Go ahead and bless the name of The Lord.
Give Him thanks from the depths of your heart as you pray.
Thank Him in advance for that which He will be doing in your life tonight.
Pray: Lord, I cry for a definite visitation by Your Spirit; visit me like You visited men and women of old, in the Bible.
God lifts, exalts, and answers prayers by His Word.
When the Word of God comes, it brings an end to specific seasons and introduces others.
When you come before the presence of God, ensure to pay rapt attention and let your heart be receptive.
“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” Revelation 3:21 (KJV)
Sermon Title: Lessons From An Overcomer (Destiny-Defining Principles)
Texts: Revelations 3:21, 2 Timothy 3:14-17, Proverbs 1:1-5, Romans 15:4
The end of the believer’s life is the glory of God made manifest and revealed.
Your coming before God’s presence is your commitment to God’s transformation to equip your life, to the end that it reveals the glory of God.
Generally, success at any level provokes people to want to replicate that success.
‘To Overcome’ means to confront, challenge, and prevail over. It also means to gain mastery of.
Who is an Overcomer?
An Overcomer is one who faces challenges and subdues or gains control over an enemy, a condition, or a situation.
You never find someone who has truly overcome without a story behind it or a secret by which they strived in life and destiny, through which they overcame.
What makes overcomers admirable are the many stories and lessons that tell about their journeys.
Generally speaking, it is said that the secret of successful people lies in their stories.
It is profitable and there is time for redemption when you listen to an overcomer.
LESSONS FROM AN OVERCOMER:
1. Ignorance is not a demon. 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV, Proverbs 1:20-33 KJV, 1 Corinthians 8:2 KJV
All men begin their journey to destiny in ignorance, but they do not remain there. It is the remaining in ignorance that becomes a problem.
The problem of ignorance is not solved by casting it away. It is solved by going for knowledge.
The cure for ignorance is the discipline to stay with light (revelation and illumination) until light drives away the darkness of ignorance.
There are certain spirits that enhance an ignorant person. It is not a negative situation until it is prolonged in your life. All men begin their journeys in ignorance, even Jesus Christ.
The character of an overcomer is that you must be faced with situations where you have to face them with courage and you subdue them.
As pertains to overcoming, it’s not just the results that overcomers enjoy, but the lessons and gems they garner along the way.
The cure for ignorance is not just prayer. It’s the discipline to stay with knowledge until light comes out of it.
Jesus was one of the few who dedicated themselves to learning. Many believers want a short-term, fast fix to the solution of ignorance. It doesn’t happen that way.
Many people are left at the mercy of their ignorance, using flimsy excuses and inventing imbalanced strategies to deal with their ignorance.
A real miracle begins when you’re aware that you have ignorance in a certain aspect of life.
All overcomers started from a standpoint of ignorance.
Everyone has a chance to get out of the realm of ignorance; you can take responsibility over your life and destiny and contend for light to become an overcomer.
Happy are you when God plants you under a man of God, who by sacrifice, has distilled these laws and brings them to you inexpensively.
There is no overcomer who sits on the throne of glory with ignorance.
There is a realm in destiny where ignorance is not permitted.
2. You cannot have consistent results until your desires and expectations are defined. (Luke 18:39-41, Mark 11:24)
Many people never experience success in life because they do not have a definite desire or expectation. What they desire is mostly vague.
You cannot have consistent results until your desires and expectations are defined. Defining your expectations births miracles. When your desires are defined, you will know when your goals have been achieved.
Areas to Measure for Success
1. Your Spiritual Growth
2. Mental Transformation
3. Purpose, Ambition, and Career, as far as life and destiny are concerned.
4. Health and Wellness
5. Your Financial Well-being
6. Quality Relationships (You are as secure as the relationships you have).
7. Fulfilment and Meaning
Should it happen that you’re closer to your destiny helpers or day of visitation, are you prepared?
Foolish and blind strategies men engage is why they don’t rise.
If you do not have a definition for your desires, they will never come to pass. Having vague desires is the major reason people never actualize their aspirations.
As a believer, it is important to believe in the power of dreams and visions; it is God’s way of preparing your mind to receive what He has in store for you.
3. People are not affected by what happens to them; they are affected by the meaning they connect to the happenings.
The meaning, interpretation, and definition of what happens to people are what cause their pain and despair.
When you learn how to rightly interpret situations that happen in your life, you can laugh through storms.
It is never what happens to you that has the power to destroy you, it is the meaning you associate with what happens to you.
Ego is an industry and there are businesses built on the deficiencies in men. Ego is what sometimes interprets the happenings in your life.
When you learn to give proper meanings to situations, offense will be minimized in your life.
When you wrongly interpret happenings in your life, you will perpetually live in offense.
You must sustain the courage to say no to many things (including certain good things) if you want to excel in life.
4. You need encouragement/motivation to start anything, but it will take discipline and endurance to be consistent in life.
You are not disciplined if you do not have:
1. The staying power i.e. the ability to endure (Hebrews 6:15)
2. The power of restraint (the ability to say NO to many good things in life).
Beyond the initial motivation people give you, you need encouragement by The Spirit of God and discipline to stay on course in ministry, life, and destiny, in order to excel.
