Issue 1| 2023

TRANSFORMED LIVES
me. I was an accident. I was unwanted, a
product of violence.”
There is no life outside of God. He is the
Creator, Giver, and Sustainer of life. (See
Job 33:4; Acts 17:28; Colossians 1:17; and
1 Corinthians 8:6.) Negative circumstances
around your conception or birth do not
negate the fact that God created you, He
loves you, and that He has a good plan for
your life that He wants you to fulfill.
You, no matter who you are, are God’s
masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). He created
you on purpose and for a purpose. Your
earthly parents might have cursed the day
you were born, but God didn’t. He wanted
you to be born because He values your life.
Not only that—He took great delight in
forming all the delicate parts of your body
(Psalm 139:13). God knit you together. You
are wonderfully fashioned, and when He
looks at you, He smiles. He has precious
thoughts toward you that outnumber the
grains of sand (Psalm 139:17–18).
You’re His prized possession, worth even
the life of His only Son.
It’s hard sometimes to remember that.
The world likes to remind us of our shortcomings,
as does Satan, the enemy of our
soul. But God thinks differently, and it is
time we align our thoughts with His. We
can’t live the life God intends us to live
without doing so.
Let’s do an exercise. Write down the
negative words your parents, spouse, children,
so-called friends, or coworkers have
spoken over you. Write down the negative
thoughts you’ve had about yourself too.
How many are there? Ten? A hundred?
Maybe a thousand?
With a pen, place a dot of ink on your
paper to represent each countable thought.
When you’re done, compare those dots
against all the grains of sand in the world.
The sand represents God’s thoughts toward
you—His good, precious, innumerable
thoughts. Remember Psalm 139? No
matter how many negative statements you
came up with, there’s no comparison!
Friend, God thinks you are the bomb,
and it’s time you realize it. You can’t be the
champion He has created you to be if you
don’t believe you are champion material.
God does not create junk! He doesn’t
make mistakes. He created you—you!—on
purpose and with a purpose. Why should
it matter what other people think or say?
Let’s continue our exercise. Dive into
God’s Word and discover His thoughts toward
you. Write His words next to the negative
ones you listed. For example, if you
wrote, “You are a failure,” write next to it, “I
am not a failure. I am the righteousness of
God.” If you wrote, “You will never amount
to anything. You are just like your father.”
Write down this truth, “My Father is God
Almighty, and I was made in His image. He
has great plans for me and will help me accomplish
them. I can do all things through
Christ who gives me strength!” Exchange
each lie for the truth of God.
Search the Bible daily and renew your
mind with God’s thoughts toward you. If
you want to know God’s will for your life,
you have to renew your mind. Change the
way you think about everything, including
yourself. As you do, God will transform you
into a new person—the champion He created
you to be (Romans 12:2).
Capturing negative thoughts, rebuking
condemning words (2 Corinthians 10:5),
guarding your mouth (Psalm 141:3)—it’s
a full-time job. But it’s worth the effort.
Far Left: Vennesa is all
smiles after winning the
2022 Moomba Masters in
Melbourne, Australia.
Below: Vennesa and Kristi
formed a close friendship
as Vennesa pursued her
championship title.
KRISTI OVERTON JOHNSON encourages and equips people for victory through her
writings, speaking engagements, and prison ministry. To learn more, go to kojministries.org.
PHOTOS BY HOLLY STRATFORD AND NOAH VIEKE
30 Issue 01 / 2023 VICTORIOUSLIVINGMAGAZINE.COM