Defeated

Defeated! This one word speaks volumes to countless people all over the world. It is a word that is not limited to race, gender or economic standing. It is an overwhelming feeling that people carry with them. I see and hear it in the lives of non-Christians and Christians alike. We feel stuck or trapped walking aimlessly through this life searching for some meaning or purpose to the things we do.

For years I saw life as a continual chain of one disappointment and heart ache after another. I was searching for anything that could bring me a little comfort to suppress the pain I carried day after day. Now, I see a world desperately seeking after instant gratification. We want it NOW. We want something to take away the edge of defeat in our lives. We see this in the form of drugs, alcohol, smoking, pornography, casual sex, adultery, violence, and thousands of other ways that people use as a form of escape. At first these escapes may be great but as time progresses we need more and more to satisfy the beast within that craves something real and meaningful.

Proverbs 19:3 says, "A man's own folly ruins his life,yet his heart rages against the LORD." The fact is our life is the sum of the choices we make. So many of us open our eyes one day and ask how we got to the place where we are. We begin to blame God for our problems and carry around an anger that is waiting to be released.

Proverbs 21:21 says, "He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor." Jesus came to be an example for mankind, demonstrating a life that constantly sought after righteousness and love. His demonstration was so powerful that it left a rippling effect that changed the world. He gave His life so that you and I would never have to carry the burden of our failed choices. He made a way for us to have a peace that is greater than all our circumstances.

Jesus came to give you freedom from all the junk you are carrying around. He died that your life might once again have a purpose greater than the sum of all that you are. Through His death He accepted all your hurt, all your pain, all your guilt, all your loneliness and all your weakness. Then He walked out of the grave that you could walk in a new life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Walk now in the newness of life you can have through Christ Jesus! Ask Him to take away your guilt and pain and to give you a life full of purpose. Live in the victory you have in Christ Jesus!

"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." ~1 Corinthians 15:55-57