Overcome!

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] [John 16:33] Now isn’t that some good news? Maybe that’s why people call the Bible “The Good News” That is just a nurturing verse to me. I don’t know about you, but it seems like the harder I try and the more I attempt to accomplish - the more life seems to knock me down. The more I try to do for others, the more I try to give and be selfless in my actions – the more bad things are thrown at me and I become selfish in my thinking.
When something is hard, or when you have to work a little more diligently, some people may say that God is trying to deter you. Personally, I believe that ALL grief, shame, lack of self-confidence and hopelessness come from the enemy - originally. Occasionally, yes, God will filter these trials and use them to teach us something. But overall, He is a loving, kind Father and wouldn’t purposely inject our lives with these burdens and impossibilities! Our Father is not cruel or calculating. He doesn’t put dreams and visions in our hearts just to make them impossible to achieve. In the same respect it’s our duty to do our part. We have to put forth an effort, apply ourselves, use common sense, go the extra mile and be shining examples of God’s love. We need to retain our joy and light - even when the circumstances seem impossible! When we are attempting to do something noble, significant - something that can only bring glory to God, the enemy WILL TRY to challenge us to the point of pure confusion and desperation. He will do everything possible to keep us from blessing others and glorifying God. If we can just remember that we aren’t alone - that God has already conquered the evil and hatred and spitefulness and malice that come along like a smack in the face! Now, please know that I am preaching to myself here. Sometimes I just get so discouraged by things Satan has placed in my life and don’t understand why God has allowed it. Take my marriage for instance. (If you can call it a marriage. Let me rephrase, take my 8 year prison for instance.) No, seriously- I would never have come back to God, never have come back to DBC, never found Celebrate Recovery, never have met all of you or learned how to have a genuine relationship with our Father had it not been for my rocky marriage. Also, I never would have had my three beautiful heatherns, errr, I mean children. I praise God for that time of my life because I learned so much and gained so much. Now, at the time I was asking why God???? He has a plan for each of our lives and sometimes we have to be in a terrible place just to get to the shining light. Greater is He who is IN you …Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist], because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world. [I John 4:4] (Amplified)