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| In January I was at a church conference in Montgomery Alabama where I heard a Word from Pastor George Matthews that resonated in my spirit. He said that Romans 15:13 revolutionized the way he looked at challenges. I had read this scripture before, but that day it seems to jump off the pages of my Bible and settle within the recesses of my heart. I have been meditating this verse since that day and it has become part of my family’s vision for this year. This verse is part of a prayer that the Apostle Paul prayed for the church at Rome. He prayed that the God of hope would fill the believers at Rome with Joy and Peace in believing. In other words, he wanted our God, the God of hope (as He calls Him) to fill the believers in Rome with an overflowing joy and a supernaturally settling peace while they were in the believing phase of a breakthrough. See, the believing phase is the phase you go through in the space between the promise and the performance; the space between your confession and the completion. It is in the space that many believers give up, get frustrated, and throw in the towel. Not only did Paul not want them to throw in their spiritual towel, but He wanted them to experience God’s Joy while they waited on the manifestation of God in their lives. Having God’s Joy should be good enough, but Paul also prayed that they would have God’s peace. Isn’t that awesome. Paul wanted them to have Joy while and the waited on God, and a peace about whatever situation they were facing. He desired for them to have this, even without any inkling of sense-realm-evidence. Meaning that they could believe that God was going to do it – whatever the “it” was – without any worldly evidence to support their belief. Believing without seeing, that’s called FAITH! So get ready to feed your faith and starve your doubts. This second installment of the Faith and Patience series is called, “Joy and Peace In Believing!” Joy and Peace In Believing (Series Intro) You're Still Going to have That Baby! Learning from Courageous Caleb You cannot continue what you have not First Started Life is a GIft for those who Stay the Course! The Power of Knowing that God Cares Know that the Attack is Against Your Dream The Right Attitude while you Wait Staying Focused While you Wait Taking The Blessing everywhere you Go! Don't let the situation you are in be IN You! Being a Blessing, Regardless of Your Situation Are you Afraid to Take God Public? Are you Ready to Live by Faith? Your Faith Sets God's Plan in Motion Don't Cast Away Your Confidence Believing for the Future, Focused on the Present! Believing for the Future, Focused on the Present (Part II) God did not bring you this far to Fail! Having Peace to make Wise Decisions Flourishing in the Midst of a Famine Applying Your Faith to Your Famine Free from the Bondage of Fear! Never Letting Go of your Dream and Trusting God while you Hold On Controlling Your Emtotions to Receive God's Best Making Holy Garments out of Flawed Material The Blessing is the Difference Maker Faith and Patience, Not Faith and Frustration Believing and Receiving the Love of God Enough Peace to remain Focused on Your Purpose God's Permanent Blessing will Outlast Temporary Challenges Looking at Life through the Lens of Faith No matter what - Keep On Going! Having Peace to Stay Focused on Purpose Hope that Does not Disappoint (Part II) Hope that Does not Disappoint (Part III) Hope that Does not Disappoint (Part IV) Hope that Does not Disappoint (Part V) Having Joy and Peace while You Live Your Life's Journey Internal Stability in the midst of External Challenges The Liberating Power of Worship A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part II A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part III A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part IV A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part V A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part VI A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part VII A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part VIII A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part IX A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part X A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part XI A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part XII A Tale of Two Sisters (Marty and Martha) Part XIII A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part XIV A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Part XV A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Martha) Pat XVI A Tale of Two Sisters (Mary and Matha) Part XVII What to DO while you Wait on God
Joy and Peace In Believing (back to the top) (Rom 15:13 NASB) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is with great joy and excitement that I embark upon a new series. I get excited about every series the Lord leads me to teach/share with you, because I know that it will preach TO me before it preaches THROUGH me. My family and I have been facing a pretty strong challenge since November of last year (2007). For the past four months we have been standing in faith and believing God for what I believe He has told me, although the situation has not gotten any better. As a matter of fact, it has gotten worse. My family and I, however, still rejoice in the fact that we love God, He loves us, and we remain rooted and grounded in His love and expectant for this situation to change. I don’t know how God is going to do it, but I sincerely believe that He will. This situation has taken me back to a series that I shared a few years ago entitled Faith and Patience – The Power Twins. Indeed, faith and patience are the power twins for the believer. Faith is the currency of the Kingdom of God. Nothing in the Kingdom operates without faith. And patience is the necessary ingredient we need to whether the storms we will face and overcome the obstacles that life brings our way. Patience is not passively waiting; Bible patience is literally a force of consistency. It is the ability to remain the same, in spite of circumstances. In January I was at a church conference in Montgomery Alabama where I heard a Word from Pastor George Matthews that resonated in my spirit. He said that Romans 15:13 revolutionized the way he looked at challenges. I had read this scripture before, but that day it seems to jump off the pages of my Bible and settle within the recesses of my heart. I have been meditating this verse since that day and it has become part of my family’s vision for this year. This verse is part of a prayer that the Apostle Paul prayed for the church at Rome. He prayed that the God of hope would fill the believers at Rome with Joy and Peace in believing. In other words, he wanted our God, the God of hope (as He calls Him) to fill the believers in Rome with an overflowing joy and a supernaturally settling peace while they were in the believing phase of a breakthrough. See, the believing phase is the phase you go through in the space between the promise and the performance; the space between your confession and the completion. It is in the space that many believers give up, get frustrated, and throw in the towel. Not only did Paul not want them to throw in their spiritual towel, but He wanted them to experience God’s Joy while they waited on the manifestation of God in their lives. Having God’s Joy should be good enough, but Paul also prayed that they would have God’s peace. Isn’t that awesome. Paul wanted them to have Joy while and the waited on God, and a peace about whatever situation they were facing. He desired for them to have this, even without any inkling of sense-realm-evidence. Meaning that they could believe that God was going to do it – whatever the “it” was – without any worldly evidence to support their belief. Believing without seeing, that’s called FAITH! So get ready to feed your faith and starve your doubts. This second installment of the Faith and Patience series is called, “Joy and Peace In Believing!” So what does this mean to you today? It means that God does not want you to become weary in well-doing. He does not want frustration to suffocate your faith. God wants you to be able to believe Him, without any sense-realm-evidence, and to have both Joy and Peace while you are waiting on the manifestation of what You believe He is going to do in your life. It is my prayer that this series charges your faith and takes you to the next level in your walk with God! Confession for this day: Lord God, I am a believer and not a doubter. I walk by faith and not by fear. I live with expectation and not frustration. I am Godly-excited about this series and I welcome Joy and Peace while I believe God. Father, I bask in your Joy and I have a peace about everything I am believing You for. This too shall come to pass! