Overcomers

    The meetings with Ian & Rosemary Andrews were wonderful this past weekend!   It is difficult to find words to express the fun, revelation, hope, encouragement, expectation and attitude of worship they brought to our group.
    We had several people come expressly for healing.  Some were healed on the spot, but some are still in process.  I was talking with Ian about this.  He said something I have been pondering since our conversation because I had never thought of it this way before.  We were discussing one of those who came a long distance for healing, and how we would have loved to see an instantaneous healing.  He said he really believes Sam will be OK, but that he has some things to overcome before the healing is manifested.  I asked him what he meant.  He quoted 1 John 2:14: "I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one."  It seems that each group commended here is in a different stage of maturity. 
      Ian said he always tells new believers (children in the faith) to ask for all they can in the beginning because it seems that God (their heavenly Father) wants to encourage them in their belief and will often grant things that are much more difficult to get as believers mature.  He said if you notice, in the above scripture John commends the young men in the faith saying, "the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one."  As Ian said, you cannot overcome unless you have something to overcome.  
      It appears they overcame because the word of God lives in them.  To me that would indicate that most of what we need to overcome lies in our way of thinking.  It seems the overcoming happens as we fill our minds with, and truly believe and act upon, the promises of God.  This is difficult to do when the symptoms and pain of disease remind us constantly that we are ill.  Even though things do not look promising in the natural, we have to line up our way of thinking with what God says about our situation.  He says that by Jesus' stripes we are healed.  He says He gives only good gifts to His children.  He says He works all things together for our good if we love Him.  There is no sickness in heaven and He has told us to pray that His Kingdom will come, and His Will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Obviously, He doesn't want sickness on earth, if it isn't in heaven.  
      We must fill our minds with what God says about our situation instead of what the doctors (and the devil) say.  When this happens we begin to overcome and that which we thought was impossible becomes possible.