It is God’s will for His children to overcome in life.
He wants us to overcome temptations, storms, attacks, lack and tragedies of all kinds. Many scriptures promise victory to those who belong to God and believe His Word:
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” —2 Corinthians 2:14
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” —1 Corinthians 15:57
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” — Philippians 4:13
One of my favorites:
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” —1 John 5:4
If you are born of God, you are an overcomer! That’s your right, your heritage.
Jesus is an overcomer, and in Him, you have the right to victory. However, even though victory is the will of God for every one of His children, it’s not automatic. There are plenty of Christians who aren’t necessarily living an overcoming life. If victory were automatic, this wouldn’t be the case.
God’s promises don’t just happen to people without their cooperation.
If they did, God would save everyone in the world immediately because salvation for everyone is His will. Since His promises are not automatic, it is possible to live far beneath our rights and privileges in Christ.
The key to experiencing God’s will in our lives is in 1 John 5:4. Faith in God’s Word makes it yours. We aren’t waiting for God to decide which of His promises to give us. He’s waiting for us to believe His Word.
It’s the Word you mix faith with that will profit you (Heb. 4:2).
Faith is what you do. Believing is the one thing God will not do for us. We have to believe for ourselves. Jesus was more frustrated with the disciples in the area of faith than any other area. He knew what He was going to provide for the world, and He also knew that if they were going to receive it, they were going to have to learn the principles of faith.
Faith is fun and exciting, and you can do it!
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” —Hebrews 11:6
Faith pleases God, and Jesus is looking for it (Lk. 18:8). Let’s get with the program and get good at faith!
There are many examples of faith in the Bible, including the paralytic who was let down through the roof, blind Bartimaus, Jairus (who came for his daughter) and the Roman centurion.
We see Jesus presenting the Word (the basis for faith) then healing any and all who responded. But notice, they decided to respond to the Word.
God works the same way today. The sower (preacher) sows the Word, and what happens next is up to the hearer.
God is not picking favorites.
One example that clearly illustrates the hazards of the lack of faith is in Luke, chapter 8. Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” That’s a word from God. They boarded the boat, launched out and sailed right into a storm.
That was probably the last thing they expected to see on that journey. If you think about it, what could be better than a boat ride with Jesus? They were in God’s will and presence, doing His work. It should’ve been the experience of a lifetime!
Why did they sail into a storm? Couldn’t God have warned them or changed their course or their timing so they could sail across on smooth waters? He could have—but He didn’t. God never promised us smooth sailing.
If you’re “going to the other side” in life, problems will arise.
It’s going to take faith to get through the storms of life successfully. The necessity of faith was a surprise to them, and it is a surprise to many Christians today.
They thought as long as they were in the boat with Jesus—serving Him, loving Him—everything was going to be fine. After Jesus rebuked the storm and calmed the sea, He turned to them and asked, “Where’s your faith?” That’s a powerful question. He expected faith from them, and they could have believed, but they didn’t.
The lesson is: It takes faith to get to the other side! This is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith!
We see the importance of faith again when Peter walked on water. The disciples were frightened when they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water. When Jesus identified Himself, Peter suddenly had a burst of faith and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water,” (Matt. 14:28).
Now we all know Peter wasn’t ready to walk on water, and you would’ve thought Jesus would have talked him out of it—but He didn’t. Jesus never talked anybody out of faith. He was always looking for faith and trying to talk people into it! He simply said, “Come.” The rest of verse 29 says, “And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.”
Peter was actually walking on the water. That’s a miracle!
But you know the rest of the story: “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’” (Matt. 14:30). Jesus reached out and saved Peter and then said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Peter doubted because he got his eyes on the wind and the waves—as if he could have walked on water if the wind wasn’t blowing! He took his eyes off Jesus and was distracted by other things. Peter is to be commended for getting out of the boat, but the lesson we must learn is: according to Jesus, he could have believed but didn’t.
Faith receives the miracle, and unbelief does without!
If two unsaved people are sitting in the same church service and hear the same message and one gets saved and the other doesn’t, it’s not because God loves one more than the other. It’s because one chose to believe and the other didn’t.
God will save whosoever will. The same is true with all His promises. They’re for whosoever. You can be a “whosoever,” whenever and wherever you choose. You can believe God’s Word as well as anyone else.
Get some powerful promises and make them yours today. You are an overcomer!
God Likes Faith – Download
God Likes Faith – Download
Includes 4 Audio MP3s:
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Why Faith
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You Can Do This
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Building A Storm Proof Life
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The Same Spirit of Faith
God likes faith! Heb 11:6 says, “that without faith it’s impossible to please Him.” One reason God likes faith is that He wants to give us thing…
This is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith!
Get more teaching on the subject of Faith in my audio series entitled, “God Likes Faith” available on CD or MP3s. Also check out the free streaming videos, “Stormproofing Your Life” in the free download section of my product page.
Stormproofing Your Life MP3s and Streaming Video
Stormproofing Your Life MP3s and Streaming Video
God never sa…
Great teaching and what my heart needed to hear today. Thank you.
I love the website for it’s ease of use and power packed messages. Shared the link with my family. Please pray for them.