Loss IS Gain


Satellite View of Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 29
Satellite View of Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 29 (Photo credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video)

Revised on 10/31/2012

I watch my television shows and there are constant advertisements to make you want to shop for something – clothes, shoes, jewelry, toys, electronics and even food.  It’s everywhere.  This time of year has become so severely commercialized that we as a nation have lost touch with its current financial structure.  Devastation presides throughout the Eastern seaboard. Citizens are hungry, cold, destitute and overwhelmed with loss. The nation is in unprecedented debt, homelessness and poverty are at record highs, unemployment is ravaging the homes of Americans who are splitting up for various reasons – drugs/violence/pursuit of individual career opportunities/crime/suicide –  and it goes on and on. Yet, Madison Avenue is doing a great work at pushing product. People are shopping in droves.

Not all people.  There are many people that are not able to even begin to understand how they are going to make it through the day. Whether their dilemma is of a socioeconomic origin or not, what is a fact in this great nation is this: people are loosing everyday during this holiday season.  How do you appeal to them during this huge commercial event that is sweeping our nation?  Do you just ignore the fact that they exist? Do you count your blessings, focus on your “haves” and forget about the “have nots”?  Or, do you do anything and everything that you can to make a difference within the lives of this large sect of Americans.  I pray that you are in agreement with the latter.
Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 
Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 
Psalms 24:1 The LORD owns the earth and all it contains,
the world and all who live in it.
The essence of reality in these scriptures is that EVERYTHING you can put your hands on or get your hands on is HIS. Working a good job, managing a thriving business or incurring a comfortable lifestyle is possible because of Him.  Too many people get that twisted.
 Humans put stock in the idea that you have gains because of who you are. You’ve been deceived. You are who you are ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GRACE OF GOD.  What makes you any different than the man that is confined to a wheelchair/the woman that is addicted to drugs and living on the streets/the child who is homeless, hungry and alone?  GOD’S GRACE. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from the Father above.”(James 1.17)

If you want to experience maximum gains that are ETERNAL it begins with a decision.

Mar 8:34  Following Jesus  
Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
Mar 8:35  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.
Mar 8:36  For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life?
Mar 8:37  What can a person give in exchange for his life?
Mar 8:38  For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 
Conquerors make a difference in the lives’ of others any way that they can.  Loss is gain.

Faith Works When You Work It


Being more than  conquerors is a spiritual principle that keeps you hopeful on a daily basis.  It requires continuous action.  Faith is the action Conquerors use daily. With all of the issues we deal with today – economic uncertainty for one – discouragement, by way of distraction, is a design to disrupt faith.  Dismay breads fear. It is extremely common for me to walk through the course of any given day and get overwhelmed by some situation that is not going the way I expected it to. Any circumstance with designs to overtake my faith and replace it with fear becomes an opportunity for new faith to develop.
Atlanta Skyline
Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Here in Atlanta 

the traffic can create varying results. Anger, stress, rage and distraction are in the forefront for me. Using MARTA does have its advantages. When I have left home two hours earlier to get to my destination on time and I have to encounter “a parking lot” on the interstate, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.  No matter how much I try to control the outcome and be efficient, I am forced to STOP! It is in this state of “stop” that being more than conquerors begins to minister to me. The traffic, i.e. hindrance to get where I THINK I need to be at the time I THINK I need to be there, is an opportunity to reaffirm who I am in Christ and my real purpose through allowing His Sovereign will to “be” the driving force in and over my life. Can you relate?

I must remember that I am “more than a conqueror through Him that loved us” by any means necessary.  I can live victoriously, not arrogantly.  Victorious living is derived from my spiritual condition and my spiritual position; arrogance is directly linked to my ego.  Biblical truth keeps my ego in check and it keeps me sane.  We can actively engage in ALL that we do as  “more than conquerors.” God has given us this infinite gift – JESUS CHRIST our LORD.

The scriptures will continue to serve you as a source of encouragement in these perilous times we live in.  I have created this site to actually assist you. Keeping my commitment to defining the “conqueror lifestyle” is a goal that God has given me and I will share it with you in various ways through Conqueror Ministries. This work is getting done one person at a time, one day at a time.  Your support by regular use of ConquerorShots and your personal willingness to learn to live a conqueror lifestyle will serve others as well as you. 
I am excited about hearing from you and learning how this principle works in your life as well.  Tell your friends, acquaintances and loved ones to join in.  Together we can stay in the race. 
Endeavor with me to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.