Day 34 – Overcomes

“For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:4-5).

The pressures of this world overwhelm us – an unrelenting pandemic, racial injustice, power outages, employment issues, family concerns, too much month left at the end of our money.

As our outer world is crushed, we’re threatened to collapse on the inside. Give up this difficult Christian life. Give ourselves over to this world so it can prop us with pleasure, possessions, or prestige (1 John 2:15-16).

As Christ followers either we’re overcome by a lack of faith. Or we overcome because of our faith.

We can’t lean on the faith of others. Faith is like a toothbrush: Everybody needs one and needs to use it regularly. But it isn’t safe to use somebody else’s.

We need to grow in our own faith – the kind of faith that doesn’t depend on how we feel, what we see, or what may happen.

But it’s more than our faith – it’s faith in Jesus the Son of God!

John Greenleaf Whittier poetically wrote:

    Nothing before, nothing behind;
    The steps of Faith
    Fall on the seeming void, and find
    The rock beneath.

That rock is the Word of God. That rock is the unchanging and dependable nature of God. That rock is the solid rock of Christ.

We place our feet down on the reality that God’s promises are true. That God can be trusted. That Jesus is who he says he is.

Action Step #1: In you’re most discouraging present moment, exercise a faith that overcomes.

Action Step #2: Ponder what Augustine said: “Faith is to believe what you do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”

This is God’s Word for you today,
Pastor Dave