No Christian could ever be an overcomer without God helping him or her. Since we still have the old nature, it would be much more difficult apart from the Holy Spirit living within our hearts.

The power to overcome is the new nature that God gives us at the new birth – which is the Holy Spirit – Who gives the victory. By being dependent on Him for the victory, God alone gets the glory.

God has given us hundreds, even thousands of promises, in the Bible. Because they can enable us to walk with a “divine nature,” we have no excuse for walking in sin. The only excuse we have is that we did not take advantage of His promises when we could have – which is also sin.

All the promises given to believers have been given so that we may escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust.” That means victory. There is no situation we will ever encounter where the promises will not work – except when we have unconfessed sin and are not walking close to God.

Every true child of God can be an overcomer, but there must be a strong desire to please God before it will happen. Remember that there is no victory where there is no battle.

The world, the flesh, and the Devil are no match for the power God puts behind His promises. These promises are not a magic formula, rather they can be claimed when you are in a right fellowship with God. Remember the simple promise in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Is there a Biblical promise that you can claim today to give you victory and be an overcomer? What not memorize it so that you can use it more than once?

The apostle Paul was greatly used of God. He spread the Gospel, established and strengthened churches, and wrote half of the New Testament. He also suffered a lot during his ministry.

The book of Philippians – written from a jail cell – mentions the words joy and rejoicing many times. Certainly, Roman prisons were nothing like modern ones and offered little (if anything) to get excited about. In spite of it – he rejoiced – that’s grace.

Sometime earlier, Paul thought he had about reached the end of his rope with an ongoing trial that God gave him. After asking for relief, instead of giving it, God gave him the promise that “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9). Accepting that answer from the Lord, Paul soon learned that “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

If a man who suffered so much for the cause of Christ can rejoice because he tested God’s grace in extreme circumstances and found it sufficient, by waiting on the Lord and trusting Him in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, we also will find His grace more than sufficient. Now that you are His child, God does not care for you any less than He cared for Paul. In fact, your circumstances are unlikely to be as anywhere as severe as Paul experienced.

When Paul said “ye all are partakers of my grace,” it revealed that Paul knew that this church had likewise experienced God’s sufficiency in trials. When we also face trials from an unbelieving world, we also can rejoice and testify that God’s grace is truly amazing grace. His grace is amazing in that He saved us, amazing in keeping us, amazing in limiting our trials, and amazing that we will soon live get to live with Him forever! His grace enables strength for the hour and hope for the future. Are you trusting Him to provide that grace?