Oh the Sweet Taste of Victory!

Last night on “The 700 Club” I heard Pat Robertson respond to a question that a listener had asked: if God could not protect Jesus from death on the cross, how could she trust Him to protect her? It was a question that few would tackle probably feeling that it borders on blasphemy. However Pat took it on and responded with all the great things that followed that death on the cross – the Resurrection, seated at the right hand of the Father, the redeemer of mankind, the head of the church, the soon to be ruler of all things – just to name a few! Isaiah 25:7-9 says it best:

7 There he will remove the cloud of gloom,
the shadow of death that hangs over the earth.
8 He will swallow up death forever![a]
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears.
He will remove forever all insults and mockery
against his land and people.
The Lord has spoken!
9 In that day the people will proclaim,
“This is our God!
We trusted in him, and he saved us!
This is the Lord, in whom we trusted.
Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”(NLT)

Being a procrastinator by nature, it is very easy for me to find ways to avoid dealing with some of the tests I face. I will go to any lengths for someone else, only to find that I don’t have time, or I don’t have energy to deal with my own situations. I confess that far too often my back has been put up against a wall with no escape before I dealt with some very important issues. However, when I would go on and “bite the bullet” and proceed with that “thing” that I had been avoiding and walk it out to completion – oh the sweet taste of victory!

There are some things we can put off and they won’t affect our overall life – whether we do the wash Monday or Tuesday, in most cases won’t alter our life. There are some things however, that will alter our life. Every day we are in the dressing room – putting on, taking off – preparing as bride to meet her bridegroom – what we do with the things God reveals to us either by wind or fire – we need to deal with now!
Not to get in arguments over pre- and post-tribulation rapture – here are two scriptures to ponder…

Revelation 15:1-3 (NLT) describes the victory that those who overcame the beast and his statue –

1 Then I saw in heaven another marvelous event of great significance. Seven angels were holding the seven last plagues, which would bring God’s wrath to completion. 2 I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them. 3 And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the nations./em>

And yet 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 says:

16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Victory in both places – yet I think I want to get moving and be ready for this Thessalonian call, how about you!

Selah,
Maria

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