MORE THAN OVERCOMERS - Audio Link
Not long ago I was woken up by a strange sensation. My left leg was completely numb from my hip right to my foot. I assumed that this was just blood circulation and moved my toes as much as I could, and the sensation was gone after a while. It was the first time that this has ever happened to me. I know by now that nothing is coincidence with our Father and that He was probably trying to show me something. The next day I was going through YouTube feeds and came upon a chiropractor that was aligning a young man’s back. The reason this caught my attention was because the boy was completely bent over and could not walk up straight at all for 3 months. He was 24 hours in tremendous pain. One of the side-affects was that his one leg was completely numb. I watched it and after a while I knew what Father was showing me. I type my devotionals ahead before I post them and let them simmer a while. Father has a way of adding last minute changes to the notes. I knew He was directing me to come back to this devotional. His perspective is the only one that matters.
HEBREWS 12:
11 - 12
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth
to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable
fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang
down, and the feeble knees;
13 And make straight paths for your feet,
lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Making
straight paths for your feet is like saying, “If you have an area in your life
that you struggle with, make it easier by moving away obstacles that will cause
you to falter or sin”. And then I
started to get an idea of a disposition that is required. Father wants to help us, but He always knows
what needs to be addressed before we get to the actual problem. Like making a straight path for your journey
ahead, because of that which is still lame.
But, in this particular scripture He first wants to adjust, like a
chiropractor our attitudes. Wherefore,
lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees. My mental picture of this verse, is exactly
like that boy in the video. Hunched over
and drooping. Not necessarily someone
that is moping and feeling sorry for themselves, but someone in pain and the
burden being too heavy.
I will never
forget how a good friend of mine gave me some very good advice. It changed my whole outlook on mornings. I was one of those people that had to have my
cup of coffee before we can chat in the mornings. Kind of like, “my people will phone your people
when I am ready to talk”. Grumpy
galore! She told me that a mother is so
pivotal in a home, that the mood she has in the morning, sets the tone for how
it will go the rest of the day. She
spearheads the morning by being up first and getting everything ready for the
family and if mom is miserable, everybody is miserable. I found this to be true…”misery loves
company”. So, the next morning I
adjusted my attitude and wouldn’t you know it, it worked! The greatest change was actually in me,
because I from then on became a morning person…who knew? And I used to want morning people to stay
away from me. "What’s good about the
morning?", I thought. But now, I wake up with a smile
ready to spend time with Abba, knowing that every day is a new day with new
mercy and loving kindness. It sounds so
simplistic, but it really did so much for my disposition and set the tone of my
own day. God is good all the time, and
all the time God is truly good!
The same is
true about how we face our challenges. I
am not talking about a fake sunny disposition that it is void of reality. I am talking about having the right mindset
that equips you and are as the starting blocks for the challenges you face. Every day has its challenges and we need to
start running the race in the right frame of mind. It really makes a huge difference. Paul was not making a suggestion when he
wrote those words. These words are
inspired by the Spirit and deserves our attention.
Everyone has
different issues and challenges they need to face. Some of us have been running the same race
for years and just do not seem to get to the point of overcoming that
particular sin. We have commitment
issues from the get go and end up just running the race at the back, never
gaining the momentum we need and getting into the stride where we can build up
the necessary stamina and strength to pass the one in front of us. Rather we seem to be passed by others. This just makes us more despondent and we end
up thinking, “What’s the use? I will never
be able to overcome this!” At least we
are participating right? And that is the
real issue. The disposition towards the
race or more specific your disposition towards the sin you struggle to overcome
or to commit to what He is asking of you.
Nobody enters a race thinking that He is going to lose. So before we even start, we have to adjust
our attitude. We have to adjust our
disposition, our stance, and the outlook on what we are facing and set our face
as a flint to overcome. It requires more
than arriving, but an engaging and determination. We cannot be casual about it, because it is
the very thing that is standing between us and what the Father has in store for
us.
HEBREWS 12:
3 - 4
3 For consider him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your
minds.
4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood,
striving against sin.
