(Please do state my mistakes if there are any and edit/omit/add things.

Thank you very much :D ) Seven Words of Victory You know, some people really get tired of their lives and they get tired sooooo fast. Like, when little trouble comes their way, they feel like quitting and dying already kay dili na nila feel na mag.effort sa pagbuhi or sa pagbuhat sa ilang mga responsibilities. Have you ever felt that way? I have for sure. And I think everyone has those times when we have to face our little enemies in life and to feel defeated sometimes. But I want you to know right now that that is not the life God has designed us to have. He didnt design us to have a life wherein we feel like we want to give up and just die already cuz life is too tiring for us. No! Before God created man and woman, He already created and provided everything else that we would need. But because man chose to sin, we have to suffer the consequences. However you will also see that even if man went away from God, He makes a way to get us together with Him and to have an awesome and joyful life for His glory. Get that on your minds, people. If you usually have that mindset of defeat, listen up cuz this seven words of victory from the New Testament is really awesome and cool for you and you and you and all of us in this room and it will really help us understand that we are awesome winners because of Christ.. B-) 1) His Word of forgiveness. Luke 23:34 Jesus said, Father, forgive these people, because they dont know what they are doing.

You know, Jesus, as He hung on the cross, was very much aware of much a lot of people hated Him and loved to see they way He suffered. But instead of hating them and shouting curses to them from the cross like what some us do, He said, Father, FORGIVE these people. Its not big news to know that its freakin hard to forgive some people. Admittedly, I used to have a HUGE problem with this before. Especially when the people you have to forgive are those who hurt you and make you cry. Some believe that Jesus repeated Father, forgive them over and over and over again. Cuz forgiveness is one of the most challenging gestures people can make. Right now, I want you to think of that one person whom you just cant forgive. Like, every time you see him or her, youre blood just boils. That person even hasnt said a word and yet when you see that persons dagway palang ma guba na dayon imong dagway. To the natural mind, it really does not make sense to forgive someone who has betrayed us, abused us, insulted us, and used us. It just doesnt make sense to forgive them cuz you think that they absolutely do not deserve youre forgiveness! But you know, Jesus forgave the people who crucified Him and hated Him. He forgive them not because they deserved it but because He is merciful. Your friend, your sibling, your parents, your teacher, or your co-worker might not deserve your forgiveness, but forgive anyways cuz Jesus did the same for you and me. Those who forgive are victorious. While those who keep grudges and continue to hatethose who are unforgivingare defeated 2) His word of invitation

In the Philippines, you dont need to give people invitations as long as theres food. What do you think is the invitation of Jesus Christ? He says, I am the way, the truth and the life. Some of you might be wondering what this invitation is supposed to be about. Well before that gets figured out, I want you to think of the kind of life you have been living. Did you use to have moments in your life wherein you just suddenly feel sad for no reason at all? Do you feel tried and sick of life cuz of all the problems that you have be it in your school, with your friends, or with your family? I think that its pretty common that a lot of us here feel that way sometimes. But you know what? Our value and our life is not found in our grades; its not found in how much we have; its not based on our life is not found here non earth even if we do live here. Our life is really found in Christ. Thats why we cant walk and live life here on earth when God is in the side of our liveswhen Hes the passenger while we attempt to drive through this insanely complicated world. He should be the 1st, He should be the driver and He should be on the throne of your life, deciding what youre gonna do and telling you who you are in this world cuz He said that He is life LIFE. And being in the presence of God enables us to keep going and persevere through trials. 3) His Word of Restoration After they had breakfast, Jesus asked His disciple, Peter , Hey Peter, do you love me? And Peter was like, Yeah, You know that I really do love You. And then Jesus said Orayt then, feed my sheep. As teenagers, its pretty common that there are times wherein we absolutely do not agree with our parents. We argue and we bicker with them and our relationship with our parents becomes very rocky. And sometimes we think na grabi na jud ka gubot ang atong relationship with them and we become like strangers to our parents. This doesnt only apply with our relationship with our parents but also with our siblings and maybe also our friends and any other relationship in our life thats being strained and stretched and its just at its limits already. Friends, there are no perfect families. God is strengthening you so that you can feed those who are in your families. When Jesus asked Peter the second time and Peter once again said that he loved Him, Jesus said Shepherd my sheep. You take care of them. So that we wont be ay bahala na ka sa imong kinabuhi. We should take care of them. Learn to forgive your imperfect family members and love,love,love and take care of them. Understand their problems and weaknesses. And become new in your household and take care of them. 23:35 Lemme just tell a little story at this point. You know, my dad and I didnt exactly have the most wonderful father-daughter relationship. He was very very very strict and because of that I received a lot of discipline