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Joy and Peace In Believing (Intro Part II) (back to the top) (Rom 15:23 NASB) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. This morning we continue the introduction of our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” I have received several responses already, with only just the introduction. I have a peace in my heart about this series and I know it is the right series at the right time. As we get into it we will learn how to combat the enemies of frustration, fear, doubt, and unbelief. The space between the promise and the performance, between your confession and the completion, between “amen” and “there it is” it is very critical space. What you do while you wait can determine how long you wait and more importantly, whether or not your prayer will ever come to pass. I encounter believers all the time who are concerned with whether or not God heard their prayer. Their concern often turns to worry, their worry gives birth to doubt, their worry and doubt manifest into fear, and eventually their fear suffocates their faith. This is why I subtitled this series, “Standing strong in the space between the promise and the performance.” Faith is not a one-time experience. Faith must become our lifestyle and it must be the foundation upon which all of our actions rest. In this series we will learn about a woman who asked a judge to right her wrong. The judge seemingly ignored her, but she was relentless. She refused to give up. She refused to throw in her towel. Since the woman was persistent and dedicated to believing that her situation was going to get handled, the judge eventually handled it. He righted her wrong and she received her answer. Jesus told that story and taught us that the lesson we can glean from her diligence is that, “Men ought always to pray and not faint” (Luke 18:1). The point being that if we faint, if we give up, if we throw in the towel, we may never see the manifestation of our prayer. We will also look at a man that received a promise from God for him and his wife to bring forth a baby. That sounds like a wonderful thing, and it was, but it took 25 years for it to happen. This man and his wife had to believe that a God they could not see would bring them a child that they could see and that He would bring them the child in their old age. The baby was not born until the man was 100 and the woman was 90. To make matters worse, the woman had been barren all her life. She could not have children at 20, much less 90. But in spite of it all they believed God and after 25 years of waiting Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. So what does this mean to you today? It means that you too can learn how to wait on God. But the point of this series is not just merely to wait, but to learn HOW to wait; to be excited in your waiting time; to literally enter every day with a joyful expectation and a peaceful heart. To have the joy that knows that God will do what He said He will do and to have the peace that wards off the enemies of worry, doubt, and fear. Yes, it is my prayer that in this series God develops an ability in you to have Joy and Peace while you are believing Him for the unseen and the not-yet manifested. Confession for this day: Lord God, I am a believer and not a doubter. I believe You. I believe Your Word. I believe You are faithful to accomplish everything You said You would do. My belief gives birth to faith. My strong faith ignites Your joy in my life. My faith and joy enable me to have an overwhelming peace; a peace that passes all understanding. My faith, joy, and peace help me to ward off and resist worry, fear, doubt, and unbelief. I remain strong in faith and I will see the manifestation of Your promises in my life. I have Joy and Peace In Believing! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Joy and Peace In Believing (Intro Part III) (back to the top) (Rom 15:23 NASB) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. This morning we continue the introduction of our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” We will soon get into this series full-bore, but I want to take the time to set the stage for the full impact of what I believe the Lord wants to do through this series. When I shared the series entitled, “Expanding your capacity to Believe God,” I shared with you that one of the greatest enemies of expanding your capacity to believe was mediocrity. Many have coined the phrase, “The enemy called average.” Yes, average is the enemy of good; good is the enemy of better; and better is the enemy of best. The point being that if we accept average and live therein we will never get to good, and the same can be said for good and etc. We are to be thankful for everything stage of our lives, but we should have an innate desire to want God’s best and to manifest His full purpose in our lives before we die. With this in mind I bring up another enemy, the enemy of this series, and that is frustration. The definition of frustration is: “A feeling of dissatisfaction, often accompanied by anxiety or depression, resulting from unfulfilled needs or unresolved problems.” This definition says it all. In the Body of Christ I frequently run across people, good people, well intentioned people, that fit this description to a tee. They are dissatisfied with the church, with God, with themselves, and with their walk. This dissatisfaction leads to worry and sometimes even depression. Yes, it is a sad commentary, but there are many Christians that have dibbled and dabbled within the abyss of depression. What has happened to them? Some way, some how they have lost their hope. They have given up on their situation, their expectation, and sometimes on God altogether. Paul warned us not to be ignorant of the devil’s schemes, because if we are he will get an advantage over us (2nd Cor 2:11). One of the greatest schemes of the devil used to stop you from believing God is to tell you that “it” won’t happen. The enemy wants you to get frustrated and throw in the towel of belief. If he can get YOU to stop believing then YOU literally stop yourself from receiving. Frustration is the enemy of hope. The definition for hope is: “The feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best; to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; to believe, desire, or trust; to feel that something desired may happen.” Hope is powerful. Hope is necessary. Hope is required for the believer. Now, you may be thinking, “But Rick, I thought faith is what is required or the believer, not hope.” But the reality is that if you lose your hope you will never get to faith. Faith adds substance to what you hope for (Heb 11:1). Faith puts the meat on the bones of hope. If you lose your hope you have forfeited your opportunity to exercise faith. I love the fact that Paul called God the “God of hope.” He is that indeed. God is a God that wants you to believe, He wants you to expect that He will do what He said He would do, He wants you to look forward with desire and with reasonable confidence. He wants you to dream big dreams and to watch Him help you to bring them to pass! So what does this mean to you today? It means God is a God of hope. In this series I believe God will resurrect dead dreams, aborted ideas, and prematurely-terminated plans. My prayer is that God rekindles the flame of your hope; that your hope would be strong, that you bubble over with overwhelming joy, and that you would be stable with His settling peace. Confession for this day: Lord God, I declare, by faith, that I keep hope alive in my life. You are my God and I know You to be my God of hope. You fill me with hope. You enable me to get past the past failures to dream again. You resurrect my dead dreams. You allow me to bring back aborted ideas and prematurely-terminated plans to the surface of my mind and my heart. I use the stumbling blocks of the past as the stepping stones of the future. I break the back of frustration and I look forward-ever with Joy and Peace in Believing! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Joy and Peace In Believing (Intro Part IV) (back to the top) (Rom 15:23 NASB) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. This morning we continue the introduction of our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” The more I mediate on this verse the more it becomes alive in me; the more I am able to believe God in spite of circumstances. In the “Expanding Your Capacity to Believe God” series I shared that you will not be able to receive what you cannot believe. The point of that series was that your capacity to receive is limited by what you are able to believe, so if you take the limits off of our limitless God, then the seemingly impossible becomes possible for you. I told you that you will never get to the faith stage if you are not able to get past the belief stage. In this series I share with you that you will never even get to the belief stage if you cannot get past the perceive stage. See, you will never believe what you do not perceive. When you consider a situation to be hopeless, then your perception becomes your reality. You never stir up the juices of possibility long enough to pray, believe, declare, of have faith for it. You simply tuck it – whatever “it” is – into your draw of hopelessness, never to withdrawn again. The Good News is that we serve a God that can turn seemingly hopeless situations around. One Word from God can take you from hopeless to hope, from impossible to possible, from dead to alive! When Paul penned this verse he was not talking about human hope, limited hope, and fragile hope. Paul prayed that the believers in Rome would literally abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit; supernatural power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, that caused the blind to see, the lame to walk, the mute to speak, and the crippled to leap! The same power that you tapped into for salvation that delivered you from the grasps of an eternal hell. This power, the power of God, the power made available to us by the Holy Spirit, is the power that Paul said that enable us to abound in hope! Yesterday I shared with you the definition for hope. What is interesting is that when I looked up the definition there was another definition listed under the standard definition that I did not share in yesterday’s message. The dictionary said, “Hope against hope: To continue to hope, although the outlook does not warrant it.” Wow! The dictionary tapped into a biblical principle; the ability to hope against hope. In this same letter to the Romans Paul spoke of the ability to hope against hope. Paul wrote this about Abraham and his ability to abound in hope, even when his circumstances were screaming for him to give up: “In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your seed be.” Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform” (Romans 4:18-21). Not only was Abraham’s body seemingly dead, but so was Sarah’s womb. His equipment and what he was working with were both seemingly dead, his situation seemed hopeless, but he still believed. Guess what? He received! So what does this mean to you today? It means that the Holy Spirit can enable you to abound in hope, even when the world would say that your situation is dead. Many have told me that my situation is dead and that I should just concede to the fact that it is over. But I, like Abraham, believe in a God that can give life to dead situations; hoping against hope! Can you? Confession for this day: Lord God, I declare, that by Your power I am able to hope against hope. It does not matter how dead my situation may seem to others, I believe in a God that can give lives to dead stuff! I can hope against hope and I abound in hope today and every day. I have great expectations. I perceive, I believe, and I will receive! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Joy and Peace In Believing (Intro Part V) (back to the top) (Rom 15:23 NASB) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. This morning we wrap up the introduction of our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” Starting next week we will begin to delve into the meat of this series. This week I simply wanted to give you a glimpse of what is to come. I have highlighted different parts of this verse thus far and this morning we take a look at the words, “In Believing.” Paul prayed that God would fill them with Joy and Peace “In Believing.” What does this mean? What does it mean to be in what I call the believing phase of a breakthrough? Webster says that the word “believe” means: to accept as true, genuine, or real. I add something to it. I say that the word “believe” means: to accept as true, genuine, or real, without the validation of sense-realm-evidence. This means that when you believe something you are accepting something as a reality, although you cannot verify it with your five senses. So you cannot see it, touch it, taste it, smell it, or hear it; but you still believe it; you still accept it as true. I don’t have to believe that I own a computer to send out Today’s Word. I can see it right in front of me and I can touch it with my hands. Once I can verify it with my senses then I go from believing to knowing. I simply know that I have it and I no longer need to believe. To take it to another level, faith comes by hearing (and receiving) the Word of God (Rom 10:17). When I receive Word from God about what I am believing, it then helps me to graduate from the belief stage to the faith stage. Faith adds substance to my hope, it adds power to my belief (Heb 11:1). The letters “ing” indicate that my belief is in the active mode. So I am actively believing for what I cannot validate with my senses. I am waiting on God for what I believe will happen, although it has not happened and I have no human or natural way to validate my expectation for it to happen. Not only that, in most cases the human or natural evidence will be directly against what I am believing for. So I have to actively believe that God is going to do what I expect Him to do, even though the evidence I do have is speaking against my expectation. I may have a doctor’s report, or another form of a report from man, but someway, somehow my belief system enables me to understand what the world has said, but still believe; and not just a passive belief, but actively believing. Meaning that I enter every day with an expectation that my situation is going to turn around. I may not know the-how, but I believe the-what! This time of actively believing can be a fragile one. The enemy will do everything he can to get us to cross over into frustration. Oftentimes the situation will get worse before it gets better. And that is why we need what Paul prayed. We need Joy and Peace while we are actively Believing! Joy gives us the excitement of expectation and peace gives us the rest that comes from an overwhelming confidence in God. We need both – Joy and Peace – while we are believing! So what does this mean to you today? It means that a so-called final word from man is not always final. It means that the conclusions of human evidence can be overturned by the power of God. It means that your belief can enable you to expect that a God that you cannot see will show up in your life in a way that you can. It means that you can have Joy and Peace In Believing! Confession for this day: Lord God, I walk by faith and not by sight. I thank You for what I can see, but I am not limited to mere sight. I can see beyond where my eyes can look. I can see with my spirit through the lens of faith. I can see beyond human limitation. I can see beyond a report of man. I can believe what You enable me to see and since I can see and believe the invisible, I know You can do the impossible in my life. I am a believer and I have Joy and Peace In Believing! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Understanding Joy (back to the top) (Gal 5:22 NASB) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” Over the next few days I will establish some working definitions for us to use in this series. The four key words we need to define are: joy, peace, faith, and patience. To get the most out of this series we must understand these four words and how to apply them to our lives. Today we start off with joy. To understand what joy is I believe we first need to understand what it is not. Joy is not happiness. Most people are familiar with happiness. Americans especially, because the phrase, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is one of the most famous phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence; listed among our "inalienable rights." The average person will tell that you they “just want to be happy.” But for the believer, we must understand that happiness is good, but joy is better. Why? Because the word happiness comes from the Old English word happenstance, where we get circumstance. Therefore, happiness is contingent upon circumstances. If my circumstances are good, I can be happy. If my circumstances are bad, then I can be sad. So I say that happiness is contingent upon happenings. That being the case, we can see how fragile and whimsical our happiness – or the pursuit of it – can be. Joy, on the other hand, is not happiness. Joy is a state of being. In our focus text we see that Biblical joy is a fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit Himself, God’s presence in us, enables us to operate in His supernatural joy. This joy includes the blissful qualities of happiness, but it is not limited it’s conditional circumstances. Therefore, I can be joyful, even when my circumstances don’t allow me to be happy. A good way to explain this is to point out something Paul said to the church at Philippi when they were facing some challenges. Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil 4:4). Look at what Paul told them to do. He instructed them to rejoice. This word (re-joice) literally means to tap back into your joy. Since Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit lives in us, then we can always tap into His joy. His joy is available to us every minute of every day. The same is not true with happiness. If something good happens and I get happy about it, when that happiness wears out that good feeling is over. Happiness is temporary, where joy is an everlasting well. See, I can never re-happy, but I can always re-joice! So what does this mean to you today? It means that God wants you to maximize the power of His joy in your life. Circumstances don’t have to be good for you to rejoice. You can have joy no matter what the situation looks like and no matter how difficult the challenge seems. Joy is a critical ingredient to this series. The subtitle of this series is, “Standing strong in the space between the promise and the performance.” You won’t be able stand strong if you don’t have the right attitude. And you probably won’t have the right attitude if you don’t tap into God’s joy. Confession for this day: Lord God, I declare that Your joy is my strength. I thank You for the times that I am able to be happy, but I am not limited to mere happiness. I have Your Spirit in me and I tap into the power of Joy on a continual basis. I rejoice in You always. Your joy bubbles in my soul to the point where I am not moved by circumstances. I shall not me moved by what I see and I won’t let what I see change what I say, what I believe, nor what I expect. I have Your joy and Your peace while I am in the believing phase of my breakthrough. This too shall come to pass! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Understanding Peace (back to the top) (Phil 4:6,7 NASB) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” I previously stated that four key facets to this series: joy, peace, faith, and patience. To get the most out of this series we must understand these four words and how to apply them to our lives. Yesterday we looked at joy and this morning we take a look at peace. There are many reference scriptures that I could use for peace. Receiving the peace of God is a theme that is all throughout the Bible. In our focus text Paul writes to the church at Philippi from a place where the peace of God was required. He was in jail and he had enough peace to be able to take the time to minister to others. He was being persecuted for the cause of Christ and so were many others. In the midst of persecution and in the midst of the constant barrage of adversaries Paul tells the Philippians not to be anxious about anything, but rather to invoke the power of God in their lives through the vehicle of prayer. The word anxious here is also translated worry. In other words, Paul was telling them not to worry about anything, but rather to take their concerns to the Lord in prayer. Prayer puts us in the offensive. Prayer enables us to trouble our trouble. Prayer releases the Hand of God over our situation. Prayer is earthly license for heavenly interference. Once we pray, once we release the Hand of God, once we know that we have invoked the presence of God to be made manifest in our situation, then Paul says that the peace of God would guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Let’s take a closer look at this peace:
