Tag Archives: faithfulness

Read more..

To Delay God’s Plans for You Hinders Your Blessings

As we walk the walk of faith in Christ Jesus, you’re going into a countless, priceless moment of your life that is going to be most unpleasant. Do you realize the things you go through in life won’t always be fun? Because what God has purposed in your life, is for you to go through it with flying colors. You cannot allow your emotions to dictate your reactions while you’re in a test. You must remember its your attitude that counts while you’re in a test or trial. If you whine and complain, you haven’t learned one lesson: faith and patience. If you don’t have these things in your walk, how can you tell others of how you have gone through with flying colors? That you’ve made it and you could bear it yourself? Yet you whine and complain the entire time, lacking faith. You are negative and faithless. He doesn’t reward faithlessness. Without faith its impossible to please Him.

Hebrews 11:5-6

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

To delay God’s plans for you hinders your blessings. Its not about you, you need to please God. Without faith its impossible to please God. So that when you’re going through and complaining and whining you don’t have faith that God will see you through. Keep calm, God is waiting on you. He is waiting for you to get over you to be faithful and patient. Sometimes we get restless and get to the point and say “I’m done.” “I gave you 4 years, Lord to get this concluded. I’ve waited long enough. Now I’m going to do it.” And we mess things up. In the process of going through Your test, seek Him. He will give you the answer to your problem, and to your needs. He already knows what you need, but you need to shut up. Have you ever had those people in your life who talk, and talk, and talk, but never let you speak, and then when you do speak, they don’t listen?

We need to realize that because of our impatience…God has a pattern for us to lead us to salvation. But along that pattern at certain stages, He has blessings for us. But if we can’t get from one step to the next because we’re complaining, then He won’t give it to us at that stage. It may push that blessing back way down the road, because with the attitude we have we wouldn’t appreciate it. Most people receive blessings from God and they haven’t even asked for it. So why not ask Him for anything and say Lord help me to get closer to You so that I can please you. That will double the blessings He’ll give. Think about Job. Job did the same thing. He said all his appointed time, he would do one thing: Wait, until his change came. But if you walk around with a complaining mentality, then you show the Lord that you don’t want to advance along that pattern or path. You don’t know what’s in there and you wouldn’t know how to appreciate it. So the Lord will not give it to you. “Lord I want the perfect woman.” “Lord I want that woman.” But because of this section that you’re in, in your walk, and complaining, you won’t have it. Wouldn’t it be something if the Lord showed us at the end, that at this stage in our walk when we were doing crazy mess, the blessing we could have gotten it? Don’t you remember what you were saying during that time? Don’t you remember your prayer? Because at this part of the walk we’re complaining to the Lord, criticizing the Lord. This is the problem we deal with all the time as saints. If its too long we whine and complain. We may verbally say that God is going to do, but under our breaths we make statements of doubt. This walk is by faith, not by sight. Complete trust means we won’t whine or complain, but walk in all positiveness in our walk.

You have to be real with yourself. You can’t have all that negativity and faithlessness, because God doesn’t reward that. He rewards faithfulness, not faithlessness. He said in Hebrews its impossible to please God without having faith. You know for the Lord to take Enoch away…the one thing he did was please God. We think we please God, but Enoch pleased God because he didn’t whine, he was in awe of pleasing God, faithful to what God was showing him. He didn’t do anything of a nature that would cause negativity to his being. God said he would save you. If you have faith, the you would say “God is going to save us.” You wound’t say “God said He would.” Now there is faithlessness. People who listen to you will hear the doubt in your voice, but if you look at the aspect of it, quit denying the power of God, quit showing your impatience. Show God faithfulness and patience by waiting on the Lord. We have this concept of time in this “Shake and Bake Generation.” We don’t want to take the time to mix spices with flour and mix it in the chicken, no we use Shake and Bake with no work being applied. That is what this generation is, they don’t want to take time with things. They want the quickest way to salvation they can get. Door number one, door number two…We are so “shake and bake” that we want the easy way. Getting to Heaven requires you to do something, not just saying the words “I’m saved.” The person on the street who has never heard about Jesus, if we go to them and say just believe and receive that is a lie. Every religion has something attached to it. Our belief is attached to God’s love; our relationship with Him. The statement “believe and receive,” is only made for those who have once tasted of Jesus to come back to Him. We give people the shake and bake Jesus, shake and bake salvation. The point is, you build up all these peoples false hopes and desire and you inspire them to do wrong. We have to realize God knows everyone…Jesus said He knows the sheep that God gave them, and haven’t lost anyone of them. That means you have a relationship with those individuals. How would a person who in his heart serves Satan, love Jesus? No, you need to let them know that their heart is dark so they can serve the light. If you’ve never seen Jesus, you can have faith in His word and it will come to pass. The word is so true because Jesus says if we believe Him for His words sake then it will come to pass. When people say they’ve never met Jesus or point at you and say that you’ve never met Jesus, then you can say, I believe Him for His words sake. You went to school and they gave you books. You believed those books. Why? Because you were taught that. Why can’t you believe in the Bible?

