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"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
There are numerous accounts in the Word of God which displays how God’s children overcame many difficult situations.
Read the account of Gideon in Judges 6-8.
Gideon is like so many of God’s children in that he carried the spirit of fear. He did not feel he could adequately do the job that God called him to do. On top of his feelings of fear were doubt and low self–esteem. Why? Because he was from a “low class clan” and was considered the weakest in his family.
Even though God commanded Gideon to go and fulfill his purpose, he questioned God because he believed he was who society said he was, instead of who God said he was. Gideon had extreme unbelief and asked God to perform signs for him so that he could get up enough courage to believe that he really could do what God asked him to do.
The Lord told Gideon that he would strike down his enemies but he didn’t believe. Gideon needed to overcome his unbelief, doubt, fear, and low self-esteem to be used by God.
God speaks to us and tells us what we should do. He told Gideon he would strike down his enemies and Gideon did. We need to learn to stand on the WORD OF GOD to be overcomers.
In Numbers 23:12, it states, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”
Gideon had to believe in God and what God could do through him. To overcome any situation we must BELIEVE and have FAITH in God that we can be overcomers.
Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Luke 1:37, “For nothing is impossible with God.”
Read the account of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.
How can we begin to have the faith we need in God to be overcomers? We must renew our minds (Romans 12:2). In order to have greater faith we have to line up our thinking with God’s. We can’t think like the world, we can’t live up to the world’s expectations of us. We need to live up to God’s expectations.
The world expected David to be destroyed by Goliath. Why? Because he was a little shepard boy who was unskilled in the world’s techniques of war. David had faith in our sovereign God that he would be victorious. He came up against the world (Philistines and Goliath) through the name of the Lord Almighty (1 Samuel 17:45).
Paul talks about not living by the world standards and expectations in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have DIVINE POWER to DEMOLISH STRONGHOLDS.”
Our weapons are faith in God, belief that his grace and mercy is sufficient to help us through any situation, the use of the fruits of the spirit, the Word of God, and prayer. David through his faith in God received divine power to wage war and won. We must do the same as children of God.
When negative, self-defeating thoughts and words try to attack us we stand upon the Word of God and cancel those thoughts in the name of Jesus. 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and WE TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT TO MAKE IT OBEDIENT TO CHRIST.”
In order to stand upon the Word of God, we must read His Word, meditate on His Word, pray His Word, and speak His Word into our lives.
We must understand that God’s GRACE can help us overcome any problem area in our life.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “ ‘...My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am WEAK, then I am STRONG.”
It is at times when we are down, weak, and hopeless that God is allowed to step in and work in our lives. Why is this? Because we as children are so stubborn that we will not allow God oftentimes to do what He needs to do. We want to do things our way and not God’s. We must realize that we cannot do anything without being inline with the will of God, and working through his Grace and Mercy.
When temptations come our way, we do not fear. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, it states, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Any temptation thrown our way can be overcome, through God’s Grace and Mercy. When we are tempted, rest assured that even though there is a road which leads to the temptation, God also has given us a road to lead us away from any temptation. It is up to US to take God’s road.
LIVE BY THE SPIRIT
Read about the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:16-25.
It is up to us as children of God to LIVE BY THE SPIRIT. When we live by the spirit and display the fruits of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” in our lives we are OVERCOMERS.
It is up to us when faced with difficult situations to call upon the fruits of the spirit to help us. By faith, we trust in God, we use the fruits of the Spirit to overcome areas of the flesh that the deceiver may try to use against us.
Remember: Satan is a DEFEATED FOE!
It is not our job to defeat the enemy. He has already been defeated. It is our job to overcome the enemy.
Read the Book of Colossians
Christ paid the price for our sins when he died on the cross and rose again. Not only did Christ bless us with the gift of salvation through his sacrifice, but he “disarmed powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross,” (Colossians 2:15).
The enemy was defeated over 2000 years ago. We must not let the enemy trick us into living according to our sinful nature, but instead live by the fruits of the spirit. “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. FORGIVE AS THE LORD FORGAVE YOU. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity,” (Colossians 3:12-14).
It is so important to remember that when we allow the enemy to use our flesh against us we are not walking in the spirit. In Amos 3:3, it states that TWO can not walk together unless they agree. When we choose to allow the flesh to rise up and go against the fruits of the spirit, we are not walking with God, we are walking in darkness. And we know that Satan dwells in the darkness.
God is the light and as his children we are to be a light to the world which is in darkness. God does not dwell in darkness. To overcome we must walk with God in the light, by clothing ourselves with the fruits of the spirit. Don’t let the enemy pull you into darkness by using circumstances, emotions, or happenings.
As Colossians 3:12-14 states, we must forgive others. Holding onto unforgiveness allows the enemy to plant demonic seeds like bitterness, hatred, and rejection. When we forgive and walk in love towards those who trespass against us we are living by the fruits of the spirit and are walking with God as his child.
Read 2 Corinthians 2:5-11
Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive you your sins.”
We are children of God because we have repented for our sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. But Jesus states that if we don’t forgive others we are not forgiven. If Jesus doesn’t forgive us of our sins, what does that mean? It means that we cease to be a child of God.
If only people would realize how serious it is to harbor bitterness and unforgiveness in their hearts. They are literally tearing themselves away from God because he WILL NOT forgive us if we do not forgive others.
Read Matthew 18:21-35
Unforgiveness separates us from God. If we are separated from God then we are in darkness. We can not be overcomers living in darkness. If we live in darkness than we are in Satan’s territory. We cannot be overcomers being in agreement with Satan. We have to be in agreement with God. We must forgive so that we can be forgiven.
We must have faith that God’s will for us is perfect, and we must live according to His will. We must live by the Fruits of the Spirit, and not allow the enemy to trick us into living by the fleshy, sinful nature. We must renew our minds by mediating and hearing the Word of God. We must “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
We must pray without ceasing. We must trust totally in God. We must know that it is not through our power but the power of God and His GRACE and MERCY that we are able to live according to His Will.
As children of God we are overcomers simply because our Father is sovereign. He REIGNS, and has all power. We must walk with him in agreement, living holy and pleasing unto him. And we know that we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!”
Always take heart because our Father has overcome the world and we, his children, are overcomers!
1 John 5:4-5, “...for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
Spiritual Matters
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Resource for Christian Women to grow spiritually in God.