A winning attitude is a MUST if you want to live a life of victory, and as a child of God, you have been born INTO victory. First John 5:4 tells us that whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. You have world overcoming faith residing on the inside of you right now. When you were born again, you were born INTO it.
Have you ever observed a child who was born into wealth and a life of luxury grow up and some way or another kick against the life he/she was born into? Speaking from experience, I was always puzzled by this act of rebellion. I couldn’t understand why someone would want any other life than the one they were born into when they had everything they could ever hope for, yet this is what religion has done to so many Christians.
In Mark 4, we find what I call a master key to understanding so much about this life of victory. Regardless of what you were taught as a child or believe today, God desires you to be fruitful, and your life should exemplify this truth. It’s all about the Word—it starts as a seed, which grows into fruit, and this is what Satan is after—the WORD.
For some, like Eve, when the Word is sown, it doesn’t even make it past the front door. Satan came immediately to her and questioned what God said. She took the bait and you know the rest of the story. This is what I call one of Satan’s overt operations. Religious people constantly fall for Satan’s overt operations. They question the truth because it doesn’t line up with their religious beliefs.
Then there are covert operations found in Mark 4 such as afflictions, persecution, cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches, and lusts of other things. Satan also uses these things to take away the Word that has been sown – all to stop fruitfulness in our lives.
So what is the answer? Once you get to the place in life where you have proven the Word and your life is fruitful on some level, how do you continue bearing fruit?
Develop mental toughness. For most people who consider themselves “word of faith,” this is where they stop fighting, and therefore, their lives stop bearing fruit. One of my favorite people in the Bible is David. His attitude of victory and spirit of faith always stirs me up, but there were men who followed him—his captains who were also giant killers. Second Samuel 23:11-12 tells of one in particular, Shammah.
And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentils: and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD WROUGHT A GREAT VICTORY.
After everyone fled, Shammah stood alone in that field of grass and kept swinging his sword. What was it that caused him to continue fighting? MENTAL TOUGHNESS. Though he could have saved his life by running with the others, he was unwilling to lose that battle. This mental toughness, my friend, is an absolute necessity to live the life that Jesus provided for you.
I believe the reason that particular ground was important to Shammah was that it was the ground that God had given him. It was part of his inheritance, and it meant enough to Shammah that when everyone else ran, he stood his ground and refused to give up. He fought and fought, and the Lord gave him the victory.
Sometimes when we read the accounts of people like David, Shammah, and others, we think of them as having something special that made them warriors. But they weren’t born warriors; they became warriors because of their choices—the courage and mental toughness they developed.
In Joshua 1, there were three different times when the Lord told Joshua, be strong and courageous… He wasn’t talking about physical strength; God knew it would take mental strength and courage to complete the mission, and it is no different today.
When you were born again, you were born into a family of overcomers. Live in such a way that reveals this truth, and refuse to quit. Stand your ground like Shammah, regardless of who is or isn’t there. Remember that God has already given you that ground. So keep swinging that Sword, and God will give you the victory!