A Fundamental Realization

Delight yourself also in the LORD,
         And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

There is not one of us upon this earth who does not deal with sin on a daily basis. There are those who do not struggle with sin because they are in collusion with the devil; therefore, they do not fight against him. However, everyone since the very beginning has dealt with sin. There has only ever been one who has not, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. I would like to share with you today one simple truth that I have come to realize about being victorious over sin. (If you are not a Christian, please do not check out. This post has something to do with you, as well.)

I feel that the above verse has been vastly misunderstood. It simply says that, when our desires match up with His desires, He will grant us the desires of our hearts, which will then also be His desires. Most people selfishly read this verse of Scripture and think that, if they live according to His Word, He will give them health, wealth, and prosperity. Simply put, that just ain’t so. It is only when we want the things that He wants for us that He will give us the desires of our hearts.

I admit that I was struggling a bit today when God reminded me of the above verse. What I realized was that to be victorious over sin we must make the above verse a reality in our lives. We are essentially in control of our own lives and what we say and do. What we want to do, we will do. If we want to give into to the ways of the devil, that is what we will do. Yes, God will convict us and tell us that what we are about to do is wrong; but if we insist on going against His Word, He will not stop us. The same truth works overtime the other way around, as well.

God has always desired for each and every one of us to love Him and live according to His Word. Therefore if we will desire to live for Him, He will grant us that desire in a heartbeat. Now, this does not mean that we will never more struggle with sin. It does mean, however, that we will more times than not come out victorious over sin and the devil.

I had to realize that the reason I was not living victoriously was because it was not my utmost desire to live victoriously. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” This tells me that whatever we dwell on is what we will ultimately be in life. If we think on sinful things, sin will be victorious over us; but if we are constantly filling our minds with the things of God’s Word, we will be victorious over sin.

I once heard Adrian Rogers quote someone who said something like, “The devil must surely say to his demons, ‘If we can keep them from praying, we will beat them every time, but if they pray, they will beat us every time.’” Do you want to live victoriously? You do? Well, “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

If you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord, however, you can begin your journey to living a victorious life today. All you have to do is turn forever from your sin and confess Jesus as Lord. If you do those two things, I promise He will save you today and keep you saved forever.