WE WILL OVERCOME

WE WILL OVERCOME


I haven’t written an article in a while. For that I apologize. It was not a lack of trying, many times I sat in front of my computer staring at a blank screen hoping the words would come.

This simply is the way it is at times, there is a time to speak and a time to remain silent, a time to have insight and a time to wish you had insight. This is why we should never get upset if our desires aren’t met. Even though I wanted to write, I couldn’t. Now I could choose to get upset over that fact or I could push myself away from the keyboard and trust that when it is time to write again I will be given those words. You can’t force inspiration, mainly because we have no control of it. It comes without our knowing or doing.

Over the years one of the things I have learned if you aren’t met to do something, regardless of how hard you try, regardless of how much you want it, you won’t be able to. This doesn’t mean we stop trying and seeking, it simply means we shouldn’t beat ourselves up when the things we want the most aren’t yet within our reach. We must understand that if it is meant to be, it will be, and nothing we do or say can prevent that.

Isaiah 14:27
For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Whatever has been purposed for our life is predetermined, and there really is nothing that we can do to stop that, or to start something that hasn’t been predetermined. We like to think that we have control over things in our lives, but truly the only control we have is over how we react to things that happen in our life.

We were made subject to vanity, in other words we came into this world and became truly ignorant of our potential, without the true knowledge of where we are going or where we came from.

Romans 8:20
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope

The thing that one must never forget about that above passage is that we are also subjected to HOPE! And what is that HOPE?

Psalm 146:5
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God

Our hope is IN GOD! In the unity of the spirit, in complete submission and trust, which is our salavation from the bondage of fear and sin (foolish thinking).

Our HOPE is IN GOD, and God is in Christ, and Christ is IN US! And greater is he that is IN us all than the ego of man that has his hope in the world.

We have a promise from God that we all forget when hard times come. We are promised we will be delivered from it all, and that even our hardships will have played an important role in getting us to where we need to go.

Romans 8:21
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

You see, even though we are in pain and suffering and worried about everything under the sun, in the end none of it matters because we all will be delivered from the bondage of fear, doubt, and suffering. In fact, we are told that none of our suffering can compare to the glorious liberty we will find, because God has predetermined it to be so.

Romans 8:18
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The bondage of corruption that we are delivered from is, every thought that is not of God. The corruption of the flesh is fear, envy, shame, pride, and every other wicked lie we believe. This is the corruption that the scripture are speaking of.

Many teach that the corruption we should fear is physical decay. These teachers will explain that one day our corruptible bodies will become incorruptible bodies and somehow we will be like superman with skin of steal, never sick again, never old again, able to eat anything we want without getting chubby, oh and the ability to phase in and out of walls.

Well, I have news for you all, that is not going to happen, the corruption scripture speaks about is the corruption of our thought process. The corruption is sin, which is the thought of foolishness. The corruption is our fear, which is a spirit God has not given us. The corruption is our worry, our hate, our sorrow, and our ignorance.

First let me show you clearly where scripture states that corruption is about our thinking and has nothing to do with our physical bodies.

2 Peter 2:19
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage

You can’t be a servant to physical decay, but you can become a servant of sin (ignorance, fear, worry, hate, etc.)

Ezekiel 28:17
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness:

This was the SIN and the cause of Mankind’s fall (from unity and understanding), we began to believe that we were in control, that we were God and our thoughts became corrupt. We began to think on evil (lies, ignorance) every day. Mankind began to worship mankind, the truth was lost because of our egotistical pride and the price that we pay for it is the bondage of fear, hate, pride, worry and more.

Psalm 14:1
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good

All of us have fallen short by thinking that we are the masters of our lives, as opposed to knowing that our life is completely and utterly predetermined.

The good news is that we all will be delivered from this and nothing can stop this from happening. So regardless of what we go through, all of it, the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly is working for our salvation.

2 Corinthians 1:6
And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation

The corruption that has become our bondage is not believing that everything that happens in our lives is for our ultimate good. This is hard for many people to accept, myself included, because we don’t want to believe that the bad stuff that happens in our lives and in our world is actually happening to snap us all out of this delusion that we are in control.

We are PREDESTINED people, this is good news. This is why the scriptures state that we should rejoice in our trials, because they are serving a higher purpose for our ultimate salvation. Besides, what is the alternative, misery?

Ephesians 1:11
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will

Notice that ALL THINGS are after the counsel of God’s will? And what is God’s will? That ALL will be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:4
Who will have ALL men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth

No matter how dark things seem to get in our lives, the light is always always present for us to grab hold of. But first we must let go of trusting in our own efforts and the effort of others. We must trust in God and put our faith in God.

