“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4
It was irresistible. Too warm and sunny, too lovely an afternoon to not take a few minutes to sit outside on the back porch where we were staying. I moved the rocker over to get a better view of the graceful moss-covered oaks.
A neighboring cat crawled into a space under the house. Bees busied themselves around a clematis vine. I heard a faint buzzing. Another mosquito? The hum persisted. Turning around, I spied a glint of pale green.
Near the sliding door was a glass bottle. It looked faded, antique-y. The glass stopper had a green bee, or fly perched on top.
The bottle had legs about ½ inch high, which kept it barely off the ground. It also had a fake bottom – a large hole with a lip around the inside of it. Inside were a couple dead flies and one flying frantically around the top trying to get out.
Apparently the insects entered from underneath. They could leave the same way they came in, but for some reason it appeared they didn’t do that. They flew up towards the stopper, which was a dead end.
The world can make us feel as though we’re trapped. We try and escape pressures of the world, panic or just give up from the stress. Yet sometimes the way out is available. Jesus overcame the world and all its trappings* and He has told us that we can too.
As the verse above says, we are overcomers. We are more than conquerors in Christ**. Our Saviour rose from the dead and transcended circumstances; we can too b/c our lives are hidden in Him ***.
Let’s start living out the truth, above our circumstances. We are not trapped. We are more than conquerors in Him who gave His life for us and saved us. This is good news.
* John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
* *Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
* **Colossians 3:1-3 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
Rev. 2:7 “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life.”
Inspirational messages by Sally I. Kennedy Sally I. Kennedy, ©2011