The Secret to An Overcoming Life

"You, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life" (Jude 20–21).

As I read these verses in Jude, I heard the Spirit quietly whisper: "David, I want you to enter the fullness and joy of my love. You have the theology right. But you have not yet experienced the true rest of soul that comes with keeping yourself in my love. Up to now, you've only been in it up to your ankles. There is a whole ocean for you to swim in."

The Bible is filled with the truth of God's love. Yet I admit that at times I allow myself to wonder how the Lord could ever love me. It's not that I doubt his love. It's more a failure on my part to keep myself in the knowledge and assurance of his love to me.

The revelation of God's love comes in part when we are born again. If you were to ask most Christians what they know of God's love for them, they would answer, "I know God loves me because he gave his Son to die for me." They would quote John 3:16, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

It's a wonderful moment when you grasp this truth: "God loved me when I was lost, undone, a stranger. And he proved his love for me by sacrificing his own Son on my behalf."

Understanding God's love is the secret to an overcoming life. Multitudes become spiritually cold because they are ignorant of God's love for them. They don't know that their greatest weapon against Satan's attacks is to be fully convinced of his love, which comes through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.