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The
Overcomer's Vision, Passion The
overcomer is a frontiersman in society. There is no other person like the
overcomer. The overcomer doesn't see the obstacle but is focused on the goal.
The overcomer knows the prize that is to be procured. He is passing through this
life enraptured by the vision of a city not made with hands, eternal and in the
heavens for him. He presses on always beholding what others do not see,
compelled by the beauty of the eternal quest. He is not satisfied with the
current civilization because he sees so much more. It is this driving passion
that propels him forward. Like
Kit Carson or Daniel Boone, the overcomer is driven ever further from
civilization, ever opening new vistas, seeking to establish new 'firsts.' What
would it be like to be the first man on the moon? What would it feel like? The
astronauts said they wanted to go back because there was more learn. Like Kit
Carson, they were not satisfied with what was accomplished but challenged by
what could be. That is why they are called trailblazers, overcomers. The
overcomer is not concerned about whether he is too small for this or too large
for that, neither is he concerned about possibilities of failure. The overcomer
knows there will be failure and plans accordingly by leaving extra time for the
accomplishment of the goals, the visions. Failure is a sign of success. Lincoln
failed in every election up to his election as President. Failure did not stop
him from competing or becoming known for his principles. As Proverbs 24:16
states: "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up
again…" A person only falls going
forward, as he is making progress, pressing towards that high prize. The
overcomer has to be clad in lightweight clothing for maximum flexibility, but
the material must also be sturdy to last through many trials and tribulations.
Like Kit Carson who wore buckskin which was durable and protected against the
weather but was strong enough and flexible enough for any emergency, the
overcomer is clothed with Christ in military 'dress' clothes (Ephesians 6) not
battle fatigues. The
'dress' outfit is for a finished work, the battle is over, the enemy has been
defeated by Christ and now the victorious unit is on display to be seen. The
trailblazer is just that. A
less traveled path is what is pursued by the overcomer. At some point the
overcomers in their personal lives decided to make a change. Perhaps it was in
childhood, perhaps later in life, but at some point every trailblazer has a
passion. The passion is a driving force that compels, like the Sirens of old, or
beckons like Ahab on Moby Dick to the individual. The passion consumes the
individual regardless of the cost. When
I met Joyce, my wife, I asked her to marry me but also she had to know that my
main passion was to know Christ. I did not know where we would go, what we would
do, but the road was to follow Christ. She knew she was 'second fiddle' to my
passion for Chris,t but she also knew that my passion for Christ would cause me
to love her as Christ would. She could not lose in that sense. The
trailblazers have a passion for Christ. To go where no one hasgone
before, to do what never has been done before, and to be what no one has
been before, is the passion - all in the realm of the Spirit. As Abraham
sojourned, traveled through the Promised Land, he did not settle for the
Promised Land. He sought a relationship with God. This is the passion of a
trailblazer. To know Christ is the only reason for existing. Everything else is
secondary. Such a person is an overcomer. Location is not important. Wealth is
not important. Everything is seen as an opportunity to find Christ in it or to
be Christ in it. The
overcomer seeks to establish a New World order. This order is a realm, a place
in the Spirit that is open to all where their identification is hid with God in
Christ and the person no longer has any identity with the fallen nature, the sin
nature, inherited from Adam. The overcomer is a trailblazer because the he is
not content with current civilization's results (and by that I mean not the
natural which unimportant, but the spiritual realm where most people live and
have their comfort in). The overcomer does not belong in that civilization. People
love to hear the stories of the New World order, that spiritual place, and they
rejoice in hearing from those that reside there. Many sought Abraham out for his
anointing and blessings. But the same did not want to experience what Abraham
experienced to receive the blessing. People in the 1800's in the USA loved to
hear the stories of the new land that Carson and others told about. But they
were not willing to lay aside their worldly trinkets to experience the joy of
the new land. Comfort breeds familiarity and the fruit is stagnation and death.
Thus, there was a puzzle. Kit Carson came and brought news of the future. The
people rejoiced but remained. He did not change them. The people died. But the
children heard and grasped the vision of Carson and they went to the Southwest.
