“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…”             (Revelation 12:11)

If there is any ground a believer needs to be standing on in challenging days that are here, it should be on an overcoming ground. The Bible helps us realize that there are two major overcoming powers that are in place for every believer that will take the position of an overcomer. Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” Two overcoming powers that can be identified here are: Blood of the Lamb and word of testimony.
Blood of the Lamb:
Jesus is the Lamb of God that shed His blood on the Calvary for those who will receive and believe in Him. John the Baptist referred to Him, “…Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘after me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” (John 1:29-30) Have you received Jesus and believe in Him as your Lord and Savior? Truly as lamb, He shed His blood on the Calvary and that is the reason why He stated, “…I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) If you will get yourself in the flow of His blood you will be set for overcoming.
Word of Testimony:
Testimony can be defined as an open declaration or profession. As a believer, what are your open declarations concerning the greatness and might of God? In most cases, whatever you declare is what will decorate you. The word stated that they overcame by the word of their testimony. As a believer, when your testimony to great and good things He has done and those that He is doing becomes consistent in the word of your mouth and your meditation, great and good things will become your decoration. Inhabited in every testimony is positive or negative confession. Through the pages of the Bible, there is evidence of what positive or negative testimonies delivered into the lives of the testifiers.
Evidence of Positive Testimony: King David by the word of his testimonies had a great and mighty deliverance when he overcame Goliath. In his attempt to go and fight Goliath, King Saul was discouraging when he said to David, “…You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” (1 Samuel 17:33) David refused to be discouraged but gave account of what he was able to do as he responded to King Saul, “…Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.” (1 Samuel 17:34-35) David was not intimated by the confronting challenge that was posed by Goliath neither was he slowed down. Instead, David dwelt on what The Lord his God had enabled him to do in the past and he gave a testimony, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37) David, by the word of his testimony, was able to overcome the giant challenge of Goliath that was before him. 
Evidence of Negative Testimony: The children of Israel experienced the great miracle when they were coming out of their bondage of over four hundred years and passing through the Red sea on a dry land. However, by the word of their testimonies they shut down their Promised Land. In responding to the spy’s negative report after investigation of the Promised Land, they had no better testimony but to confess, “…If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” (Numbers 14: 2-3) God distinctively heard the children of Israel’s request of death in the wilderness and He responded by sending Moses, “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you.” In truth, entire numbers from twenty years old, except Caleb and Joshua failed in getting down to the Promised Land because of negative testimony.
What are your testimonies? Which words are being produce in you and being released by your tongue as testimony? Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of tongue…” David saw challenges; he testified to the power of God and he overcame. The children of Israel saw challenges; confessed negative and could not have life. In facing your challenges ahead, think of the great testimonies in His word and the ones in your life; meditate, confess and you shall have life and overcome.
 

In most cases, whatever you declare is what will decorate you.
Inside the route of suffering there is also the route to blessing.
‘Tunde

“Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today…” (Exodus 14:13)

Faith and Fear
It is written, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye.” (Psalm 32:8) Has He spoken before and not do it? How do you take His word? His word is not a letter but they are life. God cannot lie, what He says He will do is a done deal. He has been God before the beginning, to the time of beginning and He alone inhabits eternity. If any word of God has failed before, then there is a reason for doubt or fear. However, if every word of God remains consistent, then there should be no room for fear in our lives. He said in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” God is still God over all His work and He will never fail. By virtue of His testimony, He has not given us the spirit of fear except when we choose to create a place of fear in our life in the midst of challenging confrontations. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) If you will believe and exercise faith, fear will fail. It is fear that sinks man in the storms of life, while faith raises man in the storms of life. 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Is there any reason for fear in any area of your life? Remember the words, “A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.” (Psalm 91:7) Take the word of God as life, confess and meditate it. With every positive confession, negativity will fail; pessimism will give up, and optimism will reign. It does not matter who you are or how long you have been in the Lord, when fear takes a place in you, faith will take a place outside of you. Fear is a way of telling God to back out for the liar to step in. God is a jealous God and He will never share His place with the enemy. Knowing and acknowledging the Lord’s guidance over you will cause you to always glide and ride with courage in the every path of life. God testified about Job when Satan showed up, “…Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?…” (Job 2:3) Clearly, Job feared God and God knew about it. With God’s testimony, Job should have had no reason to fear when he testified, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me.” (Job 3:25)  After God allowed Satan some manipulation over the life of Job, the fear in Job’s life actually became a manifestation. Could it be that Job’s fear was the invitation for Satan? The fear that is entertained will terminate the faith that can transform in the journey of life. Whatever the situation is, fear and faith cannot abide in the same place.
 
