Podcast Summary: "Victory Is Mine"

Change Church Podcast | Pastor Dharius Daniels
Date: January 11, 2026

Episode Overview

In this dynamic and faith-filled episode, Pastor Dharius Daniels continues the "Name Dropping" series by introducing listeners to another powerful name of God: Jehovah Nissi, "The Lord is My Banner"—a name that signifies God's strategic victory for His people. Through rich biblical teaching, practical insights, and signature storytelling, Pastor Daniels urges listeners to expect not merely survival, but victory, in key areas of life, emphasizing that God gets glory not only through our struggles, but also in our wins.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: "Victory Is Mine"

• Pastor Daniels opens by grounding the episode in tradition and nostalgia, referencing classic church moments and an old gospel song:

  "Victory today is... I told Satan, Get thee behind, because victory today is mine."
  (03:30)

2. Relational Frustration & Expectations

• Pastor Dharius describes "relational frustration" as what happens when our expectations collide with others’ limitations—both with people and with God.
• He encourages honest reflection:

  "There are times when there is this tension that we feel inhibition to expose because we feel uncomfortable admitting that sometimes we feel like David in the Psalms. God, what's up with this?... Sometimes it's the same man that asks God, how long?"
  (08:16)

• Healthy frustration means aligning your expectations with what consistently is, not lowering your standards.

3. The Scriptural Thread—Strategic Victory

• Daniels unfolds a consistent scriptural promise: God offers His people "strategic victory," not defeat.
• He rapidly cites key scriptures supporting victory, not only through struggle but through overcoming:
  • Deuteronomy 20:4: "The Lord your God goes with you to give you victory."
  • Romans 8:37: "In all these things we are more than conquerors..."
  • 1 Corinthians 15:57: "Thanks be to God, He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
  • Revelation 12:11: "They triumphed...by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony."
    (13:00–15:45)
• He warns, however, that God allows us to live on the level we settle for:

  "The same one that offers...victory is the same one that respects your choice enough to let you not choose it."
  (17:10)

4. Rejecting the Glorification of Suffering

• Pastor Dharius critiques some Christian teachings that only glorify suffering, clarifying that God gets glory from both our hardship and our victories:

  "Does God get glory out of my suffering? Yes. Is suffering the only way God can get glory? ...He not only gets glory in my losses. He gets glory in my wins."
  (20:15)

• Provides biblical examples (David & Goliath, Lazarus, Bartimaeus, woman with the issue of blood).

5. Progressive Revelation & Jehovah Nissi

• Recaps from the previous sermon: God reveals Himself progressively. "Nissi" is part of that unfolding revelation—God as the banner of victory.
• Introduces the key text: Exodus 17:15—Israel names God “Jehovah Nissi” after victory over the Amalekites.
  (28:00)

6. Wilderness, Transition, and Unexpected Challenges

• Unpacks the Israelites’ journey: They escape Egypt not directly into the Promised Land, but into the wilderness—representing seasons of unexpected transition in our lives.
• Encourages listeners that feeling unprepared doesn’t mean being unprepared:

  "Just because you're surprised doesn't mean you're unprepared. If you can survive Egypt, you can survive the desert."
  (34:25)

• Reminds: Tiredness, not adversity itself, is often the stumbling block.

7. The Amalekites as a Symbol of Recurring Problems

• The Amalekites are a metaphor for persistent and reoccurring problems in life—issues that keep "popping back up" if not thoroughly addressed.
• Illustrates via biblical narrative:
  • Unaddressed Amalekites trouble Israel across multiple generations and biblical books.
• Lesson: Some battles require decisive action—don’t play with problems that aren’t playing with you.
  (41:45)

8. Practical Teaching: Pick Your Battles Wisely

• Uses David's pre-fight question—"What shall be given to the man that defeat the giant?"—to illustrate the importance of discerning which battles are worth fighting.
• Warns against wasting energy on conflicts that yield nothing:

  "Sometimes we're fighting and we win and we win nothing. All those sleepless nights for nothing. So you change their mind about you—now, how is your life better?"
  (53:00)

9. How God Brings Victory: People, Presence, Principles, Power

• People: God sends the right people, like Joshua, Aaron, and Hur with Moses. Not everyone around you is equipped for adversity—but God provides those who are.

