"Red Bull" Christians

Studying Acts 13, we see some awesome church growth and great examples of what it means to be a powerful Christian. The first thing I noticed is that the believers were high-performance believers! The first church had a *vision* and a plan for action. Churches must have a vision if they want to see success, energy not directed is energy wasted. This principle applies in our personal lives as well, more on that later.

The early church persevered in the face of defeat, they wouldn't allow setbacks to deter them from their mission. How easy it is to give up in the face of trials, throw up our hands when we sense we may lose or walk away when the going is a little tougher than we thought. The early church didn't exist to survive, it's purpose was to thrive! One of the most common traps Christians face is the attitude of complacency: "I'm doing great! I'll stay just like this." After one victory, the church moved on to win more battles; they never stood still on the battlefield for souls. They overcame the heartaches, they overcame the defeats and they overcame the persecution. They were winners with the mindset of a winner, they lived Romans 8:28, they knew they were made to be victorious!

Revelation 21:7 - God rewards those who overcome
1 Cor 15:57 - God gives us victory!
Revelation 2:26 - God gives authority to those that overcome
Romans 8:37 - We are more than conquerors, we are victors!

To become powerful Christians we must wholeheartedly believe what we live. At first glance, you may think: "Believe what we live or live what we believe?" Those of us that have given our lives to Christ attempt to live according to His Word; but I fear some of us don't wholeheartedly believe what it says. We read that we are victors, we strive to survive instead of thrive; we read God wants us to be prosperous, we're content with our measly wages; and we read that we are being watched over and taken care of, yet we worry about tomorrow. We read in James 1 that double-mindedness, or doubts, cause us to lose blessings from the Lord. Doubters never prosper.

Lastly, you know if you're not living a powerful Christian walk if you're not evangelizing. What Christianity are you living if it's not exciting enough to tell others about? I leave you with this passage from 1 Peter 1:5-9:

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."