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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffers and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, those who are courageous learn how to develop a victor rather than a victim mindset. Like the Apostle Paul, who said in Romans 8, 31, if God is for us, who can be against us? And God's word says that we need to have the attitude of a victor, not a victim.
Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffers. Aside from Jesus Christ, no man has overcome more challenges in his life than Joseph. Yet Joseph emerged from his trials a victor. refusing to let his circumstances drag him down and hold him back.
Today on Pathway to Victory. Dr. Robert Jeffers shows us how we too can embrace a Victor mindset. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory.
I'm pleased you joined us for another message in my courageous series. In today's study, I'm going to present survival tip number four. I want to help you understand how to cultivate a healthy mindset so that you don't slip into a common trap. It's a temptation every Christian faces, but most of us won't admit to it. When life gets hard, when the culture turns hostile, when the pressure mounts, we start acting like victims.
That's a dangerous pitfall because a victim mentality doesn't just steal your joy. It paralyzes your progress. You can't move forward in your walk with God when you're licking your wounds. Take it from me. I've made that mistake before.
The alternative is found in God's plan, to face every challenge with the boldness and determination that God intended. And that's the gist of my book called Courageous, 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World. I'm going to send you a copy when you become a new pathway partner or make a generous one-time donation. Plus, when you respond today, I'll be sure to include a collection of courageous encouragement cards that you can either carry with you or display in a visible place at home. Let me show you how to transform yourself from a victim mentality.
To a victor's mentality. At the end of the program, we'll explain how to get in touch with Pathway to Victory. But right now, let's turn our attention to 1 John 5. I've titled my message Survival Tip Number 4: Develop a Victor, Not a Victim, Mindset. The ship was doomed.
Everybody knew it. But there was nothing they could do about it. For the past year, the endurance had been home to the captain. And the 27 crew members on a voyage from England to Antarctica. The vessel had sailed 12,000 miles and then pushed through pack ice for more than a thousand more miles.
But now it was entombed in Antarctic ice, less than 100 miles from its intended destination. The currents under the frozen sea pushed and pulled against the wooden hull, slowly crushing it. Everyone on board took what supplies they could and abandoned ship. Casting their lot to the same ice that held the endurance in its frozen grip. As they watched the sides of their ship cave in from the pressure, and heard the large timber snap.
The men had become resigned to what they believed was their inevitable fate. Death. But their leader had a different mindset. Optimism, he would often say, is true moral courage. And if there was one thing that was true about Ernest Shackleton, it was that he was an optimist.
Although Shackleton did not succeed in his mission to cross Antarctica on foot, He did save the lives of all 27 crew members. Years later, one of the men called him The greatest leader that has ever come on God's earth, bar none. He wrote When you are in a hopeless situation, when there seems no way out. Get on your knees and pray for a shackleton. Ernest Shackleton realized An important truth.
Our attitude is key to our survival. when faced with a threatening situation. And that's what we're going to talk about. You know, Ernest Shackleton Had a vocabulary that didn't have room for words like quit. Give up.
fail or surrender. No, he had developed the attitude of a victor rather than a victim. Like the Apostle Paul, who said in Romans 8:31, if God is for us, Who can be against us? That's the attitude of a victor. And today as we continue our series, Courageous, we're looking at the 10 survival tips that allow us not only to survive, but to actually thrive in this hostile environment we are living in.
And we're gonna look at that fourth survival tip today. Those who are courageous learn how to develop a victor rather than a victim mindset. The Bible has a word for a victor mindset. The Bible calls it an overcomer. I want you to take your Bibles and turn to 1 John chapter 5 for just a moment.
The mark of an overcomer is obedience to our Heavenly Father. Look at 1 John chapter 5. He writes these words as he senses that things are about to get more difficult for Christians. Look at what he says in verse 3: For this is the love of God. That we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world. our faith. And who is the one who overcomes the world? But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
I want you to see several things about this passage. First of all, This idea of being an overcomer, an overcomer doesn't refer to a special class of super spiritual Christians that only some attain to. No, overcomers should be the norm for every Christian. And notice he says, for God's commandments are not burdensome. Don't let Satan deceive you.
