kingdom, Victory is simply following the King!!

Drawing Near. Obedience. Getting Rid of Sin. Future Promise.

No Matter the Outcome. Win or Lose. Remembered on Not. Big or Small.

It’s interesting in our culture today, particularly in sports, athletes don’t stay put like they use to. Particularly in basketball, its like who is on our team this year and what team did they come from? They chase money, fame, a winning team, bigger crowds, more attention.

Because we value “the victory” more than “how we got to the victory.”

Because we value “the victory” more than the “Victor.”

Where is the Kobe Bryant who stayed his whole career with the Lakers. Ray Lewis types who played with the Baltimore Ravens his entire career. Troy Palamou with the good hair who kicked it with the Steelers. The guys who are like win or lose, I’m riding with ya!!

You are not losing when you are following Jesus.

Drawing Near. Obedience. Getting Rid of Sin. Future Promise.

No Matter the Outcome. Win or Lose. Remembered on Not. Big or Small.

Victory is in Following Jesus.

In 1912, medical missionary Dr. William Leslie went to live and minister to tribal people in a remote corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After 17 years he returned to the U.S. a discouraged man – believing he failed to make an impact for Christ. He died nine years after his return.

But in 2010, a team led by Eric Ramsey with Tom Cox World Ministries made a shocking and sensational discovery. They found a network of reproducing churches hidden like glittering diamonds in the dense jungle across the Kwilu River from Vanga, where Dr. Leslie was stationed. With the help of a Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot, Ramsey and his team flew east from Kinshasa to Vanga, a two and a half hour flight in a Cessna Caravan. After they reached Vanga, they hiked a mile to the Kwilu River and used dugout canoes to cross the half-mile-wide expanse. Then they hiked with backpacks another 10 miles into the jungle before they reached the first village of the Yansi people.

Based on his previous research, Ramsey thought the Yansi in this remote area might have some exposure to the name of Jesus, but no real understanding of who He is. They were unprepared for their remarkable find. “When we got in there, we found a network of reproducing churches throughout the jungle,” Ramsey reports. “Each village had its own gospel choir, although they wouldn’t call it that,” he notes. “They wrote their own songs and would have sing-offs from village to village.”

In the world’s eyes Dr Leslie died a Loser….In God’s eyes, a Victor’s Crown.

“He would teach the Bible, taught the tribal children how to read and write, talked about the importance of education, and told Bible stories,” Ramsey notes. Dr. Leslie started the first organized educational system in these villages, Ramsey learned. Born in Ontario, Canada, William H. Leslie followed his intended profession as a pharmacist until his conversionin 1888. He moved to the Chicago area, where God began to grip his heart with the desire to become a medical missionary. Dr. Leslie initiated his Congo service in 1893 at Banza-Manteke. Two years later he developed a serious illness. A young missionary named Clara Hill took care of him until he recovered. Their budding friendship ripened into love and a marriage proposal. They were wed in 1896. “His goal was to spread Christianity. He felt like he was there for 17 years and he never really made a big impact, but the legacy he left is huge.”

Drawing near, obedience, getting rid of sin, future promise.