Tag Archives: School

Overcomer!?

Posted on by under Bible, Christian, Christianity, Disciple, Discipleship, Excellence, Faithful, LifeGiving, Mandate, Mature, Maturing, Message, Mission, Movement, Revolution, Righteousness, School Of The Spirit, Training, Transformation

Overcomer!?

“31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” [Luke 22:31,32]

I have always found these two verses interesting, challenging, and encouraging.

Interesting because it is counter-intuitive to most teaching on God’s love and concern for His people.

Challenging because Jesus does not deny Satan’s demand to attack Peter.

Encouraging because Jesus obviously had faith in His prayer life, and in Peter to respond to his failure with faithfulness to God, which means He has faith in me to respond correctly and quickly when I fail to live up to His standard.

So many believe that God will “protect” them from Satan. These verses reveal a protection that is based in a prayer for a quick recovery, not a rescue from temptation and the tests in each temptation.

Do you see how Jesus prays and what He does not do?

Think about this –

  • God did not deny Satan access to Jesus
  • Jesus said He would send us out in the same way His Father sent Him [that is a deep subject]
  • Jesus did not deny Satan access to Peter
  • God will not deny Satan access to you, that is if you are or will be a threat to Satan [if you are not presently or will be eventually a threat then why bother with allowing him to bother [sift] you]

In His intercessory prayer life at the right hand of the Father Jesus prays for our faith, and for us to be strong. In the model prayer, which most have been taught is the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught novice disciples to pray for God to keep the devil away from them.

Matthew 6:13

“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from [the] evil [one].”

Yet John, who was present when Jesus taught the twelve that prayer, wrote this in 1 John 2:

“1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

  • We see little children are to learn sin is not acceptible

13 I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

  • Overcoming the evil one begins with saying yes to God, His word, will and ways

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 evil one.”

  • God’s word does more than instruct us, it empowers us

Jesus fully expected Peter, and all of His disciples throughout every generation, to grow up quickly so that being an overcomer would be normal, not rare!

Jesus’ statement to Peter was approximately 3.5 years into Peter’s discipleship training process. Peter, having access to Jesus for 360 days a year for 3 to 3.5 years seems to give him an advantage in the maturation process. But Jesus said this, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” [John 16:7]

Discipleship comes with, and every true disciple of Jesus post resurrection, ascension and Pentecost outpouring, have an advantage over those who walked with Jesus in the flesh 2000 years ago.

With that being true then why do so many disciples of Jesus fail Him and fail to rebound quickly, if ever at all?

There are too many reasons to write about here but a main issue is the lack of reading, study and understanding Scripture and our identity in Christ.

Are you like the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?”

John gives great insight to his readers:

1. He writes to ‘little children’ in verse 1. Those children have matured to the level of living solely to honor God and to defend His honor at all costs.

2. He writes to young men in verses 13 and 14 and describes how these young men matured to become overcomers.

a. They are strong

b. The Word of God abides in them

c. They attack the devil [they overcome him] – they are not praying for protection from him

d. Their identity in Christ is revealed, and unleashes the Christ that is in them

Listen [well read and understand] friends, do you scare the devil enough that he demands permission from God to attack you?

Are you still a pebble in your own eyes or the pillar that God sees when He looks at you?

Is God looking at you, or for you?

Where are you?

Receive and steward God’s passion, power, presence, priority, process, promises, protection, provision, pruning, purging, purity and purpose!

Dr. Kevin M. Drury, DMin
A spiritual revolutionary

 

Be Fed Or Dead

Posted on by under LifeGiving

When I was growing up I did not like school. The only reason I went to class in high school was so that I could play football and baseball. I loved, and still do love to learn, but I hated school [going to class]. I felt like I was being forced to conform to a system that did not assist me in learning.

My mother was a very wise woman, and very intelligent. She was a gifted secretary and wordsmith. Her command of the English language was exceptional. Whenever I would use the excuse “the teacher does not know how to teach” or “the teacher did not teach the material” she would always respond with, “Don’t you have a textbook? Read the material! Teach yourself!”

That used to grate my nerves. How dare my mom put the responsibility to learn on me. I used to think she was so ignorant, so out of touch with reality. My mindset was, “They pay the teacher to teach.”

 

Now that I am a teacher

[a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ]

I see from “the other perspective.”

 

That same mindset is pervasive in most Christians. “They pay the preacher to do that.”

It is true, we do reap what we sow. Ouch!

Now, as a teacher I understand the wisdom my mother had. It is amazing how little most Christians know of the Bible. We live in a time when obtaining a Bible is so easy. Most Christians have multiple Bibles in different translations. With the advent and advancement of the internet a person can have access to most all of the translations of the Bible, concordances, Bible dictionaries, atlases, encyclopedias, lexicons and the list goes on and on.

In other words, we are without excuse for not reading and knowing the Bible.

John the beloved and longest living original disciple of Jesus Christ said this, “26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teachesyou about all things, and is trueand is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, youabide in Him” [1 John 2:26,27].

John is not telling his readers that teachers are no longer necessary. He is telling them that the anointing [the presence of Jesus Christ within them] will let them know if what they are being taught is true. The key, according to John, is our abiding in Him. To abide in Him we must abide in His Word because He is the Word.

In Acts 17 we see an interesting story ~

10 “The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word [they were being taught] with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”

These Berean saints did not rely on the teachers [Paul and Silas] to tell them what was being taught was true. They examined the Scriptures [O/T Scriptures] for themselves to make sure what they were being taught “were so”.

Saint of God, read, study, meditate on, memorize and learn the Bible. Your very life depends on it. Don’t be like the “church in the wilderness” [Acts 7:38 KJV] that said to Moses, ““Speak tous yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak tous, or we will die” [Exodus 20:19].

If the only “Word” you get is what your “Moses” says God is saying then you will shrivel up and you may eventually die. Your spirit is longing for the Word of God. You will not die if God speaks directly to you. It will not kill you to invest quality time with God in His Word. But you may die if you don’t invest the time to feed on God [His Word and His presence].

Jesus quoted Moses out of Deuteronomy 8:3 – “Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that PROCEEDS out of the mouth of God” [Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4]. God is always speaking – He is called the Word of God. Jesus is the Word made flesh.

Saint, teachers are great assets to your spiritual development but they can never take the place of your personal communication with the Lord. You do not need an interpreter to communicate with God. Read the Bible and hear His voice. He has some really great things to say to you – Today!

For HIS Glory!

Dr. Kevin M. Drury

Positioned For Purpose

And A Hisstorymaker