Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of things [we] hope for, being proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. HEBREWS 11 : 1
FAITH .. FAITH .. FAITH !! None of us are strangers to the word Faith.. and we can all agree that if we have heard one message about faith, we have surely heard a hundred .. and yet there are still so many of us that remain unclear and unsure about the very issue of faith and the role it plays in our lives. Sadly the world has successfully managed to deceive many of us .. placing us in a position where faith has become a real source of confusion and insecurity for us. There are statements being made and questions being asked .. Do I actually have faith ? .. How do I believe correctly ? .. Why do I have so little faith ? .. Why is my faith not working for me ? .. Oh, I wish I could have as much faith as my friend has !! Instead of Living Lives filled with a Godly faith .. we find ourselves merely Existing because our faith has become so twisted and watered down that we seem to have lost our confidence and our ability to really trust, believe and have faith in God. What is it about this world that captivates us so much ? .. What is it about this world that it has actually convinced us that having faith and putting your faith into all things earthly is normal and even acceptable ? .. What is it about this world that convinces us not to put our faith in God anymore ? .. .. WE HAVE TO TURN BACK TO GOD .. But I say to every one of you, through the grace given to me, not to have an over-high opinion of himself, but to have wise thoughts, as God has given to every one a measure of faith .. Romans 12 : 3 Faith was not designed, neither was it given to you by this world .. Faith is a precious, powerful gift given to you .. YES THAT MEANS YOU TOO.. by God your Father. God gave us faith .. and when He gave us His gift of faith, He had one and only one intention and that was for you to graciously accept and receive His gift, and that you use your faith exclusively to believe and put your trust in Jesus Christ !! So does Jesus hold the exclusive rights to your Faith ? Now before you are too quick to answer .. we have to realise that it is not possible for us to change things that we are not willing to acknowledge .. It is never, never, never, NEVER too late for us to turn back to God .. You have already given so much of yourself to this world .. and there is no better time for you to stop doing that, than right now .. but in order for you to make the necessary changes, it is going to require you to be honest .. Brutally Honest .. with yourself. You have to determine what you are putting your faith into .. and if you realise that your faith is in the things of this world and not in the things that God has said, then you must take every step required to reclaim and reinvest you faith into God, Who gave it to you. Can we take a little journey ? .. A slight eye opener perhaps .. THE DOCTOR’S VISIT : You haven’t been feeling quite like yourself for the past few months .. eventually you reach a point where you are just so sick and tired of feeling sick and tired that you make an appointment to see your doctor. In the consulting room, you sit with your doctor and discuss all the symptoms that you have been experiencing. After listening to you the doctor mentions that he is not very happy with what you have been explaining to him, and he says that he would like to run some tests. Wanting to know what is wrong with you, you nervously agree to have the tests done. So your blood is drawn, your scans are done and your x-rays are taken. Once all the tests have been completed, you once again sit with your doctor, who tells you to make a follow-up appointment with him in three days time in order for the two of you to discuss your test results. With slight anxiety you make your next appointment and you leave. Three days pass slowly by and eventually results morning arrives. A little apprehensively you enter the room and take your seat opposite your doctor. In front of him you see the file with your name on, you and your doctor glance at each other before he opens the file, pulls out the test results and says to you .. “I am afraid I have some bad news” You take the report and as you begin to read your results you feel your heart sinking in your chest, because there you see printed in black and white that you have been diagnosed with the illness or disease that you have dreaded .. Without a thought .. faith starts to rise up in you as you immediately trust and believe every word on that medical report .. “FAITH IN THE DOCTOR AND HIS MEDICAL REPORT” ARE YOU AWARE OF WHAT GOD SAYS ? .. (Prayers offered in faith will save those who are sick, and the Lord will cure them.) If you have sinned, you will be forgiven.. James 5 : 15 Why won’t we believe Him ? .. Why won’t we put our faith in Him ? THE NEWSPAPER : On your way to the office you buy the newspaper. Knowing that you will be