Faith

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Mark 11:22, “And Jesus answering them, said, Have faith in God (constantly).”

Romans 12:3, “...for it is given unto every man the measure of faith.”

Hebrews 11:6, “For without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

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SIMPLE FAITH:
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This word in Mark 11:22 sounds so simple, doesn’t it? We’re asked to have faith in a deity that we can’t see physically, or touch physically. Even though we can’t see God with the physical eye or touch Him tangibly, we’re asked to see Him through the eyes of our faith in His Word. We’re promised that as we look into the word, we can ‘see’ Jesus through the Holy Spirit’s revelation of Him to us. The Holy Spirit will enable us to see Him through the “eyes of our hearts.”

We can ‘touch’ Jesus with our faith and receive our miracle just as the woman with the issue of blood did. “For without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb.11:6). Great faith starts off as simple faith and then as we feed it by the Word of God, it will grow. “So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Roms. 10:17). What is simple faith? Jesus likened it to a tiny mustard seed and if we will only plant that mustard seed of simple faith---that measure of faith we’ve been given, we’re promised that it will grow and become like a mighty oak tree who’s branches will reach out and bless others. Praise God!

This mustard seed faith, even in it’s simple child-like expression is supernatural faith because we’ve been given a “seed,” a “measure” of God’s faith. His faith Super-’seeds’ our natural faith and helps us to believe for the seemingly impossible spiritual things that our natural faith can’t believe for. So, any way you want to look at this measure of faith we’ve been given, it’s supernaturally given to us from God, through the Holy Spirit when we are born again.

When Jesus said “Have faith in God,” which in the Greek text, it says, “Have the God kind of faith” and according to Roms.12:3, we do. But Jesus wasn’t making a request when He spoke these words. He wasn’t asking us to have faith in God. It was a command. We were created with a free will of choice and we certainly do have a choice in the matter to either obey Him or disobey Him. So, let us choose wisely. God, our heavenly Father, has our best interest at heart because He wants to do every person ’good.’

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and power, Who went about doing good, and healing ALL who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). He wants to bless us as we make the right choice to obey Him in what He tells us to do. “Obedience is better than sacrifice” to God so that things will go well for us in this life. And not only that, but so life will go well with our children as we choose life and blessing.

In the course of life, we also need to understand that God isn’t demanding that we be perfect. Rather we’re told to have faith in God. When God speaks of His children being perfect, He is referring to us coming to the place of spiritual maturity. We see this in Eph.4:11-13 where He says, He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and some teachers. And verses 12 & 13 tells us why---“For the perfecting (equipping) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying (building up) of the body of Christ. 13-Till we all come in (unto) the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect (mature) man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

We are expected to grow up and mature, bearing the fullness of the image of Christ. That is, walk like Him; talk like Him and act just like Him. How do we accomplish this? The first place to start is, “have faith in God; because we can’t get there in our own carnal walk, talk and actions that are centered on “self.” We have to become Christ-centered as the power of the Holy Spirit helps us press into full stature in Christ. Amen.

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WE CRY OUT:
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Even in the natural, every parent wants to see his son or daughter come to the place of spiritual, mental and emotional maturity. God, our heavenly Father, wants each of His children to grow into the fullness of Him. At the time of natural birth, we are set on the course of our journey through this life with very little information. And we’re unlearned and immature. All we know to do is cry when we’re hungry and when we’re uncomfortable or when we feel pain.

Even as an adult, these same responses to the elements of relationships and life around us do not change. We still cry because we’re hungry. But now it’s a different kind of hunger we’re experiencing. This kind of hunger is like a big empty hole in our soul that gnaws at the very fabric of who we are. The hunger is there in the very core of our being for God. Whether conscious or unconscious, we have a desire for the fulfillment of God’s love to flow in us and touch our hearts intimately. There is that space of time while growing when we don’t know that God’s love is what we desire and long for. We don’t, as of yet, understand that to be connected to God and His love is what we’re crying out for.

We may not understand it at the time but we are aware that something vital is missing from our lives and we want that missing piece to make us feel whole. The pain in our soul that we experience is pain that we don’t know how to process and put in its proper place. We desparately need re-connecting with God, the Father; because He knows exactly how everything about you is supposed to fit and operate. After all, He created you in His own image and after His own likeness.

