Message Title - "Born to be a Winner"

Let me begin this life-changing message by asking you a few simple yet pivotal questions.

How do you see you yourself just now, are you a winner or a loser? - Are you successful at what you do or are you a struggler?  If I ask you how you really are would you reply "I'm alright under the circumstances".

Do you ever answer that same question by saying, "I'm surviving".

I invite you to listen very carefully to the voice of God as you read these words. Deuteronomy 28:13 "And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them".

Joshua 1:8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Psalm 1:1-3 "Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

Have you discovered the key that will open the door for you to be a winner?

The key is called WORD. The word is the word of God.

My friend it does not matter what anyone has said to you or about you, this is not what we estimate our value or potential by. Perhaps people around you have spoken negative hurtful destructive words over you and you have come to believe that the things they say are true, but listen my friend - let God have the last word. One word from Him can change your life forever.

I was born to an unmarried Mother at the time when this event was a thing to be frowned on. At the age of three I was adopted and after the death of my new Father, my Mother became a very angry, bitter and verbally abusive woman. Many times I had to endure her barrage of negative destructive words, and in her opinion I would never amount to anything because of the circumstances surrounding my conception and birth. I came to faith in Christ as my personal Saviour and Lord when I was 18 years of age and by the time I was 23 I was appointed to my first Pastorate.

The fact is that although I was now a Spirit filled Christian and a Pastor, I still had not been fully set free from the effect of the words spoken over my life, by my Mother and other people.

The key that set me free was the WORD of God.

I read these words and they set me free. John 8:31-32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Jeremiah 1:4-9 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you (I set you apart for a Divine purpose); I ordained you a prophet to the nations." Then said I: "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth." But the Lord said to me: "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you," says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth".

Psalms 139:13-18 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvellous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.

These were the words that God turned into a key to set me free.

I had come to know the truth and the truth about my past present and future as God saw it set me free. Of course I had to do more than just read those words, I had to believe them, accept them and allow them to saturate my whole being, especially my mind. As I kept thinking about the words that I had read, I discovered that my mind was renewed and the words I had read seemed to erase the memory and effect of all the negative, hurtful, destructive words that had kept me prisoner for so many years.

Another passage of God's word that has really helped me so much is found in Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things.

Thinking on the type of things in the list above are what helped me to be the winner I was born to be. Yes of course I still have battles the same as all who follow Christ experience, and according to Ephesians 6:12 I fully realise that I do "not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places".

However I am always a winner because when the devil comes against me, he is not just coming against flesh and blood, for inside me is the greater One, the Holy Spirit, and when I let Him use the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. I am a winner every time and in fact as Paul says in Romans 8:37 I am just one of the millions of winners who are "more than conquerors through Him who loved us".