Faith and Praise
Fear God, allow faith to raise you, and praise Him with understanding. In your praise, understand that He will raise you and you will overcome. Understand that the faith-generated praise is a vital spiritual weapon for winning impossible battles in the journey of life. Paul and Silas, in the prison of termination, stagnation, and destruction, prayed and sang praises to God. Acts 16:25-26, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.” King David testified in his thanksgiving, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” (2 Samuel 22:4) This day, week, month or year, reject fear; call upon His Holy name just as David testified. In your calling, let Him know that He alone is worthy to be praised and you shall be saved from all your enemies. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. (Romans 10:17) When faith rises, fear will sink; when fear rises, faith will sink. Let your faith rise. Praise Him and fear will fail.         

The fear that is entertained will terminate the faith that can transform in the journey of life.
With every positive confession, negativity will fail; pessimism will give up, and optimism will reign.
‘Tunde

“Is not My word like a fire? Says the LORD, And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29)

The word of God is power and it communicates power. The communicating power in the word of God is the vehicle for transformation for those that are able to receive and believe in the word of God. Jesus said, “… I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) As a temple of God, until you are built up by Him, you will not be able to contain what He purposed for your life to carry for His glory. Will you allow Him to build you up for His glory? Jesus made an emphatic statement that He will build His church and nothing shall prevail against it. Do not prevent yourself from being built but invest yourself in the word that will build you. Acts 20:32, “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” Jesus, the word of God is what will build you and give you life abundantly. How can the word build you? The word of God will have to enter into you for you to be built. Psalm 119:130, “The entrance of your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple” Before Jeremiah could become what the Lord wanted him to be, he was built up when the word sounded in his direction. Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” The same word that identified and called Jeremiah out informed him what he was before he was born. The word also deposited in him the boldness that built him for God’s divine agenda for his life when He said to Jeremiah, “’Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,’ says the LORD.” (Jeremiah 1:8). Just like Jeremiah, Ezekiel also encountered the word. “And He said to me, ‘Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.’ 2 Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.” (Ezekiel 2:1-2) Jesus is the master builder. The same word that brought forth creation is still the same word that is building up those who receive and believe in Him. The word of God is spirit and it gives life. John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” It is worth to remember that the same word that created everything is there to give more than we can imagine. It is one thing to know and memorize the word, it is another to know to memorize and meditate. Knowing the word and not knowing to memorize and meditate is empty; it generates no power. Meditation will cause you to observe and do what the word requires, and there’s simply no substitute for it. The word of God is power and the word can never deny itself nor fail, but man can fail to have the word work on their behalf. The work of God is in the word of God. The disciples once asked Jesus, “…What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28) Jesus responded, “…This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:29) The word of God cannot be compromised if you desire for the word to build you. Just as there is no substitute for food in order to grow physically, so there is no substitute for the word to grow spiritually. Jeremiah confirmed that the word is food when he testified, “Your words were found, and I ate them, And your word was to me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart…” (Jeremiah 15: 16) As a believer, how often do you feed on the word of God? Waiting for Sunday or once in a while reading the word will amount to nothing. What is it that you are giving your ear to? What you give your ear to is what will build you up because whatever you receive will become of you. “Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, For the LORD has spoken.” (Jeremiah 13:15) The Lord has spoken, as a believer, play your part and receive his word that will build you up for His kingdom glory. Job stated, “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.” (Job 41:5) Take the hearing of His word to be your greatest priority and you will have reasons in this world to testify that you have seen God move in His word.  

Knowing the word and not knowing to memorize and meditate is empty; it generates no power.
Tunde

“Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation.”(Psalm 106:4)
 
