You are a winner #1 of a 5 part series.

Epehesians 2:1-10 (nkjV) "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the [a]course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

God created us to be winners. We carry around with us the reminder on both hands. Go ahead make a "W" by holding up these three finger. This can also serve as a sermon should you ever need one. This week we will look at one word each day, that will show us that God wants us to win, and considers us winners over any and all battles we may face. The first word I want us to look at is "Workmanship".

We were created by God to be His workmanship, worthy, walking daily with him, whole people not broken people, willing vessels... All week I will be sharing on this idea that we are FREE. Even in captivity we can be free. Joseph and Daniel both lived their entire lives in captivity--yet they were free. God closed the mouth of lions when Daniel was captive in the Lions Den. Story after story in the Bible and in the world we hear of people like Corrie ten Boom and John McCain who were captive yet free. They never let their outside get on their inside.

I love this movie, Shaw Shank Redemption. The language may get a rough but the person of Andy makes us all take a hard look at ourselves and ask, "Am I really this determined, strong, capable?" We should be even more so, because we are God's Workmanship, His creation, created for good works. We are winners. 

I want to leave you with these three points:

1. Know who you are and that is a child of God, set free from all sin, and wages of sin.
2. Walk like you're free, live like you're free even in captivity because even, in captivity you are free. The cage of your spirit is open. God will give you beauty for ashes.
3. Win because you are a winner, because you are free. Make the right choices to stay free. Because you are free use every opportunity to set others free.

 
The freedom that Jesus offers is not a political system; it is a release from the chains that enslave one's soul. Winners are free. Only a free person can set others free. Only winners can lead others to win. Winning is a habit. A habit is something we do everyday.

ACTION STEP: Walk like a winner. Talk like a winner. Whatever captivity you find yourself in--do not let it get inside of you! Where your invisible coat of righteousness purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ and walk like the winning workmanship for which you were created.

This quote from the movie spoken by Red who loved Andy, when sharing about his thoughts of Andy when he first came to the Prison.

"He strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place."