One day I heard an Olympic athlete describe how hard she had worked to get the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games. She was telling what it took for her to win the gold medal.

Well, what does it take to be a winner? Everyone wants to know the answer to that question. We all want to win. But when it comes right down to it, few of us are willing to pay the price to do it.

The athletes that compete in the Olympics don't just wake up one morning and say, "Hey! I think I'll be in the Olympics today." They train for years to get there. Some of them train most of their lives.

The get out of bed every morning to run. They run in the cold. They run in the rain. They run no matter what - whether they want to or not. This woman said there were times when she pushed herself so hard she would become physically ill. But even then, she refused to stop running.

That woman was determined to win.

She had decided years earlier to go for a gold medal - no matter what it cost. She was stretching and straining to win it, pushing forward with the kind of force that moves every obstacle out of the way.

That kind of force I what it takes to be a winner - not just physically but spiritually. Jesus said so in Matthew 11:12, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."

When Jesus said those words, He wasn't talking about going to heaven. He was talking about more than just grasping on to it; He meant actually possessing the promised blessings such as healing, prosperity and peace.

You can have those kingdom blessings here and now. But it's not easy - you have to take them by force.

Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka:  Kenneth Copeland Ministries