Good evening. Thank you once again for allowing us to come to your home. I have a great word for you tonight. Do you want to walk in victory?
Do you want to walk in victory? You know God's word tells us that we have victory in Jesus Christ. When we look around and we see so many people, they're not walking in that victory. They may have it, but they're not walking in it.
Do you want to walk in victory? What does victory look like if you had it? So today I want to share with you a message called the Five Characteristics of a Victoria's Life. It's not the only five characteristics of a Victoria's Life, but it's if you have these five things, you are going to be headed for walking, manifesting the victory of Jesus Christ in your life.
It's going to the surface and I'll be back in a few moments. Characteristics of a Victoria's Life. Now sometimes to try to understand what something looks like, we can get a picture of what something does not look like. So I want to tell you a story about a little boy.
His name was Johnny. Yes, yes, yes. I don't know why his name is Johnny. His name is always Johnny.
But his name is Johnny. My boy's name is Johnny. And Lil Johnny lived out in the country, way out in the country, and with his mom and with his dad, and they were Christian people, mom and they were Christian people, and they live out in the country. They only went to town once a month.
And as a result of that, they had this huge pantry. They had this huge pantry and it had a little light in the pantry, but the light in the pantry didn't light up the entire pantry. And so as it happened, Johnny's home for the weekend, and Johnny's mom got sick. She wasn't like sick sick, real bad sick, but she didn't feel well.
And so dad said, as dad's often do, say, hey baby, I'm going to cook dinner for you tonight. I used to rest and relax and I'm going to cook dinner for you tonight. And he came from the Tony Collins School of Cooking. And so for his honey bunch, what he was going to cook was some grilled cheese and tomato soup.
Hey, don't laugh until you had it, okay? So grilled cheese and tomato soup, that's what he was going to cook. And he said to little Johnny, who's in the kitchen helping dad out, Johnny, go into the pantry, into the back of the pantry and bring me a can of tomato soup. And so Johnny says, no dad, I don't want to, dad, it's dark in there.
He says, what turn the light on and get me to the tomato soup? And he said, no dad, it's too dark, tomato soup is way back in the back and it's too dark. And so they said, boy, go in and get me to the soup, not go in and get me to the soup. And he said, no dad, no, he could just see, Johnny's just in pain, he's right.
He's so fearful to go into the pantry and get tomato soup. So finally that sort of acquiescence, tell you what, since Johnny, he says, go get the soup, and the good news is when you go into the pantry, he said Jesus is going to be with you in the pantry. So go in the pantry, get the soup, bring dad the soup. So Johnny goes over to the pantry, turns the light on, he looks into the pantry and he's dark back there, I don't know, so Johnny gets it, here's Johnny's answer, Johnny says, Jesus, my dad said that if I go in the pantry, you're going to be in the pantry with me.
Jesus, if you're in the pantry, hand me the can of tomato soup. That is not a picture of Victoria's living. That's a picture of the feet of living, because a picture of Victoria's living is I go into the area that I have fear about just because my dad had told me. Come on somebody, that I have enough faith in character, I have faith in the character and love of my father, that I know he would never send me somewhere that I would not be protected, and feel the because he told me to go, I go into the pantry, are you living the Victoria's life today?
Five things real quick, five things real quick, five characteristics of the Victoria's life. First one, verse one, he says, fret not, fret not that self because of evil doers, don't get upset, don't get excited, don't get in the out of shape, don't get angry about people that are wicked that seem to prosper. Don't let it go, people are persecuting you on your job, don't get all in the shape of it, understand that it's not personal, it's spiritual. Don't fret, don't fret about it, because if you get angry about it, you'll make a decision that will dishonor God and move you out of position for God to work in your life, because if you don't fret, if you don't get angry about it, if you don't try to take it into your hands, God's work says, in my time and in my season, they're going to wither and they're going to fade.
Number two, to be able to not be fret, you're going to have to trust. He says here that you're going to have to trust in the Lord and do good. So if you're treating me bad, but I'm going to do you good, if you're treating me bad, but I'm praying for you the whole time, you're trying to cut my throat, trying to cut my tires, trying to take food out, I'm a mountain, I'm a pocket, I'm praying for you the whole time. Word tells me, first of all, if I do you good when you're doing me wrong, I'm keeping hot coals on your hands, that's what the word says.
So really, by doing you good, I'm really getting back at you by doing you good, but I'm honoring God in the process. But to trust and to do good, I have to have a spirit that understands that God is going to take care of this in his own time. There's nothing that you can do to me that God can't take and turn it around. I don't care what you do to me, in the name of Jesus Christ, come on Romans X-28, everything works to the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to us, so no matter what you do to me, you can profaim, you can cut me, you can throw me out, you can knock me down, you can run me over, you can get out and shoot me in the head four times and lead me for a dead Paul, even the name of Christ, Christ is a God of a turnaround.
