by Brandon Cox: Most Americans have heard of The War of 1812, but don’t know much about it. It took place four decades after the American Revolution and lasted about 30 months, ending in December of 1814. But the most famous battle took place after the war had officially ended – The Battle of New Orleans (yes, the one Johnny Horton sang about), which was fought January 8, 1815.

The truce had been signed, but not completely ratified, and news traveled slowly back then. So the battle raged and the Americans, though outnumbered almost two-to-one, defended the city of New Orleans and its river ports.

We live in a similar era, spiritually. Jesus Christ has, by his death, burial, and resurrection, decisively ended Satan’s chance at any victory. The Lord overcame sin, death, and the grave. According to the writer of Hebrews:

But when this priest (Jesus Christ) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

~ Hebrews 10:12-14 NIV

Jesus fought, died, and won. For you and for me and anyone who will trust him as Savior and follow him as King.

And now he sits and waits. What is he waiting for? For our battles to end.

We who swear allegiance to King Jesus are on the winning side. There is no possibility of defeat for us in this long, spiritual war. But we still fight skirmishes. Temptation. Suffering. Mental and emotional struggles. Rejection. Persecution. Conflict. And eventually, death.

But after all of that, resurrection! Victory! Triumph!

Keep this in mind through every battle you fight. It’s all going to be worth it. Through the fight, God is growing you, preparing you for eternity, and guaranteeing your growth and your glory forever and ever.

by Brandon Cox: People are not the real enemies. Paul made that clear when he said,

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12 NIV

It may often seem as though people are the problem. We blame the left, or the right; the Democrats, the Republicans; the liberals, the conservatives, etc. But other people are actually the least of your worries.

The Bible describes three primary enemies in your life.

1. The world.

And by “the world,” I don’t mean people in the world. I’m referring to the cultural and philosophical systems of thinking that are devoid of the reality and authority of God. Materialism, humanism, atheism, narcissism, consumerism, and a dozen other “ism’s” are all a threat to walking by faith.

I grew up believing that worldliness was defined by certain behaviors. But worldliness, in the negative sense, is much more about how you think.

2. The flesh.

And by “the flesh,” I don’t mean your skin and bones and physical body, though our flesh may often employ our physical body to fulfill its desires. I’m referring more to the “old you.”

When you decide to follow Jesus, the old you (the flesh) dies and a you are born again as a brand new creature in Christ. But the old you hangs around. Your cravings don’t all change overnight.

I know that I’m walking in the flesh when I’m centered on self, absorbed in protecting and defending my own turf and not thinking or acting like Jesus.

In other words, you’re often your own worst enemy.

3. The devil.

I believe Satan is a real, personal being who is bent on the destruction of anything God creates or loves. And I believe Satan loves two kinds of people…

• Skeptics, who doubt his existence and believe that there is nothing beyond the visible, natural world.
• Superstitious people, who see a demon behind every bush and believe everything bad that happens is satanic.

He either wants to blend in and be invisible to you, or he wants to have all of your attention and focus. Either way, he wins.

Satan (and by extension, all of those fallen angels we call demons who work for him) suggests negative, ungodly thoughts, plagues your mind, entices you to sin and stay trapped, and works to establish godless ideologies in the world around us.

Here’s the good news about all three of your biggest enemies.

They’re already defeated.

When you enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, you’ll still live in the world, you’ll still walk around in your own flesh, and you’ll still be tempted by demonic forces at play, but all three of those enemies are as good as dead.

The world will pass away and a new world is coming when Jesus returns. Furthermore, “greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.” (see 1 John 4:4)

And Satan has already been defeated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. His time is now limited. When God is ready to complete our redemption, he’ll be thrown into a pit for all of eternity.

Your enemies are real, but so is your victory. All that threatens you has already been overcome by King Jesus. You simply need to lean into and live out his victory every day. (Click to tweet this!)

You are more than a conqueror when you follow Jesus Christ. Believe it!

by Brandon Cox: One of my good friends, Alejandro, will sometimes text me out of the blue to just see how life is. But rather than ask me how life is, he always opens the conversations with,

Bro, are you winning?

I love that! I can’t just say, “Fine,” and move on with my day. I have to think about it.

Am I winning right now? Am I on top of life’s troubles? Or buried underneath them?

It’s epidemic in the Christian subculture that surrounds me – millions of Christians who have made peace, so to speak, with their eternal destiny but who, in the here and now, are walking around defeated and deflated.

There are all kinds of reasons for this, but I’m firmly convinced that at the root of it all, it’s a matter of focus.

When I focus on my problems and issues, or on all the bad news, or on comparing my life to the social media highlight reels of others… I’ll always feel like I’m losing.

But when I focus, instead, on something that is forever, absolutely, unchangeably and undeniably true – something that changes the game and makes everything different, then I’ll have a different experience of life.

Like this, for example…

Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

– 1 John 5:4 NIV

Or this…

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

– Romans 8:35-37 NIV

Imagine how you’re going to feel next week when you fix your focus daily on the fact that Jesus Christ has already defeated your biggest enemies through is death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead.

Death is no threat to you. Sin has no power in you. Satan has no authority over you.

You. Are. A. Winner.

Realize it. Focus on it. Pray about it and praise God for it. Fix your focus on the fact that you’re on the winning side!