New Testament passage for Wed., Dec. 5, 2012: I John 5:1-21
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. I John 5:4 (NKJV)
Anything that is truly God-ordained will have the ability to ENDURE. God will sustain and maintain that of which He is the author. We can spend much time and energy trying to jump-start our own work - our own ideas. But, that which God births will have within itself the ability to endure. It will overcome the world. God will uphold and defend His work.
Seeds are amazing. Jesus often used seeds as an example of how He works. Within the small acorn is all the potential of the great oak tree. God never creates or births something fully developed from the start. He starts small and then over time GROWS it into its full expression.
I have never been short of good ideas. But are they GOD IDEAS? It is relatively easy to come up with great plans. It is another thing altogether to see those plans grow into a full and tangible reality. There are many "dream killers" and "vision killers" that will seek to stop forward progress.
Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 13 in the parable of the seed and the sower. The seed is sown into the ground and immediately it is met with opposition as it seeks to grow. Three obstacles rise up to stop the fulfillment of the promised potential resident in the seed. Those three are 1) the devil, 2) the difficulties and pressures of life, and 3) the allure of worldly distraction.
Anyone who has ever tried to take ground in the Kingdom of God has faced these three adversaries. What is the key to conquest? How can anyone possibility make through the maze of satanic, worldly, and fleshly opposition?
God has ordained that all His work will be carried forward in one way and one way alone: THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. This is the victory that overcomes the world - your faith. And God Himself is the author, the producer of that faith.
We need not sweat and stew about our progress or lack thereof. We should instead rest in assurance and confidence that the Onr who birthed us is also able to carry us to full fruitfulness - thirty, sixty, and a hundred-fold.
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