So I'm not trusting in men, I wish I had some help in here today, I'm not trusting for men, to bless me to give me favor, I'm trusting in God. When you're trusting God, you understand the character of God, you understand the love of Jesus Christ, you understand he died on the cross for you, even when you hated him, even when you were trying to tear down his kingdom, he loved you his creation so much, and he died on the cross for you, now that you have become his and that he is yours, surely you must understand that you are safe with Jesus. So if I am safe with Christ, he's the one that created everything with his words, he really is the one that holds everything together by the power of his words, he really is the one that is everywhere at the same time, or in other words, he steps out of time, and if this is time, the beginning of time, and this is the end of time, he stands on the outside of it and he looks at it, that's why he says, a day is not a thousand years, not a thousand years of the day, I see it all right now right before me, and he can do anything, no one can stop it but what he does, he knows everything, but he loves me, he's in love with me, I can be carefree, I can trust him, do what he told me to do, and no, not only is everything going to work out, all right, but it's going to be our grand slam, he said exceedingly abundantly above all the stupid ass stuff, so I got to trust in the Lord, the reason I'm going to trust him, because I understand his word, not his word won't fail, his word can't fail, if he walked in here, oh, I know you're in here, but if he showed up in the person and he looked at the carpet, it said the carpet is blue, that's blue carpet, and you look at one moment and said no, that's red, oh it is blue carpet, because whatever he says, it happens in the next day, and he says, it happens in the name of Jesus Christ, so God has spoken a promise over your life, I love to say this, God has spoken a promise over your life, and here you are, here you are in time, and you're here, and God has spoken a promise, it's not that the promise has not been fulfilled, the promise has already been fulfilled, you're just waiting for time to catch up to his word, so you gotta fret now and you gotta trust God, you gotta trust the Lord. In fact Anthony Collins is a strong element to Christian mission maturity in ministry, if so, you will find 10 things every church member should know by Anthony Collins to be a relevant contribution toward this spiritual objective, 10 things every church member should know by Anthony Collins is both spiritual and practical, this book offers excellent tools to help anyone handle the business and ministry of the church with excellence, whether it is serving as part of the usher ministry or developing leaders, or growing disciples, the practical applications and implications of 10 things every church member should know by Anthony Collins are enormous, if you desire to make a positive change in your home or in your congregation, if you are currently a leader, or desire to become Funds in any capacity If you are currently a leader or desire to become one in any capacity, this book is a must read.
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Don't wait, order today and watch the Hand of God move in your life. Five characteristics of Victoria's Life. When you got a friend not, don't get upset with people, get crazy on your number two. Trust in the Lord.
Thirdly is you got to have some delight. Now, we want to, we love the manuscripts throughout. We like to look back at the scripts throughout. That says, he will give you this as your heart.
I'm standing down here at the infinity dealership. Claim a lie, you're going to give me this as my heart. I'm standing at the new house that I want in this great neighborhood. And I say, Lord, you're going to give me this as my heart.
The child is acting crazy. And Lord, I want you to step into their life. And I say, Lord, you're going to give me this as my heart. But you forgot the first part of the verse.
The first part of the verse says, you got to delight yourself in the Lord. Now, here's the question. The Holy Spirit just begs to be asked, how many of us really delight ourselves in the Lord? Do you delight yourselves?
What's that look like? He says, if you delight yourself in me, I'll give you the desire. So do you receive enjoyment in the person of Jesus Christ and the things of God? Can I get amen?
Do you receive enjoyment from the person of Jesus Christ and the things of God? Do you get enjoyment by coming to church? Do you get enjoyment by reading the Bible? Do you get enjoyment through the Word and coffee?
Do you get enjoyment by hanging out with Christian people? Because if you can find a way to delight yourself in the Lord, you can find a way to appreciate what God has done. And you're like, oh, Jesus, if you were in your Wednesday night, man, I had appreciated a Wednesday night, man, that spoke a word that was so strong. He said one of the challenges of the church, one of the challenges of this people in general, but one of the challenges of churches, that we're always looking for what's coming.
You know, God, God, God, God, God, God, I promise, right? No matter where you are, no matter how blessed you are, there's more. And God wants to move you from where you are to the next glory. He's a God that moves from glory to glory to glory to glory to glory.
And so we're so quick to be looking to the next thing that we forget to be grateful for where we are right now. To be thankful what we have right now, because I want you to know how to worship. You got a lot. I want to preach what you guys are talking about and say, man, you ought to be thankful.
