overcome – ThrivingBranch

When faced with a problem, the typical Christian can react in a few different ways: With extreme passivity — “everything is God’s will; he’ll help if he wants to” With self-abasement, doubt — “Why is this happening? Am I being punished?” With anger and resentment — “How could God do this to me! This is bogus!” While all of these positions look at the problem from a slightly different angle, they all produce the same result; these ideas immobilize you. Think about it; if you believe that absolutely everything is God’s will, then you will never resist anything, because all of it is his will. So when spiritual forces attack, you’ll just roll over and accept it because, hey, it’s God’s will. Similarly, if you believe that negative situations are God’s punishment for some wrong you’ve committed, then you still will not resist, because you deserve what is happening… it’s your punishment after all. So you’ll just suffer through the pain. And the third idea is even more straightforward. You just directly accuse God of causing the problem. All of these ideas keep you in a mental and spiritual box— never able to move forward, because moving forward requires the power of God. But if you see God as the source of your suffering or somehow complicit in it, then there’s no reason to even ask him for help! Looking at things this way can seem rather hopeless; but all is not as it appears. The scriptures show us a different perspective; one not of hopeless reassignment to loss, but one of strength, power, and victory.

by Jim Travis

February 12, 2017

Let God’s Word Determine Your Future, Not Your Experiences

Many times when trying to determine the outcome of a situation, we look to our past experiences. I find that this is true in many places, but especially in Christian circles, and often in prayer as well. I have been in prayer groups, where we would pray for someone who had a debilitating condition, and we would pray, but then someone would say, “you know, there was a great Christian who had this condition, and they died”… and the moment that was said, it was as if it sucked all of the belief out of the room. People’s thoughts were moved from, “Yes God is a great Healer”, to, “Well if that great Christian died, I guess God doesn’t heal”. We tend to allow our experiences to determine our future, even without being consciously aware that we are doing it. And we also are influenced by all of the negativity floating around from all of the other people who do the same. So today we will be looking at what God Himself says about your future, about His outlook and forecast for your life… unlike the weather, His forecast is always one-hundred percent reliable and trustworthy.

by Jim Travis

October 2, 2016

God Finishes What He Starts

Have you ever started a project and then left it unfinished? I have. In today’s hectic modern lifestyle where everything is competing for our attention, I sometimes find myself starting one thing, getting distracted – sometimes for hours – and then remembering that I left the task I began still unfinished at the end of the day. Even if you’ve never done that yourself, you have probably had someone else do that to you at one time or another; and it can be disheartening, frustrating and disruptive. Sometimes, leaving a project or task unfinished is unavoidable for us. However it is not so with God. Many of us unconsciously project this same trait onto our Heavenly Father. We assume based on our own experience with others and ourselves that God will also leave some of His tasks unfinished – this can subconsciously create fear, worry and anxiety, because we may start to wonder “Will God actually do this? Will He really bring about what He promised?” However, by seeing the truth of Christ, we can be set free from this anxiety, knowing that He who promised is faithful, and this is what we will be studying today.

Posts in overcome

Speak to Your Mountain

Let God’s Word Determine Your Future, Not Your Experiences

God Finishes What He Starts