A GREAT SECRET OF OVERCOMERS: OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 20TH OCTOBER 2018

MEMORISE:
And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:15

READ: Matthew 4:1-11

1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

MESSAGE :
The term “Overcomer” is used in Christian parlance to describe a champion, victor or conqueror. It describes a person who has run the Christian race and finished it triumphantly. In His letter to the seven churches in Asia, the Lord revealed seven different rewards He would give to those who fit this description (Revelation 2-3). 

Beyond these seven rewards, in Revelation 21:7, the Father Himself promised one final reward for overcomers, saying:
“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”
How amazing! If I were you, I will strive very hard to partake of these rewards. 

To qualify as an overcomer, I recommend that you first take a look at the life of those who ran the Christian race before you and overcame. This will help you understand the secrets of how they succeeded, and you can then apply those principles in your own heavenly race. 

Let’s take a look at the greatest of these overcomers, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 3:21). Of all the battles He won, He triumphed over the devil in two spectacular ways that are worthy of mention. First, in our Bible text, He was engaged by the devil in a crucial contest and He knocked the devil out through the power of God’s word. 

Secondly, although the devil masterminded His arrest, trial and execution, the Lord still triumphantly worked out the miracle of His resurrection from the dead. Colossians 2:15 says, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

Through His death, the Lord defeated the devil in hell and paraded him and his cohorts in an open show of shame, confirming His supremacy over the kingdom of darkness. I pray that you will comprehend and begin to walk in the victory of Jesus from today in Jesus’ Name.

While He was in this world, what was the main weapon used by the Lord in overcoming? It is God’s word. Several times, he quoted the Scriptures as a weapon against the devil. God gave us His word as a tool for developing strong faith and confidence in Him. 

We are nurtured in faith and brought to spiritual maturity through His word. Remembering God’s great deeds in the past builds up our hope in Him (Roman 15:4). Besides giving us hope, God’s word is also a potent weapon of warfare against the kingdom of darkness ( 2 Corinthians 10:4). 

It is empowered to pull down the strongholds of sin, sicknesses, generational curses and death. It also has the power to break the yolk of failure, barrenness and poverty I therefore decree that the power in the word of God will completely destroy every yoke in your life today in Jesus’ Name.

PRAYER POINT:
Father, please grant me grace to finish the race as an overcomer in Jesus’ Name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 
Jeremiah 9-10, Luke 8:40-9:6

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 18: CONQUEROR AND OVERCOMERS NOW ARE WE
1. Conquerors and overcomers now are we,
Thro' the precious blood of Christ we've victory
If the Lord be for us we can never fail,
Nothing 'gainst His mighty power can e'er prevail.

Chorus
Conquerors are we, thr'o the blood of Jesus
God will give us victory, thro' the blood of Jesus
Through the Lamb for sinners slain,
Yet who lives and reigns again,
More than conquerors are we,
More than conquerors are we.

2. In the name of Israel's God we'll onward press,
Overcoming sin and all unrighteousness;
Not to us but unto Him the praise shall be,
For salvation and for blood bought victory.

3. Unto Him that overcometh shall be given,
Here to eat of hidden manna sent from Heaven,
Over yonder He the victors palm shall bear,
And a robe of white, and golden crown shall wear.