and I didnt like my dad because of that. I had a lot of bitterness towards him. But as my relationship with God, I learned that I had to feed, feed, feed, and shepherd, shepherd, shepherd. And forgive. My dad began to learn that too so we were able to get past all the bitterness and start building an actual relationship. Ya know, No matter how imperfect or frustrating people are in your family, you gotta do what you gotta do especially if theyre your parents. Just know that when you give love, people change. (Im not sure if this is really relevant/necessary. If you find it unnecessary, please erase :D) 4) His Word of Acceptance (matthew 27:46) Why did Jesus cry this out? And why did Jesus previously ask God to forgive the people because they didnt know what they were doing? It was really because He felt the deep and agonizing pain of the consequences of everyones sin since He was the one paying for it all so that we dont have to feel all of it for ourselves. He carried the weight of our sin. And what happened? God turned away from Jesus for a moment. Because of our sins, because of all the imperfection that Jesus bore, His Father couldnt stand it and so He turned away from His own Son! Thats why Jesus cried out My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? There may have been one point in your life or maybe an instance in your life where you mightve felt rejected, abandoned, and resentment. Jesus felt this way too, you know. And you might have also been wounded deeply by this. Maybe you didnt get the approval of your father and maybe you were rejected by your friends. But be assured that God will never turn His back on us. Deut 3:16 says ( insert) No matter who you are, no matter what you do in your entire lifetime, God will never turn His back on you. He has made it simple: NEVER will He leave you nor forsake you. It is a declaration of victory for you! Im pretty sure that the moment God leaves you ,you will fail. (Matt 11:28) He said, I WILL give you rest. Some of you came to this retreat with problems and issues and all sorts of dilemmas that you think are absolutely huge and complicated. Remember , God has already promised that He will give you rest. Im not sayin that you wont have problems anymore, goodness, this is life people. Life comes with problems. Its a give. but the thing is, when you have God, no matter what problems you have, you can throw your problems at Him and trust Him and He will give you rest. 5. His Word of Love (John 19:28) His thirst was not physical. He didnt say He was thirsty cuz He wanted to drink water before He died. Understand with me that He thirsted and

longed for the salvation of the lost souls. He longs for you and for me. In Romans 5:8, before you and I were savedbefore you and I began to learn about God and attended IO City and joined this retreat, He loved us and died for us. Thats how deep His love is. 6. His Word of Triumph John 19:30 When Jesus died on the cross, the devil realized that he was the one that was defeated. Satan thought at first that he was winning since Jesus was dying, but no. It was the opposite actually. When Jesus died on the cross, He fulfilled His purpose and that was to redeem humanity. When He declared IT IS FINISH he conquered death and the grave and He squished Satan with His sacrifice and the love that He had and still has for us. You guys may have problems right now. It may be family problems, financial problems, physical problems, emotional problems, spiritual problems, and any other problems that you might have in your life right now. But I just want you to hear me loud and clear that when Jesus sits at the throne of your life. IT IS FINISHED. All curses and strongholds and evil spirits that may try to pull you down and destroy you DO NOT have the power over your lives. That is why you gotta allow Jesus to take control of your lives so that youd be victorious whenever youve got problems be it big or small. (Psalm 91:10) 7. His Word of Hope Luke 23:46 We shouldve been the ones who lost and suffered for eternity in hell. But instead, He took our place and He gave Himself so that we could win and be victorious in our lives! When the angel said that Jesus wasnt in the tomb, it could only mean that truly, there is nothing impossible for God. All the things that seem so impossible in your life right now. It may be finishing college or being in the deans list, or finding a job or expanding a business, bear in mind that nothing is impossible for God. Cuz His death was not for Him but for us. In fact He said that He would go ahead of us. And He made a way and still makes a way for us everyday and so we can be assured of victories in our life. Paul said in Colossians 1:27 When we have Christ, we can find these glorious riches in Christ and only in Christ. God designed your life to be victorious. The question is, are you going to respond to the decision that God has made for us? -end-