I made a few
notes of what I saw and the first thing that is required, apart from looking
unto Jesus, is to resist and strive against sin.
This resist
actually means to set up troops against something and the strive means to
wrestle, as in getting into the ring and fight.
And it is true what it says. We have
not YET resisted unto blood, striving against sin. We tend to have an attitude
of knowing it must be dealt with, but not as someone who is determined and dead
set on overcoming our enemy in the ring. It first has to reach a critical stage before we truly commit to dealing with it. Instead we have been standing next to the ring analyzing our opponent. It is time to enter the ring and by the grace
of God fight this until our lame foot is healed. It truly needs to be healed for so many
reasons.
So the first
thing is a new disposition.
Then it is
to take obstacles out of the way whilst we are wrestling against it. Simply put, make it easier on yourself and
think about what are those things that usually trips you up. Is it your big mouth? Is it that you tend to be led by your
emotions? Maybe it is because you are
tired of fighting it and have given up? Maybe
you are bored and end up doing or watching stuff that just waste your time or
defile you. Maybe you are thinking that you do not have it in you, so what’s the use? Maybe it is because you are lazy? Maybe you’re not up for the pain and the cost? Whatever the reason, you will find that you
are looking to yourself. The exact
opposite of what the scripture requires of you, which is...“Looking unto Jesus”. You are
your own motivation and if you are looking to yourself, you are already
disqualified. You might be saying to me,
“But I keep on asking Him to help me, but He has after all these years not done
a thing and I am still where I was at 2 or 5 years ago.” The first thing that takes a few seconds for
us to verbalize and a lifetime to enter into reality, is the fact that we can
do nothing. We cannot even breathe without Him. So looking to ourselves is so futile and desponding
that no wonder we cannot overcome. It is
like expecting a car without gas to go up a hill. It is not going to happen. And yet we struggle immensely to see
ourselves that way. And how can one
expect anything different from a society that drums it into our heads since
childhood, “you can, you are the best, you have it in you, you’re a
natural”? You, you, you…the expectation
is enormous the moment we are born where mothers start to compare their
children’s growth milestones with each other.
And when school starts, then the race is really on! Right through adulthood in climbing the
corporate ladder, in our Christian walk comparing gifts and growth in the Lord,
to being old and grey, where we start to compare our aches and pains. It just never stops. Always about how we are faring with the
person next to us, when all of us are equally dependent on the next breath from Him. It’s ridiculous and
pathetic. And more than that,
useless. There is a reason why David
wrote in Psalm 27, “You are the strength of my life”. Our perspective, our disposition of ourselves
has to change to no longer looking at ourselves, but looking unto Jesus…the
Author and Finisher of our life…the strength of our life. Our starting block cannot be ourselves and so
we need to evaluate and search our hearts to see if we are not in fact looking
unto ourselves. Jeremiah made it clear,
“Cursed is the man who trust in man and who makes man his arm.” The person we lean on the most, is
ourselves.
Now, not
only is He our strength, but He is also our coach. He has given us His Spirit to guide us in all
truth and to remind us of all the things Yeshua said. The Spirit will always point to Yeshua, and
never to us. The focus is always
Yeshua. He is the beginning of the race
and the end of the race. Therefore in
Hebrews 12 it says that we are to be in subjection to Him. Just like in any sport, when you disobey the
coach, you are going to feel it. You are
going to run that extra laps or do everything over again. You are going to have to do it over until you
get it right. And if the coach finds an
attitude that grieves Him, you will then just have to do it again. The reason why the coach is the coach is
because He has been there, bought the t-shirt and has overcome that which you
still need to overcome. So it is
essential that you do not look upon His instructions as suggestions. You do not get to say, “I quit, this sucks!”