We're deceived so many times by the evil one into thinking, oh, God's commandments are so hard to follow. And if I follow them, oh, it's going to be such a burden. And I'm going to be robbed of any fun and any joy in life by following God's commandments. No. God's commandments are not burdensome.
Keeping them is the key to experiencing eternal life, the abundant life God has planned for us. God wants you and me to develop that overcomer, that victor mindset. And one of the best models of how to do that is found in the Old Testament story of a man named Joseph. We find his story beginning in Genesis chapter 37. And in the few minutes we have today, I want you to notice three sources of adversity that came into Joseph's life that have probably or will probably come into your life as well.
First of all, Joseph was faced with overcoming the unloving actions from family members. The unloving actions from family members. We find his story beginning in Genesis 37. Look at verses 3 and 4.
Now Israel, that is Joseph's father Jacob, loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And so he made him a very colored tunic. And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms. That's the way it was for Joseph. And yet in Genesis 39, 2, it says, and the Lord was with Joseph.
You find that continually throughout Joseph's life. No matter what comes his way, the Lord was with him. There's something about unloving actions from family members that cut us and cut us deeply. But it doesn't undo Joseph.
Next, we see him overcoming undeserved accusations from others. overcoming undeserved accusations from others. Joseph was sold as a slave. He ended up in Egypt, where he was sold to a man whose name was Potiphar. You remember, Potiphar was the captain of the bodyguard for Pharaoh.
He had a very high position. And Joseph distinguished himself by his diligent work in Potiphar's house. Potiphar noticed it, and he promoted him to be in charge of all of Potiphar's household. Everything was under Joseph's control. The only thing off-limits to Joseph was Mrs.
Potiphar. Unfortunately, Mrs. Potterford never got the memo. Cause she didn't realize Joseph was off limits to her. And so she immediately started to seduce Joseph.
Day after day, she would try to seduce him. On one occasion, she said to him, lie with me, which in Hebrew means have sex with me. And remember his reply in Genesis 39, 9? How could I do such an evil thing and sin against God? Sure.
Joseph made it out of that one. You never had to suffer that again, right? Wrong. The Bible says that Mrs. Potiphar came to Joseph day after day after day.
That's how temptation comes. And finally, on one day, when all the other servants were out of the house, she was alone with Joseph. And she grabbed him by the shoulder and she said, lie with me. How did Joseph respond? He said, Ms.
Potiphar, I since you have some great unmet need in your life, and I'd like to pray for you right now. Can we just pray together here? Yeah. No, he knew that situation was too hot for his Hebrew hormones to handle. And so he did the most spiritual thing he could do.
He ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction. In fact, he left so quickly, she was left with just a piece of his garment in her hand. And then the time of reckoning came. Mr. Potiphar came home.
Notice what happened, verse 17 of Genesis 39. Then she spoke. to Potterfer with these words. The Hebrew slave whom you brought to us came into me to make sport of me. And it happened as I raised my voice and screamed that he left his garment beside me and fled outside.
Now it came about when Potiphar heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, This is what your slave did to me. That he refused to believe his wife and believed Joseph and said, Joseph, because you have not sinned against me or against God, I'm going to promote you to the highest position in my whole household, and half of my kingdom belongs to you. Does your Bible say that? Yeah. When the accusation came, This is what your slave did to me.
The Bible says, and Potiphar's anger. Burned. In fact, it burned so hot that he ended up throwing Joseph into prison. Joseph experienced negative consequences for doing what was right, not what was wrong. And he had to overcome that unfair accusation that changed his life completely coming from Potterford.
And that led to a third source of difficulty in his life: overcoming unfair neglect by his own friends. Joseph goes to prison. He didn't know at the time he would spend two full years there. But he thought, probably, at least at first, God's gonna get me out of here. This is an unjust sentence.
God is a God of justice. Surely he's not gonna allow me to languish in this prison. And sure enough, not long after he was thrown into prison, two new people came to prison as well. And they both came from Pharaoh's household. One was the cupbearer, and one was the baker.
