How do you live victoriously over the problems of life? The answer is, to have the necessary power. If you have enough power, you will be able to defeat the problems that come your way. The next question is, how do we get the necessary power to live victoriously? The answer to this question isn’t quite as simple. Let’s let Jesus and the Bible give us an example out of the New Testament.

Acts 2:44-45 (NIV) All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. All this money was being given to the Apostles; they were being trusted to properly distribute it with honesty and integrity.

A lot of people and even some nations have tried to follow this idea of socialism. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all pool our resources and live together in harmony and love? Everyone would be blessed, no poor people, no one having everything while others starved. This actually happened with the Christians in the New Testament. BUT, it was ONLY possible because of what Jesus did in the hearts and lives of His disciples. If their character and attitudes hadn’t been changed by Jesus, they would have misused all that money, resources, and power.

Why can’t we do something like they did in Acts 2:44-45? Because we have spiritual problems! Can you imagine what would happen in a financial system like that if someone was dishonest? What if the leaders of the group, who were holding the money, weren’t trustworthy? Jesus has to set our life strategy around right, good, and righteousness. Once they are in place, then we can be trusted with money, possessions, positions, popularity, prestige, power, pleasure, and accomplishments.

Acts 4:34-35 (NIV) There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. These people had just spent three and a half years under Jesus’ training, ministry, and leadership. They allowed Jesus to get them ready for this kind of life.

What if those Apostles weren’t spiritually capable of handling all that money; or, what if some people lied about having needs that they really didn’t have? Just a little bit of dishonesty in the group would ruin everything in a financial system like that. So, the strategy that works is to put the priority on our character and attitudes.

What would it take to make a system like that work...spiritual growth! That is the same issue with power. If God gave you uncontrolled power and you weren’t honest or trustworthy to control that power, you would USE it to hurt God’s work, yourself, and others. So, even though the answer to all your problems is power, and even though you now have been empowered to live victoriously, it will only flow through you as you grow spiritually. The power you received through salvation and justification IS JESUS! He won’t let His power and blessings flow in and through you without spiritual growth.

What is spiritual growth? It’s a way of living that changes your philosophies of life. It changes your relationship with God, your self, and other people; it heals your emotions, your finances, your physical body, and your whole approach to evaluating the world around you. God’s principles change the way you treat yourself, other people, and His plan. The MAIN aspect of spiritual growth has to do with the issue of relationships. It has to do with how you treat yourself, other people, and God. That regulates and decides how much of Jesus’ power flows in and through you. Jesus has the power you need; and, you have Jesus. He is in you and available to you; but, you must allow Him to help you get to the place where He can trust you with His power.

You received power when you were born again; Jesus is that power. He will help you be empowered to do things you were never able to do before. BUT, Jesus will NOT allow you to just USE the power. He will work together with you as you and He do things that are supernatural, miraculous, and amazing. He will cause His power to flow in and through you in wonderful ways. However, all these things MUST be good for you and those around you. If you think something is good for you, Jesus will use His incredible knowledge, foreknowledge of the future, understanding, and wisdom to decide whether or not you are right.

Just like it sounds, SPIRITUAL growth is learning about spiritual issues. A lot of the time, we think we are only dealing with things we can see. When someone does something we don’t like, we express negative feelings and actions against them. When something happens that we don’t want, we try to handle the whole situation using natural procedures. These natural procedures typically hurt us and those around us. Negative attitudes and character traits form inside us and then flow out of us against other people. That turns us into thinking, feeling, saying, and doing bad things; and, that causes others to experience those bad things too.

Anyone who has read the book of Job (The eighteenth book in the Old Testament) quickly realizes that there is more to life than those things we can see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. Those who have spent much time learning about building a special relationship with God, have come to the realization that there is a spiritual world that God is training us to deal with. The things in the spiritual world have more to do with our success in life than the physical does.

From a negative perspective we have Satan and his efforts to deal with. He is the reason you are struggling with life. Let’s let Jesus help us see what the Bible says about our life as it relates to people, Satan, and circumstances. And, let’s let Him show us these things as it relates to our physical world and the spiritual world.

Eph 6:12 (NIV) For our struggle is NOT against flesh and blood [people], but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil [Satan and demons] in the heavenly realms. This may not make sense to you at first; but, this is the basis of all your problems. You have an enemy and it isn’t a human. Satan may use a human; but, it was SATAN using that human. It may make you mad that they allowed Satan to use them; but, Jesus doesn’t want you attacking the person.

A lot of what you face on a negative basis doesn’t come from people. It may come THROUGH people; but it doesn’t originate in them. People allow the devil to use them to attack you and hurt you. You even allow the devil to talk to you about yourself; you don’t mean to; but, it happens. He doesn’t come to you in a physical form like he did with Adam and Eve. He doesn’t even always come to you in the physical form of the people around you. He often comes as YOU! He will give you a thought or feeling that he hopes you will accept as being your thought or your feeling.

Satan says harmful, hurtful things against you and others in your thoughts and feeling. And, because they popped up in YOUR mind, you often accept his words as originating in and from you. In the above Scripture, the Bible is saying that your battle isn’t with the person (including our self) who is yielding their body to Satan’s work. Your battle is with Satan who is working against you and through other people. You must learn how to detect these satanic suggestions and how to resist them. Jesus will soon be teaching you these wonderful things. But, right now He is just helping you be aware of where your bad ideas and emotions are coming from.

If you fight other people or attack yourself for saying or thinking bad, hurtful things, you are basically shooting the messenger. Your battle is with the devil, not with yourself; and, it isn’t against the person he is using to attack you. You have to learn how to resist the things Satan is trying to install in your life through your thoughts. And, you must learn how to resist those that come through the messenger (human) he is currently using against you. It is vital that you understand that, if Satan generates a thought or feeling in you and you accept it as YOUR thought or feeling, you will then start feeling bad, guilty, condemned, and wrong. But, if you let Jesus show you that it came from Satan, you will attack the right enemy.

Christianity offers a whole new approach to living life around yourself and fellow human beings. The source of life issues comes through satanic attacks in your thoughts and through satanic words spoken through other people. You have allowed them to guide you and your philosophies of life. They have been telling you how to think, what to want, what will make you happy, and how to succeed in life. If you keep listening to them, you will continue to accept the training, beliefs, and guidelines originated from Satan and the world. Jesus wants to stop this inflow and give you His source of training, beliefs, and principles.