Christmas Faith

On December 27, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 1: 38

And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.”

Put yourself, for a moment, in Mary’s shoes. She was a young, unwed, though engaged woman when the angel Gabriel appeared to her announcing that she would conceive and bear a son. She questioned Gabriel about how such a thing could come to be since she was still a virgin. He responded, “Nothing will be impossible with God.”

Now, stop right here. What would your next statement be, your thoughts? “Can this be? Have I lost my mind? What will my mother say? What about my friends? Gracious, what will Joseph, my intended say and do?” Think about it. If she consents, then she is about to show up pregnant in her community. What will the village elders think? Fornication is a sin and how else does one get pregnant. Can’t you imagine she would have a lot of questions for Gabriel? I would want to see his angel credentials. Thankfully, Mary was much more faithful and trusting. She said, “Okay, let it be done to me exactly as you have said.”

Do you believe for a moment that she did not understand the implications and ramifications of her decision? Somehow she trusted God above the social repercussions. She must have trusted God to keep her safe. She must have trusted Gabriel’s words when he said that nothing would be impossible with God. She took an enormous risk with her engagement and even with her life.

The point of this story is not that we should worship Mary for her faith. The point is that we ought to learn that trust in God is not misplaced. Through Mary’s act of trust and faith, we may learn how to trust God ourselves. What if we truly believed that with God nothing is impossible.

What is God asking you to do? Are you to preach on the other side of the globe? Or perhaps God just wants you to speak to your neighbor. Honestly, it takes as much trust and faith for one as for the other. This Christmas season I ask you to ponder what you might do if you really believed that nothing is impossible with God. Maybe you would be healed, start a new project, write a book, sing a song . . .. Maybe you can finally take that step that God has been speaking to you for years. Perhaps we can all trust Him just a bit more. Mary’s faith changed the world. Maybe ours can do the same.

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The Currency of Faith

On December 7, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 9: 28 – 30

And after he had come into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes saying, “Be it done to you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened.

We know what the faith of the two blind men. They must have had faith that Jesus could and would restore their sight. Jesus prayed that they would receive according to their faith. It was not his own faith Jesus used to heal the two men. It was their faith. Isn’t that interesting? This may account for the limitation in miracles we see these days.

When the two blind men approached Jesus about restoring their sight, He had a pretty surprising response to them. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Why did He question them about their belief? Why wasn’t his own knowledge enough for him? When Jesus was in his hometown the scripture says “He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13: 58).

Many people don’t understand why things happen or why God does not intervene in certain situations. What many of us fail to recognize is that God needs some faith to work with. Our faith is the material that He uses to fashion our miracles. Hebrews 11: 1 says “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” KJV Faith is the substance of our answered prayers. We give God our faith and He creates with it. We are in partnership with God and faith is one of the main things we bring into the partnership.

How do you develop faith? By reading God’s word. Nothing is going to replace getting in the Word and letting Him talk to you. Romans 10: 17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” That’s the base, the foundation. Then the other thing we can do is get around faith people. When you are around other people who are building their faith, it helps you build your own. We become more faith minded and are pulled up into higher levels of faith. And you can go from zero to hero faith in a very short time, but begin with the word and pray for help in growing in faith.

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Confidence

On November 23, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Hebrews 10: 35

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

When your confidence is in God and in His promises, it yields its own great reward. Why? Confidence in God by another name is faith. When you are living in faith that He is well able to perform all of His promises, then you are actually exercising spiritual power. Your faith and trust in God’s ability will move mountains. One of the things that happens when you are living in your confidence is that you automatically get out of God’s way. When you do that, there is room for Him to work. He cannot work on something until you let go of it and give it to Him. Your trust and confidence in His word is the spiritual material God uses to fashion the miracle you need. And by the way, they are not miracles to God. What is a miracle to us is just everyday business to him. So put your confidence in Him and in His word because that confidence is the substance of your breakthrough and it will bring forth the answers you need. When you are tempted to worry, just remember this verse and get yourself back over into trust.

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False Feeling

On November 8, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 5: 7

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

As I apply this verse to my own life I say, “I walk by nothing which is not of faith.” In application “sight” certainly would refer to physical sight but we also speak of seeing things other than with our physical eyes. Someone explains a matter and we say, “I see that.” These kinds of sightings, it would seem to me, must stand up to the test of faith as well. I know for myself one of the most deceptive signs for me to follow is my feelings. They are often wrong. I do not deny the expression of emotion, not by any means. I just mean to say that I must still put feelings and emotions to the test of faith and the word.

One epiphany of this principle came to me shortly after I had some minor surgery on my shoulder. The surgeon put the stitches under the skin which was great because there is no scarring. A couple of weeks after the surgery, though, those sutures started dissolving and when they did, they would pop. When the first one popped my eyes probably got as big as saucers. I had no idea what it was other than a bit painful. I thought something might be wrong which was especially bad because I was out of town at the time. The sutures continued to pop one after one. I was beginning to get a little concerned about it because I didn’t know what was happening. Finally, though, I figured it out. Then I could relax as they continued to dissolve. I learned from that experience, though, that a feeling, whether an emotional feeling or even a physical one, can be misleading. I was beginning to think something was wrong in my shoulder when it was actually the healing continuing.