Do you know how rare it is? What you experienced this morning for those of you who were here for the worship service, but if you experienced this morning and worship, there are people all over the world who are begging to have what you took for granted this morning, the name of Jesus Christ. They are looking for the presence of God, the name of Jesus Christ. You got a lot.
Do you like yourself in Lord? It's your joy, Jesus Christ. It's your joy. Are you just happy because you're here and he's yours.
I mean, just happy. I mean, just wake up in the morning and say, well, I thank you. I bless you, Lord. I don't know what's going to happen today, but whatever it is, it's going to be good.
It's going to work out, Father, because I'm yours and you and my are we too busy trying to get to the next thing? We're trying to get to the next car, to the next house, to the next room, to the next parachute, to the next promotion on my job, to the next man, to the next woman, whatever it is. Are we always trying to go to the next thing? But it's God, our desire.
It's God, our heart. Are you excited about Jesus? Fred, not trust in the Lord. Delight yourself in the Lord.
Number four, commit. Now you're not going to like me now. You're not going to like me right now. Because the Holy Spirit has told me to tell you some stuff that you're not going to like.
Please don't get angry with me. I'm just serving to you what he said to serve. If it's true what I'm about to say, and it is, just take it and just drop your head down. Don't get angry.
Don't get angry at me. God's trying to bless you. Amen? God's trying to encourage you.
Amen? Okay. This is an area here. Look at these five things.
This thing about the lighting in the lower, this area, we can use some work in. Okay? All right. Just the church universal.
I'm talking about universal and church universal. Here, this is another thing. Commit. This is another area that we need some work in.
Not you individually, not you house a worship church family, but just the church universal. Okay? So commitment is about removing all hesitation, removing your my contempt for the will of God in my life. Uh-oh.
I told you. I told you when I lied to you. I'm like, forgive me. Let me give you an example.
I got a fret down so I trust. I'm not going to delight until I trust. And I'm going to have a hard time committing until I learn how to delight. Let me tell you what commitment is.
Okay? Let me tell you what the Holy Spirit told me to tell you. It gets on you. I'm sorry.
It gets on you. But I got to you. Here's an example commitment. I'm not going to take a job where I work on Sunday.
And if, and I understand sometimes it's just so rough and so humble that you can sit a bad sick financially. You got to take a first thing flying. Okay? Okay?
I'm saying that. All right. If I do take a job where I work on Sunday, I'm praying so hard against it. I'm going to give me something else.
I'm going to so hard to try to find it. I'm getting out of working on Sunday. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm saying that every night I need somebody. I've had jobs where every night I need to work on Sunday.
I get that, but not where I consistently work on Sunday. That's commitment. My children help me. My children are not going to participate in activities that cause them, cause us not to be at church.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Because when I do that, I'm sending the message that whatever the activity is, it's more important than church.
Holy Spirit said that we are more committed to our jobs than we are to serving Him. That it could be 22 degrees outside and like snow on the ground, and we're going to try to find out where to get to the job cause we get to the job we're not going to get paid. But we put it on the heartbeat and say, hey, I ain't going to, I ain't going to, I can't, I can't, I can't make it today. But you don't understand the coming church, there's a reward for coming to church.
He's asking us, in essence what he's saying is, in trust, every situation, every day, every moment, every week, all of life's doing, trust it to me. Everything's, I need to have a job, absolutely to have a job and name it, you just cry. And this job, this job, on Sunday's job, I work on Sunday, it pays me more than the job that I don't work on. Okay, I get that.
But can God take the job where you are that doesn't work on Sunday, when you're decided you're going to honor God, can He take that job and promote you on that job? See, here's, here's the thing that I have learned over 11 years of being a pastor, four years of being an associate minister, so many years of being in church is if I put God first, boy, go in there and give me that tomato soup. Go in there in that dark room and bring me out some tomato soup and little Chinese going, man, there's lions and tigers and bears in there. I just don't know, I don't know that there's the devil's in there.
I don't know what's in there. Whatever it is, my imagination is telling me, it's horrible in there. I'm going to go in there and never come out again. And we do the same thing, we do the same thing when it comes to trusting Him and committing ourselves to Him.
And the devil comes and says, hey, if you don't do this, all this is going to happen and this is going to happen and this is going to happen and that's going to be horrible. He says, can I, where can I find one who has the Spirit of the Lord in them that's going to say, no matter what it is for God, I'm going to commit you first and then the name of Jesus Christ, whatever comes out of that. I'm good with the Lord. He's looking for those who are going to say, your way's my way.