When you start walking down the road to salvation, and you start doubting and becoming impatient, then there comes a fork in the road. Then you go down the road of faithlessness and impatience. There is no joy or direction, because you made that choice because you felt that you had control over your own life, how you want it. But you didn’t make yourself, you can’t cause things to come into fruition. If you go down a road of faithlessness and impatience, the only people you’ll meet are people like you, and you will look to trust someone. You can’t confide and trust in someone down that road, so if you go down there you get what you ask for. The plans for your life God orders, but He can’t lead you down a road of faithlessness? Where are you now? What road are you down now? Salvation, or faithlessness? Well why are you faithless and whine and complain? “Well I’m not complaining, I’m just questioning it.” Well you didn’t lack faith when you went to gamble on numbers. What do you do, or say? You have to admit it. You have to admit you’re standing in faithlessness. How do you go back to the right path? By completely trusting God to bring you back to the right move in your life.

Even in our faithlessness, He’s still there waiting for us to answer. Answer the question of if we’re willing to let go of ourselves and allow Him to lead. We go do what we want to do and then we go and cry to the Lord and say that He’ll never leave us nor forsake us. We’re in a hole and the Lord asks us how we got there. “Well, I fell and went my own way.” Then we call the Lord to help us. Every decision we make in our walk, we’re the recipient of every action bad or good in that decision. We say that we’re His children but are we really? His children know His voice and are obedient to His will. So are we really His children? You need to have an understanding with yourself. Tell self to shut up. If the Lord brings instructors to you then you need to just accept it and shut up. The world gives you things with sprinkles and whipped cream on top of it. The Lord doesn’t do that. He’ll say it may not taste good, but its good for you. The Bible says that we should not judge. Whatever judgement we’ve given ourselves we’ll get it doubly. But the Lord is so faithful that all we must do when we get in a hole is call on His name and He will rescue us. So we need to listen because everything that God has planned will be achieved when we obey Him, if we don’t get in the way.

 

Jeremiah 29:10-13

For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

 

He knows where the fork in the road to the right will end up, because He already has seen it. He has blessings down that road. We have to be very careful what we do. When the Lord blesses us with something, we have to take care of it. People will be envious of your blessing but you need to take care of it. Its always from your past that Satan brings stuff up to take away your blessing. Satan doesn’t play. He’s in it for the gusto. You fall right into a trap, the light gets so bright  and moves closer and you become memorize and then you get hit.

Allow the Lord to shake and bake you for His righteousness. Have patience and be faithful pursuing Him during that time of your walk. Don’t make the left turn, make the right turn towards His righteousness. If you delay God’s plan in your life, you hinder your blessings. So step out of the way.

Read more..

Case of the Missing Faith

Matthew 8:5-13

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.  And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

This man of the Roman army, a leader of the Roman army came to Him and said “My servant…” One thing we have to understand is that he cared about those under his authority, under his leadership. Jesus marveled. Why did He marvel? When the Centurion said he tells the one to go and he goes, when he tells the one to sit down, he sits down. Why are the Children of God so disobedient? When you were at school and your teacher told you to be quiet, you sat down and were quiet. At your job, the boss tells you go pick up that thing and bring it over here and put this together. You don’t look at him and say why. If you do, you won’t have a job long. If you challenge the one in authority, he can ask you why are you here? “I’m here because I need the money and have nothing else to do.” So he will ask, didn’t you sign some papers saying you will abide by the rules of this company? The point is, when God gives us authority, we have to obey His authority. We want people to do what we say, but we won’t do what they say. Can you imagine the sight of Christ saying that He’d not found so great faith in Israel, after having been teaching to His disciples on faith? The Centurion had great faith in Jesus Who commands the air, the spirits. The Centurion believed that Jesus authority was sure. He had enough faith in Jesus that He had authority. He knew that when Jesus said it, it would be done. He knew that all power was in Christ hands. He had not found one, no not even in Israel as faithful. Can He say that to you today? The Children of the Kingdom will be cast out..those who walk around thinking they are Christians when they aren’t. Because the servants boss had faith, the results went to the servant. It wasn’t about the servants boss, but about God because of the Centurions faith.

Do we have faith like that today? Or do we need something to crank us up? So if you’re going through something, could it be you’re the one going through, and its waiting on you?

Matthew 8:14-16

And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

God was showing His authority over sickness. Some people are sick because they want to be sick. If you serve a God who can heal, why are you sick? We sometimes use sickness as a crutch. Has your salvation become a crutch so that people will look at you and praise you instead of God? Sometimes things may not seem so clear as to where we are in Him. We’ll do things because we’re not sure where He is or where we are, to test our faith to see if Christ will be there to help us out. We’ll stretch the limit, come almost there to only find out that maybe He’s not really watching me right now…”God are you there?” Sometimes things might not seem so clear where we are in Him, even if we may have strayed away from salvation, a little off mark from the high calling of salvation.

What do you tell children when crossing the street? You stop, look both ways and listen. Have we done that in our lives with our sin, and asked how it will affect our walk in Christ, affect my Salvation? Do you know its a personal walk, not a public one? You don’t need anyone poisoning your walk by their views or understanding. Words are powerful, and even more so to the feeble-minded. It’s important that you get the right info the right way and in all you’re getting get an understanding. It’s important that we stop look and listen for the Breath of God. People breathing down our neck, talking to about everything under the sun except the Son. Misery loves company, and company has friends. He has been exhaling in our lives, but we continue doing what we’re doing in hope that He understands. We’ve used that term before “He understands me. We’re that tight.” He understands what we are doing, walking by sight and kind of by faith. At one time or another we’ve done that. The Bible tells us we walk by faith and not by sight. But most of us blend it: a little bit of sight a little bit of faith. We comfortably do that. When your mind is walking by sight, then your mind is influenced around you, you are walking by others. When they are jacked up, you’re jacked up. Sometimes we allow things, emotions and situations to dominate our walk. In most cases we begin to second guess ourselves and our faith begins to wean, leading to faithlessness.

 

Hebrews 11:1-6

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 

Everywhere you see faith in these passages, substitute for “complete trust.”

Have you ever gone to someone who you know can’t help you? Most of the time we go to someone who can help. You have faith that they can do what you know can be done. If you can’t trust in anybody, then you’ll not go to the “body,” but go to another body to help you take care of your body! We’re sick because we want to be sick, laid up, stressed out, and prostrate before everyone because we get attention. We’re sick because we want attention. What about those who really are sick? Where is their faith? The case of the missing faith. If you have the faith of a grain of a mustard seed…

I have a concept of what faith is: trusting in something that you don’t have an idea or clue about, because you have complete trust. You exhibit and use complete trust everyday. When you get out of your bed do you step on a cloud or the floor? You trust that the floor is going to hold you. You don’t have to think about it because you trust it completely. This is how it should be with Jesus. We don’t have to think about Him because we know He is faithful. This is what faith is, not having to worry about your salvation. Not arrogantly, but not having to worry about if you are going to be healed, or going back with Him. Why do we read the Word of God? Because we completely trust in it. Do you completely trust God? Then why are you limping? By His stripes you are healed. Our complete trust is conditional. What we don’t want to accept is we’ve given Him conditions for our life, when He never gave us conditions. How many love the Lord? We love Him on conditions and completely trust Him on conditions. Have we lost our hope? Or more than that, have we quietly lost our hope in Christ Jesus? Maybe a dream we’ve had that didn’t come to pass or a relationship that did go the way you planned and you quietly blamed Jesus because it didn’t come to fruition. And now you sit in your pity, patty party, blaming yourself and Jesus too, instead of standing on your most holy faith and asking the Lord to forgive you and forgive yourself. Hope lost. You have no faith when hope is lost. Without faith you can’t please God. Hopelessness sets into you.

In conclusion, we can’t allow our self pity to rule or ruin our walk in Christ Jesus.

Romans 12:1-16

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

 

5 Points to remember:

1 Do not lean-to your own understanding, Proverbs 3:5-6

2 Change the way you have been thinking from a selfish worldy mind to a Christ Jesus mind, Romans 12:2-4

3 Don’t allow things or your situations to dictate your walk, Ephesians 4:14-16

4 Without faith you cannot please God, Hebrews 11:6

5 You can do all things through Christ, Philippians 4:13