When we are at our weakest, when we feel the most hopeless, that is when we are given the greatest oppurtunity to see how strong we truly are, in Christ. And we are truly strong when the Joy of the Lord is present in our hardships. We are truly strong when we know we don’t have to exert any meaningless effort, we are strong when we don’t have to waste our strength on fearing things that have been, are now, or might possibily come. This FEAR is what steals our strength away, and our strength is the Lord, who can measure that?

We can choose to worry and be scared for our future and have great sorrow for our present situation… OR, we can have hope knowing that we cannot fail and that it all works together for our good.

This is truly the choice that we are being given. When the scriptures bodly declare, “Choose this day which God you will serve”, just what do you think that means?

We can serve the true God of Love, hope, peace, and power, or we can serve the god of this world, fear, doubt, shame, ignorance, hate, pride. The true God offers us abundant everlasting Life, peace and power in his Holy Spirit. The god of this world (man’s carnal ego) only robs us, takes our hope and joy, and ultimately kills our spirit.

Which God do we serve? That is the question that I have been asking myself a lot lately. Especially with the recent events in my life.

For over twenty years I have been a driving creative force in the entertainment industry. I was a TV writer and producer for some of biggest and highest rated programs on mainstream TV. Then religion got a hold of me, I had fear that I needed to leave the secular world of television and go into the world of “religious television”, and so I did. I took a massive pay cut and went to work for a very large religious TV network,

Well, it wasn’t long before I began seeing things completely different from those around me. I felt completely out of place, but this is where I was and I truly believed, and still do, that where we are in life is exactly where we are meant to be. If that was not so, God is big enough to move us. So even though I did not agree with everything at my place of employment, I knew I was there for a reason.

However, soon I began living in great fear. My fear was that because I had been so vocal about my faith, word of my disbelief in things like, eternal torment, rapture, trinity, so-called miracles, and more would be the end of my career. So day in and day out I lived my life with this constant fear that one day I would be let go. THIS IS NO WAY TO LIVE. I knew better, but I was serving the god of worry and fear, instead of trusting that God was in control and that I was where I was meant to be.

You see when we don’t trust that God is in control and that there is a plan, our lives become a great troubling sorrow to us all. When people attack us, we take it personally. When we are treated poorly, we ask God, “Why? Why?”.

This is no way to live. Yet, most likely everyone reading this paper does exactly the same thing. We worry about the future, we worry about the past, and all of this worry keeps us in the bondage of fear every single moment of every single day. We are trapped by our worry and fear, and these chains are heavy.

Isaiah 51:13
And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast FEARED CONTINUALLY EVERY DAY because of the fury of the oppressor

We forget that God is in control, that God has a plan and purpose for even our hardships. Instead we are in fear every day because of the oppressing god of OUR egotistical fear.

Many times the things we fear the most, come upon us. This was the case for Job. And so it should. If we were never to face our fears we would never learn that we truly had nothing to fear to begin with.

Job 3:25
25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came

Our fear keeps us from a peaceful nights sleep, it causes great distress in our relationships, and it can make us take our own lives. But there is a better way. That is the path of Faith!

It is a scary thing to place your trust in God. The reason is you have been conditioned to believe that only you can solve your problems, but what if the problems and the things you fear the most are actually there to get you to take your eyes off of your own effort and put you faith in God’s plan.

The very first evidence of SIN we have in scripture begins with Adam’s declaration while hiding in the trees (of his imagination). After taking the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, he began to fear God.

Genesis 3
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was AFRAID, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Fear made ADAM hide from God. Fear makes us hide from God. Fear makes us cover ourselves with false beliefs and vain traditions and doctrines of religion that help us feel secure. Fear makes us think we are unworthy of God. Fear keeps us feeling weak, helpless, and ashamed. Because of Adam’s fear, the ground was cursed and would only produce thorns regardless of how hard he worked.

Because of Mankind’s fear, our thoughts (ground) are cursed and will only produce thoughts that prick us and hurt us. This is an allegory of what happens when we leave a relationship of trust with God for a relationship with our egotistical carnal mind of lies.

So the million dollar question is, how does one leave the worship of fear and external circumstance to the worship of peace, and internal power? Well first one needs to know what the word WORSHIP means.

For those who think to WORSHIP means to close your eyes, raise your hands high, and sway back and forth while the band plays your favorite christian tunes for you… you are in for a big surprise. To worship God does not mean to get all caught up in the emotion of a song that is sung, to WORSHIP God means to completly submit yourself to God.

The first time in scripture we see the word Worship is when Abraham was going up to sacrifice Isaac on the altar for God. To worship in hebrew literally translates to “To Bow down before something/someone superior”.

