Overcomers

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb...and they loved not their lives unto death. Rev. 12:11

When James and John came to Christ with their mother, asking Him to give them the best in the kingdom, He did not refuse their request, but told them it would be given to them if they could do His work, drink His cup, and be baptized with His baptism.

Do we want the competition? The greatest things are always hedged about by the hardest things, and we, too, shall find mountains and forests and chariots of iron. Hardship is the price of coronation. Triumphal arches are not woven out of rose blossoms and and silken cords, but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships that you are enduring in your life today are given by the Master for the explicit purpose of enabling you to win your crown.

Do not wait for some ideal situation, some romantic difficulty, some far-away emergency; but rise to meet the actual conditions which the providence of God has placed around you today. Your crown of glory lies embedded in the very heart of these things- those hardships and trials that are pressing you this very hour, week, and month in your life. The hardest things are not those the world knows of. Down in your secret soul unseen and unknown by any but Jesus, there is the a little trial that you dare not mention, that is harder for you to bear than martyrdom.

There, beloved, lies your crown. God help you to overcome, and sometime wear it.

-Selected

It matters not how the battle goes,
The fight how long;
Faint not! Fight on!
Tomorrow comes the song.

- from Streams in the Desert

I read that devotional in my quiet time the other morning and found it spiritually and mentally invigorating. Everyday I have this flesh to fight against..this flesh that wars against the Spirit within me; this flesh that finds it hard to get up and give a piece of my morning to God who gave me another day to live, breathe, and enjoy; this flesh that hates to come into subjection to the Word of God; this flesh that loves itself and likes to fight for its own rights; this flesh that is quick to criticize, blame, gossip, belittle, or make smart remarks; this flesh that does not want to take thoughts captive, that is easily provoked, that murmurs and complains, that is puffed up, and hates to say, "I'm sorry, I was wrong;" this flesh that wants to do its own thing, have its own way and its own opinions. But truth is, every time I give in to this flesh, not only do I become spiritually weaker, I am also surrendering to the enemy. It's been said that Satan laughs when we fall. Shall we give him such delight? Think then how frustratingly mad he must also get when he comes upon a man or woman whom he can't keep down in the everyday wear and tear of life, who is always gaining victory,and who stands strong in the Lord, in the power of His might, and has done all to stand! And when he does fall, he gets back up.
 What joy in triumph would there be if the battle wasn't difficult to fight; the foe not hard to conquer, and the flesh easily overcome? Oswald Chambers has said 'The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in - it stirs us up to overcome."
May we be named among the overcomers in that great day of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!