Daily Devotionals

December 14

Worth It All

Gloria Copeland
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

What does it take to be a winner? Everyone everywhere wants to know the answer to that question. Everyone wants to win. But when it comes right down to it, not everyone is willing to pay the price to do it.

During the Olympic Games, I listened to the athletes being interviewed. They talked about how hard they worked to compete in the games.

None of them just woke up one morning and said, “Hey! I think I’ll be in the Olympics this year.” They trained for years to get there. Some of them had trained most of their lives.

I heard one champion tell how she got out of bed every morning to run. She ran in the cold. She ran in the rain. She ran no matter what. Sometimes she would push herself so hard, she would become physically sick. But even then, she refused not to run. She was determined to win and she gave her very best.

That kind of commitment is what it takes to be a winner, not just physically, but spiritually. Jesus said so in Matthew 11:12. When He said those words, He wasn’t talking about going to heaven. I believe He was talking about laying hold of the kingdom of God in this earth—taking hold of the promised blessings like healing and prosperity and peace.

You can have those kingdom blessings here and now. But it’s not easy. You have to take them by force.

You have to become spiritually aggressive if you want to walk in the supernatural. You have to do it by faith with the Word of God or you won’t do it at all.

Most people don’t see faith as a violent force. But spiritually speaking, it is! Paul said, “Fight the good fight of faith!” (1 Timothy 6:12). Faith isn’t passive, it’s aggressive! It uses the Word of God as its weapon and brings down every stronghold of unbelief and every demonic obstacle in its path!

So start training for your race now. Don’t waste another minute. Get into the Word. Build up your faith. Get aggressive with it. Do whatever it takes…just like the Olympic runner, it will be worth it all!

Speak the Word

I fight the good fight of faith! I take the kingdom of heaven by force!  (1 Timothy 6:12; Matthew 11:12)

Scripture Study: 1 Timothy 6:11-12


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