Part 1 BORN TO OVERCOME
By Ken Fletcher
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5: 4-5
When I was newly born again at the age of nineteen, I thought that since I was now saved there would be no more problems. Of course, it didn’t take me very long to find out how wrong my thinking was. At the time, I remember that I was somewhat bewildered and confused about it. For years, when problems and trouble came my way, I did not know how to deal with them properly. Victory seemed to elude me. So many times I experienced defeat and was underneath the circumstances. Because of the situations, at times I became very discouraged and downcast about being a Christian.
After being a Christian for many years and after many defeats, ups and downs, and being whipped around by the devil, God began to do a wonderful work in my life. I began receive teaching from God’s Word that showed me who I was in Christ. For the first time, I really began to understand some important truths about my new birth in Christ. These truths have changed my life!
In this article, and in the next article coming up, I am moved to share with you a few important Essentials For Overcomers.
What should every believer know? Because he is in Christ: 1) He knows that he is born an overcomer. 2) He knows that he is righteous. Of course, “he” here means “she” as well. It includes all of mankind who are in Christ.
In John 16:33 Jesus said: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
We are world overcomers ONLY because Jesus overcame the world. Jesus said as long as we are in this present world, there will be trouble coming our way. He also said that even though trouble is here, we can have peace and a cheerful attitude because HE has overcome the world. In 1 John 5:4, we see that everyone who is born of God overcomes the world. How is that possible?
In 1 Corinthians 5:17, the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul said: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” This new creation of God is born with the very nature of Jesus Christ. In Romans 8, believers are referred to as “children of God”, “heirs of God”, and “Joint heirs with Christ”. What powerful truths these are; children, heirs, joint heirs (co-heirs) of God! Oh my, it is certainly difficult to wrap our minds around the awesome realities of these wonderful truths.
Perhaps you may have thought that you would become a child of God when you get to heaven. If you have not become a child of God in this life, there will be no heaven for you.. If you have not received Jesus into your heart you are still separated from God and you are lost. Receive the life of God today, right now!
Pray this simple prayer. Say it with your mouth from your sincere heart to the Lord. “Dear God, I come to as a sinner in need of salvation. I believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for my lost condition. I believe in my heart that you, God, raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead to justify me. I now receive Jesus and all that He did for me. I now boldly confess that Jesus is now the Lord of my life.” (If you just prayed this prayer, go now and look up Romans chapter 10, verses 9-10, and 13 in the Bible. Also, please write to us so we can rejoice with you.)
What really happened to you who just prayed this prayer and to us who have accepted Jesus before? Colosians 2:12-15 shows us that, by faith, we actually went back and identified with Jesus when He died on the cross and was raised in power and victory by the Holy Spirit. We were there together with Him! Jesus did it all for us so we could identify with His victory and actually become overcomers with Him!
Our old man died with Christ and we were raised with Him in newness of life. We now share the Lord’s very own nature. It is a nature of power and victory! You are not and ol’ sinner saved by grace – but a new creature in Christ who used to be an ol’ lost sinner that was saved by God’s grace. You are a NEW CREATION! If you are in Christ, you have the nature of an overcomer now in your spirit. You are a born overcomer! You are born to win!
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “overcome” to mean: “to get the better of …overpower…overwhelm…to gain the superiority…to win.” As overcomers we know in advance that there will be obstacles to gain the superiority over in life.
In John 15, Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the branches. Now, when we look at a tree we realize that the trunk and the branched are connected together. It is one. The branches are made of the same consistency as the trunk, and the same life that flows in the trunk also flows in the branch. Jesus said that you are made of the same stuff God is made of! You are His child. You are a chip off the ol’ block!
A bird is born to fly, a bunny is born to hop, a thoroughbred horse is born to run, and you, just like your heavenly Father and big brother, Jesus, are born to overcome. Ephesians. 2:10 says: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. We are to imitate our Father. “Be ye therefore followers (or imitators) of God, as dear children;” Ephesians. 5:1.
When a problems or trials come, ask yourself, “How would Jesus approach this problem?” You would have to say that Jesus approaches any problem from a standpoint of victory. He would look at it as an overcomer! You are to look at problems the same way. You are joined together with Jesus by the Holy Spirit and you share the same overcoming nature. Because of the mighty power of the Holy Spirit residing in your spirit, you are born again to win in life. Hallelujah!
What an awesome truth – to be joined to the great, mighty, Holy Spirit. He is the One who raised Jesus from the dead in the greatest display of overcoming power ever known. That same overcoming power is now residing in you!
There are many Christians today who are living in defeat as I once was. Why aren’t all Christians living as overcomers in this life? You see, according to 1 John 5:4-5, ALL Christians are born world overcomers. Though they are actually born again overcomers in their spirits, they have not learned these important Bible facts I am writing about in these articles. They do not KNOW they are overcomers!
Whether this is the first time you have ever considered yourself as an overcomer, or if this is a truth that you knew before and have let slip, begin today meditating in this truth. Renew your mind to God’s way of thinking. Begin BEING who you really are. Live out on the outside the person you are on the inside. Approach life’s problems from the standpoint of victory – as an overcomer! Allow the Holy Spirit to rise up in you to help you overcome every adversity. Oh, what a difference it makes! Stand fast in your new nature.
Now, the devil wants to keep you under the circumstances and defeated in your life. He wants to deceive you in to thinking wrong about yourself and the problems that may be facing you. But oh, if you get hold of this truth and practice it in your life everyday, you will walk different, talk different, act different, pray different, and your whole life will change. It will happen on the inside of you–down in your inner man–your spirit. Then, it will begin to appear on the outside in the natural realm. As you go from glory to glory in Christ, you will also go from victory to victory. You become dangerous to the devil!
“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Here the Holy Spirit is saying through John that you are God’s offspring, and because of that fact, you have already overcome them (the devil and all wicked spirits). Notice, you do not TRY to overcome the devil and demons. You HAVE overcome them! Because you are born of God, you have already overcome the devil and all demons! Jesus has already done it for you. The Greater One is in you now! That victory is in you now! Hallelujah!
You are to resist the devil from a position of victory, not trying to get the victory. You have already got the victory! Now enforce your victory! Make the devil get! The Bible says in James 4:7 to submit to God, and RESIST the devil. It goes on to say that when you resist him that he will flee from you. You resist him from the standpoint of victory – as an overcomer! He will flee – run away in terror – from you! Praise God!
Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” You have divine resources. You have unlimited potential in your spirit, now. You are hooked up to an “all things are possible” God. Since you are in Christ, all things are possible to you!
You cannot determine that you are an overcomer by your circumstances. You must go by the unchanging truth of who God says you are in His Word. Live your life by who God says you are. Don’t be moved away by the devil or circumstances. Believe the Word of God. Believe in the fact that you are what God says you are – a born overcomer! Believe that! Your faith is the victory that brings it out into the natural realm.
I am so excited to tell you today that, no matter what you may have experienced in the past, it can be different after today! You can begin living this life as the winner you are made to be. God has done this work in you. You are His workmanship. (Eph.2:10) Does God create undergoers and losers? Are the children of God created to be defeated by trials, adverse circumstances, and the devil? No! Of course not. He has created us world overcomers and devil overcomers. Wow! Yes, it’s true! It is wonderful to live this way.
Now, in light of this tremendous reality, stand up and walk in this life as the overcomer God created you to be. As you grow in this truth, your life will take on the characteristics of a conqueror. Your steps will be ordered of God. Things will be different as you learn to live out of your spirit on the inside, not from the circumstances on the outside. May you be blessed as you practice exercising the Essentials For Overcomers. KF
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