Am in agreement with all, but never heard the words of the ones who aren't overcomers. Can't agree here. But enjoyed the post.
Thanks for your response sister on fire,
You asked for this indirectly, if it seems long, it took 5 hours to write and you should be able to read in 10 minutes.
"Strive to enter in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able."
Have not noticed you quarrel with anyone here; remaining in the unity of the Spirit, understand you desiring the same for others. Relating to those who don't overcome, there is much mentioned in Revelation to the 7 churches, even to the Church of Philadelphia the only one the Lord did not reprove, He said, "Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and He shall go no more out."
Jesus is the door and those who follow Him will rule with Him in the first Resurrection.
"If we suffer with Him, we shall rule with Him."
"Some were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection."
In 1John, tree groups are mentioned, children, fathers and young men who are strong and know the word of God and have overcome the evil one. The last group referred as overcomers.
John goes on to warn "Love not the world, if anyone loves the world, the Love of the Father is not in Him."
Paul addressed a church that was divided and carnal, as babes in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved, even though only as one escaping through the flames."
Those building for themselves with affections in this life lose their reward:
To better explain must share my experience, 18 years ago, before marriage break, had an experience to encourage me for the time of trouble ahead. I was asleep at the time and saw the face of Jesus as light for a second: like the meaning of "in the twinkling of an eye we shall all be changed." Then he said: Yield yourself to Me, I will not harm you and you will not suffer loss. Then experienced Resurrection life for a moment, It was no longer I but Christ. This woke me up from sleep and my first thought was: we're missing this as the church, we're not experiencing this. As soon as I began thinking the experience was gone. I had to learn to yield myself to Him to have the Power of His Spirit in my life. Later pondered that I was drawn to worship in the past by this refreshing of His Spirit: a glimpse of the fullness of Life that woke me up from the dream. There is hidden meaning as well: our life is a dream that wakes us up when we suffer loss: the marriage break in my case. Tempted to go back to sleep in the old dream no longer there and looking elsewhere rather than follow Him in His suffering, to overcome the world: a place we can't go without His Spirit. I've had experiences being cough up in the Spirit before and since, feeling my troubles over for ever. There are many significant words the Lord told me since to encourage me to go on. The important ones that come to mind, starting from 12 years ago when snared in drug addiction from the marriage break:
Enter in as a little child and put away your divided spirit.
I asked Him how old I was in spirit as a little child, He said: 12
Weeks latter still in addiction, with compassion in His voice: Come to My house, I'M coming to My house.
Gradually understood the experience of Jesus at 12 years of age, about being in the Father's house: Doing the will of the Father.
A year later after a time in recovery and stumbling and turning to Him for help, woke up in the morning hearing: This kind does not come out but by prayer and fasting. Referring to the divided spirit that I am to put away. Laodicea is an example in Revelation: the last of the 7 churches fits the affluence of the end time, where the Lord is knocking at the door. Yet still a promise given to them who overcome.
Some words a few years later: It would be better for you not to have been born than to return to your vomit.
A year later looking for comfort in addiction and ungodly woman: You disqualify yourself from being a priest.
This last word was 6 years ago, I have been in a recovery center 23 months.
2 mounts before entering recovery when seeking direction: Do the work of an evangelist. This surprised me, the next 2 words did not surprise me: Fear not I am with you. Lather pondering this: Pray for the anointing. this still has to be fulfilled. Also pondering the meaning of evangelist: Proclaim deliverance.
Last December in an attempt to seek the Lord on a silent retreat and feeling I failed to put away my divided spirit and decided to go home in the morning, cried to the Lord in repentance and went to sleep. Woke up at midnight and the lord asked me: What is your purpose for being here. I responded: To find my purpose, He said: Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you. I asked if I should continue my study? He said: Don't forget your purpose (Seeking Him first is more important that what we do). Then asked if I should go home in the morning or stay, He said: Continue to appear before God. This 5 minute conversation at the end of myself made all the difference. Though I stayed the next two days as planed, His answer to continue is ongoing and defines those who overcome the world (Revelations 3:10).