At the time wickedness multiplied on the face of earth, destruction and termination of wickedness and the wicked one was inevitable before God.  As an example, during the days of Noah, when wickedness became increasingly unacceptable before God, Noah was the only one in his generation set aside for salvation. The Bible recorded, “…Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD”. Only Noah was identified for deliverance among all the people on the face of the earth. If it is settled in you that you alone are doing good before the Lord, do not be intimidated but be motivated in doing good. In the days of Noah, Noah found grace. Today Jesus, the grace of God, has already come and He is here for those that will receive and believe Him as their Lord and Savior. To receive and believe Him is like gaining entrance into the ark that delivered Noah from God’s judgment. Receiving and believing in Jesus will also deliver in the time of God’s judgment of the world. Indeed, Noah found grace, and salvation became his portion. Yet he needed God to remember him after the flood had passed in order to possess the land before him. It is written, “Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.” (Genesis 8:1) As a believer, our Grace, the Lord Jesus, is already here and we also need to be remembered by our Lord God just as Noah was remembered. How then can we be remembered? To be remembered is to be consistent with the Word of God. Malachi 3:16 laid out the way to be remembered by God, “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name. ” (Malachi 3:16) Evidently, the fear of God is all that needs to be in place for anyone that wants to be delivered after the destruction of the wicked. Where there is fear of God, His testimonies will always be the center of conversation and meditation. Malachi 3:16 pointed out that God will listen; He will hear every meditation. God will not overlook or miss every demonstration of our fear for His name. Speaking about and meditating on God will cause God to have a book of remembrance opened on our behalf. Who on earth would not want to be remembered by God? God’s remembrance is God’s visitation. The Psalmist wanted to be remembered, and it is written in Psalm 106:4, “Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation.” When God remembered Noah in the ark of salvation, He sent His wind, and the water of destruction subsided and Noah entered into his land of deliverance. The children of Israel, having been in bondage for over four hundred years, entered their deliverance when God remembered them, “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” (Exodus 2:23-24) God remembered the children of Israel and God acknowledged them. With God’s acknowledgement, nothing could stop the Israelites from coming out of bondage; neither could they have been stopped from setting out for their journey to the Promised Land. For the children of Israel, God’s acknowledgement was their bondage terminated. As another example, Hannah, in the book of Samuel, never excused herself from going to Shiloh despite her bareness. Hannah kept on going and she did not yield herself to the mockery of bareness. God remembered her and visited her, “…Elkhanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.” God’s remembrance of Hannah delivered her from mockery into miracle. It is clear, without any doubt, God is a good God and there is no evil in all of His doing. He is God that adds beauty and brings forth multiplication. God is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. Is there any area that you want God to remember you in the coming days? Are you walking in His commands? God encourages us in Isaiah 43:26, “Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted” Call on God, put Him in remembrance concerning the work of His hand and He will remember you and visit you with salvation.   
 
God’s remembrance is God’s visitation.
God will not overlook or miss every demonstration of our fear for His name.
‘Tunde

  “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,” (Titus 2:11)

 “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) Jesus is the grace of our Lord God for every man that chooses to believe and receive Him. John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12) Knowing about Him is different from knowing Him. Those that know Him know Him enough to receive and believe Him as their Lord and Savior. Have you received and believed in Him? It is possible to believe Him and not receive Him. Many saw and many heard about the work He did; they know about Him but they choose not to receive Him as their Lord and Savior. For example, “…Among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.”(John 12:42) Inability to confess Him is a demonstration of not having received Him. To confess Christ is living a life that demonstrates the confession that is made about Him. Confession without belief, or belief without confession, is incomplete. Jesus is the unconditional love of God, the grace of God that came to give life abundantly to those that care to receive and believe in Him. Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,” Clearly, Jesus is the unconditional love of God and the grace that came for us. However, to enter into the unconditional love of God, there is a need for us to condition ourselves by taking the right position. Whenever there is inability to take the right position, there will be disability in entering the abundance of His grace. Right positioning will deliver unto us the fullness of His abundant grace as the year goes by. The position to be taken is to love and forgive. As a believer that worships the living God, we are to love and not hate. Many times in the pages of the Bible, the command to love is constantly and repeatedly emphasized. We are to love our neighbors and to know how to forgive, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18) Clearly, loving and forgiving cannot be separated; neither can the love for God be compromised. Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” There is no any other way to enter into the fullness of His abundant grace without being fully conditioned in the position of loving and forgiving. Jesus taught His disciples how to pray when he stated, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12) Forgiving is the heart of His coming. He wanted us to know that without forgiving, salvation will be stagnated. How much we know, and how long we have known him will not count for us in taking the position that leads into His abundant grace He has made available for us. Living fully in the command of His word–loving and forgiving–is all that will count; it is the only avenue to entering our abundant grace. Jesus testifies to the grace available for us when He stated in John 10:10, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Are you going to take the required position of entering the abundance of His grace made available by the grace of the Lord God? When you do not take to the life that He came to give us, claiming or attempting the throne of grace could be elusive. Every command of God does have its promise and requirement for what it takes to attain the promise. The grace of God is more than sufficient. God is faithful and He wants us to have faith by receiving and believing in His grace. Now that the understanding of positioning is there, “…Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrew 4:16) Jesus is the grace of God for those that receive and believe. Meditate on 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” Jesus is the grace and the unconditional love of God that is worthy of all praise.  
        
Whenever there is inability to take the right position, there will be disability in entering the abundance of His grace.
There is no any other way to enter into the fullness of His abundant grace without being fully conditioned in the position of loving and forgiving.
‘Tunde