Build The Weight Of Your Faith

I trust that you are well in the Lord.

This month I reflect back at our faith and ask myself, Is there anything we can do more than believeing God so that our faith in Him yields? Well, I figure that indeed there is.
Many times we just trust and feel strongly in our spirits that we are going to Get It -Whatever "It" is.
But, could it be possible that God expects us to do something more than just believe that it is going to happen?

How much does your faith weigh? Simply put, if i believe God for a car and you also believe Him for one, what marks the difference in intensity between your faith and mine? I trust that now you get my line of thoughts.

Look at this scripture.

John 11:21-34

New King James Version (NKJV)

²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”


Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy
²⁸ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was^[a] in the place where Martha met Him. ³¹ Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”<sup>[b]

32</sup> Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

Martha has words that are full of faith. She acknowledges that Jesus has power to stop death and even change a dead situation.
But what happens after vs 22? After such strong statement of faith, Jesus does not immediately swing into action. In fact, what she gets is a dialogue from the King of all glory- The Almighty.

Does your prayer provoke God to answer you with words or action?

In vs 32, Mary falls down in act of worship and repeats the same exact faith-filled words of Martha, her sister. When Jesus saw this, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. He was moved with compassion into action.

Though Mary and Martha used similar words of faith, it appears that Mary's Faith has more weight than Martha's.
Sometimes we make confessions that are full of faith but which have no weight.

So what is it that gave Mary's Faith the weight to move God?
1. A life of Consecration. In Luke 7:36-50, she met Jesus when she was lost in sin and a social reject. After this encounter, she set herself apart for God.

2. She was compelled by Love. Luke 7:47

3. A life of prayer. Mary was not appearing before Jesus for the first time to pray. She was used to praying even when everything was okay. People who pray only when they are hard pressed have very light faith.

4. A life of worship. It is recorded that twice she broke an alabaster box to worship Jesus. Once in the house of Simon Luke 7 and then in her house John 12. 

How can you build the weight of your faith?
 in order to build the weight of your faith you must ask yourself these questions?
1. How much can i sacrifice for my Faith?
Sometimes the weight of faith is built by fasting as you trust and sometimes by giving an offering in earnest. 
2. How often do i trust God and how often do i trust myself?
3. What is the level of my intimacy with God? 


Words of faith evoke words of faith and actions of faith evoke actions of faith! 

 

The Future is Bright

I salute you in Jesus Name and welcome you to experience the Lord set you free and enlarge your territories as we share this post for the month of September.

I encourage you also to read the previous posts as they will bless you and if you have read them before, they will remind you what God is committed to do in your life.
 Visit also my website for more information.

Now, as we get into the topic above; The Future is Bright, I want to submit to you that if there is a target in your life the devil is aiming for, it is your Hope.
The devil knows that the day he kills your hope is the day he will finish you. In other words, when people suggest to you to read the Bible and in your heart you feel you have done that already and come to no help, when they tell you to pray and you feel you have done that too, when they say to trust God and you feel it should have worked by now, you are already prey to the devil.

So what can you do? Stay on this page and find out.
Every one of us has come to a place where we are surrounded by darkness and it doesn't appear that we can come out of it. There are times when you look behind you and feel tired of those experiences and you look ahead and it appears like an endless desert of similar circumstances, you want to come to the end but it doesn't appear like the end in near.

Look at this story

Acts 3

New King James Version (NKJV)

A Lame Man Healed

3 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. ² And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; ³ who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. ⁴ And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” ⁵ So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 

 This man had already seen Peter and John but Peter says, "Look at us". You wonder and I will tell you why.
It is because this man was used to seeing people who would or would not give him anything. He was used to asking but he was not used to expecting. Peter's statement made Him expect. In other words, he brought His hope alive and as it is well illustrated, when one has hope, then he can receive.

