04/30/2021
We suffer in this world, and sometimes do so unto death, and the dark one would have us believe that our physical struggle, and eventual death, indicates a spiritual defeat, but that is not true. We overcome the world in the fact that despite the pain, suffering, and even death we experience in it we love, and are loved, we know God and are strengthened against all fear, and Jesus abides in us... filling us with His peace, and a calm beyond all measure. Just as none could take the life of Christ without His laying it down, so it is with the Christian who’s life can only be forfeit if he yields it in fear and defeat... not the body which is meant to die, but the soul which is eternal.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
Ephesians 6:12-13 ESV
We get caught up in the struggle of day to day life, and begin to believe that our goal is to have an amazing physical life here on earth. We pray misguided prayers for wealth, power, and the other worldly things, when what we should be praying for is a closer relationship with God, to love one another more, and for victory over the various ways we struggle and suffer in our bodies, which are causing us to lose our focus on God.
I prayed with a man and his wife. His body was full of cancer, and the doctors had told him that he had mere months to live, but although we prayed together for a physical healing, he wasn’t afraid. I have felt what he was feeling before when I confronted death, and have seen it in many others of faith as well... it is an absolute faith in God, and the knowledge that no matter what this world does to us, we have victory, and eternity in heaven through Christ our Lord.
“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 16:33 ESV
I sat in church one Sunday morning and listened to my pastor tell about a saintly woman who was dying. This woman was a close friend, and told him of her diagnosis before asking him if he would walk with her as she took her final steps towards heaven. She could see in his eyes that he was upset, and that he was distraught at the thought of losing her, but what she said to him next was incredible. She told him that he had seen the way that she had lived a Christian life, but now she wanted him to see how a Christian was meant to die.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:37-39 ESV
This story has stayed with me for many years, because it reminds me of the calm I felt when I faced drowning, cancer, and some other life threatening situations. It dawned on me that the peace I felt in those moments when the world would have me immersed in fear, was the same peace this dying woman was referring to, and that I saw again while praying with my brother in Christ and his wife. It is the same peace that Jesus felt, and that He leaves with each of us as believers...
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.”
John 14:27-29 ESV
We prayed for my brother’s healing because we loved him, and because a wife loved her husband. We prayed in confidence, and asked that it be God’s will that he remain with us longer, and continue to glorify God all the while, but if it is God’s desire to bring him home, it will not be in defeat. It will be in victory, joy, and into an eternal relationship that is founded in absolute love... no fear, no anxiety, nor truth to Satan’s lies, just the reward of amazing grace, and the love of a Father for His child. In this is our faith, and our trust, because we too have overcome the world!
“Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
1 John 5:5 ESV
Prayer:
Father, we thank you for your healing touch, and for the promise that if we pray in the name of Jesus you will do what we have asked. We trust in this Lord, and know that our prayers, when conforming to your will, as Jesus does, will be answered for us. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who loves us beyond measure, and who has overcome the world as you lift us in victory to join you in heaven. Praised be your name for every answered prayer because they represent your love, will, and absolute goodness towards us. You are merciful Father, and never let us suffer beyond the ability of our faith to overcome it. You bless us as we worship you in Spirit and Truth, even to the point of allowing us to overcome the world as you allowed your Son Jesus to do. Wash us clean in the blood of Jesus Holy Father, and keep us strong in our faith as we stand before you in judgement... unafraid, victorious, full of peace, joy, and worthy of eternity in your sight.
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
1 John 5:13-15 ESV
Rich Forbes