Video #33 - More Than a Conqueror!

The Apostle Paul tells is in Romans 8:37 that as children of God “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

I like that phrase, “more than conquerors.”  It is filled with so much power and encouragement.  It means that we haven’t just won a battle; we’ve won the war!  We are MORE than conquerors!  In the Greek language, that phrase means to over conquer, to win with success to spare, to be supremely victorious.  Isn’t that great!

So why do we have times when we feel like we are less than a conqueror?  Why do we struggle with feelings of defeat and discouragement, especially when we’ve given in – yet again – to our temptation?  It’s because we don’t yet fully understand what it means to be a conqueror.  So, let’s look at the steps we need to take to win with success to spare.

#1: Understand you can’t win on your own.  We are more than conquerors ONLY through the power Christ gives us.  He gives us that power, not because of anything we have done, or are capable of doing, but simply because of His amazing love for us.

Let this truth sink deep into your heart.  You will win the war against lust, porn and masturbation because “you are from God and have overcome, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4).  You will be victorious over sexual impurity only because “GOD is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). 

On your own you will fail.  But you’re not on your own.  Paul declared, “What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us” (Rom. 8:31)?  Never lose sight of the truth that “according to the riches of (God’s) glory he (grants) you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (Eph. 3:16).

So, to win with success to spare ... #1, understand you can’t win this war on your own..

#2: You must believe God has a plan.  Paul assures us in Romans 8:28 that “all things work together for good”.  You aren’t doing that work, God is.  “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).  Never forget that it is God “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Eph. 3:20-21).

We keep talking about God’s power.  Just think about the power that is at work within you.  Our God is the Almighty, most Holy, Sovereign God of the universe!  He has the power to create out of nothing (see Genesis 1).  He can part water, move mountains, heal the sick, and raise the dead.  God can do anything!

Now, as you begin to realize His limitless, infinite power, consider this - God says: “I know the plans I have for you ... plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11).  God has a plan for your life.  A plan for your good (Rom. 8:28). 

So, when you are feeling defeated, and you are discouraged because you let your guard down and momentarily fell on the battlefield, remember God’s plan and God’s power at work in your life.  And then step #3 …

#3: Pray!  Invest time on your knees talking with your Heavenly Father.  Tell him your frustrations, fears and admit your failures.  Cry out to him from your broken heart.  “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psa. 34:18).

To know victory, talk to the Victor!  To be able to overcome, invest time with the Overcomer!  “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” (Psa. 55:22).  Finally, step #4 ...

#4: Make the right choices.  “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.  Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on” (Prov. 4:14-15). 

Daily choose “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.  Give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph. 4:22-24, 27).  “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:11).

 “Submit yourselves therefore to God,  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (Jas. 4:7)

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About Steve Etner
Steve Etner is a National Men’s Speaker, Author and Purity Coach (www.thepuritycoach.com). He has authored many books, including “Extreme Mind Makeover: How to Transform Sinful Habits into God-Pleasing Patterns of Life”; “The Pure Man’s Devotional Guide: A Biblical Toolbox for Purity”; and “Are You A Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” 

Steve’s conferences, seminars and retreats focus on what God has to say about the way we think and the impact it has on our behavior. By teaching men how to live in moral purity by equipping them with Biblical answers, Steve’s goal is for men to have a re-ignited passion for Jesus and learn how to prepare their minds to successfully overcome their temptations and thus live pure lives for Christ.