What I intend to do this month is to bring your hope alive again for all those things you have given up on. This is September and we have just entered into the last quarter of the year 2013. Are you still hoping for the same things your were hoping when the year began? Why are you not if you ain't? Did you achieve them already or did you lose hope? Are you still hoping for your deliverance? Are you still praying for your loved ones and  friends hoping that they will be transformed? Are you still hoping for that healing? Are you still hoping to go to school? Are you still expecting to get a spouse or have you resolved to "if it is God's will". Are you still hoping to get a job or have you, like this man, turned to asking without expecting? Are you still believing that this is your time to: get married, start that business, acquire that land, launch that idea, see the miracles of God? Have you lost hope for the future or do you still think it is bright?

It is time to ask again and expect!!! It is time to pray again and believe!!! It is time to try again and hope!!!
Well, look at this statement and keep confessing it,
    "WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE ANYTHING IN THE FUTURE IT IS BECAUSE THE FUTURE IS SO BRIGHT YOU CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT IT!!!"

Without a Past!!!

Recently somebody reminded me something from my past... It was there and then that I discovered the following truths.

1. Everyone who reminds me of my past does so because they belong there (in the past)
2. I have a past like everybody else but i no longer live there.
3. If you spend today dwelling on yesterday, then you are not living your today but your past.

This made me go back to the scriptures with one aim only... to find out what the Bible says about this topic. This post tells you what I found out.
 To begin with, look at this scripture
Isaiah 43  
¹⁸ “Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
¹⁹ Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
God says that the past must be allowed to be the past.
I discovered that God is so concerned about NEW 

     The word new has been used more than 200 times in the Bible. That stirs some interest in me. Why would one word appear so many times throughout scriptures?
Leviticus 23:16

Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.

Leviticus 26:10

You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new.

 Numbers 16:30 But if the Lord creates a new thing...

Numbers 18:12 “All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and the grain...

Deuteronomy 22:8 “When you build a new house...

Deuteronomy 24:5 [ Miscellaneous Laws ] “When a man has taken a new wife...

1 Samuel 6:7 Now therefore, make a new cart...

1 Samuel 20:5 And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon...

1 Kings 11:29

Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field.

.Psalm 33:3 Sing to Him a new song...

Psalm 40:3 He has put a new song in my mouth...

Isaiah 42:9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.

Isaiah 62:2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name...

Isaiah 65:17 [ The Glorious New Creation ] “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth...

Jeremiah 26:10 When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the New Gate...

Jeremiah 31:31 [ A New Covenant ] “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant...

Lamentations 3:23 They are new every morning...

Ezekiel 11:19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit...

Ezekiel 18:31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit...

Matthew 9:17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins

Matthew 26:28 For this is My blood of the new covenant...

Luke 5:36 Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment ...

1 Corinthians 5:7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump...

Ephesians 4:24 and that you put on the new man...

I will tell you why God is so concerned about NEW .

You see He has made a new Jerusalem

                             Revelation 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem...

and nothing OLD  can enter in the new Jerusalem.

only NEW people with a NEW name shall enter the NEW Jerusalem.

But this one here made my mind to spin...

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Did you see what I saw?

When one accepts Christ as Lord and Saviour, Jesus makes ALL THINGS new!!! Hallelujah! The first thing Jesus takes away from the repentant sinner is not the sins but the PAST!!! Glory to God!!! I no longer have a past! I am a new creation! The old is GONE! Behold all things have become new!!! I am qualified for the NEW heaven. I am ready for the NEW Jerusalem. I long for the city whose architect and builder is Christ. Glory to Jesus!

Nobody dares to remind me of the past because I don't have one. I am NEW!!!

I feel like bursting with joy in the Holy Spirit. Come on somebody. If you are not in Christ, you need to try Jesus Today!

He is concerned about making EVERYTHING in your life NEW!

Never Retreat.

Ephesians 6:11- 17
Paul writes to the believers at Ephesus and tells them to take up the whole armour of God. He also gives them reasons why:
          1: In verse 11>> That you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
          2. In verse 13>> That you may be able to stand in the evil day.
 With the emphasis laid in verse 11 and 13, it is obvious that you cannot make it with half the armour or without one of the items.
Here is a list of that armour.

•    Belt of Truth John 14:6
•    Breastplate of Righteousness II Cor 5:21
•    Boots of the Gospel of Peace Isaiah 9:6
•    Shield of Faith Hebrews 11:6
•    Helmet of Salvation John 3:7
•    Sword of the spirit - The Word of God Hebrews 4:12

      Without a belt no soldier can even stand in the battle field. If he does he would have to put down all weapons and keep his Trousers in check with his hands. Grenades and pistols are also fastenned on the belt.
      Without the breastplate (an equivalent of bullet-proof vest) you take the enemies weapons barechest and die.
      Without  boots the enemy only needs to lay thorns or gravel on your way and you cannot advance to attack. (pause here for a while and ask yourself these questions. Since the boots symbolize advancement: have you made any steps since you got saved? are still repenting of the same sins you stumbled on before your salvation? have you advanced the kingdom of God by reaching out to others and making disciples? what advancement have you made in this Kingdom? )
      The shield of Faith protects us from the devil's Darts (I paused there for a while and asked myself, "Why does the devil fight us with darts knowing they cannot kill us? Then i discovered that darts symbolize all elements of discouragement and frustration that the devil fights us with. Have you often despaired in life? Have you felt forgotten? Have you felt as if you are not sure that God called you, that He speaks to you, that He hears when you call, that He is about to send you help? Have you felt discouraged? Take heart for these are but darts!!! You can ward them off by Faith!!!
       Without a helmet the enemy will smite you with just a stone like David killed Goliath (Like a dog).
Salvation is a helmet for war. without it you are already destroyed. For more on this Contact me.
       The Sword is the only weapon of attack listed here. Without the Word and Holy Spirit the christian lives a life of defense. You need to get tired of defending yourself and now begin to attack the enemy. Friend you need to fill yourself with God's Word.

NOW; here is where it gets interesting. Take a minute and review the above items of war and see how many of them cover your back!!!
You discovered well. "NONE OF THEM!!!" This implies that once you start this fight you can NEVER REATREAT NOR SURRENDER for in the day you do so, you will die. Gen 2:17 

Ephesians 6

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

The Stir

Jesus found a man at the pool of Bethesda.
He knew that the man had been there in that condition desiring healing for a long time.
Maybe his  people had left him there and abandoned him for many years.

His only hope was that one day the angel of God would come and stir the water and it would be his day to be healed.
He had long quit struggling with other sick folk who could run, (because he was lame) and he silently wished that all others would receive their healing and it would soon be his turn. (This is important in our waiting on God because God has enough grace and goodness for all of us. If your neighbour is blessed, rejoice because it will soon be your turn.)

Finally his day came.
But not the way he had dreamt it for 38 years. This time it was not the water that would be troubled and not by an angel.
The Man who had before sent His angels to stir up the waters came personally. He was not there to trouble the water but to trouble the invalid's faith. To do this He asked Him a question, "Do you want to be made whole"

Bingo!!!
He had achieved his goal. The invalid's faith was so troubled. He began asking himself," what kind of question is that? Would i be here if I did not want to be healed? Does he know how long I have been here?" and so on. He then answered, "Sir I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the well"

Jesus then realised that He had managed to trouble the man's heart and He spoke the command,"Rise up, pick your mat and walk!"

Today God works by troubling our hearts towards actions of faith. Do you feel troubled by your condition and feel that you want out of it? Good! Now take an action of faith because your heart is stirred by this WORD already.

You are in for a STIR!!!

John 5

New King James Version (NKJV)

A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda

5 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ² Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda,^[a] having five porches. ³ In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. ⁴ For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.^{[b] 5} Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

⁷ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
⁸ Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” ⁹ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.