It takes a heart of a child to lead a nation. The vision that Carson or any
overcomer lives creates the future result. In this case, the development of
the Southwest came about. The
weapons of the trailblazer are not of this world. If one would look at the
trailblazer, the person would think they are ill equipped. Lewis and Clark
prepared to search out the Louisiana Purchase with only the basics. They had to
travel light. They took paper and ink to record what they saw, guns for foraging
and protection and horses and boats with some trinkets for the Indians. But they
were not prepared for a new world and new encounters. What weapons of the
current time work in an unknown world? If
it had not been for the Indians, Lewis and Clark's party would not have survived
(Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrose). Yet, they survived. Trailblazers
survive because God is gracious. The spiritual trailblazer overcomes obstacles
by his/her knowledge of the Bible and knowing the will of God. It is these
spiritual weapons that enable and empower the overcomer to conquer all that is
before him. Consider
the early Christians under Nero and Domitican. Highly persecuted and tried in
the flesh, they pressed on. Attacked by lions in the coliseum of Rome, slain by
soldiers, crucified like Christ, the overcomers continued as a witness. Foxe's
Book of Martyrs reveals the overcomers singing in the Spirit as their flesh
fell off their bones from the fire of the faggots placed on them by the Jesuits
and the Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church. How did they do it? It is
relationship with God that enables and empowers. Their passion to know Him, the
One and only true God, was rewarded in such a way that God received the glory
and the overcomers received their passion - knowing Him. God provided the grace. Trailblazers
seek a city not made with hands. Life and the trinkets of it are not important
enough to entice the overcomer into settling for second best.
In reality they can not accept the current situation. Family and friends
are secondary to the quest of knowing Christ, but at the same time family and
friends are the answer as the overcomer finds Christ in them. The quest is
almost more important that the goal. But the goal, the passion is knowing Him;
it is relationship. The
Preparation of the Overcomer Like
a hurdler, the overcomer trains alone in the confines of his/her own world. The
world of the overcomer is individualized because God wants it to be personal.
God wants it to be between the person and God. What better way to build
relationships than a father and son spending time together? So it is with God
and the overcomer. Just as a boy desires nothing more than to be around his
father, so the overcomer desires to be around God who he calls Abba (Daddy in
the Greek). The overcomer, the hurdler, spends days developing his own strength
and stamina. The plan that works for one will not work for another in training
because no two people are the same. God provides Himself as a personal trainer
to the overcomer. God assists the
hurdler to maximize his potential. This is called the IRS plan - It's
Relationship Skills. In
order to be conformed to His Image you must relate to Him. The overcomer is
training to hurdle every obstacle that the old fallen nature, that Adamic
nature, presents to him. He overcomes by studying His Father and learning His
skills, His ways, His character. In
order to be successful the hurdler must know himself. The overcomer must know
his body, not his natural body but his spiritual body. The overcomer conquers
because he knows he is alive in Christ and no longer in Adam, that fallen nature
that died with Christ a long time ago on the cross. It is only as you study who
you are in Christ that you grow in Christ. Where the church system has you study
who you are in Adam and your identification as a 'sinner saved by grace,' God
would have you study who you are in Him, a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
What one eats directly results in what you become. As we behold Him we become
like Him (1 John 3:2). The key to
the success of the hurdler, the overcomer is to know who he is. It is difficult
for the Christian to identify with Jesus. It seems so…so sacrilegious. But
that is the fallen nature throwing up that hurdle before you. Can you hurdle it? The
overcomer, the hurdler, must know his endurance, the strengths of his body. The
hurdler wins the race by moving within the limits of his body - not by seeking
to exceed his abilities. To each God gives talents. Everyone has different
talents. If you do not have public speaking abilities, you may learn how to do
it but the one endowed with the talent for public speaking with little effort
will exceed you. The overcomer strengthens his known strengths (talents).
The overcomer knows that his strengths are the Lord's. The
hurdler knows the weaknesses of his body. For the overcomer to be successful the
weaknesses have to be known in order to lean on Jesus' strengths. The overcomer
knows his weaknesses are the Lord's too in that God will raise him in spite of
his weaknesses as he depends on God. Whether he abases or abounds the overcomer
knows it is the Lord who does it all. God has given the weaknesses just as God
has given the strengths. The overcomers seeks to find the answer of how to use
his weaknesses that God gave to him, because if God gave them they are an asset
that can be used. The
hurdler above all has to know the limits of his physical natural body and so too
the overcomer, that spiritual hurdler. We cannot do more than what we are
created for. A six foot six man well developed physically could play basketball
well. But try as he might the same man could not be a 120 pound wrestling
champion. The hurdler wins by working within his limits and using his limits to
the maximum without exceeding his abilities. There
is just so much spacing between the hurdles, and the hurdler has to adapt his
body to the spacing. If he runs with too long a stride the hurdler will crash
into the hurdle and end his chances of winning the race. If his stride is too
short the same thing will happen. Either of those situations are not as serious
as another concern. The hurdler must stay within himself and his own natural
stride and not be concerned about the spacing of the hurdles. Every overcomer
knows that the victory lies in knowing himself/herself. Knowing that the
abilities given by God are sufficient enough and will bide the test of time, the
hurdler rests in this realm, this plane of existence. Every overcomer knows that
he cannot envy another person's attributes but must rejoice in his own
blessings, which assumes he knows that he is made in the image of God. Then
the Race of Life Begins as an Eagle
The eaglet is born into a nest that has been prepared for him. The adults
make a nest high above the normal nesting heights of other birds. For their
eaglet is special and called for a particular purpose. God has called us to a
high calling in Christ, that is, to be conformed to His Image. The eagle eats
carrion and is not like other birds. There is no 'milk' of the word to satisfy
this bird. Rather this bird has to have and is desirous of 'meat.'
