by Mark Walters

Created on: September 10, 2010

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (Romans 8:35-37).

You are invincible, if you choose to be. Christ has taken every offense hurled against you and nailed it to the cross. However, to find this source of strength, you have to depend on someone else. Are you willing to stick your neck way out and find out if God will save you? Dependence causes a certain amount of vulnerability. No? How about the last time you didn’t get what you prayed for? Can you be both invincible and vulnerable? What a paradox!

Answer: You are able, with the help of the cross. Your flesh however, has no desire to roll over and play dead. Overcoming your flesh is the very key itself to invincibility. Now, how much experience have you had at crucifixion?

“But”, you ask, “won’t this just make me vulnerable?” Absolutely; but vulnerability to the will of God, makes you invincible on a much deeper plane. When you embrace the cross, you grasp the faith to know that whatever comes into your life, good or evil, will only make you stronger.

True victory does not arise from the alleviation of our hurts. We want the suffering to end, but God lets it continue, because He wants us to die. That’s why the cross is an instrument of death, the death of self. Rising from the ashes of your crucified flesh, you will overcome. It is a statement of faith and love; faith that God will see you through because He loves you!

You will no longer depend on your own wiles. God’s strength will carry you through. You will be a tool in the Master’s hand, because now He’s controlling you. It's not manipulation. You are surrendering control to him, because you recognize His way is way better than yours. The way of the cross is a place too few Christians ever find. Death to self is a daily exercise, and satan will daily give you lots reasons not to surrender to God. But if you continue, you will become someone who walks in The Spirit every day, come what may.

Have you ever seen a dead person up close? If someone struck them, or called them a bad name; what do you think they would do? Nothing, they’re dead. When you are dead to self and your life is hid with Christ in God, you are beyond the place of vulnerability. Is it because you can’t be hurt? Yes! You are living in Psalm 91. But make no mistake about it; Psalm 91 takes place on a battlefield, not in a quiet sanctuary. The battlefield is in your mind, not your circumstances. Great faith will be the reward of your struggles. You’ll be more than a conqueror.

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