Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Overcoming’ Category

[Printable version]

By Mavis duCille

Scripture reading: Galatians 2:20

We learned in school that living things breathe, living things grow, living things feed. So, if you are not feeding, if you are not breathing, if you are not growing, you are not alive. We are supposed to be further along this year from where we were last year. It is good, as we move on, to take an inventory every once in a while of where you are in the LORD.

There are just a couple of words that I would like to share with you. I have been thinking about Paul’s life, and some things that he said. He was one of the law, he came up under the law. It always amuses me how he uses the law to bring us into Christ. A few verses that have been speaking to me much are in Romans 7:19-20. From verse 18, he says, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…” He explains verse 18 in verse 19, “For when I do good, evil is present with me.” He explains what that means in verse 20, “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” He was making a separation there, between the things that he would do and where they originate, and the things that he would not do and how he would attain to them.

He says, in verse 22, “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members,” WORKING IN MY MEMBERS, “warring against the law of my mind…” Are you familiar with that war? So, we understand that when we are to do good and we can’t do it, when we do the wrong thing, the question that I want to ask you is, why? In his mind, Paul wants to do one thing, but there is another law bringing him into captivity to the law of sin which is in his members. So, in the Word we find that what the Lord has laid down for us is “here a little, there a little…” (Isaiah 28:10), and right through the Word, we can put the “here a little” together with the “there a little” and come up fully with what the Lord intends for us.

So, Paul came to the conclusion that with his mind he serves the Lord – the law of God, but in his flesh, the law of sin and death. So, because we have that war going on in our being, we have to have the Word riveted in us and we have to have an abundance of the spirit of grace working in us.

But in Galatians 2:20 he said something very interesting. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” It is a conclusion to which he came. He said, nevertheless. He made no more excuses for the things that he would do and he did not, and the things that he did and he should not. So many times we hear people make excuses, “I am human,” or, “It is in my family.” He realized that from the earlier scripture, but he knew he was in trouble if he did not get rid of the flesh and the carnal life and rise to the life to which we are called in Jesus.

You see, overcoming is the greatest part of our walk in the Lord. If we are not overcoming, we are dying. And the experiences that we have through overcoming, and the victories, come through testing. “When we are tried, we shall come forth as pure gold” (Job 23:10).

So, as we look back at the things that used to bother us, cast us down, make us feel as losers – as we give way to the Spirit of Christ rising in us, day after day, we can say, “We are crucified… Nevertheless, the life I now live, I live by the grace of God.” Amen.

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, October 2007, pg. 3-4)

Thought for today: Overcoming is the greatest part of our walk in the Lord. If we are not overcoming, we are dying.

Read Full Post »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: Hebrews 10:20

The four pillars at the entrance of the Holy of Holies is a type of the four cherubims of Ezekiel 1 and 10, Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. These represent a picture of man’s soul, which in Revelation 4 is mentioned as “four beasts,” and in Revelation 7:1 as four angels of death and destruction standing on the four corners of the earth (soul).

To re-enter Eden, we must go through fire. The flaming sword is the Word of God, and the baptism of fire through which man must go to come into perfection. Note that the angel with the sword was at the east of the garden, and the angel of Revelation 7:2, the fifth angel, was rising from the east to seal the saints. The east represents the mind of Christ.

The picture of man’s soul is as follows. Man's SoulWe could re-enter into this Eden realm, and eventually partake of the tree of life which is Christ, which would re-cycle our nature to the nature of Christ, BUT for these four beasts which occupy our soul realm. Man has the nature of the eagle in his mind, which makes him soar in his thoughts away from God. In his emotions, he is like a lion, a wild savage beast that thrives upon the death of others. In his will, he is stubborn as an ox. In his desires, he is a man. No other creature desires as much as man. He will desire heaven and hell at the same time. He is a creature of desire.

