The Coat Of An Overcomer
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” Ephesians 1:18-21
In Genesis 41:41, the Pharaoh puts Joseph over all of Egypt and arranges him with a coat and gold chain. This coat represents the coat of the overcomer. (Ephesians 1:18-19)
What did Joseph have to overcome? He had to overcome hatred and jealousy from his own brothers. He could have harbored unforgiveness and bitterness towards his family. The Bible says that our greatest enemies sometimes come from our own house.
Joseph also had to overcome the temptation of the worst kind. He had to overcome slander. He was lied about. His good name was tainted with false information. He had to overcome disappointment when the butler that he helped get out of jail forgot all about him. When he rose to power, he had to overcome the urge to retaliate against those who had harmed him.
But Joseph passed the test and emerged as an overcomer. He had the perfect chance to repay his brothers for what they had done, but instead, he blessed them because he knew that God had been looking out for him the entire time.
Revelation 21:7 says that there is a reward for the overcomer. “To him who overcomes, I will not blot out his name. I will be his God, and he will be my people. I will call his name out to my Father, and I will give him a crown of life.”
Someone wrote this brilliant passage, “People are often illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish motives, but do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies, but succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten by many tomorrow, but do good anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you, but be honest anyway. The biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest minds, but think big anyway. When you spend your years building, someone can destroy it overnight, but build anyway. People need help but may attack you if you try to help them. But help people anyway. If you give the world the best you have, it will never be enough, but give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
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