Christ's Victory - Martin Luther

"I've told you this so that my peace will be with you. In the world you'll have trouble. But cheer up! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

We should learn to remind ourselves of Christ's victory. In Christ, we already have everything that we need. We only live to spread this message of victory to other people. With our word and example, we tell them about the victory that Christ secured for us and gave to us. Christ, our victor, accomplished everything. We don't need to add anything to it. We don't need to wipe away our own sins, or try to conquer death and evil. Everything has already been done for us. We're not fighting the real battle. We're only suffering now in order to share in Christ's victory. All of our suffering combined, even all the suffering and blood of the martyrs and saints, wouldn't give us the victory. It's not
accomplished by what we do. Some people claim that we ought to be able to conquer sin, death and hell on our own. By saying this, they insult Christ. But our struggles and fighting come way too late. The battle must be won beforehand if we are to have any comfort and peace. Christ says, "I have already won. Accept my victory. Sing about it and glorify it. Take comfort in it.:

We know from the past, when believers were severely tested, the Holy Spirit reminded them of Christ's victory and strengthened them so that they could endure everything. They could even face martyrdom, relying on Christ's victory. May God help us also to hold on to Christ's victory during our troubles and when we're dying. Even though we don't understand these words of Christ completely, we can still believe in them in times of trouble and reassure ourselves: "My Lord and Savior spoke these words to my heart. In Christ I have a victor over the world, death, and the devil. It doesn't matter how small and weak I am. Amen."

A devotional reading from November 14th read from "By Faith Alone ... 365 Devotional Readings Updated in Today's Language" -- Martin Luther
I will write more on this moment of the journey in a later entry. Dad was deeply moved. It spoke so clearly to the situation on several different points ... things he had brought up the days before that were answered in this very entry.