1 John 2:14 - I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one., who is the image of God, should shine unto them
Man was created to be a winner. The Bible tells us so. We read in Genesis, for example, that man was originally put on this earth as a dominating lord. God gave him dominion over the earth and everything that crept flew crawled and breathed there.
Man didn't even know what losing was until he separated himself from God through disobedience in the Garden of Eden. When that happened, he ran headlong into defeat. He was forced to accept failure as his lot in life, lowering himself to a subordinate position—a position he was never meant to occupy.
It's a sad story. But if you're a born-again child of God, your story has a happy ending. Through faith in Christ Jesus, you've been made a winner once again!
In fact, God has guaranteed your success. Let me show you what I mean. Imagine you're about to tackle a really tough job, and before you even get started on it, God speaks to you right out loud and says, I just want you to know, I'm going to personally see to it that this project you're working on succeeds.
Well, let me tell you something. You do have God's promise that you'll succeed. He said in His Word that you're an overcomer! In Him, you can overcome any problem the world throws your way (1 John 5:1-5).
It doesn't matter how much you feel like a loser. It doesn't matter how many times you've failed in the past. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, then you've become more than a conqueror in Him (Romans 8:37).
Does that mean you won't have any more trouble? No. It simply means you can go through that trouble and emerge triumphantly.
If you've been feeling like a failure lately, renew your mind to the Word of God that says you're a success. Every time a challenge comes up, respond by saying, "Well, praise God, I can beat this thing because I'm an overcomer in Jesus!" Let that Word from God abide in your heart. It will make a winner out of you.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 - If our gospel be hidden, it is hidden to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them
Since God doesn’t save anyone against their will, does it really do any good to pray for people who consciously refuse to receive Jesus as Lord?
Yes. Yes! Yes! It does!
You see, in spite of the fact that most all unbelievers who have purposely refused to receive Jesus as Lord think they’ve made that decision of their own free will, the truth is, they haven’t. The Word of God says they’ve been blinded by Satan. He’s blocking their perception of the truth. So their decision hasn’t been freely made at all.
That’s important for you to grasp. Because through the prayer of intercession, you can interfere with the satanic forces and help take those blinders off! You can also change circumstances with your prayers and help create situations that will bring them in contact with the Lord. You’re well within your spiritual rights when you do that.
I prayed with a friend of mine once who’d been praying for his lost brother for years. Jesus said in Matthew 12:29 to first bind the strong man and then enter his house and spoil his goods. So we said, “You spirit blinding the eyes of __________, you stop what you are doing to keep him out of the kingdom of God. In Jesus’ Name, you stop now!”
Jesus also said in Matthew 9:38, “Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” So we prayed, “Lord, send someone to ______________ with the Word of God. You know who he will listen to. We claim __________________ for the kingdom of God. We believe we receive his salvation and deliverance. In faith, we praise You for it.”
In almost no time at all his brother called him. “What have you been doing up there?” he asked. “In the past few days, everyone I’ve come across has started preaching to me!”
Our prayers had interfered with the forces Satan had been using to blind this man to Jesus and created the circumstances to bring him into the kingdom. Sure enough, within a few days, he was born again.
Use this same prayer for your loved ones and believe when you pray and you’ll see the same results.
Don’t sit by and let the devil take your friends and loved ones without a fight. Pray. Pray! Pray! Come against the “god of this world.” Take off the blinders and open their eyes to the glorious gospel of God.
Ephesians 3:20 - Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us
As a believer, you have the power of the Holy Spirit inside you. But that power won't go to work until you put it to work!
The Holy Spirit won't just muscle in on you. He won't come in and turn down the television set and jerk you up off the couch and say, "Now you listen to Me."
No, He's a gentleman. He's sent to help you to do the will of God, to strengthen you, to counsel you...but He won't do a thing until He's asked.
That's why the book of James says if you're in trouble or afflicted, pray. It's prayer that puts the power within you to work.
Just think about that. The Spirit of Almighty God. The Spirit that hovered over the face of the deep and carried out God's Word at Creation, that same Spirit is inside you—waiting for you to call on Him!
If Jesus came into your house and sat down at your table, you'd put aside everything to talk to Him, wouldn't you? You wouldn't just rush through and say, "Jesus, I'm so glad to see You. I wish I had the energy to talk to You, but You wouldn't believe what kind of a day I had today. I mean, everything in the world went wrong and now I'm just too tired to do anything but lay here and watch TV. Maybe we can spend some time together later."
You wouldn't do that, would you? No! If Jesus were sitting there in your room where you could see Him, you'd fall on your face and begin to worship Him. You wouldn't care how tired you were or what kind of day you had. You'd jump at the opportunity to fellowship with Him.
The Holy Ghost is in you. He's waiting on you. He's ready any time of the day or night. He's saying, "I'm here to help you and strengthen you. I want to comfort you today. You know that problem you've been having? I want to help you get that out of your life.
The Holy Spirit has some things He wants to show you—things you've been trying to figure out on your own. He's waiting there with the power to overcome every obstacle in your life. Take time to pray. Pray in the spirit. Pray with understanding. Pray and activate the power that works within you today.
Philippians 3:13 - But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before
Failures and disappointments. Aches and pains from the past that just won’t seem to go away. Most of us know what it’s like to suffer from them but too few of us know just what to do about them. So we limp along, hoping somehow they’ll magically stop hurting.
But it never happens that way. In fact, the passing of time often leaves us in worse condition—not better. Because, instead of putting those painful failures behind us, we often dwell on them until they become more real to us than the promises of God. We focus on them until we become bogged down in depression, frozen in our tracks by the fear that if we go on, we’ll only fail again.
I used to get caught in that trap a lot. Then one day when I was right in the middle of a spell with depression, the Lord spoke up inside me and said:
Jonah your problem is you’re forming your thoughts of the past instead of the future. Don’t do that! Unbelief looks at the past and says, “See, it can’t be done.” But faith looks at the future and says, “It can be done, and according to the promises of God, it is done!” Then putting past failures behind it forever, faith steps out and acts like the victory’s already been won.
If depression has driven you into a spiritual nose dive, break out of it by getting your eyes off the past and onto your future—a future that’s been guaranteed by Christ Jesus through the great and precious promises in His Word.
Forget about those failures in the past! That’s what God has done (Hebrews 8:12). And if He doesn’t remember them anymore, why should you?
The Bible says God’s mercies are new every morning. So if you’ll take God at His Word, you can wake up every morning to a brand-new world. You can live a life totally unhindered by the past.
So, do it! Replace thoughts of yesterday’s mistakes with scriptural promises about your future. As you do that, hope will start taking the place of depression. The spiritual aches and pains that have crippled you for so long will quickly disappear. Instead of looking behind you and saying, “I can’t,” you’ll begin to look ahead and say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me!"
I Samuel 30:6 - David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. BUT David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
I read a fable about a dog who loved to chase other animals. He bragged about his great running skill and said he could catch anything. Well, it wasn’t long until his boastful claims were put to the test by a rabbit. With ease the little creature out-ran his barking pursuer. The other animals, watching with glee, began to laugh. The dog excused himself by saying, “You folks forget that I was only running for fun but he was running for his life!”
Motivation and encouragement make a difference in almost everything we do. In fact, it determines the way believers live their lives in the Lord. In the above scripture, David was greatly disappointed because the enemies took his wives’ and children including those families who were staying with him. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. Furthermore, David was greatly distressed and discouraged because the men were talking of stoning him. My dear ones note the David reaction towards this situation. The word states “but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. With that encouragement along with few of his men he pursued the enemy and destroyed them completely. The Word also states that “nothing was missing, young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken”.
My friends, I don’t know your situations, positions, and dispositions. You may be battling with some addiction/ sin or behavioral problems. Added you may be greatly discouraged with your actions and condemning yourself. These actions would not produce any good result in you but get you into further discouragement. My dear ones, our Lord is waiting for you to supply His strength. David found no hope in him but he encouraged himself in the Lord his God. This should be our attitude and we must encourage ourselves in the Lord. Then the joy of the Lord would become our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).Proverbs 24:16 states” for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again”. Surely dear ones we will rise again and our God has not and never will give up on us. Therefore, encourage yourself in the Lord and overcome those sins and troubles.
In his testimony, Dotson spoke directly to Christian workers. “Continue on in your ministry with people like me,” he urged,” no matter how frustrating. We may have lots of setbacks. But don’t give up; there is power for change in even the most frustrating person through the sacrifice of Christ, the One who really sets us free”. And he closed with this “Thank you for not giving up on me”.
Instead of giving up on a person, give that person to God.
[ecko_quote source="I Samuel 30:6"]David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. BUT David encouraged himself in the Lord his God .[/ecko_quote]
I read a fable about a dog who loved to chase other animals. He bragged about his great running skill and said he could catch anything. Well, it wasn’t long until his boastful claims were put to the test by a rabbit. With ease the little creature out-ran his barking pursuer. The other animals, watching with glee, began to laugh. The dog excused himself by saying, “You folks forget that I was only running for fun but he was running for his life!”
Motivation and encouragement make a difference in almost everything we do. In fact, it determines the way believers live their lives in the Lord. In the above scripture, David was greatly disappointed because the enemies took his wives’ and children including those families who were staying with him. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. Furthermore, David was greatly distressed and discouraged because the men were talking of stoning him. My dear ones note the David reaction towards this situation. The word states “but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. With that encouragement along with few of his men he pursued the enemy and destroyed them completely. The Word also states that “nothing was missing, young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken”.
My friends, I don’t know your situations, positions, and dispositions. You may be battling with some addiction/ sin or behavioral problems. Added you may be greatly discouraged with your actions and condemning yourself. These actions would not produce any good result in you but get you into further discouragement. My dear ones, our Lord is waiting for you to supply His strength. David found no hope in him but he encouraged himself in the Lord his God. This should be our attitude and we must encourage ourselves in the Lord. Then the joy of the Lord would become our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).Proverbs 24:16 states” for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again”. Surely dear ones we will rise again and our God has not and never will give up on us. Therefore, encourage yourself in the Lord and overcome those sins and troubles.
In his testimony, Dotson spoke directly to Christian workers. “Continue on in your ministry with people like me,” he urged,” no matter how frustrating. We may have lots of setbacks. But don’t give up; there is power for change in even the most frustrating person through the sacrifice of Christ, the One who really sets us free”. And he closed with this “Thank you for not giving up on me”.
Instead of giving up on a person, give that person to God.
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