"The kingdom of God is Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost."
I don't consider myself a prophet and when I pondered my struggle with woman coming between me and the Lord in the past, He told me: You would have been a great prophet. I have nothing to brag about except being fatherless to qualify: "He is a Father to the fatherless," and "He is near the poor and broken hearted."
Paul saying "I suffer the loss of all thing that I may gain Christ was a choice he made by the Grace of God."
For some like me there is nothing left to lose except deceitful comfort that left us in worse pain.
Just the same am only beginning this journey, like 40 years in the wilderness of sin later.
Included a copy from the first time the Lord spoke to me 40 years ago.
In the beginning of searching for spiritual reality, chose to repeat the name of Jesus as a mantra and chose Him as Spiritual Master. Once when asked why I chose Him, replied "I know I can trust Him and that I can't trust anyone else with my life". When I said this, the house I stayed in shook; I was left with the impression it was an evil spirit: "demons also believe and tremble." Others in this commune house felt the oppression of an evil spirit connected to the house. I was living with a woman without marriage commitment, once while in the house looking into each other's eyes, felt violence for no reason, we both felt it and agreed to get out of the house for a walk. This strengthened my resolve to be saying the Name of Jesus for protection. The first clear memory I have of the Lord communicating with me was not in word but reproof of the pride of my heart for thinking I knew a lot about the bible and agreeing to humble myself. Then one evening sitting on the floor of the room, repeating the name of Jesus, the Lord answered me saying: Behold if you call upon the name of the Lord He'll come. This was the first time the Lord spoke to me, and the only time He spoke in a loud voice that pierced my heart like a sword, giving me the impression of bursting like a balloon (likely my ego). I fell unconscious and thought I died, but was not worried at all. I knew He did this, I was in His care and it felt good to be there; feeling Loved and accepted. The woman who was with me in the room did not hear the voice and thought I fell asleep on the floor. I slept on the floor from around 11 at night till 7 in the morning. On waking my first thought was, something happened last night but what was it. I was back as before and could not relate.
1Corintians 2:14 That’s why only someone who has God’s Spirit can understand spiritual blessings. Anyone who doesn’t have God’s Spirit thinks these blessings are foolish.
The second time the Lord spoke to me, He said: Everywhere you look you'll see the cross. I understood I had to make my choice in life: whether I was going to live for myself or for Him. Now understand It's a daily choice to follow Him in His suffering and death: to end our life controlled by desire and pride of achievement. We all come short of His glory and rely on Grace as His influence in our heart to live in the relationship of Jesus in constant fellowship with the Father, left as our inheritance in His will ("Go in My Name").
The third time He spoke to me, He said: I can't follow any longer, I have to go now. My response was: Well I want to change but I don’t know what to do. I was calling on His name for protection and He was with me, but my divided spirit and absence of commitment was going my own way. "Love does not insists on its own way." Shortly after this I met a Christian who later told me, the Lord had told Him to go to the place where he met me: a drop-in center in Victoria, called The upper room. This man helped me realise I could not please 2 masters and I agreed to commit my life to the Lord. He also welcomed me to stay at His house since we were being evicted and the woman I was with had left me for someone else who in turn left her also.
In this first year of my relationship with Him, He showed me my future in 3 dreams. I was living in a cabin on a strawberry farm as farm hand hewing weeds. In the first dream saw the inside of a wood stove, like the one in the cabin: there was ashes everywhere and my attention was drawn to a small lump of silver the size of a quarter in the ashes. Then my attention was drawn to black spots on the silver and my spirit responded with: This means I'm going to be refined again. Think of the black spots as desires that control us: desire to be in charge and insist on our own way. The silver as the refining of our faith and just as it says, "Whatever is not of faith is sin," the black spots are from the spirit of fear. The suffering we experience insisting on our own way when we know better is God's discipline to bring us to our senses, to turn to Him for mercy and Grace: godly sorrow that leads to repentance, otherwise worldly sorrow lead to death. When the pain exceeds the gain, we are willing to change. More could be said of wasted time building with material that is going to burn, later still building an idol of woman in my heart. While working as a carpenter had a dream of nailing wood together while my affection was on a woman I was waiting to meet, in the dream responded saying: I'm building with wood, that means it's going to burn. That relationship fell apart within a year of being together.