The breaking through the veil, therefore, speaks of man breaking through his own flesh nature. Paul writing to the Hebrew Christians spoke of the veil being the flesh of Jesus Christ in Hebrews 10:20,

“By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.”

Jesus prepared the way for us by breaking through His own flesh, thus He established the “how” of it, so that we too might break through and be OVERCOMERS.

(Excerpt from The Pattern, 2nd edition, 1995, pg. 145-146)

Thought for today: Jesus prepared the way for us by breaking through His own flesh, thus He established the “how” of it, so that we too might break through and be OVERCOMERS.

Read Full Post »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: Matthew 18:20

By Mavis duCille

A thought came to me one day that we should all just think a little bit on what if Jesus should come right now? If He should walk right in here, what state would we be in? How would we appear before Him? What would He say? What would He have to say to us? Our very last thought, our very last desire, the things that we give way to–what would He have to say about them?

So, we would ask ourselves the question, “Is it well with my soul?” “Is it well with my soul?” When we gather together in meetings, they are to help us to make the necessary corrections and adjustments to give us strength to move on. Our meeting should not find us farther back than we were at the last meeting.

A lot of people would say, “I do not get much from the convention and I do not….” It is because of where we are, and where we place ourselves. If we are looking to the Lord, then the Lord is always there to bless and to do us good. And Jesus says, “If you come together in My Name, even if there are only two of you, I am there in your midst to bless.” He brought it down to two. The angel brought it down to ten with Abraham before destroying Sodom. He said, “If I find ten righteous, I will not destroy the city,” but the angel knew there would not be ten righteous, because Sodom and Gomorrah were doomed for destruction. So the Lord says, “Where two or three….” He brings it down to the smallest unit, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) Look at the number of you when you gather together. But the key in that statement is gathered together in my name. “In My Name!” In whose name and nature do we come together? Do we come together in the nature of the Spirit of Christ? Do we come together in His nature that we can receive the blessing and get rid of this seed of destruction that has been sown into humanity and that has been working to this generation?

The seed of righteousness is the only thing that will destroy this great power of the destroyer that for so many years (thousands of years) has ruled over man. God sent the Law, but it could not do the work because it was weak. And the seed of the destroyer has been so strong because it is within our very fiber! God sent the Law, He sent the prophets, yet it could not work. He sent Jesus, His Son, and it is going on two thousand years and we are still struggling with the power of the destroyer. Have we overcome the power of this destroyer? Or, does the spirit of the destroyer still work in us to bring us to hate, envy, jealousy, malice, pride, and all sorts of wickedness and things that work in the children of men?

God is waiting. We are at the very end of time, and God is waiting for us to allow the Spirit of life, the law of life in Christ Jesus, to destroy the spirit of the destroyer that has robbed us all these years. Amen! Praise God!

It will not be accomplished by complacency. We have to arise and assert ourselves by the Word and the Spirit so that we might have the victory over this power of the destroyer that is within us and that will hinder us from accomplishing what Jesus came for. He came to set the captives free, but the captives have to be willing and ready to be set free. Amen!

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1998)

Thought for today: Let us arise and assert ourselves by the Word and the Spirit so that we might have the victory over the power of the destroyer!

Read Full Post »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: John 1:12

By Mavis duCille

We have to remember that the enemy has taken us captive and he says that we belong to him. The only reason he says we belong to him is because we are doing his bidding. So we are his captives, until we begin to eject him from our being. We have to give him marching orders! And we have to do it by force! We have to declare our position and say to him, “You have no place in me!”

There is a battle to get rid of him that we have to be involved in from day to day! He has taken up residence in us from before we were born, and he says that he has a right! But when Jesus came into our lives, He said, “I have given them power to become Sons of God.” (John 1:12) If we, through the knowledge of the Word, do not use the power to become Sons of God, then we lose our inheritance in Him!

