In 2024 Be A Victor, Not A Victim

So what kind of year did you have in 2023?  Was it a year filled with difficulties, leaving you looking forward to 2024, hoping that it’s going to be better – got to be better?  Was it a year filled with good things that you pray will just continue on into 2024 – blessed so that you might bless? Or, was it a year that, although not too difficult, it wasn’t the easiest of years you’ve ever had and you just want to believe that in 2024 the good will outweigh the bad?  

As I’ve been thinking the past couple of weeks about what I would write for this New Year’s message, I’ve come across several things that have caused me to pause and consider my year and my hopes for the upcoming year.  I want to share some of those things with you.

I receive regular emails from Intercessors For America and the message I received from them on December 23 was titled How Did You Grow in 2023?  It was an article that encouraged the reader to look back over the year and consider what God has done in our nation and in our personal lives.  Sometimes it can be easy to overlook some of the smaller things that make a difference and we need to be thankful for those as well as the big things – they add up.  I want to share with you these words of encouragement they ended the article with:  “And friend, on those days when it’s hard to find good news in this nation, or even in your church, you can always find good news if you look at God’s work in your heart. He is always at work comforting you, healing you, encouraging you, giving you rest, strengthening you, teaching you, and preparing you for the next thing He has for you — even when times are tough.”  We should all take those words to heart as we look forward to a new year.

Another daily email I get is from Texas Scorecard and within that email is always a message written by Michael Quinn Sullivan.  In today’s message, here’s one thing he shared:  “Scattered throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible are variations of the phrases ‘be strong,’ ‘be courageous,’ ‘take courage,’ and ‘fear not.’ It is almost like God knows the whole ‘I’m a victim’ thing is spiritual poison.”

When I read that, I thought about the condition of our world today and how so many people no longer have a sense of humor – everything is insulting to them.  How so many people think they’re entitled – consequently they don’t put forth any effort for what they need and want.  How so many people plead victimhood about anything and everything.  Don’t get me wrong – I know there are legitimate reasons for all of those things, but today it seems it weighs very heavily to the other side.  It’s past the time that we all need to put on our big boy/girl pants and deal with the life we’ve been handed.  We need to face our world that seems to be on fire these days with strength and courage, putting the fear behind us.

I really do love something else Mr. Sullivan said:  “Yes, there are some fearsome fights ahead of us in the new year, but it doesn’t mean we should be fearful of them. When the people of God were preparing to cross in the Promised Land, God charged their leader Joshua to, ‘Be strong and courageous… I will be with you.’ They knew they would be outnumbered in the fights to come, but they were to leave fear on the other side of the Jordan…Throughout their conquest of the land, you find Joshua and the people echoing that phrase back and forth as words of encouragement…So should we…Be strong and courageous; fear not.” 

Those of you that read my blog regularly know how much I love the devotional book I use daily and quote the author, Chris Tiegreen, often.  So today you’ll get to hear more from Mr. Tiegreen, because a devotional from a couple of weeks ago was so excellent and spoke to me about facing a new year.  The title of the devotional is He’s Victorious and the scripture passage for the day was Romans 8:31-39, but verse 37 was highlighted:  “But in all these troubles we have complete victory through God, who has shown his love for us.”  (ERV)  Here’s some things he said that I want to share with you:

“Paul had been through all sorts of persecution and hardship, both physical and relational, and he was still able to declare that we are more than conquerors through Christ.  That’s a powerful thought.  It doesn’t suggest that we might conquer, or that we barely conquer, or that we even deserve to conquer.  It insists that we are more than conquerors because we are intimately united to the ultimate Conqueror.  If the One who overcame death lives inside of us, what’s left to fear?

The hardships may come, the battles may be fierce, and the stresses may be real, but the love and power of Jesus remain undefeated.  The key to living victoriously is to know that you can.  Like an athlete in a room of trainers and encouragers, listen to the victory of Scripture as often as you can,  Be more than a conqueror.”

So as we face 2024 – a year that is shaping up to be less than the most pleasant of times for so many reasons – we need to consider God’s work in our hearts; be strong, courageous and fear not; and, to live victorious as a conqueror!

“God wants us to be victors, not victims;…to overcome, not to be overwhelmed.”  William Arthur Ward

Written by Karran Martin – December 29, 2023