by Jim Travis
Many times when trying to determine the outcome of a situation, we look to our past experiences. I find that this is true in many places, but especially in Christian circles, and often in prayer as well. I have been in prayer groups, where we would pray for someone who had a debilitating condition, and we would pray, but then someone would say, “you know, there was a great Christian who had this condition, and they died”… and the moment that was said, it was as if it sucked all of the belief out of the room. People’s thoughts were moved from, “Yes God is a great Healer”, to, “Well if that great Christian died, I guess God doesn’t heal”.
We tend to allow our experiences to determine our future, even without being consciously aware that we are doing it. And we also are influenced by all of the negativity floating around from all of the other people who do the same. So today we will be looking at what God Himself says about your future, about His outlook and forecast for your life… unlike the weather, His forecast is always one-hundred percent reliable and trustworthy.
by Jim Travis
Have you ever listened to people in church during a casual conversation? Many times what I have heard is not them talking about the victories that they are having in Christ, but instead they are talking about what the devil is doing in their lives. I often hear things such as “Oh, that old devil, he's just having a hey-day in my life.”, “he's just sifting me as he sifted Job.”, or “I guess I'm just his target this week.”
These are not statements of victory, and they are not even truly scriptural for the kind of life that we as believers should be living in Christ Jesus today.
That's why in this study, we will be examining what the Bible says regarding our reality today in Christ, and the truth of the defeated status of the enemy. By exposing the common lies being propagated among believers and shining the light of Christ on how utterly beaten the enemy truly is, we will be able to have confidence against the devil, instead of fear.