Remember, the cupbearer had a very prestigious job. His job was to taste the wine before the king drank it. If assassins had poisoned it to kill the Pharaoh, The cupbearer was the first to know it. He was a trusted servant of Pharaoh. And the baker, well, was in charge of baking bread.
So, for some reason, both men had displeased Pharaoh.
So, they get thrown into prison. And they make friends with Joseph, and they one night had a bad dream. And they came to Joseph and they said, Joseph, we've heard that you're able to interpret dreams. Can you help us? Joseph says, Sure.
What's the dream? The cupbearer says, Well, my dream was that I was squeezing grapes into the king's chalice, Pharaoh's chalice. What does that mean? And Joseph said, Oh, that's easy. It means in three days you're going to be released from prison and restored to your position.
The baker raises his hand and said, Oh, I've got one. Can you do mine next? Interpret my dream? Joseph said, Yeah, what was your dream? He said, Well, my dream I had last night was there were these baskets of bread, and birds came to eat the bread.
Jose of France said, Sorry to tell you, that means in three days you're going to be executed. And sure enough, three days later, the baker was executed. The cup-bearer was released from prison and sent back to Pharaoh's palace. But before he left, Joseph said to the cupbearer, I only ask that you do one thing when you get out. and you're in front of Pharaoh.
Don't forget me. Remind Pharaoh about me and how I've been unfairly accused. The cupbearer says, You don't have to worry about that. After all you've done for me, how could I ever forget you? I'm sure that night Joseph began packing his belongings together.
Because he knew by the next day, he was going to be released. The next day comes and goes, no word. A week passes, nothing. A month. Not a word, not even a postcard from the cupbearer.
A year passes. Joseph realizes He's been forgotten. Forsaken. For effort. He was forgotten he was neglected unfairly by a friend.
Yeah. But interestingly, Two full years passed. when on a day that began like any other day. The soldiers came. They put their key in the lock.
unlocked the prison door and said, Pharaoh wants to see you today. How did that happen? Joseph thought he had been forgotten by God. Forgotten by the cupbearer. But what Joseph didn't realize was God was doing something over here that Joseph couldn't even see.
He was doing something in Pharaoh's heart. And he sent Pharaoh a disturbing dream, and nobody could interpret the dream. And the cupbearer remembered, there's a guy I knew in prison one time who knows how to interpret dreams. You remember the rest of the story? Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph that he promoted him to prime minister of all of Egypt.
That's how God works. Joseph was an overcomer. who was able to overcome adverse circumstances. instead of becoming a victim.
Now, some of you might be saying, well, my story really doesn't parallel Joseph's, but I bet you've been on the receiving end of some of the problems Joseph experienced. You've been on the receiving end of unloving actions by a family member? You know what it's like to be Unfairly accused by people of wrongdoing of which you're not guilty. You know what it's like to experience undeserved neglect by people you've worked for and helped so much? How do you overcome those situations?
In a word, it's through tenacity. Overcomers are people who are tenacious. How do you develop that kind of attitude of persistence? I want you to notice again from 1 John chapter 5, three ways that we become victors instead of victims. Number one, victors keep God's commandments.
They keep God's commandments. Remember, John said: Who is it that is an overcomer? It is he who believes. And who is it that believes? The one who keeps God's commandments.
It didn't matter what situation Joseph was in. He was dedicated to keeping God's commandments. Remember his words to Mrs. Potiphar in Genesis 39, 9? How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?
Secondly, victors glorify God in their lives. They glorify God in their lives. That word glorify means to shine the spotlight on God. Victors are people who realize that we are here for one purpose, not to bring glory to ourselves, not to direct people's attention toward us, but to direct people's attention toward God. And it didn't matter where Joseph was, whether he was in the pit, Whether he was in prison for two years or whether he was prime minister of Egypt in every situation.
Joseph tried to bring glory to God. God recognized that in Joseph, and that's why he honored Joseph's life. Victors obey God's commandments. They glorify God with their lives. And finally, victors trust in God's purposes.
