When a Somali becomes a Christian it is a wonderful experience to see them transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who becomes a Christian has realized that they are sinners before a Holy God and that without the mercy and help of God no one will be able to go to heaven.
So a Somali, just like anyone else, becomes a Christian when the open their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins. We have all sinned, no one has been able to follow all of God’s laws perfectly. None of us is perfect because we have all sinned. And because we have sinned we cannot go to heaven based on our works. We need to be forgiven by God and we need a Saviour in order to go to heaven.
Jesus Christ is that Saviour. Jesus Christ is the one who took the punishment for our sins upon Himself for us. He suffered for our sins so that be believing in Him we could be forgiven and set free.
I want to talk to you today about who it is you think you are and what kind of person God has made you to be. Did God make you out to be a Victim or did He make you to be someone who has the Victory?
Do you walk around thinking to yourself that you are a Victim? That somehow life and God are treating you unfairly? That things never go your way? Well, then you are walking around thinking you are a Victim.
Or do you walk around thinking that God is with you, that God is always there to help you and provide His help for you in any circumstance. Do you believe that God wants to help you, He has the power to help you, and that He will help you in all and every situation? If you think that then you see yourself as someone who is always going to get the Victory.
The Bible says: “despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
Overwhelming victory is our through Christ. This is what the Bible and God says. Not just victory, but overwhelming victory.
The Bible also says that: “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
The Bible also tells us: “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
We are not supposed to look at ourselves as failures, or as victims. It is true that we may be persecuted for our faith in Jesus. But that doesn’t mean we should see ourselves as some kind of pitiful, rotten people.
No, Jesus Himself said: “What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.”
We are no victims, we are prophets of the Most High God because we are getting persecuted for the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.
When things go wrong in your lives that is time you can look to God and pray to Him to help you and give you the answer that you are looking for. We need to have faith in God that He is going to help us and guide us in all our difficulties.
Life isn’t going to easy. Life is going to bring some pretty tough situations in front of us. We are going to have to go through some very difficult situations. But so is everyone else on this earth.
And we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have God as our Father who is always there ready to help us. We have all the promises in the Bible that are ours to help us.
“Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
The key to becoming a Conqueror and not a Victim is to believe in God. To believe that God is with you, that God is going to help, and that He is faithful and good.
We need as Christians to exercise our faith. We need to believe in God for the daily things that face us.
“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”
If God was willing to allow His Son to die on the cross for our sins, to be punished for our sins, won’t God help us in our other difficulties in life?
You as a Somali Christian need to believe that God is there to help you. You might get persecuted by your family, but God is going to do miracles in your life and in the life of your family.
As a Somali Christian you might get insulted and laughed at. But Jesus Himself said to rejoice and to dance and laugh and be happy that you are getting persecuted because the prophets in the Old Testament were persecuted in the same way.
The Bible also says that as a man thinks in his heart, that is the way he is. We can change the way we behave by changing the way we think about ourselves. Let’s all think about ourselves the way God does. Let’s believe that we are prophets of the Most High God. Let us believe that when we are persecuted from the name of Jesus Christ it is the highest glory that we could ever be given, the joy of suffering along with Jesus.
Let us believe, because it is true, that God is our Father and that He cares very deeply for us. The Bible says for us to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us.
The Bible says about God: “For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.”
God loves you my dear Somali Christian brother and sister. Jesus died for you. If you are persecuted for the Lord rejoice in your heart that you have been chosen to be worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ.