"I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." ~ Mark 11:23
What is faith? Hebrew 11: 1 (NASB) says "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." To make it clearer the Living Bible Paraphrased translation says it like this: "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead."
Who do we place our faith in? In Jesus! "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 13:14 ESV)
Let me say that the "whatever" or "want" or "things hoped for" must be aligned to God's will. God is more interested in giving us what we need rather than what we want. He knows what is best at that moment we are asking. If something we prayed for has not come to pass, we may want to examine ourselves before we make assumptions that He said "no" or does not care for us. These are a few possible reasons that will hinder our answers:
1) unrepented sins: "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;" (Ps.66:18 NIV) Also see John 9:31.
2) doubt: "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James 1:6-8)
3) wrong motives: "And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure." (James 4:3 NLT)
4) enemy: “Don’t be frightened, Daniel, for your request has been heard in heaven and was answered the very first day you began to fast before the Lord and pray for understanding; that very day I was sent here to meet you. But for twenty-one days the mighty Evil Spirit who overrules the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the top officers of the heavenly army, came to help me, so that I was able to break through these spirit rulers of Persia." (Daniel 10: 12-13 TLB emphasis added)
Do you know that the Angels are the ones sent with your answers from God? Listen to what Psalm 103:20 "Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!" (NASB)
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:2) Our angel may not come in the form it did for Daniel, but God uses strangers and those you know to bring what you asked for! Let that settle in your spirit for a moment. I'm sure you can remember a time when "someone" helped you out that didn't know your need. Allow me to encourage you that if God did it once, He will do it again! Don't lose hope or faith! That's my evangelistic plug-in!
Now, I want to bring to your attention to this fact: most times our answers to what we are "hoping for" will not necessarily come the way we think they will!
This video clip is a great example of "faith" that moves mountains. Take a moment now to watch it and then continue reading the rest of this post. The video is about 10 minutes long.
Now let's dig a little further as to understand how God's thought's are not like ours, neither are His ways:
God could have easily touched this child in the hospital as her mother prayed by her beside - but He didn't. He could have touched her the first few minutes the Pastor prayed for her in the service - but He didn't. The mother could have lost faith because she didn't SEE anything happening - but she didn't. The saints could have just prayed over her and continue the service - but they didn't. Instead they ALL pressed in until something happen.
Why did it have to take ALL that? Why couldn't God just heal the child the moment her mother set her mind to take her out of the hospital and bring her to His Sanctuary. The child was still in a coma and she removed her from the doctor's care and put her into God's. That was an act of faith! Yet, God did not move then.
Let me say that there is strength and power in numbers: "Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.!(Lev.26:8 NIV) There is also a corporate anointing that is released when we assemble together in one heart and mind as demonstrated throughout the book of Acts. There is also power in agreement "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:19 NIV) and finally but surely not least is the faith (belief) in JESUS: “In solemn truth I tell you, anyone believing in me shall do the same miracles I have done, and even greater ones, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask him for anything, using my name, and I will do it, for this will bring praise to the Father because of what I, the Son, will do for you." (John 14:12 TLB)
The congregation's faith and persistence despite what they felt or didn't caused God to move! In Matthew 15:58 it says "And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." Faith is NEEDED! Persistence is NEEDED! Remember the story of the woman who persisted? (Luke 18:1-8) This woman did not grow weary in her plea and neither did those who prayed for this child - believing that God IS who He says He is: Jehovah Rapha (Healer)!
Why God chose to wait and do it this way is more than we can comprehend. Think for a moment the Glory God received not only from the mother of this child, not only the congregation and those who may have entered the sanctuary for the very first time seeking to see if "Jesus is Real" as many testified about. But He also revealed His Love and power to the multitude that was watching via television and internet! God has an agenda of His own that we can never perceive.
I'm sure you've heard of the saying "killing two birds with one stone"? Well, not only will He bring breakthrough for one but He will use that "one" to bring breakthrough to many!!! Glory be to God!
May God give us grace, strength and perseverance to P.U.S.H - Press Until Something Happens!!!!
I pray that your faith has been reaffirmed in Christ by this post and video! Remember.......
