Sign up to receive our daily articles and receive 2 FREE MP3 Teaching Downloads
by Jeremy Lopez automatically.
(New Subscribers Only Please)
*The Seeing Process of a Seer
*What Next God? Discouraged After Your Prophetic Word.
A $20.00 Value
Book
By Roberts Liardon
Price:$24.99
Sale! $19.99
Price:
Sale! $19.99
Click HERE to order.
"Now faith is the substances of things HOPED for and the evidence of things not see." Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
It Is Called PROCESSING
Almost anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time has heard these scriptures. They are the staple scriptures that Christians live by or so we say, but in times of spiritual processing (hardships) they either become real to you or you jump ship and the processing stops. A few years ago during a time of intense personal processing I was having one of those long sleepless nights. You know the nights I'm talking about. The nights where all the problems of your life seem to be lined up waiting their turn to throw themselves at you and they all start with "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?" I truly did not know what I was going to do. Though it was the middle of the night the darkness that was pressing in on me made the actual night seem like daylight. Then I heard the still small voice of the Father say, "It's By Faith." It was oh so quiet, but I clearly heard it, "It's By Faith."
Though we have preached it, sang it, wrote about it in every way possible way, LIVING by FAITH is totally different than talking about it. I use to sit in front of my television and watch the Christian telethons. (I don't do that any more.) I would hear the preachers tell how they gave a $500 dollar offering and before the end of the day, "Voila!" they had a check in their hands for $10,000, or they would give $1000 offering, and someone would pay off their mortgage. WOW! I would hear the preachers say, "God said to give a pledge of…" and they would tell you the amount God told them to tell you to give and then promise you that you would get a hundred fold return in a certain amount of time, but you know, it just never worked that way for me.
Faith Is Also a SEED
It is true, "God IS a REWARDER of those who seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) We ARE to GIVE unto the Lord with our substances, that is all part of the scripture, and giving is a BIG part of Faith. However a SEED does not instantly sprout and produce fruit. It takes time. It is a Process. That is the part we don't hear a lot about - the processing. Of course we know that telling that part does not make for good television, but friends the heroes of our faith, Abraham, Isaac, David, John the Baptist, and even JESUS were ALL processed in their faith. The Father of our Faith, Abraham waited 25 years for the promised heir.
Romans 4:20 tells us Abraham's faith was accounted to him as righteousness. "He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness." Rom 4:20-24 (NKJV) He knew the one who had promised was faithful, and so he waited faithfully for the fulfillment of what was promised.
The walk of faith is a relationship NOT an event. Unfortunately, we have commercialized the walk of faith, so much that we no longer speak of faith as a relationship with God, but as a gumball machine, put in your offerings and scriptures and out comes whatever you are believing for. No pain, no fuss and NO waiting required, just instant manifestation of what you want. I was as guilty of that kind of faith (not really faith at all) as anyone, until my Heavenly Father spoke to me one day and said, "I'm tired of my bride looking at what is in my hand, I want her to look me in the eyes. I want her to lay her head on my chest and hear my heart beat." I was broken hearted by how I had treated my Heavenly Father. From that moment on I saw My Faith in a totally different way.
The scripture says, "No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly." Psalm 84:11 (NKJV) Which means - those who believe in him, but we do not seek him for the THINGS - but we have THINGS - because we have sought after Him.
His Plan Is BEST
As long as we walk this earth we will have difficulties and afflictions. Some are for the moment, some for a lifetime, but Jesus overcame all of them for us. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)
Although I may be affected by the issues of this life, they do not affect the outcome of my life. "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." Jeremiah 29:11 (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
When the answer I have waited so long for is replaced by a NEW NEEDED answer, I wait securely in the relationship with my Heavenly Father in whom I place my faith. The Apostle Paul tells Timothy to stand strong in faith when he says to him:
"Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." 2 Timothy 1:12 (NKJV)
If we wait a day, or a year or a lifetime, for the answer to come we are still totally complete; we are lacking nothing in him. So as we wait for our promise to appear, we know in our spirit this one awesome thing….
We are already in the fullness of our Father's love for us and have total confidence in his faithfulness. "I will put My trust in Him." Hebrews 2:13 (NKJV)
Georgina Buchanan
Visitor Comments (0)