and walk away. No. You are running the race of your life! Every ache and muscle spasm is growth and
strength and equips you not just to overcome, but trains you to help others
overcome. So your disposition in
submission is not for you, but for Him and for those you will help. Once again, YOU ARE NOT THE FOCUS. So
when he speaks and gives you instructions in His Word, you listen attentively
as one that is partaking in a race. Not
as one casually walking through your life as if you are merely going for a
stroll. In Proverbs He says, “My son,
give me your ear. Bow down your ear to
me.” Meaning, pay very close attention. How many times do we listen to sermons, or
devotionals, or read scripture and know something is for us, but we do not
really listen. We hear how something is
applicable, but do not make it our own and run with it. We lose it along the way, like an athlete
losing a baton, and we just simply pick up another one. Absolute focus is required. When the coach says, “wait”, you wait. When He says “Stop or speak” you do it. Not in your time, but exactly when He wants
it and how He wants it to be done. You
are not the coach, He is. You do as He
says and that is how you overcome. You
look unto Him and you receive from Him the strength to do it, not yourself, and
you listen to Him and give Him your full attention in every detail. Just like the athletes in the Olympics. Their whole life is taken up by the sport. They eat and breathe the sport. Their sleeping patterns are adjusted, their
eating, lifestyle and clothing. Every
single part of their life is involved and influenced by the sport, even their
social life. Grueling hours of exercise
and preparation that requires a commitment that most people will never do in
their lives. And this is by human
standards and ability. We, on the other
hand, are not running an earthly race by our own means, but a heavenly race. Our dependence on
our coach is so vital, because we cannot do it.
Why are we looking to ourselves?
We have to lift up the hands that hang low and strengthen those feeble
knees and it will never be because we look to ourselves.
He is our
strength, but if we do not wait on Him to listen to His direction, then we are
trusting in the flesh and leaning upon our own understanding. Dependence is a disposition that can never be
neglected and yet when we act impulsively by our emotions, we are walking in
independence, whether we mean it or not.
Independence is rebellion. It is
looking unto yourself. You will not make
it by depending on the flesh in a spiritual race.
We have to
be determined to overcome. We cannot run
one day and the next take a break. No,
this is a race we must finish and must overcome. We MUST overcome that sin that causes us to
be so easily tripped.
HEBREWS 12:
1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is
set before us,
Well, look
at that! We even have a crowd. And what a crowd. They have run this race too and knows just
exactly how extremely difficult it is.
They are all athletes. And they
are not like the usual crowd who has no idea what goes into preparing and
running this race, but rather they are overcomers wanting exactly the same for
us. We are all on the same team. This is not hyperbole or a play of
words. We are literally on the same
team. We are running for a prize and
they have not even received theirs yet, but are waiting for us to finish. Just think on how much they want us to
finish. They are really looking forward
to us crossing the line. This should
motivate us to understand that this race affects even the cloud of witnesses in
heaven cheering us on. Our race affects
them. We are not running this race for
ourselves. In fact, running this race
for yourself will without a doubt demotivate you. What is your reward if you do it for
yourself? You are just one person. So what?
But when you run for Him, for those who you will help once you overcome,
and you know that you are running it to finish it so that the cloud of
witnesses can receive their reward as well, then you have reason to focus with
all your heart and commit to the greatest race of your life!
It is not debatable. We have to see it through no matter what and
not give up, no matter how difficult.
There is too much at stake.
Many people really live undisciplined lives. They go with the flow and often feel that those who set times for things are rigid and inflexible. They just do not know how to have fun. But the person winning the race is definitely known for their discipline. Without the necessary discipline, to diligently do exactly what the Coach says and to put in the work required, is the one that will overcome. Even the work that seems unrelated and insignificant. Everything is relevant to His purpose in your life. The person may be seen as a kill joy at times, but in the end, he is the one that crosses the finish line, whilst the undisciplined one is still sitting at the side of the race course wondering whether his socks match. The disciplined one sets a time for prayer and bible study. He spends time memorizing scripture. He listens to teachings that will strengthen him regarding the particular race he is running. He does not waste time listening to hours of teaching that has no bearing on his race. He is focused. He is determined obey his coach in everything. Even when he has fun, he does it always with the disposition of considering the consequences of his actions in his race. He NEVER takes his eyes off the prize. He knows exactly what the Coach is teaching him in the season he is in, and he is determined to press on and stay focused. He is in it, to win it.
