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Date Posted: 07:23:52 07/03/00 Mon
Author: MICKI
Subject: BREAD OF CHRIST OVERCOMERS

How do we become overcomers? We have a choice about which path we take. We
can either choose the path of sin and ungodliness, or we can walk with God. I
have heard many say that they are defeated by a habitual sin that controls
their life. They try and try, but somehow a life of godliness seems out of
their grasp. They also feel like God is far away and they feel guilt and feel
hopeless about living the godly life. We read the Word of God, but how hard
it is to implement what we read into our lives. I believe that every believer
has the opportunity to live a godly life and walk victoriously with a close
relationship with Christ.
To overcome we need to have repentance in our life it does not mean to lower
your self worth and be hard on yourself because of your failures. Repentance
means to make a commitment to change in your life and your lifestyle.
Repentance is turning from the way that you running the show and giving in to
the lordship of Jesus. Our way does not work. We keep trying and failing.
Then we try even harder and become frustrated because of repeated failures.
Don’t become defeated in frustration, make changes. Verse 1 says a man is
blessed if he does not walk in the ways of sin. At times we all get on the
path of sinners by wandering off the path of righteousness. In Matthew 7:13,
the bible tells us that the path of sin is wide and many will find it. They
find it because it is easy. The whole world is taking this path so there are
plenty of ways to find this path and plenty of people pointing the way to it.
The bible then says that the path of righteousness is narrow and few will
find it. Few find it because it takes effort and there are no crowds pointing
the way. If anything, there are many people you will find telling you to go
back to the wide path. It is easy to take the worldly path. Just do nothing
and go with the flow. No one ever falls into righteousness, that takes
effort. Falling into sin only takes letting go and letting the wind drive
you. To find the righteous path, you have to seek it.

Commit to the Lordship of Jesus. Our way does not work. Will we continue to
follow that endless loop of falling and trying in our own power? Our power
does not come from ourselves. Our righteousness does not come from ourselves.
Isaiah 64:6 says, "But we are all like an unclean thing. And all our
righteousness’ are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquity,
like the wind, takes us away." We can’t be good enough. Our best can never
measure up. Our righteousness has to come from Jesus. He is our source of
righteousness.
I can't express this enough by putting the Word in our lives. John 15:4 and
7 says: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of
itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire,
and it shall be done for you.

To abide is to enter and stay there. We can’t expect to just visit God when
we have a problem or a need and expect him to respond. God is not a genie in
a bottle that we rub with a few scriptures and he has to respond. God is
never subject to our desires; we are subject to Him. If we want to experience
God and receive the life and blessings He desires of us, we must live life
His way. The problem is that we try to limit God to our ways and our way of
thinking. We must be the ones who change. That change comes by applying His
word to our lives. Verse 7 says if you abide in Me and my words abide in
you…we need the complete package. If we try to align our lives with Him but
we don’t put His word into our hearts and minds, we will not live a
consistent life in Christ. "My words abide in you" is critical. Lets look
Psalm 1:1
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

This passage tells us that a man is blessed if he does not walk in the
ungodly ways, but it does not stop there. Verse 2 says "but his delight is in
the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night". Our
struggles with sin are amplified because we only view half the picture. We
try to resist, but neglect to focus on the Word of God. In other words, we
are pushing away from temptation, but not turning away. To turn away, we have
to face something else. We either a focusing on the world, or on Jesus
Christ.

Our focus should always be on our savior and Lord Jesus Christ. The power of
the Cross will change your life. The cross is our source of power and
righteousness. Our righteousness does not come from ourselves, but we are
credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. As a Christian, we have to
renew ourselves daily and each time we fall. We are renewed by the same power
that gave us salvation. Jesus lived a perfect and holy life. This is offered
to you through faith in Christ. By faith, we must continually confess our
sins and give them to Jesus Christ and in return by faith receive His
righteousness so that we are clean and forgiven. Not by what we have done,
but because of the work Jesus completed on the Cross. Colossians 2:13-14
tells us that all our sins and the account of debt against us, was wiped away
when Jesus nailed it to the Cross. He became sin in our place. It is always
important to remind ourselves of this. If we loose sight of the cross, we
loose the power in our lives. It is by his power that we have the power to
live victoriously. So I leave you this spend time with the LORD and become
overcomers.

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