God Is In Control | How We Can Overcome and Thrive

This is a new season, a new era. One where, though at times everything appears to be shifting, God is in control. 

Join us as we explore the ways in which God allows us to thrive in every season—including this new time!

A New Season

No matter if we are months away from a new year in the Hebrew or Gregorian calendars, or seconds from entering one… it can safely be said that we are in a new season. The world around us may shift and turn at this time, yet, God is in control. He is on the Throne; leading and guiding us in His love and strength.

“In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.”

—Exodus 15:13 (NIV)

We are the redeemed of the Lord; redeemed by God who loves us. And no matter how much shaking and shifting occurs in the world and in our own lives, God never changes. His love for us never changes. He never grows weak or weary. He never ceases to show mercy by forgiving us. He is constant and His Kingdom is secure.

When Jesus spent three days in a tomb, He was spiritually taking back the promises we had given away—the authority we had tossed aside. He came away with the keys of death and hell—the ultimate victory! And by His resurrection, He sealed it with His Blood. He then took it a step further by ascending to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father… thereby making intercession on our behalf. 

“So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.”

—Mark 16:19

“Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

—Romans 8:34

Our freedom has been paid in full by our Messiah. In Him is victory and the true gift of eternal life, of Salvation in the Lord! No matter how crazy things may appear on Earth, God has already won the war! In God we can overcome and thrive in this new season!

God’s Pathways to Overcoming and Thriving

God has paid the price for us. To grant us salvation and eternal life in Him most importantly, but also to provide additional blessings that allow freedom, overcoming, and thriving. 

Every gift from God is a result of God’s love. For us and for others too. When God pours out a blessing on one person, there is every opportunity for the blessing to multiply and positively affect those around them. To bring God’s Light into view. 

“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.”

—Exodus 15:2-3 (NIV)

One of the many blessings God provides us with are incredible ways not only to overcome, but to thrive! A few of these include:

• Accepting God’s Joy | In the book of Nehemiah we are reminded that the joy of the Lord is our strength. When we accept joy, we are accepting God’s strength and a new outlook on life that allows us to overcome. Not only that, but because joy is one of the Spirit’s fruit, the manifestation of joy allows us to become more like our Father. Further, Godly joy is good fruit that blesses us and others.
• Spending Time in God’s Word | God’s Word highlights what is of God and what is not. Not simply on the pages themselves, but within our lives. It redirects our focus, renews hope, faith, and joy, and allows us to get to know God better. His Word is living and active; every time we read a verse—no matter how many times we have read it before—it teaches us something new.
• Making Fellowship a Priority | Hebrews 10:24-25 reminds us about the importance of Believers coming together; even more so as Jesus’ return comes closer and closer. Remember how Jesus sent His disciples out in pairs, or about how the Believers in the upper room were waiting in the same place and in one accord, or how when two or three gather together in God’s Name, He is in their midst? There is something so powerful and important about Believers coming together with God’s love working through each of them; not tearing each other down but restoring one another in Godly love.
• Making Prayer and Time with God a Habit and Pattern | Relationship with God is a precious thing. More precious than gold and far stronger. Prayer and time spent with God are essential to the growth of this relationship. Relationships are not truly successful when only one person puts in the effort, and the same applies to our relationship with God. God is always putting in the effort… and we need to create a habit and pattern where talking with God, spending time with Him, is a part of every aspect of our life.
• Speaking and Thinking Good Things | Philippians 4 reminds us to meditate on those things which are good. To not be anxious, but instead fix our eyes on things above; on those things that are pleasing to the Lord. The things we think affect the attitude of our hearts, and the attitude of our hearts affect the words we speak… which in turn affects our reality, because words have power.
• Choosing to Praise and Worship God | The world today strongly promotes whatever is viewed as being productive. According to the world, the more we do, the greater our value… and if we go by that view, then praise and worship are not quality use of our time. However, the reality is that praise and worship possess immense value. Because not only are praise and worship acts of honoring God, but they are cleansing agents as well… cleansing our thoughts, our emotions, our words, and all that we are. Both praise and worship get our focus off of ourselves and our problems and instead onto God, onto the solution that He is. 

While these are not all the behaviors God offers for us to overcome and thrive, they provide a firm foundation that shows us how God’s will and ways work. They are verifiable proof that following God is effective… that His love for us is real, that God is in control, and that He has good things in store for us. Both on Earth and in Heaven.

Accepting God’s Gifts of Love and Joy

God has provided us with the means to not only overcome, but to thrive. He has provided us with ETERNAL LIFE and true FREEDOM!

As John did when his cousin, Jesus, came near—both still within the womb—we should also leap for joy! We are within a hair’s breadth of the Lord. Which is, no matter the trials, a cause for joy and rejoicing! His love has found us—the Father’s love has found us!

“For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.”

—Luke 1:44

This new season is one in which to rejoice! The harvest is white, it is ready to be gathered. Let us provoke the world to jealousy so that they may be saved.

Through joy and love beyond earthly reason, we will provoke them! As the world sees our joy through adversity they will be driven to jealousy. As God’s Word is fulfilled, we will show His great love! We will beam like the sun when the Holy Spirit, which set upon the disciples of Jesus in the upper room, sets upon us in a new, glorious way—for this is a new day, it is the third day, and the anointing of the Lord must be greatly upon us. 

Let us be a light, a beacon of joy! Let us overcome and thrive!