I was lead
to read Psalm 25 and it says “that the meek he will guide in judgment and the
meek will he teach his way.” This “guide” means to bend a bow by treading on
it. Bending a bow in judgment = by
judging my sin and bending in repentance.
The bending of the bow is a disposition of meekness, by allowing Him to
judge us and humbling ourselves under His hand.
This made me think of a branch that is bent in order to grow in a
certain direction. He has to cause us to
bow low. In fact, just after watching
the YouTube video of the chiropractor that helped this boy that was so bent over
with his numb leg, he said the following:
“Sometimes
you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been, to stand up taller
you ever were.”
And I asked
Father what He was showing me. And this
is what He said, “The lame leg, or that which needs healing, to be set right in
our lives, is the consequence of a walk that is not upright in Me”. To be upright with Him, is to be more than
saved, but to walk in His statutes, to obey Him. To
do what He tells you to do as your coach.
Many competitors get injuries that set them back for months or seasons,
all because they did not listen to their coach.
They knew better or they just did not feel like it. They were willing to take a gamble. How many times must He tell you to do
something and you still have not dealt with it? Have you done the first thing
that He told you before you get all excited about the next? Are you being disciplined in the small to
prove yourself faithful to Him? Are you
obeying Him? Are you walking upright in
that which He has shown you?
The “teach”
in teaching His ways, means to discipline, train, practice for war.
Teaching his
ways means a road trodden, a course of life or mode of action. Also to tread. In
this case the one who has been tread upon will tread on the bow to bend the bow.
Arrows prepared for Him to do great exploits in war.
HEBREWS 12:
2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of
our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Yeshua had a
joy that was set before Him that helped Him to endure the cross. That joy was to overcome and sit at the right
hand of the Father. His focus was His
Father and never on Himself. Everything
about His life, in pleasure or in teaching or miracles, absolutely everything
was about crossing the finish line and to receive the prize of His life. He ran
this race looking unto the Father, considering the cloud of witnesses and you
and me. Just like we now have to
do. His words to us, “Walk as I walk…follow
Me.”
Now is not
the time to have commitment issues. He
is preparing us for great things, but if our focus is not on what His is, we
will stand to forfeit these great things.
You will be disqualified out of the race simply because that which
was lame has not yet been healed. Stop
looking to yourself and running the race for yourself. Stop talking about it and do it.
2 CORINTHIANS
9: 24 - 27
24 Know ye not that they which run in a
race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the
mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as
uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it
into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway.
In this
scripture Paul is believed to have been watching how the athletes were
preparing for the games, using this as his example of our life’s
struggles. Two examples, that of running
the race, and the other of boxing or fighting.
This boxing
analogy hits close to my heart as a friend and I a few weeks ago were talking
about my name, the meaning the same as that of Peter, which is stone or little
rock. We ended up joking that she will
call me Rocky from now on referring to The Rocky movie I spoke of in the
devotional called, The Slain. I
mentioned His victory run in the devotional with regard to the bride in her
wedding gown with her Nike shoes on, being our victory. We are told in scripture that we ARE
overcomers. Not on the basis of what we
have done, but what He has done. In
fact, we are more than overcomers.
Father led me to watch the Rocky movie again, and He used it to confirm
many things that He is presently busy doing in my life. One of the things that He told me in
reference to the Rocky III movie, was that the old coach that died in it, is
that of the previous season I was in, and the new coach I am under now is
called Apollo. This was a reference to
Apollos that was friends with Paul and known for his zeal, knowledge of the
scripture and an upright man. Basically
He was saying to me, “It’s time to get in the ring”. Some of the things Father showed me is that
it is the season of victory. The place
where they were training had a banner that said, “Battles of champions”. That would be us. However, Rocky was taken back to where he
began…in Philadelphia, where he was still a “nobody”. Exactly where Father will always take us to
remind us, “You are nobody”. The gym was
called, “Hotel Loraine”. I was led to
find out what the meaning of the name Loraine is and it comes from Laurel. A wreath of laurel conferred as a mark of
honor in ancient times upon poets, heroes and victors in athletic
contests. That is exactly what Paul was
referring to concerning the incorruptible crown we are running for. His opponent in the movie, Mr T, his name in real life is Laurence, also from laurel.
