LIVING A VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIFE

Seven Essentials of Living the Victorious Christian Life

By Pastor Don Nicely

We live in a day and age where it is common to do your own thing. Even though the bible is clear on the essentials of walking a victorious Christian experience many choose to serve God their own way.

This independent attitude is a direct challenge to the words of Jesus to his first disciples. “Follow me” Matt. 9:9

I personally believe that if Jesus is truly Lord and savior of your life you will sincerely desire to follow him. Only by following him are we assured that our Christian experience will be fruitful and victorious. Friends it’s God plan for you to be successful;

Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) 11For I know the thoughts (plans) that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts (plans) of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Let’s now look at the seven essential practices that will assure your success in your Christian journey.

We must first be born again;

John 3:3 (NKJV) 3Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

We must first be born again (spiritually) in order to spend an eternity with God physically in his kingdom. 1 Peter 1:23 informs us that we are not born again of corruptible seed as we were with Adam, but of the incorruptible seed of God’s word.

“Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever”

A Christian is someone who has allowed the incorruptible seed of God’s word to be planted in their life. When a person is genuinely born again real fruit will begin to grow in their life. Matthew 7:16 (NKJV) 16You will know them by their fruits

In other words if you are really born again you will want to do what the bible commands you to do.

The second essential is to fall in love with the word of God;

In order to grow healthy spiritually we must hear God speak to us. And since the bible is God’s primary way of speaking to us we must constantly be reading it to get God’s perfect will for our lives.

As a plant needs water, and a baby needs milk, and an adult needs bread to grow and survive we also spiritually need the water of the word;

Ephesians 5:26 (NKJV) 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, The milk of the word;

1 Peter 2:2 (NKJV) 2 as newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, And the bread of the word for our survival; Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)… ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’

These three things are necessary for us to grow healthy spiritual lives.

The next essential is prayer; Prayer is best described as quite simply talking to God. It should be done each and every day of our Christian life. Daily communication with the son of God is like a plant flourishing in the sunlight. I believe God giving the ability to speak to humans was God’s intension for us to have intimate communion with him. Although there are many types of prayers, there are three that apply to each of us.

Three types of prayer

• Praise and worship; Which is expressing appreciation to God for what he has done for us.

• Thanksgiving; Expressing thanks to God for what he does in our lives and for what he is about to do for us as well.

• Petition; Taking the time to ask God for specific requests for our needs and others needs as well.

The forth essential is fellowship;

As every little child needs and requires the care of a family to develop properly, so must new Christians have the care and assistance of more mature believers in order to develop and grow properly. Good soil is a necessity for a plant to produce good healthy fruit.

And we Christians are known as the planting of the Lord, so we as well need the good soil of genuine Christian fellowship to produce the type of fruit that is pleasing to God. Ephesians 2:19 (NKJV) 19Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, We are now members of God’s household and we must remain in constant fellowship with his people in order to develop properly.

Next find the church that God wants you to attend and work through;

Many think that man invented the church, but we must remember that God specifically designed the church to be a place of safety and growth for his people. Within a healthy church environment the church’s structure and ministries will enable each Christian to be properly cared for. Every Christian needs the protective covering of the church. As we see the return of Christ coming closer the bible warns us that we must faithfully attend church even more.

Hebrews 10:25 (NKJV) 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The bible also encourages church attendance for proper spiritual growth;

Psalms 92:13 (NKJV) 13 Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God.

The sixth essential is to witness our faith;

In every town, burg, and city across America and around the world there are people that have no understanding of what Jesus has done for them. They are facing a certainty in hell and an eternity apart from God, unless someone warns them of the wrath to come on their lives. Friends every living thing must exhale to grow properly and stay fit. For Christians when we share our faith with others who don’t know Christ, we are exhaling the power that God has put in us for the purpose of witnessing.

Acts 1:8 (NKJV) 8. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Christians need to regularly share their faith in order to have a balanced Christian walk.

Romans 10:14 (NKJV) 14. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

Finally we must do spiritual warfare;

Open your eyes and see the great spiritual warfare that is going on around us. We have three enemies that we are constantly involved in a spiritual battle with. First the world is always pulling at us. The enticements of the world are like weeds trying to choke out the life of Christ that is in us. But God is greater;

1 John 4:4 (NKJV) 4. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Next our flesh or sinful human nature will attempt to keep us from totally surrendering to Christ. Look at God’s promise against the flesh in Romans.

Romans 8:9 (NKJV) 9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

We are spiritual people living in the spirit and not in the flesh, so as Jesus overcame the flesh by the power of the Spirit so can we through his power.

And finally we have a devil to contend with; the devil and his destructive beings called demons are always endeavoring to destroy the potential fruit God desires to produce in our lives, but the promise is that we don’t have to do as he says, but instead we can stand against him. If we submit to God first;

James 4:7 (NKJV) 7. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.