| Subject: Faith |
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tim
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Date Posted: 22:21:13 11/02/08 Sun
Yes! everything I am doing now is because of my faith...God is changing everything for the better, little by little, as I trust in Him. To the mind, much of it makes no sense, but there are so many scriptures that tell us, as believers, not to trust in our mind, or in men, but rather, Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Prov 3:5,6. ~Chapter 2 of 1 Corin. and chapter 8 of Romans are also great places to read up on the importance of spiritual growth for the believer.
Joyce Meyer talks about it in her book, the Battlefield of the Mind. I would highly recommend it, if you haven't read it already. I have it, as well as many other books that you would be welcome to borrow, which have helped stir up my faith over the years, but ultimately none compare to reading the Scriptures outloud...This is the source of everything good in my life. Since I started doing this, about 4 years ago now, everything in my life has changed. And I know this is just the beginning for me. The more I grow in the Lord, the more I learn how far I have yet to go, but at the same time, the more encouraged I am to keep going. It's like going up a ladder, the view keeps getting better. I consider myself a toddler in the Lord now...compared to the premature infant that I was when I thought I knew something back on the first rung!
So much of God's Truth has been confirmed for me in the last few years as I have given up trying to do things in my own strength; trying to figure out everything with my mind; trying to control and manipulate events or people. I've gotten hooked up with a local church that teaches the Word of God and the fellowship has helped me to apply what I'm learning in my daily walk. God wants us to be hooked up with one another as believers in Jesus Christ, but not just to go through the motions of church as usual, but to really apply what the Word says in our daily lives and with each other.
I used to be an intellectual Christian. Intellectualizing the scriptures rather than letting them get down inside my spirit. I have learned to let go of worrying about things I have no control over. This hasn't been easy for me because of where I come from. As a thinker, and someone who has always made things happen, or so I thought, I've always taken pride in my abilities, my intellect and my ideas, giving myself the credit. It has been very humbling to come to the conclusion now at this point in my life that without Him I can do nothing, I am nothing and I have nothing. But with Him, as the scriptures say, All things are possible! (with an emphasis on the All!).
In 3 John 2 it says, Beloved, I pray that you may prosper and be in health, just as your soul prospers. This is important, because no matter how much we prosper and succeed in the natural, in this life, it is the prosperity of our soul that matters the most! If you are a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, you are already as rich as you are saved and you are already as healed as you are rich (this was a major revelation to my twisted, religious mind). He can't do anymore for you than He has already done! Because on the cross, as He died, He said, It is finished! He defeated the enemy and the power that sin had over us. Yes, we still sin, but we are not sinners; sinners still need to get saved!
This is why the bad things are not from Him, nor are they His way of teaching us something. He can't do anymore for us than He's already done and He can't stop what the devil is doing in our lives because He has already defeated the devil! Whatever happens to us, we need to remember always to stay on God's side. We are the only ones who can stop the devil from doing anything! How? By declaring it! By declaring that the devil is bankrupt when it comes to harming us in anyway whatsoever! The gospel is clear about this, but as Christians we need to hear it and believe it and start walking in the authority that we have as believers! In our business dealings, in our relationships, in our health, in every area of our lives, He wants us to prosper and be in health, but it begins and ends with our faith, which ultimately is the victory that has overcome the world!
He wants us to prosper and succeed. He wants us to be in health and be strong in order that the world might see and know that He is God and turn to Him. In Hebrews 11:6 it says, 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 dilligently seek Him. He is a rewarder! But again, we must be seeking Him in order to find the reward. And Matthew 6:33, But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. So what do you do? You seek Him, you believe Him, even when it looks like all hell is breaking loose! You know why? 'cause it is and it will! But, by God's grace we will be victors through it all! All the way to glory! And it starts NOW, here in this life!
Be encouraged! We come into this Christian walk as babes in Christ, but we grow up and mature by feeding on the Word of God. So many people get saved and just hang out in the lobby eating spiritual junkfood. We nourish our bodies with food and it works the same way with our spirits. Romans 10:17 tells us how faith comes, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Unfortunately, many of the churches in these parts do not emphasize the importance of the Word and yet it is critical to our understanding of what faith is. This needs to be taught and preached! It is the only way the wrong thinking that has been perpetrated by the church can ever be eradicated. We need to preach what the Word of God says. Hebrews 11:1 says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. In this verse there is a real emphasis on the first word, the word NOW, because NOW is the only time that God operates in; faith is now and now faith is...it is a now word! Everything we do, we do it NOW! We never do it later. We put things off till later, but then when do we do it? we always do it Now! Our faith is NOW.
I would encourage you not to put off a step of faith any longer. I would encourage you to Heed the call! Step out, believe Him, Trust Him! Know that He will make a way where it seems impossible. Just like salvation, it starts with confessing what we believe. As we say, Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead and we are saved! Rom 10:9. It is the same for everything else! The salvation of our loved ones! Our prosperity! Our health and our well being. We confess it and believe it and even though we can't see it, by faith we can receive it today! As we do, it will come to pass. When will it happen? When did you get saved? When you said it! Right? Well then, when are you going to be rich? When are you gonna be healed? When are your loved ones gonna get saved? When we start to say it and believe it despite what we see or feel. We have a choice, Believe it and receive it, or doubt it and go without it! "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
We must trust God, and as we do, He will lead us into all truth about every area of our life. It is my experience that it is usually the truth about ourselves that is the hardest to take. But my prayer is still that God will show me the truth about myself, no matter how it makes me feel. Because it is the truth (about myself) that makes me free! Show me Lord what it is that I need to change about myself! Am I harboring unforgiveness toward someone? If so, I may have a root of bitterness that will permeate my life. Lead me, by your Spirit, not by my head, not by my feelings, not by the way I think things should go! Your ways are higher and better than my ways! As I do this, I am letting God's Spirit lead me. The Spirit knows everything! When to buy, when to sell, when to cut bait! According to the Scriptures, we are to walk by faith and not by sight. And this means that we can't wait for the 'sweet by and by' we have to exercise our faith in God and in His promises in 'the crappy here and now' (if you'll excuse this expression).
Many of our songs teach us to look to the future, the promise of heaven when we die...it's all good, but real faith takes place in the here and now, through the tough, very real, challenges that life brings, when we can't see it and when we don't feel like it. We choose faith in God and in His Word over our circumstances, over our bank balance, over our symptoms and over our pain and loss.
God is love and He wants what's best for us because we're His beloved. When we choose His love, His Way, His Truth, over what we see and feel it will change everything! I think I've covered quite a bit here...If you didn't get anything from it now, that's ok. Read it later. It's good stuff and I've done preached myself happy once again! My faith is stirred up! Don't give up! Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might! Let me know if you need more : ) Tim
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