So it is with the overcomer. The overcomer seeks only that food which
satisfies the thirsting, hungering soul. This
young bird grows in a nest that appears to be comfortable with the soft down in
the bottom and a mother hovering above ready and willing to feed. But looks are
deceptive. The comforts of home - food, a warm place, loving parents, served at
every whim. What young eaglet would not like that? What saint does not enjoy
such from God initially? But God has chosen some and the time of change comes
quickly. As
the young eaglet grows and his down changes to flying feathers, he adventures
out of the nest to sit on the edge and looks about. He sees a new world, but
still resides in the comforts of home. He is not motivated to change his
surroundings. But the adult eagles notice his growth and put into action the
plan of his life. God as El Shaddai which means the full-breasted one, gives us
milk to start our lives in Him. He is a mothering God when manifested as El
Shaddai. But there comes a time when a child must leave the tent of the mother
(Genesis 21:8). The adult eagles know best and the eaglet is unsuspecting of the
change that will lead to his maturity. Slowly
the mother removes the down from the nest. In the bottom of the nest are what we
might call thorns, sharp twigs. When the soft nesting is removed slowly, little
by little, the young eaglet finds it more uncomfortable every day to sit in the
nest. Finally, he can bear it no longer and resides on the side of the nest
permanently. He still waits for the food and enjoys what he has although he has
less. He is still not motivated to change his situation. He still has a life of
ease although less than before. Little
by little, line upon line, precept upon precept (Isaiah 28:13) the young bird is
being slowly educated in the way of flight and life. He still can't fly but is
flapping his wings for some unknown reason. It is built into his nature to fly
and as comfortable as he is where he is, he cannot stop the internal call to fly
and be like his father. The parents fly by and encourage him about the joys of
flying. He looks down and sees how far a fall would be and decides to wait for
some future day, if ever. The food here is good. The home nest is nice. He
decides to wait. But
God our loving Father is concerned for us and having caused us to move by
thorns, our Father now begins a new loving confrontation. He wants the bird to
step out on faith. It is similar to the step of faith to receive the Baptism of
the Spirit and the gifts - any of the nine. It takes blind faith to step out and
expect God to fill your mouth with a prophecy to someone or to speak in tongues.
So the young eaglet has strong wings, and the Father knows when to make them
work. The
male eagle flies by and the mother eagle pushes the eaglet out of the nest.
Downwardly spiraling, caught off guard, crying out, plummeting like an arrow
towards the ground, the eaglet feels all is lost. The overcomer has to learn of
the protection of God and dependency on God in all things. So God removes the
comforts of home, the known avenues of finding God and answers. God wants us to
be like Jesus who did nothing unless He heard His Father say it or unless He saw
His Father do it (John 5:19,30). The eaglet cries out: "Why has El Shaddai,
my mother, booted me out of the nest?" The answer is it is time to begin to
produce the life of God instead of receiving it! There is a comfort in the realm
of Pentecost (Baptism of the Holy Spirit) because it is a realm of blessing and
receiving. But God would have sons (Romans 8:19-20). The
Father now begins His training on the overcomer, the eaglet. He swoops down and
under the young bird and carries him on his back up to the nest. If one has
studied eagles a little, you will know that what I write is true. The Father
places the young bird back on the nest. Again and again this is done until the
young bird learns to fly, but always with the Father close by or underneath. The
young bird when dropping off the nest feels comfortable, even though he cannot
fly because he trusts in the Father to be there for him, to never leave or
forsake him, to never be separated from the love of the Father. Eventually, the
young bird feels secure enough in himself to open his wings and coast as he
spirals down. He finds out that if he goes down, he is lifted up. He learns of a
servant mode. God has called him to be an overcomer by causing him to be
humbled. By
depending on his Father, the overcomer has learned to conquer all things. The
passion, the vision of the overcomer is the driving force that God uses to
develop the saint, the overcomer. The vision causes the overcomer to learn his
strengths and move within the God-given abilities as a hurdler does. The eagle
nature, that ability to soar in the Spirit, has to be tempered by learning
dependency on the Father early on in our spiritual life and in all things, great
and small. But now comes the test of Moses. The
Test of Moses Born
in adversity, destined for death if caught, Moses was a babe in preparation. God
used the education of the Egyptians with Moses. Egypt had the most advanced
civilization of the time and Moses had the privilege to reside in THE home of
