OVERCOMING LIFE

Blood-bought saint’s overcome adversity “by the word of their testimony.” Our testimony is produced by our experiences, growing with each new experience, so we must have experiences… even unto death experiences, to have a powerful testimony. Overcoming Life is the metaphorical four-legged stool. The seat is our shared testimony, and the legs supporting our testimony are the commandments of the Overcoming Life: “Trust In The Lord With All Your Heart”, “Rejoice Always”, “In Everything Give Thanks”, and “Pray Without Ceasing.” And the thing about a four-legged stool... it can only function as its designer intended with all four legs in place. Ditto God’s saints: The Great Architect of the universe designed us to overcome through obedience to these commandments, all of them. We conquer, subdue, prevail… are victorious, when we overcome the intended consequences of adversity through our growing testimony of Good arising out of the ashes of Bad. For it is God who wills and does in us of His good pleasure, masterfully turning life’s interruptions into good in accordance with His purposes, and transforming us in the process.

 To trust in God with all of our heart... soul... mind... strength, is to submit to His Lordship and recognize our total dependence on Him. God’s ways are infinitely beyond our comprehension so we must “lean not on our own understanding.” Rejoicing demonstrates the joy of the Lord, producing strength. Giving thanks in every “thing”, every circumstance of life, enthrones God in our heart adding worth to His name. Ceaseless prayer, the abiding life of John fifteen, engages God to release His Kingdom rule into our circumstances, in accordance with His will, aligning us with His heart and purposes, and bringing the comfort of the Holy Spirit. The word of our testimony declares our heart to God, to all those about us, and to the powers of darkness: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” We need trust that faces death and does not flinch! The enemy is defeated not because our circumstances improve, but in spite of our circumstances -- no matter what they do. He is defeated when we refuse to allow our circumstances to degrade our Faith, Trust and Hope in our Daddy. He is defeated when we trust, rejoice, give thanks, and pray even during the worse storms of life. This is how we overcome... this is the “words” of our testimony...

Overcomers reflect our Lord’s nature so others can understand what He is like. The Apostle Paul understood the Overcoming Life, for he penned its commands out of his own personal experiences, out of the blood and flesh from his whip scared back.  Paul understood to the point of literally rejoicing in infirmities, troubles, suffering, hardships, afflictions, persecutions, in a nutshell adversity, referring to them as momentary “light afflictions” common to all saints. And hence the need for the four-legged stool!  John the Revelator spoke of the eternal rewards of overcomers in his letters to the seven churches, utilizing the Greek present participle to denote continuous action – overcoming requires patience endurance, for it is a lifestyle. Overcomers will eat from the Tree of Life, be unhurt by the second death, be fed hidden manna, be given power over the nations, be acknowledged by Christ before God as His own possessions, be pillars in the temple of God, be called by the Lord’s new name, and will sit with Christ on His throne. WOW!

Overcoming is a spiritual discipline... a habit of choice, and like all disciplines must first be understood, then practiced, to become a discipline. Trust, rejoice, give thanks, pray, and share your testimony of God’s goodness, even when bad things happen, because Daddy is sovereign in His allowings, and purposeful in His working out of our “things.” He does not give us overcoming life; He gives us Life... His Divine Life, as we overcome. And He wants us to have a testimony... He wants us to overcome!                                                                                                          

“FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD… "

(Rev. 12:11; 1 Thess. 5:16-18; Phil. 2:13; Rom.8:28; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; Job 13:15; 2 Cor. 4:16-18, 11:23-27, 12:10)