For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:4-5.
Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Hebrews 10:35-36.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
You will have various trials in this life, but take courage, Jesus has overcome the world and He has shown you how to do it! By faith, persevering faith. He is the author and finisher of your faith, you must not draw back but get to the finish line.
And today’s final life lesson, Life Lesson No. 9 in our series of how to live by faith, is just that, “The Victory that Overcomes the World—Persevering Faith!”
When a trial, storm, impasse, or temptation of any sort comes (and in this fallen world these things will come against you because sin released them into the earth when Adam submitted his jurisdiction to that of Satan), most people go into a fear, anxiety, panic, and fretting mode. And then they beg, cry, plead, and cajole Me to do whatever it is they think would solve it. Others just get frustrated and say, “Well, the Lord knows what He is doing,” or some other statement like, “Well, God’s Will be done.” But by this they generally mean they do NOT know Me or My Will and that they are just taking the no fault mode that makes it all My fault whether it is good or evil. And this is NOT knowing Me or My Word. And it really shows that you do not know My Name. So many are mistaken because they fail to understand Scriptures and My Power. Matthew 22:29; Mark 12:24. But that is NOT what you learned when you took Jesus as Lord if you have been taught the good news as it truly is. When I raised Jesus from the dead and He came to the disciples He had to open their minds to understand the Scriptures. Luke 24:45.
The only way you are going to overcome trials, or really do anything fruitful with your life, is by My Word. I sent My WORD to heal you and deliver you from your destructions. Psalm 107:20. My Words are life to those who find them and health to all your flesh. Proverbs 4:22. My Words are not idle words but your VERY LIFE. For My Word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12. I work by My Word, and so does Jesus, and He is My Word. The flesh is to no avail, it is My Words that are Spirit and Life. I made, sustain, and restore by My Word.
But it is not just repeating My Word like a parrot that brings the victory, for the victory that overcomes the world is YOUR faith, but it is a particular kind of faith, it is faith in Me, which means just one thing: FAITH IN MY WORD. Fully persuaded faith that My Word is true and My Word is for you. And the spirit of faith is that you believe in your heart and speak with your mouth. And faith only comes one way—by hearing, and hearing My anointed Word. Romans 10:17. Jesus counseled you to have faith in Me, that is, find My Word on the subject, speak it to the mountain and do not doubt in your heart that what you say will come to pass, and watch it move. And no matter how long it takes, move it will. Some mountains take longer than others, it took ten plagues to get the Israelites out of Egypt (and the Israelites kept telling Moses to give up and leave them slaves since My promises of deliverance did not seem to be successful at first) and then it finally had to be the severe measure of the Red Sea parting and closing. But My Word did come to pass. And it always will if you just keep going forward, like Moses told the Israelites at the Red Sea.
You can beg, plead, cry and lament but until you stand up and take up the Sword of the Spirit, which is My Word, and let the adverse spirit have it (run him through with My Word), so to speak, you are not going anywhere. And even when you win a victory, he will return again to see if he can take you down by piling up trials and tests to get you off the Word by causing you to give up and give in. He did this with Jesus. Jesus won on the three tests in the wilderness but Satan just kept looking for another opportunity to make Him fall under his control, but he NEVER could. Even though Judas allowed Satan to enter his heart and betray Jesus, this did not bring Jesus down. Jesus told you that He gave the devil NO PLACE in Him. And you can do the same for you have Christ Jesus in you by the power of the Holy Spirit. And the evil spirit is no match for the Holy Spirit, one blow of the wind of the Spirit and you have Satan running down a dark slippery slope with My angel chasing him with a battle axe. Psalm 35:3-6. And what is the wind of the Spirit? That which is Spirit-breathed—My Word. 2 Timothy 3:16.
If you want to be victorious in this life, an overcomer, you must do it by faith in My Word, but you must be determined NEVER to turn aside from it and concede defeat. Joshua 1:7-9; Proverbs 4:25-27. You must never surrender to the enemy because you have to know that when the dust finally settles you win and he loses. You have to keep standing on the rock of My Word. Never get pulled off it. Hold fast to the Word of Life. You must persevere to have the promise manifest.
The first parable My Son told was about persevering faith. He told about the operation of the Word in your lives and which people came to harvest the promises in the seed of My Word. And this was the parable He told, “Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:1-9.
The disciples did not understand the meaning of the parable, so later they asked Him to explain it. And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the Word. These are the ones who are beside the road where the Word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the Word which has been sown in them. In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” Mark 4:13-20.