5. Do not be hasty with words or commitment. Think, pray, and seek counsel before making destiny-defining decisions.
Humans are largely interest-motivated and self-centered. In the presence of interest, everyone is a saint; you know people in truth when there is an awareness that their expectations are disappointed.
Avoid making hasty decisions to your detriment or peril.
God gives speed, but He does not rush people unnecessarily.
As a Minister of the gospel, don’t feel too anointed and be under pressure to impress or please people.
I release upon you the grace that prevents you from being hasty in making commitments, in the name of Jesus!
You are never disadvantaged if you have to pray or seek counsel before you act. Even if the opportunity leaves because you took time to pray or seek counsel, God in His mercy will recycle the seasons and bring the opportunity to you again.
Declare: In the name of Jesus, I obtain grace to pray, think, and seek counsel before taking destiny-defining decisions!
As a Believer, it is important to tarry with God until you receive an instruction before you take major steps.
Patience is a virtue that forces deception to reveal itself – Mike Murdock
Deception is an impatient trait; the moment you make up your mind to be patient, you force deception to reveal itself.
The strength of deception is your impatience.
6. Critics and naysayers do two important things needed to actualize destiny:
(i) Critics and naysayers confirm that you are making notable progress.
(ii). Critics and naysayers can also be used by God as a system of caution to save you from decline and destruction.
Criticism is an opinion harshly expressed. You will need the ministry of supporters, critics, and naysayers to succeed in life.
If you don’t have an open heart towards criticism, you may not arrive at destiny. The absence of critics is the danger of being surrounded by supporters only, who sing your praises.
You will never live in a world where all men love you, it doesn’t exist.
Conversely, if you live in a world where all men hate you, you’re doing something very wrong consistently.
The moment success becomes notable, chances are very high of the success being criticized.
To become an Overcomer, look beyond criticism and convert your pain to become a tool for actualizing destiny.
Don’t desire realms you’re not prepared for. Sometimes delay, as orchestrated by God, can be a blessing.
It takes stamina to be blessed. The mercy of God is holding back some things before they arrive so that they don’t destroy you on arrival.
You need both supporters and critics. Unfortunately, neither of these categories of people is invited. The world system was designed to trigger their arrival, uninvited, but when where you are in life needs their actions.
7. There are three groups of people you will always find around your life, it will take wisdom and discretion to deal with them, otherwise you will never arrive at your place of destiny:
(i). Wicked people (Proverbs 6:18, Proverbs 4:14-17)
It is not within your power to drive wicked people from your life, they may be in places of authority, and you need wisdom to deal with them.
(ii). Selfish people.
They are not necessarily evil people, they are just indifferent about you, provided their desires are granted.
(iii). Ignorant/Naive people.
They show a lack of wisdom, maturity, and judgment. They’re usually easy to manipulate.
The above three sets of people can be used as a tool to cause disaster in your life.
The Bible says “Not all men have faith”; Believers are just a portion of humanity upon earth. As much as you pray and sanitize your environment, you’ll always have wicked, selfish, and naive people around you.
May God nullify whatever will make you a prey in the hands of Satan or wicked men, in the name of Jesus!
May God open your eyes to see the wrong people who intend to hurt you, in the name of Jesus!
Not everyone is out to destroy you. There are sincere people in existence as well.
May God send godly, sincere people and genuine friends into your life, in the name of Jesus!
Sincere people have a therapeutic effect. When they’re around, you can sleep safely and they bring healing to your years of betrayal-caused pain.
8. Define the most important things in your life. Not everything in life holds equal value.
You will never rise to the position of an Overcomer if you do not learn that in life, everything is not worth dying for.
The most important things in your life are defined by things you can die for, not what you’re living for. Anything you cannot die for is not that important.
The three (3) most important things in your life, that are worth dying for:
1. Your relationship with Jesus Christ. (Mark 8:35-37)
This is the guarantee for your eternal destiny and it should be worth dying for. If Jesus is not at the epicenter of your life, you have not defined your priorities right.
2. Your Family (Biological and Spiritual).
Your family will always stand by you. They’re worth dying for. You can find a genuine family in Church.
Respect those who can see all your limitations and still love you the way you are.
3. Your Assignment (John 4:34)
If you can only live for Jesus, you’re unserious. A genuine relationship with Jesus is marked by a willingness to both live and die for Him.
(Mark 8:35 – 37)
We’re not called to do everything in life and when it has to do with being there for people, you don’t need an ordination or wealth, you just need a good heart.
What is not worth dying for:
1. Fame
2. Money
3. Position
4. Titles
5. Competitive achievements
A competitive spirit is cancerous and it can destroy you.
As a believer, you must learn to be contented while you aspire for great things, at every level of your life.
9. Learn from Scars and learn from Crowns.
There is something only failure or success can teach, and there is something only victorious people can teach.
It is important to learn from those who have failed and refused to give up, and from people who have patiently succeeded.
Do not just respect successful people alone, respect those who have failed but refused to give up. They have failed and can teach you how not to fail.
There’s no gift of greatness in The Bible. Greatness is a cumulative of an Overcomer’s journey.
🎶I am victorious
I have overcome
I am victorious
I have overcome🎶
Lift up your voice in prayer and pray for your loved ones that they learn the important lessons from the life of an Overcomer and become Overcomers, in the name of Jesus!