the leader of this famed country. He had the best education that the natural
world could give. All truth comes from Him who is truth. Natural truth given to
man comes from God. Moses was in a place where the natural wisdom of God was
used and available. We cannot even duplicate the Pyramids of Egypt today
(although some say that Enoch built them). God
saw that Moses was given natural education of the day and the reason was so that
he could use it for God's glory. In the USA, as a world leader we have in this
country many blessings of the natural and God has called the saints here to
learn of these natural things so that they can be used to deliver God's people,
even as Moses did then. To think that God did all this with a babe from the
bulrushes who was floating down the river unto death! But
every overcomer has to learn that the deliverance of creation cannot come from
the arm of the flesh, personal effort. Many are the ministries in the land that
do not understand this. While God uses these ministries (even Christ preached of
contention is good Paul states), these ministries have and are working with
carnal means. Just as Moses tried to deliver the people of Israel with his
natural knowledge and power, so many today in their understanding of the letter
of the word are doing exploits but are not manifesting the life. The gifts of
the Spirit can be used carnally, as Paul states in 1 Corinthians about the
saints. Reading Matthew 7:22-23 provides some light. I like to think that the
overcomer is passing through the stage of the arm of the flesh, even as Moses
passed through it. The
overcomer cannot use the arm of the flesh. Moses was passionate about the people
of God that he tried to deliver them in his own self-effort. The vision can so
possess you, as Moses, that it overwhelms you. The test of Moses is to bring
everything into balance. I remember when I experienced the grace of God and He
saved me. I told everyone. The passion consumed me. I lost my testimony to some
because of the rashness of my behaviour but had I been more open to being
Spirit-led, results would have been different. Not really having learned the
lesson, I did the same foolish thing when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and
spoke in tongues! I like to think I have learned now. How about you? For
40 years Moses was trained in the knowledge of the world. Good knowledge to have
for all knowledge comes from God. But an uncrucified life hinders the expression
of God in a life. Moses' failure by slaying the Egyptian revealed more had to be
dealt with in his life although his passion, his vision was accurate. The
hindrance of flesh had to be removed. So,
for 40 more years, Moses wandered in the Wilderness. Alone, learning only by and
from God's hand, Moses matured into the leader he needed to be. He stuttered
(Exodus 4:10) and felt inferior, but God does not look on the frailties of the
human flesh (1 Samuel 16:7) to determine worth and use in His kingdom. The final
forty years was to teach undeniably to Moses that his victory as a leader comes
only from God. The work done in Moses was so great that God declares that Moses
was the most humble man on the earth. And we know Moses was a type of Jesus
(Deuteronomy 18:15) and that even Jesus humbled himself even to death of the
cross (Philippians 2:8). Moses learned that to be the deliverer of the people he
had to be identified with the death (the cross). Paul states that we are to be
identified with the death and crucifixion of Christ (Romans 6) and thereby are
also identified with the resurrection because our life is hid with God in
Christ. The overcomers reveals life as he remains on the cross (2 Corinthians
4:10). Moses did so. Jesus did so. So does the overcomer. Who
can stand in the everlasting fires? He who is in the nature of Christ (Isaiah
33:14-15)! Moses came forth out of 80 years of trials and education as a
trailblazer of a new order. He led the people of God forth from bondage into the
Wilderness where they would be tested (Deuteronomy 8:2) so that they could enter
into the Promised Land. Moses was able to lead the people because he was led by
God. Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted (Matthew 4:1) so that He could
deliver God's people. God is now looking for some overcomers to do likewise and
be called the sons of God (Revelation 21:7). The
42nd Generation In
Matthew is the genealogical listing. From Abraham to David is 14 generations.
From Solomon to Babylonian captivity is another 14 generations. From Babylon to
Jesus is 13 generations. This is a total of 41 generations. The sons of God are
the 42nd generation, a spiritual generation - the Lord's body
(different from the body of Christ). This
group of no-names only known to God, have been destined from history to be
conformed to His Image, the Image of His glorious Son, Christ Jesus. It
is a spiritual generation. There have been throughout the ages many saints that
have been 'sons of God.' But to some, those unfamiliar to the phrase 'sons of
God,' it sounds almost blasphemous but it is scriptural. Consider Romans 8:19,
which states: "For the anxious
longings of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of
God."