  "Niecy will send you some people who will get in the foxhole with you and say, 'You going through it, but we fasting together and we're praying together and we're reading together. Because I'm born for adversity.'"
  (59:30)

• Presence: God gives His presence—impartation of spiritual gifts, graces, strengths.
• Principles: His instructions and principles are strategic for victory.
• Power: Ultimately, God orchestrates the outcomes—you control the effort, God controls the battle turnarounds.

  "He'll turn that battle if you know how to keep your hands lifted high, Niecy. If you learn like Moses how to keep your hands high, Niecy will turn things in your favor."
  (01:06:00)

10. Expecting Victory Changes Everything

• By knowing God as Jehovah Nissi, expectations shift from survival to victory:

  "Even before things change, practically...because you got an expectation. Oh, Niecy gunna turn this. I don't know when and I don't know how, but before the dust settles, Niecy is gonna show up and turn it in my favor."
  (01:09:20)

Memorable Quotes

• "Relational frustration is what an individual experiences when their expectations run into the reality of someone else's limitations."
  — Pastor Dharius Daniels (07:52)
• "God can offer us a life where we experience peace, but allow us to live in panic...He can offer us a life of wholeness, but allow us to live in brokenness."
  (16:40)
• "You do not have to seek out suffering. Just keep on living. And at one point it's going to turn into your neighborhood, pull up into your driveway, ring your doorbell, go in your house, go through your living room into the kitchen, get the Kool Aid. I don't have to seek out suffering."
  (22:25)
• "Closed minds never get through open doors. There are sides of God you haven't seen yet."
  (26:55)
• "This not harder. You just tired. You tired from Egypt and you tired of Egypt."
  (37:25)
• "Because what you don't deal with in Exodus shows up in Samuel, and what you don't deal with in Samuel, it shows up in Chronicles."
  (46:22)
• "All that back and forth for nothing. All those sleepless nights for nothing. So you change their mind about you—now, how is your life better? Your life didn't get worse when they didn't like you…"
  (53:05)
• "Some of you have been that person for other people...but God will start tapping other people on the shoulder, and he will send people into your life to be to you what you were to others. You will sow in one field, but you will reap in another."
  (01:01:45)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–05:00 – Series introduction, nostalgic church references, and setting the theme of victory
• 07:30–09:30 – Relational frustration with people and with God; healthy hopelessness
• 13:00–16:00 – Scriptural basis for strategic victory
• 20:00–23:00 – Addressing suffering and God's glory in both pain and triumph
• 28:00–30:00 – Introducing Jehovah Nissi and progressive revelation
• 34:00–38:00 – Spiritual fatigue and the wilderness as transition
• 41:30–44:30 – The Amalekites as recurring problems; decisiveness in spiritual battles
• 53:00–55:00 – Discernment in choosing battles; wisdom over wasted energy
• 59:30–01:02:00 – How God brings victory: people, presence, principles, power
• 01:09:00–end – Shifting to expect victory in life and testimony

Key Takeaways

• God offers not just survival, but strategic victory for His people—Jehovah Nissi.
• Don’t settle for less than God’s best; it's possible to sanctify settling and call it God’s will.
• Suffering is part of the journey but not the end—God is glorified in your wins too.
• Expect God to intervene, but discern which battles are worth engaging.
• Victory often comes through the right people, principles, and God’s power, not just personal effort.
• The revelation of God as Jehovah Nissi should fuel your expectation for practical and spiritual victories.

Summary prepared for those seeking both inspiration and practical faith insight drawn from Pastor Dharius Daniels' dynamic message, "Victory Is Mine."