So what does this mean to you today? It means that there is a peace available to you that baffles psychologists and psychiatrists. There is a peace that cannot be figured out. There is a peace that passes all comprehension and this peace is accessed through the vehicle of prayer. Prayer enables us to tap into and release the Hand of God in our lives. God will not force Himself upon us and oftentimes we have not, because we ask not (James 4:2). God wants us to pray, in accordance with His Word (which is His will), and he wants us to have the confidence in Him and in our prayer that we walk away from the prayer closet with an inner peace that cannot be penetrated. This peace, God’s peace, gives us the ability to rest until it comes to pass! Confession for this day: Lord God, I thank You for giving me the right to come boldly before Your throne in the name of Your Son Jesus. I pray and I believe what I pray. I invoke Your presence and I release Your Hand to move in my life and over my situations. I walk away from my prayer closet with Your peace; a supernatural peace; a peace that passes all understanding. Your peace enables me to rest in the space between the promise and the performance; in the space between my confession and the completion. I have peace and I do not worry. In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Understanding Faith (back to the top) (Heb 11:1 AMP) Now Faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the 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]. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” I previously stated that the four key facets to this series are: joy, peace, faith, and patience. To get the most out of this series we must understand these four words and how to apply them to our lives. We have looked at joy and peace thus far and this morning we take a look at faith. What is faith? Here are a few definitions that I agree with: We might use any or all of these definitions in this series. The definition that I use the most is #4. That is my working definition of faith. There is a fundamental difference between hope and faith. Hope is ‘open-ended,’ meaning that it is an expectation of good, but it might not be connected to a promise of good. You can hope to be successful in life, hope to be healed of a sickness, hope to be promoted, and etc.; but to some this is no more than wishful thinking. Lots of people hope and wish for things. Faith adds substance to this hope. Faith connects our hope to the God of Hope. And faith does it by connecting our hope to the Word of God. Faith must be tied to God’s Word. When we can make a connection between what we hope for and God’s Word, then we have a basis for our hope. The Word of God adds substance to our hope. This then gives us the fuel we need to act out – in confidence – in accordance with that hope. That expression of confidence is called faith! We can also have faith in people. Our faith in a person is tied to their character and their track record. If a person that we have known for 10 years promises us that they are going to do something for us, we immediately correlate our expectation of the completion of the promise to our knowledge of their character and their track record. Well, God has a proven track record and flawless character. He will do what He said He would do. This enables us to believe that a God that we cannot see will show up in our lives in a way that we can. More importantly, this enables us to confidently act like He will do it, although we are performing our actions without the support of sense-realm-evidence. Therefore, we walk by faith and not by sight (what we can see). It does not require faith if you can verity it in the sense realm. So what does this mean to you today? It means that you can think about being victorious and successful in life and hope that you will somehow achieve it, but when your dreams and desires are rooted in the Word of God, you can operate in faith. Without faith we often lose the battle in our minds because of the constant barrage of impure and negative thoughts; but with faith we are able to extinguish the enemy’s darts (Eph 6:16) and listen clearly to God’s thoughts, plans, and dreams. Search the Bible for what God has to say about your current situation, meditate on His Word and repeat it regularly with your own lips; believe His Word wholeheartedly, establish confidence in it, and you will see the manifestation of it in your life. That is faith! Confession for this day: Lord God. I am confident in the things that I hope for because my hope is established in Your Word. I am not expecting You to do anything that You have not stated in Your Word that You would do. I receive Your Word. I believe Your Word. I have confidence in Your Word. I take You to be a God of Your Word and I confidently act like Your Word will come to pass in my life, even when I don’t have any sense-realm-evidence to support my belief. I declare, that through faith, patience, joy and peace, I will see Your best manifested in my life! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
How is Faith Developed? (back to the top) (Rom 10:17 KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” Before we get deep into this series we are dealing with the four key facets we need to understand to get the most from it, which are: joy, peace, faith, and patience. We have looked at joy and peace thus far and this morning we revisit faith. Yesterday we looked at what faith is and now I believe I need to share with you how faith developed. This is key because many people believe that faith is developed through trials or tests, but James explained to us (see James 1:2-4) that our faith is actually tried (not developed) through test and trials. The result of our faith being tried is a development of patience (not faith). We will deal with patience more later, but let’s stay focused on faith. So, if our faith can be tested to help develop our patience, then we ought to ensure that we develop our faith before the tests come. To be victorious our faith must be developed before hand. So how then is faith developed? Let’s look at a few things: 1. God has dealt to every believer the measure of faith: In Romans 12 the Holy Spirit through Paul teaches us about giftings from God to believers. These gifts are listed in verses 4-8. Before Paul even lists the gifts he states that God has dealt to every man the measure of faith (v.3). In context, I do not believe this is a reference to every human being, but rather to every believer. Every believer has been dealt, from God, the measure of faith. This measure, however, must be developed. 2. Faith is developed through the Word: Remember that faith is an expression of your confidence in God and His Word. You cannot express confidence in what you do not know. Faith, then, is tied to the Word of God. The more you investigate the scriptures on any given subject, the more your faith will be developed in that area. The more your faith is developed in that area, the more equipped you will be to stand in faith in that area. For example: if I am sick and all I know is one scripture about God’s healing power, I can then exercise “one scripture faith” to be healed. But if I know 20 scriptures that indicate that God can heal me, then I can exercise “20 scripture faith,” and etc. The more Word I know about any area the closer I get to what I call the “fully persuaded” stage. Once I am fully persuaded I will not be moved by what I see and I will not allow what I see to change what I say! 3. Faith is developed through experience: Since faith is an expression of your confidence in God and His Word, then for you and I to truly be in faith we must be DOING something! Faith is an action word. Faith requires you to act upon what it is that you believe. If you are not doing anything, then you might still be in the belief stage. But when you get to the faith stage you have crossed the line from believing to acting upon what you believe. The more you do this, the more you faith will be developed. So what does this mean to you today? It means that you don’t accomplish much by praying and asking God to give you faith. He’s already done it. We don’t even need to ask God to increase your faith; your faith is developed through studying and applying the Word of God. Once you know what God’s Word says about your situation, then you can receive, believe, and act upon it. The more you do this the more your faith will be developed and the better positioned you will be to have Joy and Peace while you are believing! Confession for this day: Lord God, I do not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from Your mouth. When I read Your Word I receive it as if You were in the room with me and speaking it directly to me. Your Word helps develop my faith and it feeds the confidence that I need to act out what I believe in my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Understanding Patience (back to the top) (Heb 10:36 KJV) For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” Before we get deep into this series we are dealing with the four key facets we need to understand to get the most from it, which are: joy, peace, faith, and patience. We have briefly looked at the first three and this morning we take a look at patience. What is patience? Most people think of patience as simply waiting. In one sense this is true, but Biblical patience is more powerful than just waiting. The word translated patience here is a Greek word that means: steadfastness, consistency, endurance; the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith. I have two definitions that I commonly use for patience and they are: (1) The force of consistency, and (2) The ability to remain the same, in spite of circumstances. Yes, patience is more than simply waiting for something to happen. Patience gives you the power to remain consistently the same while you wait. It is clear to see then, why this ability, coupled with faith, is very important. You must not lose heart in the space between “I believe, in Jesus’ name” and “There it is!” This is what I call the space between the promise and the performance. The enemy will make every attempt to get you to give up during that space. He will tell you that God is not going to do it, that He did not hear your prayer, that you need to lower your expectations, that its not God’s will, and etc. This ability to remain the same (patience) will enable you to combat the thoughts of fear, doubt, and unbelief; and make it possible for you to remain in faith. Patience is critical to the believer. Our text tells us that we need it! We need it to couple it with our faith. I have stated that faith is the currency of the Kingdom and that nothing happens in God without faith. This is true, but patience gives us the ability to remain the same while we are waiting on the manifestation of our faith. The devil wants to get us into fear. Fear cancels faith and faith cancels fear. Without patience – without the ability to remain the same – most people will cancel out their faith with fear, doubt, and unbelief before they ever see the manifestation of it. So what does this mean to you today? It means that you need patience in your Christian walk. Patience will enable you to remain consistent, especially in the space between you receiving the promise in your heart and you seeing the manifestation of the promise in your hands. You will see in this series that patience is developed by the testing of your faith. When you combine both faith and patience you are able to receive the promises of God (see Heb 6:12). Are there some things that you have prayed for, by faith, that have not yet happened? Are you still expecting those things to come to pass or have you given up hope? Remember, God is the God of hope and He can enable you to abound in hope by the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13). The enemy wants you to doubt and not operate in faith. The message for you this morning is to doubt your doubts and have faith in your faith. Don’t lost heart. Have faith in God. Remain the same; continue to operate in faith until you see in your hands what you already see in your heart, by faith! Confession for this day: Lord God. I declare by faith that patience working in my life. Patience enables me to remain the same, no matter the circumstances. The force of consistency is working for me! I am not inconsistent. I am not driven by the wind. I live a strong and stable life, because I live a life of faith and patience. I doubt the doubts that the enemy attacks me with and I have faith in the faith that I release when I pray in accordance with Your Word. I consider You faithful, Lord, to bring to pass all that You have promised. I have great expectations! While I wait I have Joy and Peace in Believing! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
The Power Twins (back to the top) (Heb 6:12 NASB) So that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” Now that we have provided at least a basic understanding of joy, peace, faith, and patience, I believe we can get delve into the series. The writer of Hebrews tells us that we ought not be sluggish or lazy in our Christian walk. He is writing this in a chapter where he warned about falling away; about giving up on our faith. He goes on to say that he desired that the Jewish Christians (those he wrote the letter to) would show, “Diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end” (v.11). In other words, he did not want them to give up their hope. He wanted them to abound in hope in the God of Hope! The 11th verse gives us better light on the 12th. It is because of this hope, this overwhelming expectation of the manifestation of God, that they would have the ability to remain steadfast and not become weary or lazy. Instead of becoming weary or lazy, the writer tells the believers to become imitators of those that have gone before us. Further, he explains that those that have gone before us that have been successful in receiving the promises of God have done so because of faith and patience. In other words, they had the faith to believe and express confidence in an unseen God and they also had the patience to remain consistent while they waited on the manifestation of His promises. Yes, faith and patience, together, are required in our walk with Christ, if we are going to see the manifestation of His promises in our lives. That’s why I call faith and patience “The Power Twins.” The writer then gives us an example. He says, “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.” And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise” (verses 13-15). God gave the promise to Abraham to have children, but we know that it took 25 years between the issuing of the promise and the manifestation of it. What did Abraham do in those 25 years? What did he do in the space between the promise and the performance? How did he wait? He exercised patience – the force of consistency – as he patiently waited and he eventually obtained the promise. His faith and patience enabled him to enter into God’s rest. Even when he was 100 years old and his wife was 90, he believed in a God that could give life to dead stuff! Yes, he was believing, but he was not weary while he was believing. He was not worried while he was believing. He was not afraid while he was believing. He had joy and peace in believing. His joy, peace, and patience enabled him to remain in faith. His unswerving faith enabled him to receive the promise, even though it took longer than any of us would want to wait. But remember that Abraham did this without any point-of-reference. He did not have a Bible to read. He did not have a brother or sister in God to glean testimonies from. He did not have a Pastor. He was blazing the trail for us and he became the father of faith. So what does this mean to you today? It means that you too need faith and patience to receive the promises of God. You are not in the position that Abraham was and it will more than likely not take you 25 years, but you too must remain strong in faith in the space between the promise and the performance. You too must couple patience with your faith. If you are able to couple the consistency of patience with the power of faith you will see the manifestation of the promises of God in your life! Confession for this day: Lord God, the power twins are working in my life. I have patience, the force of consistency. I have the ability to remain the same, even in the midst of fluctuating circumstances. I also have faith. I have faith in You and in Your Word. I believe that You will do what You said You will do. I express my confidence in You and in Your Word daily. I live by faith and not by what I see and I have Joy and Peace while I do it! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
You’re Still Going to have That Baby! (back to the top) (Gen 18:10-14 CEV) The Lord said, "I'll come back about this time next year, and when I do, Sarah will already have a son." Sarah was behind Abraham, listening at the entrance to the tent. Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was well past the age for having children. So she laughed and said to herself, "Now that I am worn out and my husband is old, will I really know such happiness?" The LORD asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Does she doubt that she can have a child in her old age? I am the LORD! There is nothing too difficult for me. I'll come back next year at the time I promised, and Sarah will already have a son." This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” Yesterday I mentioned how the Power Twins (faith and patience) were at work in the life of Abraham while he and his wife Sarah waited 25 years for their baby. Let’s delve a litter deeper into this story. By Genesis chapter 17 Abram (known later as Abraham) was 99 years old. He had received a promise from God at 75, but 24 years later he still did not have the promised child from his wife Sarai (later known as Sarah). Abram, like most of us, was not a perfect man. He and his wife had made the mistake of trying to help God out. Since their attempts to have children were continually unsuccessful, they tried a “Plan B.” Sarai asked Abram to have a child with her servant. He agreed and he wound up having Ishmael. Ishmael was 13 yrs. old by this chapter. It was here that God reminded Abram of the Covenant that He had established with him (back in chapter 15). God reconfirmed to Abram that He was still committed to fulfilling His part of the Covenant. God changed their names and he had Abraham to establish a new ritual that would become an everlasting reminder of the Covenant; circumcision. Abraham was circumcised at 99 yrs. old. In the next chapter we see that the Lord clearly told Abraham that within a year they would have their promised son. Sarah overheard the conversation between her husband and God. She basically overhead that she was still going to have that baby! I am not sure if Sarah was in-faith the entire time, because the news was a bit surprising to her. It was Good News. So good that it made her laugh! The Lord heard Sarah laugh and he asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Does she doubt that she can have a child in her old age? I am the LORD! There is nothing too difficult for me. I'll come back next year at the time I promised, and Sarah will already have a son." What can we learn from what the Lord told Abraham?
