Supernatural

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 

1 John 4:4 (ESV)

We Win Because We Are His!

The Nike “swoosh” is as recognizable as the golden arches, and nothing symbolizes success better than the symbol that flashes from feet, and clothing around the world. Nike made its initial debut at the 1972 Olympic Games on the feet of Steve Prefontaine. Sales skyrocketed and within their 1st year sales hit $2 million. Nike soared to superstardom when they got Michael Jordan to endorse his own shoe, the Air Jordan in 1985. In the late 1980’s, Nike slipped from it’s number one position in sports apparel and equipment. Sales were down, morale was low and advertising execs were grasping at any idea that might prove to once again establish the mega-corporation as the leader in sports equipment. In 1988, the idea was found in just 3 simple words: JUST DO IT! And do it they did. Nike once again took the lead with a simple slogan of success. (Steve Wagers)

The word “overcome,” used in 1 John 4, comes from the same word we get the name “Nike.” Pastor Jim reminded us, on Sunday, that Christians are overcomers. 1 John 4 teaches that God’s children are from God and false teachers are from the world. Jesus has overcome the world, so anyone who belongs to Jesus also shares in His victory! John uses the perfect tense for “overcome” which pictures the permanence of our victory over the antichrist spirit! It is an action that occured in the past at the crucifixion and is a permanent and ongoing victory.

Reflection

Why does God want you to know that you are victorious? What’s the difference in living a defeated life and living a victorious life? 

Praise

Praise God for being your victorious Heavenly Father. Ask Him to help you live out a victorious life.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them,  for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 

1 John 4:4 (ESV)

We Win Because He is in Us!

Vernon Grounds tells of an incident that happened while he was in seminary. Since the school had no gymnasium, he and his friends played basketball at a nearby public school. Nearby, an elderly janitor waited patiently until the seminarians finished playing. Invariably, he sat there reading his Bible. One day, my friend asked him what he was reading. The man answered, “The book of Revelation.” Surprised, my friend asked if he understood it. “Oh, yes,” the man assured him. “I understand it.” “What does it mean?” Quietly the janitor answered, “It means that Jesus is gonna win.” Grounds concludes, “That’s the best commentary I have ever heard on that book. Jesus is going to win. That’s the Biblical mind-set.”

Jesus wins in the end and Jesus is in us. John told his listeners, in 1 John 4, they were overcomers and then adds “for.” “For” explained the reason they have overcome is not only that they are from God, but also with the new birth, they received the Holy Spirit (“the anointing,” 1 John 2:27), Who indwells them. He is greater than he who is in the world (Satan, who inspires the false teachers). Corrie ten Boom said, “There are two great forces at work in the world today: the unlimited power of God and the limited power of Satan.” We win the spiritual battle because the Spirit living in us is greater.

Reflection

Spiritually, we are little children who have a powerful God to defend us. You don’t have to be afraid of spiritual attacks in your life. You do need to be aware of those attacks and to take advantage of the spiritual power living inside of you.

Praise

Thank the Holy Spirit for living inside you. Ask God to keep you aware of spiritual attacks and reassured of your spiritual power

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 

1 John 5:4-5 (ESV)

We Win Because of Our Faith!

A little league baseball coach was talking with one of his players. The coach asked the boy, “Do you know what cooperation is? Do you know what it means to be a team?” The little boy nodded. “Good,” the coach said. “Do you understand that what really matters is that when we win, we win as a team and if we lose, we lose as a team.” The little boy nodded again. The coach continued. “So when you are at bat and a pitch is called a strike, or if you are called out at first, then you don’t argue with or cuss out the umpire. Do you understand all that?” The little boy nodded yes a third time. “Good,” said the coach. “Now, go explain all that to your mother.”

In 1 John 5:4-5, we learn that we win the spiritual war as a team. John writes, “everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.” And it is our faith in Jesus that secures the victory. We are “born of God” when we place our faith in Jesus for salvation. At the moment of our repentance and faith we are adopted into God’s family and winning team.

Reflection

Faith in Jesus requires us to admit we need Him and admit we can’t achieve spiritual victory on our own. This process begins at salvation. Then, we live out this dependence day by day and moment by moment. How do you express your daily dependence on Jesus for spiritual victory?

Praise

Praise God for adopting you into His family. Thank God that we get to win together as a church family. 

“Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with Me. I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  

John 16:32-33 

We Win Because We Have Peace! 

During World War II, a young soldier named David Webster of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne wrote to his mother: ‘Stop worrying about me. I joined the parachutists to fight. I intend to fight. If necessary, I shall die fighting, but don’t worry about this because no war can be won without young men dying. Those things which are precious are saved only by sacrifice.”

In John 16, Jesus warned the disciples of the approaching trails of His arrest and crucifixion. But His suffering and sacrificial death would purchase our peace with God for all eternity. The disciples would face extreme tribulations in the coming days and years. But they would endure those tribulations with the peace of God in their hearts knowing their ultimately victory had been achieved and Jesus was alive!

Reflection

God doesn’t want you to be caught off guard when life gets difficult. Jesus has warned us tribulations will come but He has also assured our hearts that He has overcome the world and those tribulations. When have you experienced the peace of God in the middle of tribulations?

Praise

Thank God for the times when He has given you peace in the middle of the storms of life. Thank Jesus for dying to secure our peace with God for eternity

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Romans 8:35-37 (ESV)

We Win Because We Are Loved!

A certain medieval monk announced he would be preaching next Sunday evening on “The Love of God.” As the shadows fell and the light ceased to come in through the cathedral windows, the congregation gathered. In the darkness of the altar, the monk lit a candle and carried it to the crucifix. First of all, he illuminated the crown of thorns, next, the two wounded hands, then the marks of the spear wound. In the hush that fell, he blew out the candle and left the altar. There was nothing else to say.

There is nothing left to say, as Paul concludes Romans chapter 8 and his defense of God’s inseparable love. Romans 8:35 lists seven adversaries, all of which were experienced by the apostle Paul, and which in one respect or another have been the common lot of all believers. They are in various ways instruments of Satan’s attacks, but cannot interrupt the love of Christ toward us. Can any of the things listed separate us from the love of Christ? “No,” Paul says, “In these we are more than conquerors.” Why? Because rather than dividing us from Christ, they draw us closer to Him. They make us cling harder. Because of the inseparable love of Christ, we can never be defeated, so we are more than conquerors.

Reflection

Jesus’ death on the cross answered the question of how much God loves you. God’s love has more than superhero conquering power. What’s your list of things that are attacking you? Write out that list and beside each one write, “We are more than conquerors.”

Praise

Thank God for His unconditional love. Praise Jesus for the power of His love.