7 Steps to Walking in Victory

We have been investigating what it means to walk with God by faith.

1.     Obedience
2.     Forgiveness
3.     Humility

This morning we are going to look at how we can walk in victory over the enemy who is not just seeking to trip us up but to devour us. 

Victory is not only possible it is guaranteed, when we follow God and his prescription for how to walk in victory.

Last week we looked at 7 Steps to Peter’s fall and what we can learn from his mistakes

This week we are looking at the 7 Steps to Victory – actually 2 steps today.

1 Peter 5:6-11 (NIV) ⁶  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

⁷  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

⁸  Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

⁹  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

¹⁰  And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

¹¹  To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

I.  Humility

·       Peter’s Fall began with Pride
     o   Proverbs 16:18 (NLT) Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
     o   1 Corinthians 10:12 (NLT) If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
·       Walking in Victory begins, continues and ends with Humility

⁶  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

·       Therefore humble yourself
   o   The previous verse tells us why
§  1 Peter 5:5 (NLT) ⁵  In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.”
HUMILITY
o   Clothed with Humility
  §  “Wear the apron of a the servant”
        ·       This is what Jesus did when he washed the disciples feet in John 13
o   Submitting to those in authority over us – in the Church, in the home, in society
 §  Humility does not make a person weak – It actually taps into the Power of God - 
    ·       Matthew 23:11-12 (NLT) ¹¹  The greatest among you must be a servant.

¹²  But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

      o    True humility naturally evolves out of a heart of love for the exalted Lord.
               ·    It is the attitude of the Christian servant, first exemplified by Jesus. In fact, it is only in an           attitude of humility, heart, that the spiritual life can prosper. Thoralf Gilbrant, ed., “4863. ταπεινοφροσύνη,” in The Complete          Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary – Sigma-Omega, (Springfield, MO: Complete Biblical Library, 1991), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "4863.
       ·       Walking in victory begins with Humbling ourselves before God and Others
    o   Not thinking too highly of ourselves
    o   Not thinking too lowly of ourselves – We are children of God saved by grace
    o   Humility is not thinking less of ourselves but thinking about ourselves less
    o   It is not thinking about ourselves as much
   §  How does this decision or action effect my relationship to God, to his church and to others?
·       But, I want
·       But, I have the right
·       But, I have done this or done that
   o   “I” is Pride
   o   It will lead to a fall – every time!

The first step to Victory – Humility

• I have no will but His Will
• I have no plan but His Plan
• I have no desire but His Desire

He will lift you up in due time

James 4:10 (NLT) ¹⁰  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

·       At the right time
·       In the right way
·       In a way that will bring Glory to God
·       He will lift us up!  

The Second step to walking in Victory…

II.  Casting your cares on Him

⁷  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

·       wanting to be God is at the center of all sin

• To be in control of everything that happens and everyone in our lives
• This is the Sin of Adam and Eve – Cain – People of Noah’s time – Tower of Babel – Israel

§  We know what is best for us – Better than God knows

• So we hold on tight to the burdens that burry us

·       We believe in God but we don’t believe the God we believe in

• So we hold on tight to the burdens that burry us

The Walk of Victory releases those burdens to God
o   Cast your cares on Him

• Throw the burden off of yourself and onto Him!! 
• I am weak but He is strong!! 

Isaiah 40:12-17 (NLT) ¹²  Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?

¹³  Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?

¹⁴  Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?

¹⁵  No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.

¹⁶  All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.

¹⁷  The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth.

Isaiah 40:22-31 (NLT) ²²  God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them.

²³  He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing.

²⁴  They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff.

²⁵  “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.

²⁶  Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.

Why can we and should we cast our cares on Him?

·       Because he cares about us!! 
·       Let that sink in

• Who is like our God?
• God who is beyond our comprehension
• Beyond our imagination

The God who holds the oceans in his hand
Who measured the heavens with his fingers
Knows the weight of the earth

·       Isaiah 40:17 (NLT) ¹⁷  The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth.

That God who is higher than any other

·       Wants you to throw off your cares
·       Throw them to Him – He can hold them all an never break a sweat

Humble yourself

Throw your cares to HIM
Look at the rest of the Chapter

Isaiah 40:27-31 (NLT) ²⁷  O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?

²⁸  Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

²⁹  He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

³⁰  Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.

³¹  But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

 

The humble who throw their cares won’t just walk, won’t just run,  They will soar!!  

How Great is our God!!