So what does this mean to you today? It means that it’s never too late. God can make you laugh today. Don’t make the mistake of developing your own Plan B. Hold fast to your faith, believe God, and have Joy and Peace while you are doing it! Confession for this day: Lord God, I am committed to believing You, because I know that You are committed to bringing to pass Your best in my life. I thank you for the precious promises You have given me and I declare that I believe them, I operate in faith for them, and I have Joy and Peace while I wait on them. I am still going to have my baby and I laugh with gladness every time I think about it! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Learning from Abraham (back to the top) (Rom 4:19,20 KJV) And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” Yesterday I showed you how God told a 99-yr-old man and an 89-year-old woman that they were still going to have their promised baby. This morning we take a look at what Paul said that Abraham did while he was waiting on God. If we can learn from what he did we can see similar results in our lives. Our focus text tells us some things that we can apply to our lives:
So what does this mean to you today? It means that you can do what Abraham did to get what Abraham got. Abraham was not superhuman. He was a man just like us. If he could do it then you can too. Remain strong in faith. Continue to believe God, no matter how long it takes. Never give up on your expectation. If you ‘consider not’ you will be able to ‘stagger not.’ So don’t factor in what God has already factored out. Don’t put a “no” where God has put a “yes!” And finally, enter every day with a thankful heart. Exercise an attitude of gratitude. Resist bitterness and give glory to God every day of your life, no matter what things may look like! As you do these things you will realize that you will have both Joy and Peace while you are Believing! Confession for this day: Lord God, I declare, by faith, that I am like Abraham. I am strong in faith and I do not waver. I stagger not at Your promises, because I am able to consider not the things the enemy would want me to. I give You glory every day of my life. I enter every day with Your goodness on my mind and with Your joy and peace in my heart. In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Becoming Fully Persuaded! (back to the top) (Rom 4:20, 21 KJV) And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” For the last few days we have been looking at how a 99-yr-old man and an 89-year-old woman still believed God that they would receive a baby on a 24-yr-old promise. We have an opportunity here to develop our capacity to believe and our enduring while believing. As we look at our focus text for this morning the words “fully persuaded” jump off my computer screen and into my heart. This is where I want to be, this is where I desire for you to be: the place called, “fully persuaded.” Just so you get a clearer picture of where Abraham was in his mind and in his heart, let’s look at how some other translations mention this portion of the text. The ASV says, “fully assured,” the BBE says, “being certain,” the DRB says, “most fully knowing,” and the GWT says, “absolutely confident.” When you look at Abraham’s position in this light you see that he was at the point of no return. He had crossed what I call the ‘faith-line.’ This is the line that you cross when you get to a point that it cannot and will not happen without God. Your trust and confidence is completely in Him. You have taken God public; meaning that you have told people that it is going to happen, even before it does. You are so far out there that you are literally putting faith-pressure on God to bring to pass His promises in your life. Most people don’t cross the faith-line until they are fully persuaded. But once they are fully persuaded – once they are assured, certain, and confident – they act with a higher level of boldness than they ever did before. This is where we should all want to get to while we are waiting on God. The place where we know that it is going to happen, even though our sense-realm-evidence is not supporting our belief. At this stage we are not walking by sight, we are walking by faith! And we are doing it because we are fully persuaded. Not only are we convinced that God is able to do it, we are confident that He will! If I stopped right there this message would be good enough, but I also want to mention something from the 21st verse. This stance that Abraham took, this position of faith, this ability to get to the fully persuaded stage, was imputed or accounted to him as righteousness. Jesus had not died yet for the remission of our sin. Jesus had not yet been raised from the dead to conquer satan, hell, and the grave. But even before Jesus, the Bible says that Abraham was righteous and his righteousness came from his ability to believe God and operate by faith in the midst of circumstances that would drive him to do otherwise. Now, you are I don’t operate by faith to become righteous, because we have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus. So, you don’t need to become fully persuaded to be righteous, but righteous people become fully persuaded. You don’t have to operate by faith to become righteous, but righteous people operate by faith. You don’t have to stand on God’s promises to become righteous, but righteous people stand on the promises of God! So what does this mean to you today? If you are a Born-Again believer, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord, then you are the righteous of God. As a righteous person you are to make every attempt to get to the fully persuaded stage while you are believing God! Confession for this day: Lord God, I thank You for sending Jesus to be made sin for me, who knew no sin, that I may be made righteous by faith. I have been cleansed by the Blood of Jesus and I operate as the righteous in the earth. As a righteous believer I stand on Your promises. I declare, by faith, that I will get to the point where I am fully persuaded. Once I am fully persuaded I will not be moved what I see and I will not allow what I see to change what I say. I am strong in faith and I see that manifestation of the promises of God. I wait on You Lord, and I have Joy and Peace while doing it! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Learning from Courageous Caleb! (back to the top) (Joshua 14:10,11 NASB) And now, as you see, the Lord has kept me safe these forty-five years, from the time when the Lord said this to Moses, while Israel was wandering in the waste land: and now I am eighty-five years old. And still, I am as strong today as I was when Moses sent me out: as my strength was then, so is it now, for war and for all the business of life. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” We had been dealing with Abraham, but this morning I a excited to introduce you to a man that waited even longer than Abraham. This man waited 45 years and what is interesting is that he did not have to wait because he did anything wrong. He was one of only two people (within millions) that were ready for the promise 45 years earlier, but since the rest of the nation of Israel wasn’t ready he wound up having to wait. He had to keep a good attitude while he waited for all the unbelievers to die off in the wilderness. We will see that even after all the time he was still joyful and excited about receiving the Promise of God. His name is Caleb and over the next few messages we will seek to learn from what he did while he was waiting on God! His story really begins when he was selected as one of 12 spies to perform a reconnaissance mission into Canaan. Next week I will show you how only two of the 12 (Joshua and Caleb) had the faith in God required to believe Him for the land. See, God promised theme the land, but it was inhabited. Not only that, it was inhabited by giants. So for them to receive their promise they were going to have to fight for it! Caleb was ready to fight for it as 40 and here we see that he still had a fighting spirit at 85. Let’s look at his attitude 45 years later: “Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the LORD spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea. “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. “Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the LORD my God fully. “So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God fully.’ “Now behold, the LORD has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. “I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. “Now then, give me this hill country about which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the LORD will be with me, and I will drive them out as the LORD has spoken.” So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite until this day, because he followed the LORD God of Israel fully” (Joshua 14:6-14 NASB). So what does this mean to you today? We will learn more about this next week, but for today I will share with you that you must keep the proper attitude while you are waiting on God. Caleb did and he received the promise, even though it took 45 years. Confession for this day: Lord God, I wait on You and while I wait, while I believe, I wait with Joy and Peace in Believing. I keep the proper attitude. I remain ready to fight the fight of faith. I will not lose hold of the grasp that I have on my belief, my faith, my confidence, and my expectation. I am a believer and I have a bulldog-tenacity when it comes to believing. I won’t give up, I won’t lose heart, I won’t throw in the towel, no matter how long it takes. I keep believing and I know that I will see Your goodness come to pass! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
You cannot Continue what you have not Started! (back to the top) (Joshua 14:7 NASB) "I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart.” This morning continue our series entitled, "Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing." Last week I closed out the week by introducing you to Courageous Caleb. I shared with you how after 45 years he still believed God for his mountain - a hill country that had been promised to him and his descendants by Moses. But before we get too far with the 85-yr-old Caleb I want to share with you a few things about the 40-yr-old Caleb.
