February 20: UNDERSTANDING THE GREAT GIVER’S WILL BY HIS COUNSEL

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” Revelation 21:7

God is the Great Giver. Not only is He the Giver of life, He wants us to inherit all things. And who is it that shall inherit all things? The answer is he who overcomes. God is saving people individually, which is why His word stresses the necessity of a personal relationship with Him. He walks and talks with each individual who desires to walk and talk with Him. Such a relationship brings positive growth, and with that growth comes a greater awareness of the absolute purity of the Savior’s character. This awareness brings with it—by contrast—a greater awareness of my own character defects, faults, and sinfulness. Rather than discouragement, this awareness should heighten awareness of my need of Him and of His desire to extend grace for every challenge I face. If I have come to know the Great Giver for Who He is, then I will understand that not only does He want to give me all things, He wants to help me into a position of receiving them!

One of the ironies of Christian growth is that the Christian progressing toward spiritual maturity has a heightened awareness of his faults and thus clings more closely to the Savior seeking the grace of Him who declared: “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b). The more that Paul grew in his relationship with the Lord, the more he recognized the sin-nature in himself (see Romans 7:19-20).

Conversely, the professed Christian who believes his own character to be beyond need of correction is actually drifting away from the Lord. When such a one encounters aspects of the Word that challenge his own modus operandi, not only does he rebuff the Holy Spirit’s gentle nudge, but he also misses a golden opportunity to experience His grace to overcome that challenge.

The Bible contains many precious promises for those who genuinely wrestle with God in a desire to master the sin in their lives. Like Jacob, who was renamed Israel, every such wrestler can gain the character of an overcomer, or prevailer, with God (see Genesis 32:28; Galatians 6:16).

Jesus encourages His church at every stage of history* to understand the conditional nature of salvation: that of overcoming the snares and temptations placed by the archenemy and his followers (see Matthew 13:28). Because of His grace, it is placed within our grasp to become victors over Satan and over our own tendency toward poor choices. A victor, and not a victim!

Though each of us was born with a sin-nature, the Giver of life wants to free us from that nature, adopt us as His own, remake us in His marvelous image, and bless us with all things! He declares: “I will be his God and he will be My son.” It is His good pleasure to counsel us in every area of life, and by His Holy Spirit lead us out of danger and into safety. Beloved, take care not to miss the Counsel of the Spirit of God, the Author of the written word!

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. Ephesians 1:11

*Revelation 2:7,11,17,26-28; 3:5,12,21