VL - Issue 43- April 22
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PUBLISHER’S NOTE<br />
Be Strong and Courageous<br />
If you’d like to partner with<br />
our magazine to deliver<br />
God’s hope and to impact<br />
the lives of incarcerated<br />
men and women, visit<br />
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many lives for years to come.<br />
V<br />
ictorious Living maintains a constant<br />
theme of hope and victory.<br />
This magazine is all about sharing<br />
personal testimonies of how God<br />
helps people overcome incredible odds<br />
and hardship. The life stories of our contributors<br />
prove that there is no situation<br />
too dark for God’s hope to illuminate and<br />
no life too far gone that God’s love can’t<br />
restore it.<br />
While creating the content for this issue,<br />
I realized how important courage is<br />
in the life of a Christ-follower. Even from<br />
the start, it requires courage to believe<br />
that the God of the universe loves us and<br />
desires an intimate relationship. Receiving<br />
the simplicity of the Gospel as presented<br />
in John 3:16 requires us to look<br />
past fearful questions like: “What if God<br />
fails me? What if I fail Him? What if people<br />
reject me?”<br />
In fact, believers need courage just to<br />
live in daily surrender to the Lord. Surrendering<br />
the controls of our lives makes us<br />
feel vulnerable.<br />
Google’s English dictionary defines<br />
courage as “the ability to do something<br />
that frightens one,” as well as “strength in<br />
the face of pain or grief.” The Bible talks<br />
a lot about being strong and courageous,<br />
and that’s because God knew that every<br />
day, we’d face frightening circumstances<br />
and larger-than-life giants. In John 16:33,<br />
He even said we could expect to experience<br />
painful, against-all-odds encounters.<br />
I’ve read that there are over 365 fearnot<br />
commands in the Bible. That’s one for<br />
every day of the year! The Lord knew we<br />
would have to choose every day to either<br />
succumb to fear or to trust Him.<br />
How thankful I am that we don’t have<br />
to drum up courage in our own strength.<br />
Second Timothy 1:7 tells us that God gives<br />
us a spirit of power and a sound mind to<br />
overcome fear and other paralyzing emotions.<br />
God Himself offers His mighty power<br />
to help us stand firm (Ephesians 6:10).<br />
As a professional athlete, I often faced<br />
fear. In the 35 years I competed as a water<br />
skier, I can’t recall a time that my heart<br />
wasn’t racing before I stepped off the dock<br />
and slid into the water. It was a mental battle<br />
each time to corral the fear and replace<br />
it with more positive thoughts. But in all<br />
those years, I never let fear keep me on the<br />
dock. I knew if I stayed on the dock of comfort<br />
and perceived safety, I’d never stand<br />
atop that world-championship podium.<br />
Likewise, we won’t experience the victorious<br />
life God has prepared for us if we<br />
let fear keep us from God. It’s a daily decision<br />
to corral fear and replace it with<br />
God’s truth (2 Corinthians 10:5).<br />
Every time God has invited me to trust<br />
and follow Him, I have been scared to death!<br />
Just like when I stepped off the water-<br />
ski dock, my heart races and my knees<br />
knock. I never feel qualified to do what<br />
God is asking me to do, and I rarely have<br />
answers before I take that first step, but the<br />
more I focus on the One calling me off the<br />
dock, the faster fear loses its grip on me.<br />
Considering God’s past faithfulness and<br />
remembering that He is with me wherever<br />
I go gets me off the dock quicker. And when<br />
I remember that He loves me, that He is<br />
bringing provision, that He is more powerful<br />
than every enemy, and that He will<br />
never abandon me—I actually find myself<br />
excited about jumping into the deep.<br />
If you need courage today, ask the Lord<br />
to help you lay aside your fear so that you<br />
can accept Him into your life. He will help<br />
you step out in obedience and let go of the<br />
controls. You’ll be glad you did.<br />
Remember: God does not give you a<br />
spirit of fear. Satan does. Don’t let Satan<br />
keep you from experiencing the love of<br />
God and the goodness of His plans.<br />
Kristi Overton Johnson<br />
Publisher & Executive Director<br />
PHOTO BY JOMARYS LEON-LORENZO<br />
6 <strong>Issue</strong> 02 / 20<strong>22</strong> VICTORIOUSLIVINGMAGAZINE.COM