This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Can you Stand to be Blessed? (back to the top) (Joshua 14:11 NASB) “I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in.” This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” We have been looking at Courageous Caleb for a few days now. I love his attitude. He was a strong believer. I shared yesterday how he and Joshua believed God, even when the entire nation of Israel (millions of people) were against them. Guess what? They became the only two, of those millions, to make it in to the Promised Land. All those that doubted God wound up dying in the wilderness without ever entering Canaan. Joshua and Caleb stood in faith and no one was able to keep them from receiving God’s best. This morning we look another aspect of what Caleb did while he waited: he remained prepared for the challenge. When Joshua, Caleb, and the other 10 spies originally went into the land it was inhabited with giants. They knew then that if they were going to take possession of the land they were going to have to fight the giants for it. Caleb was ready to fight at the age of 40. He was physically, mentally, and spiritually ready to enter into combat for what he believed God was giving them. You and I can understand this and it does not seem strange. However, what is uncommon is that he was still ready – physically, mentally, and spiritually – to take possession of the land, by force, at the age of 85. It is obvious that Caleb maintained a high state of readiness for the 45 years that he waited. He fully expected God to fulfill His promise. He did not doubt. He did not allow frustration to force him to give up. He remained in faith. And what is most amazing to me is that he maintained his state of physical readiness. He knew that the danger in the land was not going to change. He knew that whenever God opened the door for him to possess the land that it was still going to require a physical fight. So he kept his body conditioned for the fight. He said he was “as strong” at 85 as he was at 40. He said, “As my strength was then, so my strength is now.” Wow! Not only did he not relax his mental or spiritual hold on the promise, but he did not relax his physical conditioning and he maintained it for the 45 year span in between the promise and the performance. So what does this mean to you today? It means that you and I need to be ready to receive the promise of God, no matter how long it takes, and it we need to be ready at all times. Are you really ready for God to do in your life what you say you are expecting Him to do? Many prisoners dream of getting out of prison, but they don’t prepare for their release. When the day finally arrives and they walk out as free men many are not prepared for their freedom. They soon find themselves back in the same situation, all because they failed to prepare for the manifestation of what they say they dreamed of. The same can be said of many young entrepreneurs who dream of getting the funding required to start their businesses. Sometimes the funding comes in an unexpected manner and they realize that they were not as prepared as they thought they were. Also, I have seen something similar within relationships. I have talked to couples that have been separated for while and one of them might tell me that they just “can’t wait” until they are reunited, but if they are not prepared for the reconciliation, then when it comes it is short-lived. So let me ask you, are you ready for your breakthrough? Are you physically, mentally, and spiritually prepared for God to do what you say you expect Him to do in your life? Could you stand for God to bless you with what you say you have been believing Him for? Caleb could stand be to blessed, because he was ready for it. Are you? Confession for this day: Lord God, I wait on You and while I wait I do everything I need to do to be physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and socially prepared for my breakthrough. I will not relax my hold on my faith, or on my conditioning. I remain in expectation, but I also remain ready. I enter every day with the preparedness required to receive Your Blessing. I can stand to be blessed. I am ready for it. I wait and I have Joy and Peace in Believing! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Life is a Gift for those who Stay the Course! (back to the top) (James 5:10,11 MSG) Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You've heard, of course, of Job's staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” Already this series has been a blessing to many and I can tell you that it is blessing me. This series has reminded me of the “staying power” that I need to live and walk the Christian walk. Brothers and sisters, our Christian journey is not always going to be easy. Jesus Himself said that in this world we would face trouble, but He also told us to have a good attitude while we do it (John 16:33). That’s what this series is all about. It is about learning to couple the situation-changing power of faith with the staying power of patience; all the while enjoying the excitement of joy and the stability of peace. Joy and peace fuel our staying power (patience) and if we are able to refuse the urge to give up, then we will eventually receive our breakthrough, because of our unyielding faith. Let’s take a look at what James tells us this morning. He teaches us that the prophets of old should serve as mentors to us. The prophets dealt with all sorts of challenges and attacks. James tells us that they never once quit and that their patience and persistence honored God. God is honored when we are able to believe and trust Him, in spite of whatever may be coming against us. Yes, God is pleased when we refuse to quit. James said, “What a gift life is to those who stay the course!” I could meditate that one line for a while. Life is a gift to me, an enjoyment, a pleasurable journey, if I resolve to stay the course; if I make up in my mind that I will not throw in the towel, that I will never give up, and that I will never quit. Don’t think that being a Christian means that everything will be handed to you on a silver platter. No, we have an adversary and he will do everything in his power to get you frustrated. But he knows that he cannot make you lose. All he can do is attempt to force you to quit. If you quit, if you give up on God, if you stop believing, if you loose the hold of your faith, then you will not receive what you are believing God for and it will be on you. When Skip Wilson said, “The devil made me do it,” it might have gotten lots of laughs, but it was simply not true. The devil can’t make you do it. He can’t make you to quit. But he can make quitting attractive. No matter how attractive he makes quitting look you must resist the urge to do so. Tapping into the power of God’s joy and peace will help you to stay the course! Tomorrow we are going to look at how Job stayed the course and how he was blessed for it in the end. So what does this mean to you today? It means that life is a gift for those who stay the course. You will never experience God’s best in your life if you quit at the first inkling of trouble. The enemy will do all the he can to send trouble your way, but when you stay the course you literally trouble your trouble! So resolve to remain strong in faith and patience. Allow the force of consistency to be developed in your life; and tap into the deep recesses of God’s Joy and Peace while you are doing it. Joy and peace will fuel your staying power! Confession for this day: Lord God, I thank You for all the experiences You have permitted me to endure in the past. Those experiences have developed my staying power. I have the ability to stay the course, no matter what the enemy sends my way. I trouble my trouble by remaining strong in faith and patience. The force of consistency is working in my life. I wait on You Lord, and I have Joy and Peace while I do. Faith, patience, joy, and peace all enable me to stay the course and never quit! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Job’s Staying Power! (back to the top) (James 5:10,11 MSG) Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You've heard, of course, of Job's staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” Yesterday we dealt with this passage and I taught that life is a gift for those that are determined to stay the course. In this series we are learning that we are not only to stay the course, but we are to literally enjoy the ride. Not only can we wait on God, but we can have Joy and Peace while we do it. Our text talks about Job. If there was anyone that needed the ability to stay the course it was Job. James talks about Job’s “Staying power.” This is what we all need, especially as believers. I am sure that you have heard the phrase, “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.” David said, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). In this series we are learning that we don’t have to wait until the morning to have joy. We have joy in the midst of challenges. We can benefit from the joy and peace of the Lord, even while we wait on the manifestation of His promise. This takes us back to Job and his staying power. The King James Version says, “You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord.” We know that the word patience literally means the force of consistency. We know that Job refused to give up on God, he refused to throw in the towel of his faith, and eventually he saw “The end of the Lord,” in other words, he saw the end of the story. Let me pause right here long enough to tell you that if you have not seen the manifestation of God’s goodness in your situation, then you have not seen the end of the Lord. You have not seen the end of the story. Refuse to give up. Refuse to quit. Refuse to throw in the towel of your faith. Remain strong, continue to believe God, and tap into His Joy and Peace while you do. In the middle of Job’s fight of faith, right smack dab in the middle of all the challenges that he was facing, the person closest to him gave up. His wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Wow! Did you get that? Not only did she tell him to curse God and die, but she expressed her frustration with his determination. She was mad at him for holding on to his integrity. Will you be able to hold on to yours? Will you be able to remain the same, even in the midst of changing circumstances? Job did not change. Job refused to quit. Job said to his wife, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks.” The Bible says, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job was determined to see the end of the Lord in his situation. Towards the end of the book, or the end of the story, the Bible says, “After Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored Job's prosperity and gave him twice as much [as he had before]” (Job 42:10). So what does this mean to you today? It means that you should learn from Job and develop your own staying power. You must be determined to hold on to your integrity, no matter how long it takes, and no matter what challenges you face. If you hold on, if you operate in staying power, if you refuse to quit, you too will see the end of the Lord in your situation! Confession for this day: Lord God, I thank You for enabling me to learn from those that have gone before me. I learn from Job this morning and I develop my own level of staying power. I hold on to my integrity, no matter what things may look like in my life. I refuse to quit. I refuse to throw in the towel of my faith. I ignore the negative influences that may tell me to give up on You. I fuel my faith with Your Word and with the words of the positive influences in my life. I wait on You Lord and I am determined to see the end of the story! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