It is a daily battle and a daily warfare that we enter into every time we realize this situation that we are in. And the Spirit of the Lord is very diligent in showing us our weaknesses. As a matter of fact, if you are walking with the Lord, as soon as a contrary thing comes to your mind, the Spirit of the Lord is there like a good washerwoman, and He will bring forth deliverance for you. But sometimes the weaknesses that are in us, to carry out whatever the enemy says to us, are so great that we bow to it instead of bowing to what the Spirit of the Lord is saying and wanting us to do. So we fail in that conflict. But God has not called us to be weaklings. He has given strength. In John 1:12, He says He has given us power to become Sons of God! If we are not walking as Sons of God, it is because we are failing to use the power that He has given us. It is as simple as that. It is simple, but it is great.

The Lord said to me, “Man is self-destruct,” but because of this, He has given us life on the other side to destroy the power of the destroyer. The anointing of the Spirit will destroy the power of the destroyer, so that, although the destroyer is within us and has taken such a foothold in us, if we give way to the anointing of the Spirit He will destroy the power of the destroyer. Praise God!

This operation should be effective daily in our lives, so that as we awaken each morning we should say, “Lord, anoint me with that power, that today I will destroy the power of the destroyer.” Nobody knows the extent of the power of the destroyer that is within us, but we ourselves (and, of course, God). Each individual has an awareness of that which works in his or her soul, and so we are aware of the principal areas of our battle. We know what we have to do, for it is something that will work and work until we are in the place where we become totally destroyed.

Now, the repentance and forgiveness that the Lord has given to us through His blood does not automatically destroy the power of the Adamic nature. Hear the words in John 1:12 again. He said, “… to as many as received him, to them gave He power to become Sons of God.” If we do not use the power we cannot become Sons of God. So, to say, “Well, I repented one day … and I am saved … and I am coming to church,” and so on, is only fooling ourselves! It is not until we begin to overcome the things that possess us and the things that set us back, the inherent nature of the soul, that we become the Sons of God.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1998)

Thought for today: The anointing of the Spirit will destroy the power of the destroyer, so that, although the destroyer is within us and has taken such a foothold in us, if we give way to the anointing of the Spirit He will destroy the power of the destroyer.

Read Full Post »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: Matthew 5:14-16

By Mavis duCille

One day the word of the Lord came to my heart and it said that “Man is self-destruct.” From the Garden of Eden, Satan sowed the seed of destruction into the human race, and that is why the second Adam had to come to the rescue. If we look into our own lives, we can see the “seed of evil.” Everything that we do contrary to righteousness and the will of the Lord comes from this seed which was planted in the human race. It is the reason why Cain killed Abel; and from that early time to now, everything that is contrary to God that has happened and is happening is brought about by this seed of evil that is within us.

When the seed of righteousness comes in us, it is like light expelling the darkness. But it is only as we allow it, otherwise we will have areas where the light is not able to penetrate the darkness, and there will be areas in us where the darkness will remain.

And so we think of some of the words that the Lord gives, like, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) That means that if we allow the darkness to remain in us, then men will not see the light of God. On the contrary, they will see the darkness.

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not (could not pull down or overcome the light).” (John 1:4-5)

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:6-9)

“But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:21)

So, it is saying that as Christ comes forth in us, we get rid of the darkness. We get rid of the evil as we go forth in the Lord and as the good inhabits us, but it has to inhabit us so that it is not just something that is in our minds. That is why it is sometimes so difficult for us, when we know a lot of scriptures and a lot of truth, because it is not impressed upon us that we are supposed to walk in what we know; that is how the light expels the darkness.

We cannot allow both the darkness and the light to abide, where we are sometimes righteous and sometimes unrighteous; or where we sometimes in our daily living take leave of righteousness to do the things that are contrary to God. It is like we are making excuses to do the wrong thing and as long as that condition remains in us we are destroying ourselves. Nevertheless, Jesus came to set the captives free!

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1998)

Thought for today: We get rid of the evil as we go forth in the Lord and as the good inhabits us. But it has to inhabit us and not be just something is in our minds.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »