To Him Who Overcomes

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To Him Who Overcomes

We can be ever so good outwardly  —  doing all sorts  of good deeds,  being kind  and tenderhearted,  stoutly sticking to the truths set forth  by the LORD,  standing up  for what is right and decent,  persevering through all sorts of trials  —  but,  if in all our doing,  doing,  doing,  we find that we don’t really love our Lord Jesus any more,  like we did years ago,   we need  to do some serious repenting.

Loving Jesus  and the gift of salvation He has given us needs  to be what strengthens us  to live  according to His word.     When we start “being good and righteous”  according to our own strength  and feeling of rightness,  we are no longer loving  our Lord and Savior,  who has given us every bit of the strength  and ability we have.     Instead,  we are proudly setting ourselves up  as being a rather “godly” thing  to behold.

We did not make ourselves.     We do not have our strengths and talents  because we are so great  and able —  all by ourselves.     God is the one  who made us.     He is the one  who gives us strength  to persevere through trials.     He is the one  who has given us righteousness,  goodness,  love,  gentleness,  and every other godly trait  in life.

Whenever we get to thinking  too highly  of ourselves  and all we have done  to be “good”  in this sinful world,  we need to seriously consider Jesus’ words  to everyone in the church  in Revelation 2:1-7.

If we have left Jesus  —  our first love  —  it does not matter how “good” we are  in our own eyes  and strength.     Because of all that Jesus has done  for us,  He alone needs  to be numeral uno — absolute number one — in our lives  at all times.     As Isaiah 64:6 says,  “All our righteous deeds  are like a filthy garment.”     We don’t honestly have  any goodness  to be proud of.     We are sinners,  who need to remember  that it is only God Almighty  through Jesus Christ,  who makes us holy  and gives us the strength  to live for Him.

Therefore,  we need to pay attention  to Jesus  when He says  in Revelation 2:7,

He who has an ear,  let him hear  what the Spirit says  to the churches.     To him  who overcomes,  I will grant  to eat  of the tree of life,  which is in the Paradise  of God.

When Jesus says, “let him hear”,   that means “listen up”,  “pay attention now”.      We cannot go on and on  in our pride  and self-sufficiency.     Instead,  we absolutely must “overcome” our pride  and self-sufficiency.

They are robbing us  of the truth  of our being  and our need  for daily repentance.

We are nothing but creatures  God has created  on this earth.     We fell  into prideful sin,  but God lovingly saves us  through Jesus Christ only.     So,  we are not independent  from God Almighty and never will be.      We must depend  on the Lord  for all our needs.     And,  we need to love Him  for providing  for all our needs  —  especially our salvation.

In this world  we are caught  in a conflict.     The world is trying to convince us  that we’ve got to  “hoof it on our own”.     They have all sorts  of philosophies  showing us how  to become a “self-made man”,  a real winner,  owning “the power of pride”.

To that God basically says,  “Bunk!”     We were not created  that way.     As a creation  that lives for a relatively short time  and turns back to dust,  we need  to listen up  to the Lord  who created  and sustains us.     Jesus says  we must “overcome”.     We must overcome our sins  of self-sufficiency  and pride.

We need to return  to our “first love”  —  our Lord  and Savior.     Only those who “overcome”  will have the privilege  of eating  from the tree of life  in Paradise.     That means  only those  who overcome their pride  and self-sufficiency  —  and begin loving  the Lord again  —  will get to heaven.     If we don’t rightly love Jesus  as we should,  we aren’t saved.

So,  Jesus tells us  to get a grip  on the truth  of the matter.     The greatest commandment is  to  “Love the LORD your God  with all your heart,  and with all your soul,  and with all your mind.”     (Matthew 22:37)     Every other commandment is based  on this truth.

We do need  to be doing everything  that is good and right.    But,  all our “doing”  must be based  on our love  for Jesus Christ  —  otherwise it is worthless.     God knows this is a struggle for us  as we deal  with our sinful natures.     But,  He has promised  to sustain us  as we constantly lean on Him  for all the strength we need.

Leaning on our Lord,  we say,  “Hallelujah!     Lord,  You are so gracious  in giving us strength  to rightly live  for You.     Thank You.”

Love,
Margaret

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A Christian devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and God of gods

 

Pray for our country.

 

This is the day which the LORD has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

 

The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield  to all  who take refuge  in Him.
Psalm 18:30

 

Sing for joy in the LORD,  O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming  to the upright.
Psalm 33:1

 

How blessed are those  who dwell in Thy house!
They are ever praising Thee.
Psalm 84:4

 

Just as a father has compassion  on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
Psalm 103:13

 

Oh give thanks to the LORD,  for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 107:1

 

Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Psalm 105:3

 

Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that
I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12

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