Victors believe that God is always working on their behalf, even though in the darkness they can't always see what God is up to. And that's true about your life right now. You may feel like you've been forgotten. by others, by God Himself? Forsaken, that God doesn't know where you are.
He knows exactly where you are. He knows exactly what's going on in your life. Romans 8:28 says, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good. to those who love God and those who are called according to his purpose. But don't miss the next verse, Romans 8, 29, for whom God foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.
You know everything that's going on in your life right now with your family. With your health, with your job, with your finances, God is using all of it. for his purpose in your life. And that is to make you like Jesus Christ.
Somebody once asked a gifted sculptor how it was he was able to chisel a lifelike image of a lion out of a slab of marble. He said, that's very easy. I take the slab of marble, I take the hammer and chisel, and I chisel away everything that doesn't look like a lion in that marble slab. You know, that's what God is doing in your life right now. He's taking his hammer.
He's taking the chisel of difficult circumstances. And he's removing everything in your life and my life. that doesn't look like Jesus Christ.
So that we become like him and experience the abundant life that he experienced. That was true of Joseph. He trusted in God's purpose. Perhaps the greatest illustration of that. was in the climactic verse of Joseph's story.
Remember in Genesis chapter 50, Joseph is reunited with his brothers. His brothers, who years earlier, had sold him into slavery and left him for dead. And when they realized Joseph was alive, they trembled in fear, knowing that the prime minister of Egypt, their brother, Had the authority to put them to death. But remember his words of kindness to them, Genesis 50:20. He said to his brothers, and as for you, You meant it for evil.
But God used it for good. To bring about this present circumstance, to preserve many people alive. Joseph was honest. He said to his brothers, What you did to me was wrong. But guess what?
I serve a God who's bigger than you are. God was able to take your worst intentions and use them for good. Praise be to God. That's the attitude of a victor. A victor doesn't feel like that he's the victim of adverse circumstances and adverse people.
He believes in a God who's working out his purpose in our life. Victors obey God's commandments. Victors glorify God in their lives. Victor's trust in the purpose of God. Can you truly say that you're living like a victor and not a victim?
Most of us struggle to stay on the winning side unless we take intentional steps. To that end, I'm urging you to get in touch today so that you can begin the journey down your pathway to victory. I've written a book to help you called Courageous, 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World. My book contains God's truth about thriving, despite our problems. You'll come to see that Joseph's success story can be yours as well.
There's something else I want to send you. When you respond to this time-limited offer today, I'll be sure to include the exclusive collection of 10 courageous encouragement cards as well. They're conveniently printed to give you an instant shot of inspiration whenever needed. Both resources, my book, Courageous, and the Encouragement Cards. Come with my thanks when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory or when you give your first gift as a new pathway partner.
In either case, remember, your generous support does far more than cover the cost of these resources. Together, as partners in ministry, we're helping millions across our nation discover how to have a courageous faith in a culture that's opposed to God and His truth. Thanks so much. Here's David with all the details. Today when you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory, Or when you become a pathway partner, we'll say thanks by sending you a copy of Courageous by Dr.
Robert Jeffress, along with 10 Courageous Encouragement Cards. To request these resources, call 866-999-2965 or even easier, go online to ptv.org. You can also support this ministry by texting PTV to 78800. And when your gift is $75 or more, you'll receive the complete Courageous Leader Kit, which includes the book, the Personal and Group Study Guide, the Complete Teaching Series on DVD and MP3 format audio disc, and the Courageous Encouragement Cards. Again, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org.
You could also send your donation by mail right to PO Box 223-609 Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you to join us Tuesday for survival tip number five.
Trust your training. Right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffers comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. The Apostle Paul sailed these waters, walked these streets, and the church was never the same.
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Oh, and one last thing before we go: don't forget to reserve your spot on the 2027 Journeys of Paul Mediterranean cruise. You've heard me and Dr. Jeffers talk about it, and cabins are going quickly. Just picture yourself aboard the beautiful celebrity Infinity sailing round trip from Athens, standing where the Apostle Paul stood in Ephesus, and taking in the breathtaking Greek islands. Nine unforgettable nights with stops in Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, and more.
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