In the second dream was cleaning a vessel, it was white with a blue decoration line spiraling down, was filthy as if it had been used as a potty, but worth cleaning. There was a sink with a tap of running water in the dream; while attempting to clean the vessel, knocked it against the tap and it cracked, then thought: Its worthless now, there's no point in cleaning it anymore. Then heard the Lord say: I'll make a new vessel now. It spun as if on a potter's wheel again and when it stopped it was clean and white. The blue decoration was gone, it was the pride of achievement, trying to prove myself. He was the source of living water I was using, I stumbled against Him trying to prove myself and was broken: I was not a gold vessel and needed to find out I did not measure up to unconditional Love and was broken.
"And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."
Around the same time the Lord showed me this second dream, I was praying for His will in my life. It was a beautiful clear summer evening and I prayed looking up in the shy: the sky lit up with a white light, I went: wow, and it was gone. This happened 3 times and my reaction was the same. Then I realised I could not be any closer to the Lord than I was, trying to look at Spiritual light with natural eyes, and asked Him for a word for my life. The word He gave me: Be wholehearted in my word and I will accord the a portion with the great. I knew this was referring to the servants of the Lord, from the words, "Many are called but few are chosen, and "Whoever is great among you, let Him serve."
At the time I was reading His word in old English and the Lord spoke the same language, other times that I read in modern English, He also spoke today's English and when I read and prayed in French, He spoke French. We belong to Him and His Spirit speaks to us through our faculties. As to why some receive this gift and others don’t am convinced is according to need and desire. He told us, "Seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened, ask and it shall be given." He is a father to the fatherless and near the poor and broken-hearted: He has been the Father I never had. But I took pride in hearing Him and about a month after the last word, He said: You're going to fall that you may learn to continually repent.
During this time I struggled with fear and desire to be seduced by controlling women. As I was walking alone on a clear evening pondering this, feeling it was a seducing spirit after me. Heard: Fear God. Looking up to heaven on a beautiful clear night in awe of Him. His presence fell on me as a heavy comforting blanket. I realized I could not fear anything else, fear had its rightful place in admiration of God. Like other times I'd experience His and presence, thought my troubles were over for ever. As He said, "Behold I am with you always, even to the end of the world."
The third dream: In the dream I am walking through a field and see an evil spirit shooting at me; putting me in fear to flee for my life. No longer moving forward but backwards, fear is not of Faith. Jesus gave interpretation for field in the parable of the sower, "The field is the world." Walking through the field we overcome through Christ to be good ground, to receives His word as a little child that is teachable. Then I was watching a vision in the dream, the evil spirit was trying to put a yoke on a big ox to make it work for Him, referred as the yoke of bondage by Paul. The yoke was to small and would not fit, but he kept trying, angrily slamming this U shape yoke across its back. It woke me up thinking this is not of God He would not show me something so cruel, I got to forget this. Then the interpretation came, I was the big ox: because I feared for my life, gave room for the enemy to try and bring me in bondage again, but had grown by God's word so the former bondage would not fit. There was more to this dream, years later as well, about receiving armor. Why I was as an ox? The four creatures in revelation represent the image of God we are created in and are mentioned in the same order as the four gospels. The face as a lion represents Him as King and is the leader personality in man, in Matthew His genealogy is traced as King. The face as an ox is the servant, Jesus came first as a servant, described in Mark. The face as a man is in Luke and His genealogy goes back to Adam. The face as a flying eagle describes Him as Son of God in John, It's the most introverted personality in us as friend of God. "They that wait on the Lord shall renew strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles," Waiting is the servants part and the reward is being a friend of God. The verse goes on to say they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. We come down from mountain top experiences, "in the world but not of the world," as "kings and priest" king refers to those who overcome and priest the face as a man, making intercession for others.
Reminds me of my first beginnings in my search of the symbols. 
