More than Conquerors

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2^nd Timothy 4:7.

I grew up watching 2^nd World War movies. Tough men doing tough jobs. Men who weren’t quitters. Men who could stand any amount of difficulty to achieve the victory. Watching their endurance sent my soul soaring. I’ve always been drawn to endurance. I think that’s why the apostles and Jesus Himself are so attractive to me.

But how do you do that? How do you win? It starts in the thought life. It starts with God. “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to think anything as coming from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God.”

When Jesus fought the good fight he fought with God’s power. “Not by my might nor by my power but with the strength that comes from God alone.”

When he finished the race he recognised, “It does not depend on a person’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”

When he kept the faith it was because faith is a free gift of God. “I have obtained mercy that I might be faithful.”

Yes we are victorious, and yes we will be more than conquerors but it is all, from beginning to end by the grace of God by which we have been saved and that not of ourselves but it is a gift o f God, not of works lest any person should boast.