"Becoming Overcomers"

“Becoming Overcomers”

A baseball pitcher will study films and charts to learn an opponent’s weakness and will exploit it until the batter shows he can hit the pitch. A football quarterback will analyze another team’s defensive shortcomings and take advantage of them until the opponent makes adjustments and is able to stop the offense. In each case a new strategy will have to be developed in order to bring success. And the opposition will continue to work to neutralize the new approach.

What happens in baseball and football (as well as in other sports) is also true of us in our walk of faith. God has called us to live lives marked by obedience to Him (“Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.”—1 John 2:6, TM). But since the Garden of Eden Satan has attempted to mislead God’s people into listening to and following him, not our Creator, by hammering us at our weak spots (with Adam and Eve it was pride, Judas greed, Peter fear). And he’ll keep doing it until we show we can resist. Can we? Listen to our Lord’s brother: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7). How? Jesus’ friend and apostle described the devil as “…a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) whom we are to “Resist…standing firm in the faith….” (1 Peter 5:9). So with God’s help we can overcome our weaknesses and have victory over our archenemy.

Jesus set the example for us in dealing with the devil. Just after beginning His ministry He went to battle against Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). The evil one put our Lord to the physical test (“…tell these stones to become bread.”), the pride test (“…throw yourself down….”—He even threw in some Scripture on this one), and finally the possession test (“All this I will give you…if you will bow down and worship me.”). But the Master overcame each of these temptations by turning to the Word of God (“It is written….”). Since Satan cannot fight Scripture he left. So Jesus has been where we’ve been (and maybe are at this moment) and “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18).

The Apostle Paul (who knew what it was like to face satanic attacks) wrote, “…We are not unaware of his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:11). So let’s “Put on the full armor of God….” (Ephesians 6:11) to become overcomers and move on to victory.

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan