HOW TO BE A WINNER

Base Text: 1 Samuel 14:48

INTRODUCTION

Last Sunday I spoke about the title "From Victim to Victor." Today I want to explain: And how can I be a winner?

The root of the word in Hebrew, Natsach (נָצַח) implies permanently surpassing the enemy, it implies superior brilliance. This is described very well in:

Psalms 108:13 — "With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies."

Being a conqueror according to Psalm 60 where this phrase "With God we will gain the victory" is repeated, in headings such as Psalms 60: "For the director of music (lamnatseach). To the tune of 'The Lily of the Covenant'. A miktam of David. For teaching.", indicates dedication to the one who "overcomes" calamities, symbolizing eternal divine victory, not temporal. The etymology connects with permanence (non-reversible defeat).

In biblical history we can learn many things, but one of the few that we observe is the opportunity of what many could have been, but were not, because of their rebellion, for not changing their personality, for not believing in God, and even though they saw it, they preferred to be defeated.

The Story of Saul

This is the story of Saul. The base text says how Saul largely defeated his enemies (vs 48) but he stopped defeating them. Saul could have been the most prominent King of Israel, but his decisions led him to be defeated, a seeker of witches, and he ended up committing suicide.

1 Samuel 14:47 — "After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side... wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them."

Example from 2 Kings 13

On several occasions Israel did not defeat their enemies because they lacked Faith in God, they did not trust and their "Defeatist" personality did not allow them to advance:

2 Kings 13:18-19 — "Then he said, 'Take the arrows,' and the king took them. Elisha told him, 'Strike the ground.' He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, 'You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.'"

Some try once or twice, but are defeated.

The Spiritual Battle

How are we going to defeat our enemies? "They are not blood and flesh" but:

• Principalities
• Powers
• Hosts
• Defeatist thoughts
• Deformed personality

1. WITH THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION

Philippians 3:10 — "I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death."

Meaning of Dunamis

The word power in the Old Testament appears 52 times and in Greek it is said "Dunamis" which means "Dynamite".

Dynamite in the context of Spanish is a word that came from the Swedish language: explosive and destructive material. The power of the resurrection, the dynamite that is in the death and resurrection of Christ is powerful to destroy all myths, thoughts, personalities, etc.

a. In Christ we are more than conquerors

Romans 8:37 — "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

Christ defeated death:

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 — "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Revelation 1:18 — "I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."

Hebrews 2:14-15 — "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."

Christ had to die. There he defeated diseases, with his death he paid the price of sin, so that man would be free from all ties, from all thoughts.

Isaiah 53 — "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering."

Isaiah 61:1-3 — (Read)

That power that raised Jesus from the dead two thousand years ago is available to transform the weaknesses of life into strengths. You just have to take it and say: "Yes, it can be done. I want to be a winner."

The power of God will annul all the past, eliminates, neutralizes the curses, the usual failure.

2. THE POWER OF GOD WILL CHANGE YOUR PERSONALITY

The power of resurrection allows him to overturn his past and overcome his problems, but that's not all he does. It also helps to change the personality (victim) (suffered) for someone who wins, for someone who overcomes.

Reflection Questions:

• What would you like to change about yourself and how would you do it?
• What changes would your spouse like to see in you? For example, a wife says of her husband: "He is very temperamental"... "90 percent temperament and 10 mental."
• Complete the following sentence Is it typical of me...?
  • Is it like me to always be late?
  • Is it like me to screw up?
  • Is it like me to always start and never finish?
  • Is it like me to explode, get depressed and angry?

a. God uses process to change

I said this word a few days ago: "Let's continue in the process" and someone said "More?" But process does not mean "defeat." Process is change, until we reach the stature of a perfect man:

Ephesians 4:13

2 Corinthians 5:17 — "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

This is a crucial moment: submitting our lives to Christ, a new life begins "born again." Being born for the first time is just the beginning, all this is followed by a process:

Romans 12:2 — "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Someone paraphrased this way:

"Do not allow the world around you to squeeze you into its own mold, but let God renew you in a way that changes the attitude of your mind. Thus you will see in practice that the will of God is good, pleasing to him and perfect."

The Fruit of the Spirit

God's purpose is for us to bear fruit, and this is the result of the Holy Spirit:

Galatians 5:22-24 — "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

These are the characteristics we need to be winners. You can't get this on the street corner, no one sells potions to spread and change. It is the power of God that transforms us.

Application Questions:

• How many of the people you work with exhibit these qualities?
• Could those who know you say that these qualities describe you?

The opposite reality:

The sad thing about all of this is that instead of loving, we can often be seen as unfriendly. Instead of living happily, we feel defeated, depressed, discouraged. Instead of experiencing peace, we feel tense and oppressed.

Instead of being patient we live irritated, instead of being kind there is selfishness, instead of being faithful we fail in our commitments. We are given to responding with anger or resentment instead of being humble, instead of having self-control, we see life torn to pieces.

b. Don't put it off

Ecclesiastes 9:10 — "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."

Only one thing will prevent change, and it is not the devil (he has already been defeated), nor is it the circumstances. It is Procrastination or rather putting things off.

The saying "I better start tomorrow" or "next month." How many people want to diet to lose weight, but they always live saying "better tomorrow" or "next month" or "next year."

Why spend another night with the frogs?

A sentence I read in a book said: Why spend another night with the frogs?

The Egyptians had many false gods. God confronted them with the 10 plagues, each plague in Egypt represented a god. For example, they worshiped lice and God sent them many lice, they worshiped frogs and God sent them many frogs.

When Pharaoh at the Frogs gave up, he ordered Moses to please tell God to take away the frogs:

Exodus 8:9-10 — "Moses said to Pharaoh, 'I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.' 'Tomorrow,' Pharaoh said."

Final questions:

• What would you ask for?
• Why would anyone want to spend one more night with frogs?
• Why are there people who know that it is wrong and do not decide to change?

Years go by over and over again in the same situation. They cannot receive miracles, they postpone. Others have not been born again.

CONCLUSION

This change comes from the spiritual, and it is not the other way around. It does not begin in the flesh, it comes from the deepest depths. If you don't start there, nothing can happen. It doesn't happen overnight, this comes in the process.

Sketch based on the preaching of Pastor Josue Angarita - Portal Campestre MMM Church, Giron, Santander.