That is the way it is with life. Sometimes we get emotionally charged over something and can easily misinterpret the signs. I learned from the false feelings in my shoulder that I need to follow God by faith rather than simply following my feelings. God has made us many promises and the Bible has revealed many truths. We are given opportunities all of the time to choose what evidence we will follow. Are we going to trust the words Jesus gave us or are we going to believe the 6:00 news? Which one is going to inform our decisions and subsequent actions? I am telling you that you can have emotional or even physical feelings in your body that are just plain wrong. Just like I thought that popping in my shoulder evidenced a problem it is easy to be misled by these false guides.

There is only one safe trail leader, that is the Holy Spirit of God. He will never lead you astray. Whatever is going on in your life, whatever emotions you are experiencing, you can check them out with the Holy Spirit. He will guide you into all truth. That is good news in these confusing times. Trust the Word, trust the Lord. Let faith in God guard and protect you.

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Believe It

On October 19, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 10: 11

 

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.

I believe the above yet I know many disappointed Christians. For years I have wondered why we are not living in more victory than we are. I have found one reason even if it may not be the definitive answer. When we read a passage like the one above, most of us are initially excited by it. Within seconds, though, doubts come. We don’t know if we can really believe this or not. Right then we begin to compromise the Word of God. We don’t like to think that we do that but the truth is, unfortunately, that we do. The next thing we do is wait for God to prove that this word is true. We have all done it even though we all want to be faith giants. We adopt a “wait and see” attitude. To do otherwise is like stepping out on the edge of a cliff.

I am coming to believe, though, that God’s miracles are out there on that cliff. I believe He wants us to accept His word as truth and act on it rather than waiting to see it proved out in our experience. He wants us to learn to have faith and trust in the words we read and put our reliance in them. What would it mean to you if you really, really believed the passage above? What if you knew beyond any doubt that you would not be disappointed in whatever you do? Would it change the way you approach some situations? I know it would change how I deal with situations if I could jump all the way into radical belief and radical trust. Join me! Let’s step one step further out on that cliff and try to believe God the way He says things. Let’s try to accept Him where He is instead of making Him fit into our limited thinking. Let’s just inch one bit further into trust and acceptance. It could make for a very radical experience indeed.

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Believe It

On September 20, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 15: 26


I am the Lord that heals you.

That is short, sweet and to the point. You would need help in confusing this scripture because it is so simple. And yet, we really are not walking in this simple belief. Most of us believe that God heals. All you have to do is go to a hospital to see that truth. People will receive prayer when they are sick even if they have refused God all of their lives. Why do we ask people to pray for us if we do not believe God heals? Well of course we do believe. Then why are we not all walking in health? Somehow in the body of Christ we have let this simple truth slip away from our daily walk. We know that He is our Lord that heals us. We know it! But I think we only know it with our minds. We don’t believe it with our heart of hearts. We pray for healing when someone is seriously sick hoping that God will heal them rather than believing that God is going to heal them. Then in our daily lives we receive all manner of sickness, pain and suffering. We do not mean to. We have just been led along by the world; by those who do not have a hope of healing. We have started acting like them instead of acting like children of the great healer.

It might be a great task for all of us to get ourselves turned back around but we can do it because all things are possible in Him and to those who believe. We just need to take one small step and then another. We need to encourage one another and we need to keep on praying as we have been but now with greater expectation that the God of miracles really is present for us and that He really will show up on the scene. Help your friends increase their expectation and demands on God’s promises. Encourage them and when you have a sickness or a disease attack your body, ask them to pray for your health too. Working together we can turn around the body of Christ and reclaim the promises of God in our life.

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The Facts Don’t Count

On September 12, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 4: 19

And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

If you want to know one of the secrets to living successfully in the Spirit it is this, don’t let the facts interfere with the truth. Abraham had a promise from God that not only would he and Sarah have a child but that he would be the father of nations. How does an old man whose body is as good as dead and whose wife is not only elderly also, but who has always been barren, have a child? Well, in the natural, and according to the facts, they don’t. But, you see, that is where we must depart from the reasoning of this world and move over in to Jesus thinking and Jesus faith. 
Abraham did not become weak in his faith. Now what is faith really? Sometimes I think we make it too hard a concept. Here is a simple illustration. If I tell you that I am going to give you a pen when I see you will you be expecting to receive a pen? How confident are you that you will be given a pen? That is the measure of your faith in me? If you have a high expectation, even an assurance, then you have a lot of faith in me. That is all faith is, believing. You believe that what I say, I will do. Now, how assured are you that Dad is going to do what He has said? Somehow, Abraham was able to believe God’s word over the evidence which he saw in the world. Which one do you think you would have a tendency to believe? When you believe God, then that belief turns into trust. In the example of the pen, do you trust me to give to you what I promised?

Verse 18 says that Abraham believed even though there seemed no cause for hope. He saw the evidence that the world presented to him and chose to instead believe what God said. That is so hard for us to do but it is a super-key to living in the supernatural blessings of God. If we want to walk on the water, and who doesn’t, then we have to renew our minds with this kind of thinking. We have to ignore the facts. We don’t deny their existence we just deny their power. Abraham decided that God’s word was the final word, that it superseded the physical facts. That is the way we need to be, the way we need to think if we wish to walk in the kind of miracles that Abraham did, the kind of miracles that God wants to be our everyday experience.

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