Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 96

April 5;   2 Corinthians 2:14;   151/260(I);   ‘We Triumph in Christ’ 

2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

Paul, who had a grateful heart, was thanking the Lord for always leading us in triumph through Jesus Christ.  What does that mean?  The Lord Jesus, when he rose from the dead, redeemed us from our sins and sicknesses.  The curse that Adam brought upon the earth when he sinned, the Lord Jesus bore that curse upon Himself, on the cross.  That curse included poverty, sickness and spiritual as well as physical death.  When we become a Christian, we have legally been set free from all of the pain and misery Adam’s sin brought.  Now, we have to see in God’s Word and apply, everything that has been given to us because of the victory of the Lord Jesus.  The Lord used Paul, primarily, to teach us the knowledge of what is now ours as Christians.  Our triumphing in life and enjoying our rightful blessings are not automatically ours.  We have to know what belongs to us, believe that these blessings belong to us and by faith ‘take hold’ of those blessings until they manifest in our lives.  Knowing the Word, believing the Word and doing the Word play a vital part in our triumph.  Prayer, fellowshipping with the Lord, and praising and worshiping Him, until there is a vital connection is also essential.  As you purpose in your heart to know the Word and pray, the triumph Paul speaks of in this verse becomes yours.  We were created by the Lord to lead victorious, overcoming lives.  As Christians we have the ability and indeed the responsibility to be everything Jesus created us to be so that we could live in triumph and set others free.  Effort is required, but triumphing in Christ is well worth it.