An OVER COMER is a person who is successful in not letting the fear of failure, allow a problem or difficulty to defeat him or her.
A COWARD is a person who lets the fear of failure, allow a problem or difficulty to defeat him or her.
We can courageously overcome and defeat fear, by going through and over it.
Or we can cower down under fear, and let fear go through us, and defeat us.
Revelation 21:7 shows that over comers will be blessed, “He who OVERCOMES shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son”. Revelation 21:8 shows that cowards will be cursed with the punishment of hell, “But the COWARDLY, unbelieving, abominable, murders, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Notice that God put, “the cowardly” at the beginning of the list of who won’t be going to heaven. The scriptures in Numbers, chapters 13 and14, show us about over comers and cowards. At the end of the Israelite’s first year of exodus from Egypt, God told Moses, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel;” Moses sent 12 spies to report back about the land, and the strength, or weakness of the people. When they returned, Caleb said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to OVERCOME it.” Then Caleb and Joshua said, “If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” Caleb and Joshua gave a good report, but the other 10 spies gave a bad report. They said, “…all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. …and we were like GRASSHOPPERS IN OUR OWN SIGHT, and so we were in their sight.” Caleb and Joshua said, don’t rebel against God, and don’t be afraid of the people of Canaan. In faith, Caleb and Joshua believed and trusted God to give them the victory OVER their enemy. The other 10 spies did not have any faith to trust God, because they were filled with the fear of failure, which caused them to be cowards. The Israelite’s believed the bad report of fear. They believed Joshua and Caleb were going to lead them into a battle where they would be defeated and killed by their enemy. The Israelite’s said, that they would have rather died back in Egypt, or in the desert, than be killed by the Canaanites. Thus they hated Joshua and Caleb, and wanted to stone them to death. The 10 spies were using their own worldly, carnally minded judgment, which filled them with fear, causing them to believe that they were like mere LITTLE GRASSHOPPERS, compared to their enemy. Caleb and Joshua were spiritually minded, believing that, in faith, they could trust God, to help them to victoriously defeat their enemy. Because of the Israelite’s fear, and unbelief, and not trusting God, they wandered in the desert for forty years. During the forty years, all the people who were twenty and older, when they accepted the bad report, died in the desert, except Caleb and Joshua. Fear and unbelief robbed them of God’s plan of victory for them. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh can not please God. (Romans 8:5-8) “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6) In Joshua 1:7 Joshua says, “Only be strong and very courageous,” Joshua is saying ONLY BE strong and very courageous, DON’T BE any other way!!! ONLY BE strong and very courageous. In verse 9 he says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” In Hebrews 10:38-39 we are told, “Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.” In this life on earth all of us are faced with problems and difficulties. If a person is not a Christian, he is not submitted to, and obeying the will of God, so he is on his own to face whatever comes his way, the best he can, because he did not want God’s will for his life. If a person is a Christian, then he is submitted to God’s will for him, and with God’s help he can bravely overcome whatever comes his way. If a Christian chooses to not stand in faith trusting God, but cowardly draws back in fear, then he is letting the circumstances of the world defeat him, when he could have been a victorious overcomer, if he had in faith, trusted and obeyed God. This life on earth is a test to see if we are going to live the way God wants us to live, or are we going to live the way we want to live. If we live God’s way, by staying on the narrow road of righteousness, and enduring to the end, we pass the test, and get to graduate up to heaven. If we do whatever we want to do, as we travel on that wide road to destruction, we fail the test, and we go to hell, because of our disobedience to God. We rejected God’s good plan for us, and we accepted what Satan was offering to everyone on his wide road to hell. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) If you have never followed and obeyed God’s plan of salvation, now is the time to turn away from all that Satan is offering to you. Give up going to hell, and accept God’s plan for you that will lead you to heaven. If you have been on the narrow road to heaven, but you are no longer honoring or obeying God, now is the time to repent, and get back on that narrow road to heaven.