Overcoming the world

1 John 5:1, 4-5, 11-12 New International Version (NIV)

1."Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father LOVES his child as well.

4-5 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

11-12 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life."

Dear brethren,  the reality of Christ is fixed. We can't change it. Our own position in  relation to that reality is what crucially relies on what we believe.

Belief in Christ (through God-given faith), must morph into the reality of overcoming the world, through physical manifestation in 3 crucial steps.

Christ Himself overcame the world. And His victory was made manifest through those same 3 crucial witnesses. (1 John 5:7)

1. Water (indicating Baptism)  - a public declaration for Christ

2. Blood (indicating sacrifice) - by dedicating our lives to God's will and purpose, often directly in conflict with our personal dreams, hopes and desires. Submitting to God. This is actual because it is this process that brings about the true change in us.   Therefore our belief and declaration are confirmed in our sacrifice of ourselves for Christ's purpose.

1 John 3:16 New International Version
"This is how we know what LOVE is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."

3. The Spirit -  He is the one who brings everything to pass. He reveals Christ to us, He convinces us to declare openly for Christ, and He transforms our sacrifice into a fulfilment of God's purpose and plan.

John 15:13 New International Version

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

Brethren, sacrifice is bloody. If it doesn't hurt, sometimes to death, its probably not a sacrifice.

Selah

The nature of God

Hebrews 1:3 Aramaic Bible in Plain English

"For he is The Brilliance of his glory, The Image of his Being, and upholds all things by the power of his word; and he in his Essential Being has accomplished the purification of our sins, and he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

Brethren, the key to your victory is the understanding of who God is. When God reveals Himself to us in His complete form,  then our victory is complete.

*The puzzle of the ages, the Son. Also known as God's Word. There from the beginning. The vehicle through which God has taken all action. The manifest expression of God. God is a spirit. You cannot identify Him, . . . except He speaks. That Word that God speaks, is what purified us from sin. That Word is Christ. This isn't about physical procreation. You cannot separate God from His Word. They have always been.

*An even bigger puzzle, the Holy Spirit. The Power of God's Word. When God speaks, His Word comes with executive Power. This Power is the Holy Spirit.

So you see God, His Word, and the Power that accomplishes God's Word are inseparable. They are one.

Selah

True Worship

Romans 12:1 New American Standard Bible

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

John 4:23 King James Bible

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Romans 8:19 New International Version

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

Dear brethren, what is worship? Is it the 30 minutes of singing and adulation we participate in once or twice weekly? Is it lifting up "holy hands" with eyes shut and singing along while the choir renders soul stirring music accompanied by virtuoso instruments? We may consider it worship, but is it acceptable to God?

Worship is a way of life. It is how we wake up and how we sleep. It is how we eat and how we work. How we react to situations and where our focus is directed during every action we take. Worship is inseparably associated with sacrifice. A conscious effort to deprive ourselves of gratification, in order to please our creator. Worship is costly.

Worship stems from revelation. An understanding of who God is (what He reveals about Himself), will enable us offer a more perfect worship acceptable to Him.

If we truly worshipped our God in spirit and truth, this country would not be in the state it is today.

Let us remember that true worship is an offering (in fact it is the only offering) that God desires. In other words He can choose to accept our worship or reject it. Remember God is the King above all kings. He cannot accept what is given from an imperfect heart.

If we consciously offer our best to human kings; the best of our products, the best of our service, the best of our time, the best of our behaviour; how much more the everlasting King of glory who never slumbers nor sleeps! He sees our motives, our desires, our hearts! At all times he is surrounded by multitudes of authorities offering the best of worship.

What kind of worship are we offering today? Remember God reserves the right to accept or reject our worship like He accepted Abel, but rejected Cain.