Friday, December 7, 2007

Faith

Last Sunday morning, December 2nd, I had a greater revelation of faith through a message preached by Pastor Jentezen Franklin. I cannot list everything from his message in detail but I wanted to share an overview of what I received. This may seem elementary, but for some reason, that morning, it was Rhema Word for me. It was just one verse. A verse that I've been familiar with for years. But that morning, God dropped it in my spirit and I understood it even more. Hebrews 11:6 And WITHOUT faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. For the majority of my life I have always prayed "God may my life be pleasing to You. I just want to please You and I want to know that I am doing what You want me to do." The desire of my heart was to please my Father. So everyday I would strive to do the right things, be a good example to others, obey authority, do everything "as unto the Lord." I felt that DOING things that were good and right would please Him. But I can DO all the right things and be faced with a tough situation and allow that situation to seem hopeless to me, and I can lack the faith to believe that God can still handle it and work it out and I would have failed in pleasing God despite my good deed b/c I lacked the faith to believe HIM. His Word IS true! Matthew 19:26 With God ALL things ARE POSSIBLE!!! There is NOTHING too big for God! Pastor Franklin also spoke on when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace. He made note of the fact that when the King had the guards turn the furnace up 7 times hotter that when the guards opened the door to the furnace they were burned and died. The devil will place people in front of you who have faced the same situations you're in and been through the same things you may be going through and they're situations did not turn out well. The devil does that to steer your faith and cause your faith to be questioned and to fail. But make note of the fact that when the King looked into the furnace there were 4 men WALKING around in the fire. You see, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not just sit down in the middle of their trial. They WALKED BY FAITH right in the middle of it! So despite the fact that others may have gone through the same situation you're in and their situation did not turn out in a positive aspect, DO NOT allow the enemy to use that in your life to cause you to doubt what God CAN do. Just have FAITH! Another thing to note in Hebrew 6:11: It says that God is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him. Pastor Franklin mentioned this and I will agree that I, too, had the same misconception. But this verse just says that God will reward those who earnestly seek Him...it does not say that you have to find Him in order to be rewarded. If we will just make a conscious effort on a daily basis to SEEK HIM then He will reward us. Reward us with what? I believe He will simply reward us with what we NEED each day. His Word also says that if we seek Him we WILL find Him! How can we possibly lose anything if we just seek Him? One, He will reward us. Two, we will find Him. I can only see us gaining in this scenario. My prayer now is, "God increase my faith because I want to please you! You are God and there is NOTHING impossible with You. I have surrendered my life into Your Hands and I trust You completely with it. Increase my faith." I have been a witness to miracles, signs and wonders and I know that God can heal, set free and deliver His children. He holds my life in His hands and EVERYTHING that happens is b/c He has allowed it to happen for some reason. I just have to trust Him to order my steps b/c He said He would. God is so Awesome!!!! Put your faith in Him today!!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow... I never looked at it that way before. Thank you for sharing that with me!!