John 16:33 – I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
I did not promise you a life without trials and sorrows. In fact, I promised you quite the opposite. I warned you that in this life you will have many trials and sorrows. I promised you that if you decided to take up your cross and follow me that it would cost you everything. That in return you would lose favor with the world and would suffer for my namesake. That just as the world rejected me, they would, in turn, reject you as well.
Why would you think it strange that circumstances would rise up against you? Do you not know that your enemy always works to discourage you from following me? You see, he believes that you will sell your birthright for a bowl of soup. That all he needs to do is introduce a little hunger, pain, rejection, and loss in your life, and you will willingly exchange your inheritance as a child of God for comfort in this life. But I have charged you not to grow weary in doing good! For if you take up your cross, follow me, and persevere till the end you shall receive the crown of life. You shall reap a harvest that the world could never take away.
Do not lose heart! Believe the fullness of my promise to you! I have warned you of the trials and sorrows you will have, but I did so in order that you might have peace in the midst of the storm. I charge you again today to take heart! Be filled with joy for I have overcome the world! Anything and everything that is coming against you I have already overcome. You shall not be overcome by any of these things as long as you continue to stand in your faith. You shall inherit life from death. You shall reap blessings from curses. You shall receive abundance from lack. I will hear your prayers and I will answer that your joy may be full. You shall rest in the truth that nothing will come against you today that I have not already made provision for you to overcome.
Stop fearing those who can only scoff, mock, beat, and kill the body. Fear God. For God could not only destroy your body, He could forsake your soul; but instead, He has chosen to adopt you as His own and give you eternal life. Receive your inheritance as a son, as a daughter of the king! Give no man, give no demon of hell that which you received from me, for they cannot touch it! They cannot take it by force. It cannot be stolen. Your inheritance can only be surrendered by your own will.
So take heart! Be of good cheer. Lift up your head, for I have overcome the world. I have made a way for you to be one with me. And if you are one with me, what does that say about you? Does it not also imply in truth that you also have and will overcome the world? Do not look at the score, for your victory is assured. Stop assessing whether you are winning or losing, and believe that come what may, you have already won.
This is the good news. You cannot lose. I have placed you into me so that nothing can separate you from my love. Not life or death. Not angels or demons. Not man or government. Not things present or things to come can separate you from my great love for you. I love you with an everlasting love. My love for you is not contingent upon your performance. I love you because you are my son. You are my daughter. You have been born again – adopted into my family. Today I have become your father, and you have become my child. Say what they will, the truth of your position in my family has already been established. You did not earn your position, but it was purchased for you on the cross.
Therefore, live your life worthy of your position. Do not sell your birthright. Never surrender your inheritance for a little comfort. Yes, you will experience pain and loss in this life, but you may rest in full assurance that just as I have overcome the world, so too will you. Take courage, and don’t let your heart be troubled even if you find yourself surrounded by troubles on every side. For I have surrounded you with my promises, and I promise you will overcome if you do not lose heart.
Luke 6:26 – Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.
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