He's looking for those who are going to say, just like when you get married, it's just playing 8. There's no playing beat. If you're going to your marriage with playing beat, promise you it failed. If you got a playing beat in your marriage right now, it's failing.
I promise you. There is no playing beat. I'm going with you Lord God for better for worse, for richer for poor, for neither rain or slow nor heat nor sleep nor health nor darkness or travelle. No matter what Lord God, whatever happens, I'm going with you.
And lastly, this week is relax. Relax. It's not that big of a deal. Take a rest.
Take a chill pill. Go to the back of the boat and lay down and go to sleep. Because here is the deal. If you've ever reached a point where you are no longer fretting about what other people are doing in your life and you understand that God's going to take care of it.
Now you are just trusting in the Lord with all your heart. You're delighting yourself in the Lord Jesus. He's my joy. He's my peace.
He's my all and all. Lord, I'm going to do it your way. I've committed to you Lord God. You're just slaving your slaving, but I know you love me.
So I know you're going to bless me. You're going to lift me up. You're going to prosper me. You're going to expand my territory.
You're going to mess with them back because you're going to bless me big publicly in the name of Jesus Christ. You scream your promise publicly and you bless publicly. The name of Jesus Christ for your glory Lord God. And I get to that place.
Hey man, you just got fire from your job. That's the peace. That's the past has all understanding. Stay with me.
That's the peace that believers use as a weapon. That's what the word says. The word says that the devil has tried to wreak havoc in your life. He mess with you.
He mess with honey bonds. He mess with the kids. He mess with the job. He mess with the money.
He mess with your health. Whatever it is that he had permission to mess with. Whatever it is you get some stupid and you open the door to let him come into mess with. Whatever it is that he's messing with.
In the name of Jesus Christ. You got to know in the name of Jesus Christ that you got victory in Jesus. He done done all that he can do. But you still here.
He wasn't in charge. You already did. He already lost your mind. You should have been in jail.
You should have been in jail. You should have lost your mind in the name of Jesus Christ. But you got to know the name of Christ that God is for you. Relax man.
Take it to your people. It's not that big deal. Really. God's got it.
And here it is. It's not even your fight. It's not even about you. I know we like to think it's about us.
One thing that Double does is he brings our focus down so everything's about us. Everything's about us. I'm the only one. I got it so bad.
Oh, it's so horrible. Oh, but you got it. It's not even about you. It's about God.
It's adversary. Only reason you're in the mix is because God loves you. It's not your fight. Because here it is.
You in the Devil? That's not a match. The Devil trample over you. Beat you up.
Let me slap you up. Let me slap you up. Put him in the flesh. Use out back in the alley behind the dumpster.
Get in your brains. Beat out by the Devil and think you were living a good life. But then you got captured by grace. And while you in the Devil, that's not a match.
The Devil and the Lord. That's definitely not a match. Second Coronicals 2015 says for the Balazs, not yours, but the Lord. Psalms 46 and 10 says, be still and know.
Quick fretting about it. Quick wiggling over it. Quick tossing and turning. Quick scheming and trying to think of what you're going to do next to make it happen.
In the name of Jesus Christ, be still. And know I'm God. And my purpose, it will be exalted among the nations that will be exalted in the earth. And in the name of Jesus Christ, if you let it, it's going to be exalted in your life.
And when I'm exalted, victory is going to be all over you. Victory is going to be all over you and your then you shall see day. It will have arrived. Finally, time would have caught up with the promise of God.
But God's desire for you and God's desire for me is that we will walk in victory. Not just have it, but walk in it. Five of the characteristics of a victorious life is, fret not, trust. Lighten him, commit, and rest.
Give God a praise. Give God a praise. Victory, victory, victory. I have, you have, we have victory in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone.
Are you showing the five characteristics of a victorious life? I pray that you are. And if you're not, maybe the question, maybe the answer is that you don't have that victory because you don't have a personal relationship with Christ. He wants you to have that.
He loves you. He longs to have a relationship with you. He's calling you into that relationship. All you have to do is ask Christ to be Lord of your life.
Just pray a short prayer and say, Lord Jesus, I'm asking you to be Lord of my life. I surrender my heart, my mind, my soul, my spirit, all of who I am, I give it to you Lord, that you might be King in my life. You've done that tonight. That's short.
That's sweet. That's all you have to do and mean it. You've done that tonight. Just let us know.
We want to pray with you. We want to pray with you. We want to pray with you. We're praying for you and we're praying for you and wishing God's best for you.
That's all we have. Time for this week. We're gonna see you next week, same, same place. Have a blessed week.
Walk in God's favor. Tell somebody today about why you love Jesus. Have a blessed week. Bye-bye.