The Power of Knowing that God Cares (back to the top) (James 5:10,11 MSG) Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You've heard, of course, of Job's staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” For the last couple of days we have been looking at Job and yesterday we talked about his “Staying power.” Job had tremendous staying power. No matter what came his way he refused to quit; refusing to give up on God. Even when his wife urged him to curse God, give up, and die, he refused to do it. In the end he received his turnaround and he got his breakthrough. The text says that, “God brought it all together for him at the end.” In this series we are learning to believe just that. We are learning to believe that God is going to bring it all together for us at the end. We are learning that our state is not our fate. We are learning that God is a good God and he wants to release His goodness in our lives. And we are learning that while we wait on Him we are to wait with the power that is released from His joy and the stability that we can anchor ourselves in with His peace. Joy and peace together, will enable us to see the “end of the Lord” in our situation. How is it that believers can wait on God, even when the situations seem exceedingly grim, beyond repair, and borderline impossible? And how is it that some can actually seem happy while they wait; waiting with a smile on their face, a song in their heart, and a spring in their step? Well, part of the fuel in the believer’s fire is found in the end portion of our text. It says, “That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.” The key to combat worry, doubt, and fear is the trust factor. You can’t truly trust God and worry at the same time. When you really trust God then you know that He has your best interest at heart. You know that He cares about you. Think about that for a moment. The God of Universe, the God that created everything, the God that spoke light from darkness, order from chaos, and life from death, cares about you. Several places in the Bible it tells us that He spends time thinking about you. He has you on His mind. He has developed plans for you, plans to bless you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope (Jer 29:11). He cares for you right down to the last detail! He cares about your dreams. He cares about your desires. He cares about the things that you care about. He is a loving, caring, and sharing heavenly Father. Yes, God almighty cares for you! If you can really get it down in your spirit that God cares for you, right down to the last detail, then you will be able to develop the Joy and Peace you need in the space between the promise and the performance. God is not some mean God that is out to get you. Believe me, if God wanted to get you, you would have been “got” a long time ago. Thank God for His grace and mercy. Thank Him for His goodness, His kindness, and His compassion towards you. Most importantly, thank Him for taking the time to care about you. So what does this mean to you today? It means that the reality of knowing that God cares for you – right down to the last detail – should breed a confidence in you that cannot be shaken. This confidence helps to solidify the trust you have in Him. This trust gives birth to peace and His peace enables you to resist worry, fear, doubt, and unbelief. Confession for this day: Lord God, I declare, by faith, that I trust You. I trust You and I am thankful for You. I am overwhelmingly thankful that You care about me; right down to the last detail. Thank you for caring about the things that I care about. Thank You for taking the time to think about me and be there for me. I know that You care and I since I do, I am able to resist worry, fear, doubt, and unbelief. Instead of worrying I have peace while I wait on You. Not only just peace, but also Joy. I have Joy and Peace in Believing! In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Perfect Peace (back to the top) (Isaiah 26:3 KJV) Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” We have been dealing with the fact that we, as believers, must have the resiliency to not quit when the enemy brings obstacles in our path to God’s best. I often say, “The only way we can lose is if we quit.” If we are determined not to give up, not to lose hold of our faith, not to stop believing, then we will see the manifestation of God’s goodness in our lives. What the enemy wants us to do is quit. He loves it when a believer throws in the towel of their faith. This is where Joy and Peace come in. If we can tap into the invigorating power of God’s joy and the stabilizing force of His peace, while we are believing God, then we will be able to hold fast to our faith, no matter how long it takes and no matter what comes our way. In this morning’s focus text we look at a way to hold on to our peace. Isaiah teaches us that God has “perfect peace” available to the believer. But this perfect peace is received by keeping our mind stayed on God. If we can keep our mind completely focused on God, then we are showing God that we trust Him above whatever may be going on in our lives. If we are able to control our thoughts, we will be able to control our temperament; we will tap into God’s perfect peace. To get the full affect of what Isaiah is saying I want to share this verse with you in a couple of other translations. God’s Word Translation says, “With perfect peace you will protect those whose minds cannot be changed, because they trust you.” Did you see that? Perfect peace will become the shield of the person whose mind cannot be changed. See, the enemy simply wants you to change your mind, to give up on your belief, to lose hold of your faith. But if you are determined to not change your mind, to believe God, to have faith, and to hold fast to your confession (your words), then perfect peace will become your protection. Peace will protect you from the unrighteous thoughts of the enemy. Even when he tries to flood your mind with thoughts of failure, your peace will enable you to quench those fiery darts and to keep on believing! Let’s look at yet another translation. The Message Bible says, “People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, Steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don't quit.” Wow! The Bible just told us that we can be completely whole while we wait on God. We can literally be steady and stable on our feet while we wait, but our part is to keep at it and never quit! If we are determined not to quit, to keep believing, and to keep trusting God, then God will keep us whole and steady while we wait, and more importantly, He will ensure that the thing we are waiting for will come to pass. Isn’t this what you want in your life? Don’t you want an assurance that you will see what you are waiting on and believing God for? Then God says to you to keep on believing, to never quit, to trust Him while you are waiting, and to enjoy the stabilizing power of His peace while you do. So what does this mean to you today? It means that your faith must be focused. You must have a bulldog-tenacity when it comes to believing God. If you are easily swayed, then you will not see the manifestation of God’s best in your life. When you hold fast to your faith and you refuse to quit, even in the midst of adverse circumstances, you are showing God that you trust Him to be bigger than any challenge that may come your way. Since His timing is not your timing, He may not give it to you right away, but He will give you His peace while you wait! Confession for this day: Lord God, You know better than I do the perfect timing for the manifestation of things in my life, so I am determined to wait on You, no matter how long it takes. I believe You, I have faith, and I refuse to quit. I will never give up on my faith. I will never lose heart. I will never throw in the towel. I have a bulldog-tenacity that does not quit. I trust You and I receive Your perfect peace while I wait. In Jesus’ name. Amen! This is Today's Word! Apply it and Prosper!
Joseph – The Dreamer (back to the top) (Gen 37:5 NASB) Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. This morning continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume II - Joy and Peace In Believing.” In most of my series I attempt to teach you by precept and example. Most of what I have been sharing about joy and peace in believing thus far has been in the form of principles and precepts. We have looked at the examples of Abraham and Caleb. We saw how Abraham waited 25 years for his promise and Caleb waited 45. This morning we look at another powerful example of a person that received a promise from God and waited for that promise to come to pass in their lives. This guy received the promise at the tender age of 17. He was just a teenager and I am pretty sure that he did not know what the promise fully meant and all that he was going to have to endure in the space between the promise and the performance. It took 13 years, but the promise finally came to pass. We will look at some of the things that he did in that 13 year span. He went on a journey that took him from a pit, to a man named Potiphar’s house, and to prison, before he finally landed in the palace that was destined for him. His name is Joseph and I pray that we all learn from his example. We start our journey by looking at Joseph’s journey in Genesis chapter 37. In this chapter we learn that Joseph was the 11th of Jacob’s 12 children and he was his favorite. He was his favorite because he was born in Jacob’s old age and he was also the firstborn son of Jacob’s first love (Rachel). Jacob made it known that Joseph was his favorite and that caused strife and jealousy between Joseph and his older brothers. To make matters worse, Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors; to signify his position as the favorite child of the father. Oh, the brothers hated him even more when they saw him where that coat. To add insult to injury, in the midst of all of this, God gave Joseph a dream. He showed him in the dream how he was going to be above his brothers and how his brothers would bow to him some day. The young teenager made the critical mistake of telling his brothers the dream. This would be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Our text says that they hated him even more for the dream. They hated the dream even more than they hated Joseph. They could not stomach the fact that their little brother, the one they considered a spoil brat, would some day be over them. They wanted to kill Joseph, thereby killing the dream. The Lord gave Joseph second dream. This time it was clear that even Joseph’s father would be under him some day. So guess what Joseph did? He obviously had not learned from the hatred brewing in his brother’s hearts. Joseph went and told his father about the dream. His father was upset and rebuked him for it. The dreams that had been given to him, from God, where now alienating him within his own family. His brothers began to call him “The dreamer,” and they so wanted to kill the dream. We will stop here for today. So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
Confession for this day: Lord God, I thank You for making me a dreamer. I may not receive traditional dreams that come in the middle of the night, but I thank You that You can also put dreams in my heart in the middle of the day. I receive what You put in my heart. I believe it will come to pass and I know that even though haters may develop along the way, their poison | |||||||||||||