Paul, the writer of Romans, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes
these words of God down. These words are inspired and contain within them the
purpose and plan of God for the ages. The word 'revealing' is the Greek word
that we sometimes translate as 'apocalypse.' Could we say that the Book of
Revelation in 1:1 which states: "The Revelation (apocalypse) of Jesus
Christ…" is connected with the manifestation of the sons of God?
The answer is yes! (See our book, Unmasking
the Book of Revelation, 160 pages). Jesus
was the firstborn and only begotten of the Father. We, you and I, are begotten
of Him. He is our elder brother. Our beloved Father has called us home. We are
to leave the old house and life of the fallen nature and return unto Him with
His nature. The creation seeks deliverance from the death and decay. Jesus has
called us to do greater works (John 14:12) and this can only be done as we are
overcomers, that is those who conquer the Adamic nature by residing in Christ in
whom we live. We must not fulfill Matthew 7:22-23 but Romans 8:14 is the goal.
While we can never be the Son,
we can be little 's' sons. When the world sees Him in us, they see His glory (2
Thessalonians 1:10) and He is glorified. Hosea 1:10 "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea,
which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the
place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said
unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." You,
individually are a part of the corporate expression of God in the earth - the
church. The sleeping giant of the church does not know who it is yet but when
the firstfruits (Romans 8:23) of His nature come forth the church will awaken
from the slumber of who it is and ALL of Israel will be the sons of God. Galatians 4:5 states: "To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons."
It is through Jesus' sacrifice that we are delivered from the Law and
walk in grace abounding. It is the work of God not ourselves lest we should
boast and take any glory from the Lord. But He died that He might redeem us from
the fallen nature, even make us sons of the Most High. Galatians 4:6 states:"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Because of who He is, we can
be what He is. It is the Spirit of the Son in us, the spirit of adoption (Romans
8:15) the very nature of the Lord, the same desires, aspirations, purposes, etc.
All these things compel us even more to be like Him. Our kingdom, not of this world, seeks to present a government found formed
in a man even as it was in Jesus Christ. All that He went through, He was
governed by another kingdom and not subject to the kings of this world nor to
their power. This same spirit of the Son abides in us today and it cries Abba
(Greek: 'daddy' term of endearment). People call God, God or Father because of
respect and power. But we call Him Abba because we know Him experientially as
our daddy. It is an intimate relationship not a peripheral one. The overcomer has eight steps to fulfill in his/her life to become a son
of God. The eighth and last states: "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and
he will be My son
(Revelation 21:7)." It is not what we inherit some thing, but Who. For He is
all things that are pure and righteous and altogether. As Deuteronomy 10:9
states, the priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) inherits the Lord. The overcomers are those
who are propelled by the Spirit, compelled by the vision within to enter into
the nature of their Beloved. No sacrifice on the natural plane is too much for
the privilege of knowing God. They are willing to go through the preparation of
a hurdler, the testing of flight as an eagle and the trials of leadership as
Moses in order to have such intimacy with God.
Sonship, the result of overcoming, is not some cultic phenomena as some
ministers preach and warn their flocks to stand clear. It is not the liturgical,
ritualistic, legalistic pabulum of contemporary Christianity in 2,000 AD either.
Nor is it the name it and claim vanity that masquerades as Christianity.
Sonship is a life of crucifixion - not because of sin in the vessel - there
isn't any because we are cleansed by His blood and if we do sin we have an
advocate (1 John 2:1) and God can
keep us from the evil one and sin (1 John 5:18). But crucifixion occurs because
of identity with the Savior. Paul stated in Galatians 4:14 "…you received me as
an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself (NASV)."
In 2:20 Paul stated: "…it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me…" Not that he had already attained, i.e. the redemption of the body, but
nevertheless had attained in all other aspects. Sonship, the ultimate of the overcomer experience, is but the beginning of
true ministry. Watchman Nee brings out in the book ,The Ministry of the Word, that any area of our life
which is uncrucified hinders the expression of God. It creates a blurred
vision of the Lord to the world. Life is only manifested and given from a vessel
that moves in grace on the cross. Paul states that he bears the dying of the
Lord in himself so that the life of God may be partaken of by those in need (2
Corinthians 4:10). So, too, the overcomer, following in Peter's footsteps as he
follows Christ does likewise (1 Peter 2:21). |
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