Isaac was the promise of God to Abraham. Isaac was what Abraham wanted the most, a child of promise. But what happens when the thing we want the most from life is taken from us? What happens when circumstances seem to stomp on everything God has given you? Do we worship God and allow what we wanted the most in life to be taken from us? Do we worship God? Or do we blame the devil when hard times come? Do we say, God doesn’t want us to suffer I will not accept my present circumstance in life and pray that God will change my circumstances? or do we say, “Not my will, but thine be done”?

It is hard to trust God when those things we want the most are taken from us. It is hard for us to submit to our circumstances and say, as Jesus said, “Not my will but thine be done”. Yet, this is exactly what we must do if we ever want to have peace in our lives. This is what WORSHIP is all about. Submitting yourself to God completely, trusting God completely, and loving completely.

Let me use my recent events as an example. I was forced to resign from my company, which had nothing to do with my performance or attitude, it just simply was what it was. For whatever reasons, whether they were just or unjust, I now find myself unemployed with a family of six and a new born. It would be easy for me to wallow in misery and fear over such an event. That is my choice to make. I can choose to think, we’re going to lose it all, I will never amount to anything, what will people think of me now that I am unemployed… I can worship (bow down/submit myself) the god of fear OR I can worship the God of Hope, Peace, Power, and a Sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind

If God is in control, and the scriptures clearly state that God is, than I MUST HAVE HOPE that every situation that arises was meant to happen and that it will be the very thing that brings me to the salvation and peace of mind I so desperately crave.

If there is a “false god” above God, that false god must be destroyed.

For years, I feared losing my employment as opposed to not giving a thought about tomorrow, what I shall wear, eat, etc… My employment became a false god to me, as it has become for us all. We believe that as long as we are gainfully employed we are okay. But that isn’t true. Look at how many people hate their jobs, are abused at their workplace and take it for fear of losing the very thing they hate to begin with.

For me, this job needed to be taken away from me. I wanted to be free from the place for years, but it was a job and money that put food on the table and kept a roof above my head (or so I told myself). If the truth be told, food was on the table, a roof was over my head because that is what God intended, it had nothing to do with my labor. Which makes my constant worry of losing such a job a complete and utter waste of time. You see it is not a person’s will or work that makes things happen in life, it is God that does all.

Romans 9
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Even Pharaoh was part of God’s plan. It wasn’t Pharaoh’s will to make the lives of Israel difficult it was God’s will that Israel would return to the truth.

Look if a child never got burnt by touching a hot stove, he would never learn to avoid doing that again. If there are idols in our lives that are creating misery in our lives that need to be taken away, those idols will have to be taken away. If we have to learn to trust in God then wouldn’t it make sense that God would take away all the other things we put our faith in so we can return to him?

As I sit here today, I can honestly say I don’t know where I am going or what will become of me. I don’t know which direction to take, what to do or not do, and that is a scary place to be.

Hebrews 10:31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God

Notice the scripture doesn’t say to climb into the hands of the living God, it says to FALL into the hands of the living God. You fall because you have no control. And this is exactly what is happening to us all, we are falling away from those things that we ignorantly believed held us up. We are falling into the hands (authority) of God. We must lose those things we trusted in to finally trust God. And when we do, when we learn that no matter what happens, no matter what we suffer, that we cannot fail… then we will begin to live a life of hope.

There is great comfort in knowing that whatever decision you make, or have made, that all of it was exactly what had to happen and had to be. That even your mistakes were necessary for you to learn better. There is great peace in knowing all will be well, regardless of how terrifying things seem to be. We MUST trust that the work that began in us will end in victory. We MUST stop thinking of how wrong everything seems to be and start seeing how great things are going to be. We MUST trust God and be able to live our lives without the fear of failure or ruin. We MUST know that whatever comes upon whether good or bad is a necessary part of the plan and we MUST learn how to praise God in it all.

Philippians 3:13
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before

Like Paul, we don’t think that we have overcome the lusts of this world, but we MUST forget those things that are in our past and get excited about the amazing life that is before us all. A life where this corruptible flesh (ignorant carnal thinking) will be replaced by incorruptible thoughts of hope, love, truth and peace, which is found in total submission.

We are all in this together and we will all win this race together, not because we are strong or better than most but because we know God is for us and nothing can ever truly be against us. And if Nothing is Against us, we will understand that even our hard times, enemies, and suffering are actually for us as well. Because God is in control of it all.

REMEMBER … WE WILL OVERCOME! It is written 🙂

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Much love and peace to you all,
Jacob
http://www.JacobIsrael.org