at work a little earlier than usual, it is the perfect time for you to lock yourself in your office with a hot cup of coffee and catch up on who and what has made it into the news. As you get comfortable behind your desk, you notice a headline that grabs your attention and you begin to read the article. Generally the newspapers are full of negative news, and the article you read is exactly that .. Bad, negative news. But word for word, detail for detail you take it all in. Now as you read you begin to feel all sorts of emotions about the article, it makes you angry, uneasy, uncomfortable. Without having a personal knowledge of all the facts, the more you read the more it makes you anxious and down right mad. Without a thought .. faith starts to rise up in you as you immediately trust and believe every word you read .. “FAITH IN THE NEWSPAPER AND IT’S ARTICLE” ARE YOU AWARE OF WHAT GOD SAYS ? .. (6) .. Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. (7) .. Then God's peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus .. Philippians 4 : 6 - 7 Why won’t we believe Him ? .. Why won’t we put our faith in Him ? YOUR CAREER : Job hunting .. a very stressful, very emotional process .. days, weeks and even months of filling out applications and going for interviews .. a tiring process that many times leaves you feeling hopeless and despondent. But then it happens .. the day finally arrives when your determination pays off .. the day arrives when you get the call. There is a company that wants to offer you a position .. they phone you in order to set up an appointment for you to go in and discuss the final details of their offer, and to sign the necessary paperwork. Once all discussions have been completed .. all parties have agreed and all the paperwork has been signed .. you leave the companies premises a proud new employee in possession of the all important Letter of Employment. According to your Letter of Employment from the company, you begin working for them on the 1st day of the new month and you will receive your salary on the 25th day of every month. It seemed like a lifetime for you .. but eventually your first day at work arrives and excitedly you report for duty, ready to jump right in .. eager to give the company your very best in order to receive your hard earned salary. Do you realise that everyday you go into the office, you are essentially giving your expertise away in advance, for an entire month because you feel that you can trust your company enough to pay you at the end of the month. Without a thought .. faith starts to rise up in you as you immediately trust and believe every word you read on your Letter of Employment and your proposed salary agreement .. “FAITH IN THE COMPANY AND IT’S LETTER” ARE YOU AWARE OF WHAT GOD SAYS ? .. Young lions go hungry and may starve, but those who seek the LORD'S help have all the good things they need .. Psalms 34 : 10 Why won’t we believe Him ? .. Why won’t we put our faith in Him ? YOUR FINANCES : After a long day at work, you eventually arrive home .. before going into your home you grab the mail from your mail box. These days the very sight of mail makes you nervous to the core .. accounts, accounts and more accounts. And sure enough as you go through the envelopes there it is .. the very account you were hoping would somehow just disappear. There it is in your hand .. so you tear open the envelop and in shear frustration your eyes fall on the amount owing .. R 3000.000 .. What are you going to do now ? Well already in a flat panic, you make your next move .. you go into your bank account to check your balance .. and naturally as you suspected, you have nowhere near enough money in your account to pay what you owe .. R 200.00 to pay a R 3000.00 account. Without a thought .. faith starts to rise up in you as you immediately trust and believe every word and every figure that you see before you .. “FAITH IN YOUR DEBT AND IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT” ARE YOU AWARE OF WHAT GOD SAYS ? .. The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it .. Proverbs 10 : 22 Why won’t we believe Him ? .. Why won’t we put our faith in Him ? THE NEWS : After another long day at the office it is finally time to kick your feet and relax .. the homework is done, everyone is bathed, the dinner has been served, the kids are in bed .. and now it is your TV time. Innocently you turn to the news channel .. and this is where the mess begins .. stories about strike action across the country .. stories about violent crime .. stories about rising food and fuel prices .. stories about our failing economy .. stories about fraud and corruption .. and so it goes on and on and on. Before you realise it the news has done nothing but push your fear and anxiety up to a whole new level. Now instead of feeling relaxed you .. are feeling frightened, fearful, anxious and very insecure about everything. Without a thought .. faith starts to rise up in you as you immediately trust and believe every story that you hear .. “FAITH IN THE FEAR PROVOKING, NEGATIVE NEWS REPORTS” ARE YOU AWARE OF WHAT GOD SAYS ? .. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man .. Psalms 118 : 8 Why won’t we believe Him ? .. Why won’t we put our faith in Him ? .. BRUTAL HONESTY .. Honesty .. especially with yourself is the only way to get yourself off the winding road that leads to nowhere .. and get yourself back onto the path of walking where you belong .. HAND IN HAND WITH JESUS !! If any of the earlier examples sounded familiar to you .. if you could see yourself or relate even a little then you will understand just how easy it is to be deceived into investing your faith in all the wrong places. But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently and earnestly seek Him [out] .. Hebrews 11 : 6 God and God alone is the Author and the Finisher of your faith .. and unless you put your faith in God and exclusively trust and believe in Him .. you will never experience the magnitude of everything that God has for you. His love .. His Grace .. His mercy .. His compassion .. His favor .. His blessings .. His promises .. IT IS ALL YOURS.. but you have to have faith in God in order to receive His gifts. For the gospel reveals how God puts people right with himself: it is through faith from beginning to end. As the scripture says, "The person who is put right with God through faith shall live." .. Romans 1 : 17 Now it is very important to keep this message in context .. without trying to distract from or distort the Truth .. .. PUT YOUR FAITH IN THE TRUTH .. Love is made perfect in us in order that we may have courage on the Judgment Day; and we will have it because our life in this world is the same as Christ's .. 1 John 4 : 17 This is not a message to tell you that going to the doctor is the wrong thing to do .. it is a message that says .. if and when you are required to visit the doctor .. please, please, please do not put your faith in your doctor when true healing lies in Gods hands .. PUT YOUR FAITH IN JESUS .. Plead the blood of Jesus over your diagnosis .. Believe and Receive your healing in Jesus Name .. and thank Jesus for leading you to the very best doctor possible. This is not a message to tell you that reading the newspaper is the wrong thing to do .. it is a message that says .. if and when you read the newspaper .. please, please, please do not put your faith in the articles that cause negative emotions and fears to rise in your life when the only real Truth lies in Gods hands .. PUT YOUR FAITH IN JESUS .. Plead the blood of Jesus over you and your family .. Believe and Receive your peace, joy and security in Jesus Name .. and thank Jesus for being the only Lord and King over your life. This is not a message to tell you that going to work and being a hardworking employee is the wrong thing to do .. it is a message that says .. when you go to work .. please, please, please do not put your faith in your company or in your salary when all great provision is released out of Gods hands .. PUT YOUR FAITH IN JESUS .. Plead the blood of Jesus over your job and your company .. Believe and Receive God’s favor at your company .. and thank Jesus for opening the door that enabled you to get your position at the company. This is not a message to tell you that being aware of your budget is the wrong thing to do .. it is a message that says .. when you get your accounts and you see your bank balance .. please, please, please do not put your faith in your budget when once again all great provision is released out of God’s hands .. PUT YOUR FAITH IN JESUS .. Plead the blood of Jesus over your finances .. Believe and Receive the finances you require in Jesus Name .. and thank Jesus for being your personal Provider according to His promises. This is not a message to tell you that watching the news is the wrong thing to do .. it is a message that says .. if and when you do watch the news .. please, please, please do not put your faith into your fears and anxieties when absolute freedom and liberty lies in Gods hands .. PUT YOUR FAITH IN JESUS .. Plead the blood of Jesus over you and your family .. Believe and Receive your protection in Jesus Name .. and thank Jesus for being your only Rock, your Refuge and your Fortress. God has declared so many, many miracles and wonders into your life .. however in order for you to receive God’s blessings you are going to have to put ALL your faith .. ALL your belief .. and ALL your trust in Him and Him alone. The world will let you down and deceive you time and time again .. but if you commit to believing Jesus and you turn you’re faith in Him loose .. He will reveal Himself to you and His blessings will surely begin to follow you and even overtake you. DO NOT THINK LIKE THE WORLD THINKS .. IF YOU DO ..EVENTUALLY YOU WILL START ACTING LIKE THE WORLD ACTS. Comments are closed.
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