Whatever is Born of God Overcomes the World - 1 John 5:4

Whatever is born of God overcomes the world.

1 John 5:4

4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith.

Have you ever reached a place so close to Jesus that the world held no comfort for you, no security and nothing in the world really appealed to you? Have you ever overcome the world?

Jesus said we should deny ourselves.

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

This has three steps

1 Deny ourselves 2 Take up our cross 3 Follow Jesus

Denying ourselves

So what did Jesus do?

He left his house, his family, his position as an income earner and a person who obeyed the law and within five or six weeks He was in the temple whipping people in anger in front of the rulers of Israel's faith.

Overcoming the world is overcoming SPENDING on the ever ending supply of things to buy and start to SOW into things that benefit the kingdom of heaven and which end in having treasure stored in heaven.

To stop spending we need to deny ourselves.

Overcoming the world isn't just an optional extra, it's a condition of being born of God.

In John's day disciples to the faith must have had some good solid teaching as even the young men had overcome the wicked one and the Word of God was abiding in them.

1 John 2:14

I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.

If people had the word of God abiding in them they would be a lot stronger in the faith, they just seem to have an ever rising pile of books in their library but they have a Holy Spirit that is waiting to come alongside and teach them the Word of God.

Denying ourself is not buying a book about this and a book about that. Denying ourself is picking up the Bible and learning it and letting it abide in us. For:

1 John 2:24

24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

If we abide in the Son then the Son will direct our steps and answer our prayers.

John 15:7

7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

The Holy Spirit will direct us.

John 15:14

14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. Denying ourself is obeying Jesus. Because obeying Jesus goes against our inner man and our fleshy nature.

Take up our cross

Jesus carried a cross for more then the time it took to carry the wooden cross to Calvary. From the time Jesus knew the law and the prophets Jesus carried a burden and it was a form of a cross.

Taking up our cross is also STOPPING BUYING and SOWING into the Gospel.

There are many wrong Gospels being preached out there. This article might not get re- printed on their ministry web-sites, but generally buying Bibles for a third world country is a great investment in the kingdom of God.

Of course when you start to deny yourself your cross will come to you. When you start sowing into the Gospel and reading the Word instead of books and books, you will find that you start acting different and this may cause you to suffer a cross as you start to bear fruit.

John 15:16-21

16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

18 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.

When you take steps out of the world it may be first your Christian friends that first persecute you. When you start to share revelations that the Holy Spirit has given you and your start to sow into the third world and start to buy less and less and sow more and more, your actions will cause even some of your best Christian friends to feel convicted, and instead of following you they may strike out at you.

It's not until you really start reading the Bible that you come to realise that the Gospel preached in churches seems like a watered down babies Gospel. Many run after teaching after teaching and we have been taught to do that from our leaders and the people selling the teachings when the Holy Spirit inspired John to share with us:

1 John 2:26-27

26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

That says quite clearly that the self same Holy Spirit is able to teach today just as Jesus taught His own apostles. And if we abide in the Word we know we will abide in Jesus and He will direct our steps.

Follow Jesus

To be simple it would suffice to say follow what the Bible has to say, though there is so much in the Bible. I have an article called the The-Fifty-Commands-Of-Jesus online here. Perhaps you can read and follow that!

Have a great day!

If you have enjoyed my article you can read the book "The parables of Jesus made simple" for free here in its entirety or just selected parables in chapters at http://www.parables-of-jesus-christ.net/ The book will be published in book form in January 2011