All of my Christian life, I heard the verses to
the churches in Revelation containing promises to those who overcome. I do not
have the moral fiber, mental strength or physical stamina to overcome anything.
In other words, I am a wimp!
Whenever I saw or heard those verses, I cringed
and shut down mentally and emotionally. As a new Believer, life still frightened
me; and yet, I wanted to receive those promises to the overcomer.
Recently, my pastoral husband preached about
living as an overcomer and his sermon gave me the key verse that I missed all
of these years (1 John 4:4, 5:1-5). We overcome not in our human ability, but
through Christ in us (John 16:33; James 1:2-3).
Whoever is born of God automatically overcomes the
world, because our faith in Jesus as the Son of God gives us the victory (1
John 5:45). Jesus already overcame the world and He abides in us.
Even in suffering, we glorify God by our example
as patient victims (1 Peter 4:12-16; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18). In heaven, we will
receive these promises to the overcomer:
- We will eat of the tree of life and hidden manna, and we will receive the white stone of acquittal for our sins along with a new name (Revelation 2:7, 17; 3:12).
- We will rule the nations (Revelation 2:26) and we will be clothed in white, which is the purity of our works (Revelation 19:8).
- We will have our name written in the Lambs’ Book of Life (Revelation 3:5), we will forever serve as a pillar of strength in the temple of our God (Revelation 3:12).
- We will sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21).
- We will inherit all things as co-heirs with Christ as Children of God (Revelation 21:27).
- We will not experience the second, spiritual death in hell (Revelation 2:11).
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for sending
Jesus to do for us what we could never do for our self. Thank Your for taking
away the shame and condemnation of our sins, and for making us acceptable in
Your beloved family (Ephesians 1:6). Christ in us makes us overcomers,
because we are born again of His Spirit and we have faith in His faithfulness (1 John 5:4-5).
If we could live for thousands
of years, we would never have enough time to praise You for what You already did
and still do for us every day. We look forward to living for eternity in Your
Kingdom and to giving You the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Thought for the Day:
Christ in us will overcome anything, which
the world, the devil and our flesh throws at us (Galatians 2:20); we are
more than conquerors through Christ who lives in us (Romans 8:31-39).
