Friday, November 28, 2008

Are You Willing to Fight? It's Worth It!

Walking by faith is a fight. God has declared, "the just shall live by faith". (Heb 10:38) God has called us to engage into a fight. Faith is a fight! It's the spirit realm fighting against the natural, physical realm. It's the fight between what God says in His Word and what the god of this world (satan) says to you by what you see, feel, touch, through your senses.If you are going to live by faith, you must know that you will be in a fight.

When everybody else is going downstream, and you're tempted to do the same because it looks easier and makes more sense, you will have to put your oars in the water and start rowing upstream against the forces of nature. This is the fight of faith. Pressing towards what is right and true. Always rowing against the current that wants to take you downstream away from the truth. No matter how weary your arms get from rowing, keep the oars in the water with some pressure on it. Keep pressing forward to your own hurt if you must to keep going upstream. This is living by faith. Many start out with enthusiasm and excitement but soon wear out and take their oars out of the water and begin drifting back to the world and it's ways.

Paul calls this fight of faith that we are in "a good fight". (1 Tim 1:18) It's good because we have a good God that enables us to fight the good fight (of faith). Make no mistake about it, to walk by faith is to engage into warfare where you are required to fight. But again, it's a good fight because our Commander Jesus has already won the victory over our enemy the the devil, but we are required to enforce that victory by holding onto the Truth of the Word of God and continuing upstream until we enter our final destination which is the promise of heaven, the Kingdom of God. As we enter this place we will have known that we have kept the faith which has honored our God. Finally there is laid up for us the crown of Righteousness which the Lord Jesus will give to us on that Day. (2 Tim 4:8) We will be glad we fought our way to the finish line and didn't give up.

Faith is a fight, but it's a good fight because we win, that's God's promise to us. So keep that oar in the water and keep the pressure on (the devil) and think victory because victory belongs to those that believe and just flat refuse to take their oars out of the water.

I'll see you at the finish line!!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Are You Walking On The Water Today?

To believe the word of God over what I see and feel is a "walking on the water experience." Peter stepped out of the boat by responding to the word of Jesus. (Matt 14:28-31) Jesus said to Peter, "Come", and on that word Peter stepped over the side of the boat and walked on the water just like Jesus. Peter had enough faith in what Jesus said to walk on the water until he took his eyes off Jesus and his mind off of what Jesus said, "Come", and instead he looked at something else. He looked at the boisterous waves and heard their roar. His mind was no longer thinking about the word from God, "Come", but it was now thinking about what he was hearing and seeing.

Peter now evaluated his situation by what the circumstances were declaring and they were saying, " you fool, you can't walk on me, because I can't hold you up. Man wasn't made to walk on water, it's impossible". And with that thought in Peter's mind, he now believed what the waves were saying instead of what God (Jesus) said. Peter lost sight of the word and believed the lie of the circumstances around him and he began to sink. That which he once believed could no longer hold him up, and what he now believes is stealing his faith and causing him to sink.

Peter's faith had turned to fear. Peter was still believing something but his believing is now motivated by fear (in the devil and what he said) instead of faith (in God and what He said). But the good news is, that in the midst of that fear and his sinking, Peter called out to Jesus and asked Him to save him. In the midst of that bad situation where Peter's faith was failing to keep him afloat and he was looking at sure death, Peter turned his mind back to Jesus. He got his focus off the circumstances and back on Jesus. As soon as he did that, faith arose in his heart and then he spoke with his mouth, "save me", and that is all Jesus needed to hear, for He reached out to Peter and pulled him up and saved him.

I personally believe that Jesus would of stood there and watched Peter drown if Peter would not of called out to Jesus to save him. ( I know that is not a comforting thought to some, but it sure helps answer the question, "why did God let that happen to me, or why did God let that happen to them). We must understand that God responds to faith, not needs. God will supply all your needs (Phil 4:19), but we first must come to Him in faith or simply said, we must believe Him.

So many of God's children just wait on God to do something and say things like, "can't He see this situation I'm in, why won't He do anything, doesn't He care that I'm dying?" None of these sayings are words of faith. Peter's words, "Lord save me," were words of faith. Jesus responded to that word by saving him. It works the same for you and me. We step out in faith believing what God has said in His word. We keep our eye on that word and allow that word to do whatever it says it will do. We don't look at anything else until that word produces the finished work (that what we are believing for). This is called walking by faith and not by sight.(2 Cor 5:7)


This is the way God always intended man/women to walk with Him. Man was made to believe and trust God for everything. When man (Adam) sinned he separated Himself from God and from this faith relationship. Now man instead of believing God, was now believing himself by what his senses were telling him. The good news is, Jesus made a way for man to get back into that faith relationship once again with God. Once we enter in through Jesus, we now must live our lives according to God's design and He said, " the just shall live by faith."


The chose is ours. God is not moved by our needs, He is moved by faith. Let's you and I believe Him today so that we can have these "water walking" experiences that His word promises to us. And if you are going to walk on the water, (on the issues of life) then you must always be mindful of this: "it is impossible for God to lie" (Heb 6:8, Titus 1:2, Numbers 23:19), therefore if He said it, that's just the way it is................Be Blessed (in your believing)

Saturday, November 1, 2008

God Never Fails. Then Why Do I?

I just wanted to share what was on my mind and heart this morning as I was before the Lord. This is a little different from my usual posts. The following are my thoughts and God's responses to me through His Word.

Your (God's) Word never fails, but man fails with the word.

Your Word never fails, but I fail with it by not doing what it says.

The Word doesn't fail, I fail with the word.

2 Tim 2:5 says "if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules."

I must do it God's way to receive from God. His way is Faith. His way is His Word. I must believe Him to receive from Him. This is God's rule. I must play according to God's rule to obtain the prize (the promise). What is the prize? Whatever I'm believing Him for.

2 Tim 2:12 says " if we deny Him, He will also deny us."

How is it that we deny Him? By not doing what He says and how to do it. By not following the word and going some other direction. How does He deny us? By not responding to our prayers and needs. We say that God says "NO" when our prayers aren't answered, but this is nothing more than God denying us because we have chosen to follow another way other than His. ( this is God's way according to 2 Cor 1:20 "for all the promises of God in Him are Yes and in Him Amen- so be it) We refuse to play the game ( I'm not demeaning prayer by calling it a game, but God uses this analogy to get His point across to us) according to the rules. God never changes (the rules for faith) therefore we must change if we are going to receive from Him. If we deny the promise by not being a doer of the word, then God will deny the benefit of that promise.

2 Tim 2:13 says "if we are faithless, He remains faithful, He can not deny Himself." We can deny His word by not believing and doing it, but God will never deny His Word to us. He will always watch over His Word to perform it when faith is present according to His rules.

This has answered me many questions today. I pray it helps you as well.