The song that I walked away from the conference singing is "Overcome". How appropriate! I just couldn't get this song out of my head, and for good reason. Besides being an awesome song, the lyrics & the scripture that it's based upon seem especially applicable to the group of people attending the Exodus conference.
Overcome
Seated above enthroned in the Father's love
Destined to die poured out for all mankind
God's only Son perfect and spotless One
He never sinned but suffered as if He did
All authority - every victory is Yours
Savior worthy of honor and glory
Worthy of all our praise
You overcame
Jesus awesome in power forever
Awesome and great is Your name
You overcame
Power in hand speaking the Father's plan
You're sending us out light in this broken land
We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony
Everyone overcome
And Revelation 12:11:
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
After attending a conference like this, it's "normal", for lack of a better word, to walk away, feeling as if you can conquer anything. It's also "normal" for that feeling to fade within a few days and to plummet into complete doubt & unbelief. Why does this happen? I believe part of it is human nature, but most of it is a spiritual attack. When God speaks truth into our lives, Satan will do everything he can to make us question that truth. This has been the case since the Garden of Eden. God told Adam & Eve, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Then Satan came along with the same questions he has been asking ever since, ""Did God really say?" And you can fill in the blank. The purpose of his question is to cause us to question the goodness & faithfulness of God. In this case, he asked if God really said they couldn't eat from the tree. He then want on to convince them that God was withholding good things from them.
So after attending a conference like this, it's "normal" to walk away, doubting & questioning those things God has spoken to you. But this song & Scripture reminds us that Jesus overcome, and so can we. As I reminded people when I shared my testimony, we can't overcome in our own strength & power, but in the power that is available to us through Jesus Christ & the Holy Spirit.
He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20
The world would try to convince us that by saying homosexual behavior is a sin, God is withholding good things from us, and that we are in fact doing harm to ourselves by being unwilling to embrace a gay identity. I would have to disagree. So often, we allow the things that appear "good" to us, like the fruit of the tree, to crowd out God's best for us. That's where faith comes in. We have to trust God when He says He has an awesome plan for us, plan to prosper us & not to harm us - plans to give us hope & a future.
God is the Superhero. He is able to do the supernatural - to take our natural & make it super, as one speaker said :) So I pray that all would continue to stand firm in the truth that was revealed to them at the conference. God is able. Amen.
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say that this word you wrote on your blog came to me with great encouragement. It brought things to perspective on my part.
I just spent a week at a training conference with Living Waters Canada.
I left feeling for the first time spiritually full, not lacking anything, encouraged as a more then an overcomer but as a victor in Christ.
And so, I came back to face some challenges with friends who believe differently then me. One reason because I asked a friend a very difficult question, "How does your faith in Christ work with your lesbian relationship?"
And she responded with Liberal theology and Pro-Gay theology.
I had to respond in my mind (as a former lesbian identified woman) knowing and believing that God has so much more for me.
I'm glad I stumbled upon this blog. And once again I'm encouraged as not just an overcomer but as a victor in Christ.
Hi Brenna,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed hearing your awesome testimony at the Freedom Conference!
I praise the Lord for you and your family! Thanks for putting up the lyrics to Overcome! My wife and I have been trying to remember all the praise songs sung at the conference. We'd never heard them before. They were all great. Any idea where to get the lyrics or songs?
God Bless!
Sarah, I'm a trained Living Waters person myself :) You're right - God has so much more for your friend. Keep praying for her, and being a witness in her life that we can be happy & fulfilled in Christ & still be true to His Word.
ReplyDeleteGreg, I wrote down a bunch of the new songs that I liked. I'm going to google the lyrics & see if I can track some of them down. Stay tuned :)