Streams in the Desert January 13 Daily Devotional

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:37).
This is more than victory. This is a triumph so complete that we
have not only escaped defeat and destruction, but we have destroyed our enemies and won a spoil so rich and valuable that we can thank God that the baffle ever came. How can we be "more than
conquerors"? We can get out of the conflict a spiritual discipline
that will greatly strengthen our faith and establish our spiritual
character. Temptation is necessary to settle and confirm us in the spiritual life. It is like the fire which bums in the colors of
mineral painting, or like winds that cause the mighty cedars of the mountain to strike more deeply into the soil. Our spiritual
conflicts are among our choicest blessings, and our great adversary is used to train us for his ultimate defeat. The ancient Phrygians
had a legend that everytime they conquered an enemy the victor
absorbed the physical strength of his victim and added so much more to his own strength and valor. So temptation victoriously met
doubles our spiritual strength and equipment It is possible thus
not only to defeat our enemy, but to capture him and make him fight in our ranks. The prophet Isaiah speaks of flying on the shoulders
of the Philistines (Isa.11:14). These Philistines were their deadly
foes, but the figure suggested that they would be enabled not only to conquer the Philistines, but to use them to carry the victors on their shoulders for further triumphs. Just as the wise sailor can
use a head wind to carry him forward by tacking and taking
advantage of its impelling force; so it is possible for us in our spiritual life through the victorious grace of God to turn to
account the things that seem most unfriendly and unfavorable, and to be able to say continually, "The things that were against me
have happened to the furtherance of the Gospel."--Life More Abundantly.
A noted scientist observing that "early voyagers fancied that the coral-building animals instinctively built up the great circles of
the Atoll Islands to afford themselves protection in the inner
parts," has disproved this fancy by showing that the insect
builders can only live and thrive fronting the open ocean, and in a highly aerated foam of its resistless billows. So it has been
commonly thought that protected ease is the most favorable condition of life, whereas all the noblest and strongest lives
prove on the contrary that the endurance of hardship is the making of the men, and the factor that distinguishes between existence and vigorous vitality. Hardship makes character.---Selected.
"Now thanks be unto God Who always leads us forth to triumph with the Anointed One, and Who diffuses by us the fragrance of the
knowledge of Him in every place" (2Cor.2:14, literal translation).