First you will note that My Son told you that if you do not understand this parable, you won’t understand any of the parables He taught. Why? Everything in your life is dependent upon My Word, it is how you were made and it is how you are sustained, kept in health, and made strong to live a long satisfying life. In the parable the seed that the sower sows is My Word. Jesus states that very clearly. For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through My living and enduring Word. 1 Peter 1:23. I liken My Word to seed sown in you by your hearing, reading, meditating upon, and speaking My Word.
In this important parable, My Son spoke of four different ways people receive My Word, and of those four groups of people only one group persevered in faith and got the harvest, and even that in different amounts. Three quarters of those who heard the Word did not persevere with it. It is important to see why, so you are not one of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Hebrews 10:39.
The first group, represented by the seed falling on the road where birds came and ate it up, represents when My Word is heard by people whose hearts are hard against Me, either by choice or by just being unaware of Me. They are doubters and scoffers. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the Word which has been sown in them. They did not value it or consider it worthy of respect.
The next group is the rocky soil. When they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy; but they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. They have no endurance or commitment for the long haul. They are not praising and thanking Me for My precious Word, but deciding it does not work because they got into a trial, storm, or test. So they give up and live lifes of defeat and toil.
And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns. Thorns represent the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things. If you let these take priority in your thoughts, you will magnify them above My Word and they will enter in and choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. This is not a problem with My Word, it will work for you, rather this is a problem of your not putting My Word to work.
And finally we come to the fourth group, this group of people opens their hearts to My Word. They receive the implanted Word that has the power to save them. And I call their hearts “good soil.” Why? Because they hear the Word and accept it, they take it to heart and grow it, and bear fruit. But how much fruit they bear depends on the level of diligence they apply in hearing, speaking, and doing My Word. For some bear thirty, some bear sixty, and some bear a hundredfold.
Adam went from walking in the spirit to walking in the flesh, and he went from an imperishable condition to a perishable condition, by disobeying My Word. Because of what he did, you will have trials in this life, evils within and evils without, but I have given you the solution: FAITH. And faith comes by hearing My anointed Word. And you must endure in your confession of faith in My Word to harvest the promise contained therein. But the harvest is guaranteed.
My Word in your mouth, spoken in faith, is like a steering wheel that will turn any situation around to line up with My Word if you just keep pulling that wheel. In every adverse situation that comes you must know that you can turn it around by faith in My promise and acting upon that faith by thanksgiving, praise and preparation. You who believe should never go out taken down by Satan! You already have the victory in Christ Jesus and when you finish your assignment you will go home to be with Me, for that is the far better thing, but while you are doing your assignment, you must not permit the devil to take you out. And he cannot as long as you take your stand in faith with praise and thanksgiving. You have the victory over sin and death in Christ Jesus your Lord! Enforce it by speaking in agreement with your great High Priest Jesus and not speaking in agreement with the devil’s lies.
But to have this persevering faith, you must know Me! Because then you know My Will in any given situation and you can pray according to My Will and know that I have heard and what you asked for is already yours. And you already know My Will because you know My Name! My Name is the LORD your healer, the LORD your provider, the LORD your righteousness, the LORD your sanctifier, the LORD your Redeemer, the LORD your deliverer, the LORD your Refuge, the LORD your Shepherd, the LORD your helper, the LORD your peace, the LORD your victory, and the LORD of Hosts! You who live by faith know that if you pray that My will be done you are praying healing, provision, protection, deliverance, help sanctification, and everything beautiful into the earth realm from the Kingdom. You are praying shalom, for I speak shalom to those far and near, to all who hear. And My plans for you are shalom and not evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11. I speak shalom to My people and so should you—not anxiety, stress, anger, and fear! No never! Never give your mouth free reign for the evil the devil pulls you towards, instead speak what is noble and true, that is, My Word.
I love you. Do not become weary in speaking My Word and rejoicing in it for it will bring great reward. Persevere in My Word until you have brought down the promise from your heavenly account. It is the overcomers who will sit with Jesus and with Me on My throne. Revelation 3:21. Submit to Me, that is agree with My Word, resist the devil, and he must flee from you. Do that and you will be amazed how quickly he will fall and you will rise. You have to put your foot down and keep it there to take back the territory he has illegally taken by lies and deceit. Never agree with him. Death and life are in the power of your tongue, make sure you are following your good Shepherd in speaking Words of life and not the evil one by speaking words of death, for if you are, then death shall be your shepherd. Psalm 49:14.
But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:9-12.