What is faith? Hebrew 11: 1 (NASB) says "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." To make it clearer the Living Bible Paraphrased translation says it like this: "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead."
Who do we place our faith in? In Jesus! "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 13:14 ESV)
Let me say that the "whatever" or "want" or "things hoped for" must be aligned to God's will. God is more interested in giving us what we need rather than what we want. He knows what is best at that moment we are asking. If something we prayed for has not come to pass, we may want to examine ourselves before we make assumptions that He said "no" or does not care for us. These are a few possible reasons that will hinder our answers:
1) unrepented sins: "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;" (Ps.66:18 NIV) Also see John 9:31.
2) doubt: "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James 1:6-8)
3) wrong motives: "And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure." (James 4:3 NLT)
4) enemy: “Don’t be frightened, Daniel, for your request has been heard in heaven and was answered the very first day you began to fast before the Lord and pray for understanding; that very day I was sent here to meet you. But for twenty-one days the mighty Evil Spirit who overrules the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the top officers of the heavenly army, came to help me, so that I was able to break through these spirit rulers of Persia." (Daniel 10: 12-13 TLB emphasis added)
Do you know that the Angels are the ones sent with your answers from God? Listen to what Psalm 103:20 "Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!" (NASB)
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:2) Our angel may not come in the form it did for Daniel, but God uses strangers and those you know to bring what you asked for! Let that settle in your spirit for a moment. I'm sure you can remember a time when "someone" helped you out that didn't know your need. Allow me to encourage you that if God did it once, He will do it again! Don't lose hope or faith! That's my evangelistic plug-in!
Now, I want to bring to your attention to this fact: most times our answers to what we are "hoping for" will not necessarily come the way we think they will!
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. ~Isaiah 55:8
This video clip is a great example of "faith" that moves mountains. Take a moment now to watch it and then continue reading the rest of this post. The video is about 10 minutes long.
Now let's dig a little further as to understand how God's thought's are not like ours, neither are His ways:
God could have easily touched this child in the hospital as her mother prayed by her beside - but He didn't. He could have touched her the first few minutes the Pastor prayed for her in the service - but He didn't. The mother could have lost faith because she didn't SEE anything happening - but she didn't. The saints could have just prayed over her and continue the service - but they didn't. Instead they ALL pressed in until something happen.
Why did it have to take ALL that? Why couldn't God just heal the child the moment her mother set her mind to take her out of the hospital and bring her to His Sanctuary. The child was still in a coma and she removed her from the doctor's care and put her into God's. That was an act of faith! Yet, God did not move then.
Let me say that there is strength and power in numbers: "Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.!(Lev.26:8 NIV) There is also a corporate anointing that is released when we assemble together in one heart and mind as demonstrated throughout the book of Acts. There is also power in agreement "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:19 NIV) and finally but surely not least is the faith (belief) in JESUS: “In solemn truth I tell you, anyone believing in me shall do the same miracles I have done, and even greater ones, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask him for anything, using my name, and I will do it, for this will bring praise to the Father because of what I, the Son, will do for you." (John 14:12 TLB)
The congregation's faith and persistence despite what they felt or didn't caused God to move! In Matthew 15:58 it says "And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." Faith is NEEDED! Persistence is NEEDED! Remember the story of the woman who persisted? (Luke 18:1-8) This woman did not grow weary in her plea and neither did those who prayed for this child - believing that God IS who He says He is: Jehovah Rapha (Healer)!
Why God chose to wait and do it this way is more than we can comprehend. Think for a moment the Glory God received not only from the mother of this child, not only the congregation and those who may have entered the sanctuary for the very first time seeking to see if "Jesus is Real" as many testified about. But He also revealed His Love and power to the multitude that was watching via television and internet! God has an agenda of His own that we can never perceive.
I'm sure you've heard of the saying "killing two birds with one stone"? Well, not only will He bring breakthrough for one but He will use that "one" to bring breakthrough to many!!! Glory be to God!
May God give us grace, strength and perseverance to P.U.S.H - Press Until Something Happens!!!!
I pray that your faith has been reaffirmed in Christ by this post and video! Remember.......
"All things are possible to him who believes."
Mark 9:23
No comments:
Post a Comment