Many people enter life maimed or abused since they can remember. It’s as if the world is against them and that especially includes one’s family of upbringing. We don’t have a choice as to our family of origin. No family is perfect and some families are healthier than others. We must take the good with the bad, learn to adapt, survive, learn from our experiences and forgive those who hurt us along the way.
Clearly, our faith help us to weather the many storms that aim to derail us, but for many people, they don’t find faith until later in life, especially if they were not raised in a religious home. Life is often a struggle to find peace within ourselves and that peace does not come until we make a commitment to live for the Lord wholeheartedly so we can move from merely surviving to thriving and accomplish all that God has called us to be. Our manner of thinking will often determine how far we will go in life, how much we will accomplish and how healthy we will live.
The following is an excerpt from Victor’s first book, Armed for Battle and Destined for Glory! It is available through his website, Armed4Battle.com and Amazon.com. His manuscript won two international awards from the Global E-Book Awards as it was a finalist for “Best Autobiography” and “Best Christian E-Book–Non-Fiction.” Enjoy!
“A Prince or a Pauper”
Originally Written on April 20, 2002
by Victor Torres
How many of you were raised with no purpose in living
In a world that’s lost, dying and unforgiving?
Who told you that your thoughts and feelings didn’t matter?
Whose words cut you to pieces and left you bruised and battered?
Who brainwashed you since the early days of your youth;
Labeled you a pauper and presented it as the truth?
Who said you were insignificant and gave you no hope;
And dared to leave you dangling at the end of your rope?
You were lied to, My friend, since the days of your childhood.
Now, you question the lies and accusations; as you should.
I formed you, indeed, as My perfect creation,
And destined you for greatness as part of My holy nation.
Many of you are “throwaways” who were treated like dirt
At the hands of fathers or mothers who inflicted much hurt.
But, I’m above the dirt, the hurt and all those raw deals.
I’ve come to lift you out of the mud; I am the God Who heals.
You’re a treasure your parent forgot to open, My dear prince;
And only through believing My Word will you be convinced
That you’re worth more than all the gold that I’ve created.
It’s time, child, that you forgive all those that you’ve hated.
It’s not about what happens to you, but what happens in you.
You are not a fateful product of your milieu,
But a product of how you respond to your surroundings.
I made your environment your training ground; your boxing ring.
Though this life is your boot camp, it is not your home.
You must overcome the role of a victim, lest you roam
Aimlessly through the wilderness, as did those before you;
Who died short of “the promise” and settled merely for a view.
I’ve made you awesome and you’re the glory that covers the earth.
You’ve been called to greatness, according to your spiritual birth.
You are a prince, not a pauper; the head and not the tail.
Rise above the ashes, dear one; you will succeed and not fail.
Let Me heal the little child in you, so I can sow new ground.
There is a king and priest in you waiting to abound.
I am calling you to rise up and shake the dust off your feet.
As a prince or princess I’ve called you to overcome defeat.
I am strengthening your spirit to go for the gold.
I’m doing a new work in you, which leaves no room for the old;
And besides creating you equal among all the races,
I took the liberty to seat you in heavenly places.
I have awakened you now to your new identity.
No longer will you live in impoverished extremity.
A beggar mentality does not equate with My name.
There’s no room for a pauper, my prince, in My Hall of Fame!
God bless you, my friends!
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