In this movie, Rocky was despondent and broken. He was tired of everything and was giving
up. He no longer believed in himself and
at the heart of it, he was convinced he could not do it, and therefore he did not put
his heart into it. He did the exercises,
but there was no zeal and no focus. He
was just going through the motions. In
the end, when the penny dropped, he said, “Nothing is real if you do not
believe in what you are.” This is true
about our spiritual walk as well. At all
times we are to be aware of who we are in ourselves. That we really cannot do anything. At the same time, Paul asks the Corinthians
why they walk as mere men. As to say,
“Don’t you know that you are already an overcomer?” With man it is impossible, but with God all
things are possible. This race or fight
has to be done in faith. Not a fake it
till you make it and hope the scriptures you quote will somehow affect
something. Rather, a resoluteness in who
you are in Him and who He is in you. He
runs with you. He gets in the ring. When you run, your enemy is well aware that
the moment you get that it is by His strength you run, he falls out of the race
and has to eat your dust. The moment you get
in the ring with the King, your opponent sees the grueling eyes of the Lion of
Judah and has to flee and whimper away.
This does not happen when you look at yourself and have not already
determined in your heart, mind and with all your strength that you have already
overcome. The cross is our victory over
the enemy and the word says that He has given us ALL things by the power within
us pertaining to life and godliness.
That He is able to do super abundantly above all we could ask or think,
according to the power that is in us.
Our victory is only in Him.
Paul says
that he does not want to be a cast away when he preaches, because he was not
willing to do his part in preparing himself. Which is to put in the exercise, that is to say the commitment and discipline to
run this race or fight this battle of the champions. He does not want to be disqualified. This means that it is a reality to be disqualfied. When you are disqualified from a race you
have to go sit on the sideline and watch the others run the race. This should not be an option for you. This should make you say, “No! I will not be disqualified!”
You may
remember that I did a devotional of Robert the Bruce and how on his deathbed he
asked his best friend, James Douglas, to take his heart into battle. And so when the battles came, James Douglas
wore the King’s heart around his neck.
He ran violently and bravely amongst his enemies, whilst swinging the
heart around. One can clearly see zeal,
passion, drive and resolute fearlessness.
Looking at
the description of James and John in the word, they were called the Sons of
Thunder. In the Strong’s concordance
this is called the sons of commotion; violent anger: - rage;
provoked unto wrath. Anything but docile.
John was later known as the disciple of love. So in essence this nickname of theirs came
from the encounter they had with the Samaritans, wanting Yeshua to call down
lightning or fire from heaven to consume them.
Yeshua told them that they did not known what spirit they are of. Which is true, because by all intents and
purposes, looking with natural eyes, the Samaritans were their enemy. But if they looked with spiritual eyes, they
would have probably acted completely different.
It is as if Yeshua was saying…”Wait now boys, these guys are not your
enemies. And you do not have the right
attitude towards them. It is a murderous
attitude, which is not of Me. And from
now on, just to remind you of your ignorance, I am going to call you Sons of
Thunder. Every time I do, it will be a
reminder not to be so quick to judge and to be so angry.”
However, when the time comes for us to get into the ring with our enemy,
this is exactly the kind of attitude or disposition we need to have. It is then that we are to be sons of
thunder. A fighting spirit, zeal and
passion, running as brave hearts into the battlefield with our King’s heart
against His enemies. It is then that we
are not to hold back. We tend to be like
this with those we see, where we need to be like this with those we cannot
see. But more than that, we need to be
like this against sin in our own lives.
We have to be zealous to strive and wrestle against sin. We have to make war on our indifference and stir our hearts, gird up our loins and fight with all His might. Not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit, says the Lord. Even to the point of shedding blood. It cannot be casual. It has to be the heart of The King in the
ring.
Word received from Father 3rd October 2020