By the time we’re born into this world and all throughout our journey to adulthood, we’ve accumulated a past history of our lives. If we’ve not learned how to process the pain and disappointment we encountered in the past, then we will filter the present and future through the dirty lens of our unresolved history. Our past history will no doubt consist of good and bad relationships with other people.

We are to learn from both experiences but toss out the negatives once you’ve learned what‘s really true and what is not. The negative information we receive while growing up can so brand our souls with pain that we end up closing a part of ourselves off to others and the good experiences in life. What do we do with the left over pain? We shove the hurt into the far corner of our subconcious so that we now begin to judge other people’s actions toward us by that particular pain we experienced in the past.

Parents can tell their children over and over, “You’re stupid! You’re good for nothing and you’ll never amount to anything in life. You‘re a loser. You‘ll never succeed at anything” After a while, you learn to believe these things said about you. Especially when they come from parents who should know the truth about you better than anybody else, right? The devil is a liar! No one knows you inside and out but God because He formed you and knitted you in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139). Neither your parents or anyone else has the last word about you. Only God does and His word is final authority. It’s up to you to believe what He says about you to be true.

Others can laugh at the dreams and visions you have for your future and tell you that you’re crazy for even thinking of such grand things. They may laugh and tell you your dreams will never happen for you. You can feel so crushed by their words that your steps falter on the pathway to your future destiny. What do you do with the insurmountable weight of the pain, the shame and the rejection that has nearly knocked the breath out of you? Who do you tell and share your pain with? Who can you trust to really tell you the truth without crushing you any further? Your answer is a quick, ‘no one’ because fear of rejection has set in now. Not only do you doubt yourself but you doubt the possibility of ever having such a future as the one you’ve dreamed about.

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THE DEMAND OF PERFECTION:
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So, how do we process this kind of pain and overcome those haunting, hurtful words echoing through the corridor of our existence? It’s like a tunnel that is now so dark we feel as if we’re going through the “valley of the shadow of death.” The truth is, we are but there is hope at the end of it. There is light at the end of this journey of faith. And the most reassuring part of this whole journey is the truth that, “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You (Lord) are with me” (Psalm 23).

Jesus said, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you. He said, I am the Light of the world. Even in your darkest valley, you always have the Light to guide you through every step of the way to the other side. You have the Light to get you to the next level of truth and anointing that I’m bringing you into.” That’s a word for someone if you will only receive it and let it bring encouragement to you.

Does Jesus expect us to be perfect and never have any failure while we’re passing through on our way to the other side? He doesn’t demand our perfection but He does command us to be obedient to His will because it brings His blessings upon us more profusely. We are the one who put’s such high demands on ourselves to be perfect so we won‘t appear to be less to other people. I’ll say it again; Jesus doesn’t command us to be perfect, just obedient. He said, “If you love Me, you will keep (do) My commandments.” We obey His Word because we love Him and we want to please Him above anyone else or anything.

I said something earlier but I think it bears repeating--due to our past history with people in relationships who were less than kind through their words that left an indelible mark on our emotions. In order to deal with the pain, we shove it down deep into the dark corridors of our souls where we become numb to it. When it rises up to jab us through our memory, we shove it back down out of feeling range until finally, we can almost believe the pain is no longer an issue in our lives. Unfortunately, we’ve only deceived ourselves because the painful hurts are still there and at a later time and through some circumstance, they will surface again. This time, it may be through anger. Through depression, through bitterness, cynicism, loss of appetite, suicidal thoughts, or some kind of addiction and a whole host of other ways.

One thing follows another thing and you begin viewing everything and everyone you come in contact with through the perception of your past history of unresolved pain. When someone ask’s how you are you automatically respond, “I’m just fine.” Meanwhile, on the inside there is rumblings of turmoil and inner conflict of the soul that you may tell yourself, “I don‘t know what that is. I really am fine”

Somehow in the wrong belief system we’ve developed due to wrong information we’ve filed away that is contrary to what God says, we now believe that we must push ourselves to become what those in our past said about us. They said, we were no good and we could never and would never become anything good in life. We would never succeed but would always be a failure.

We will either push ourselves to achieve perfection and prove those people wrong about our being able to succeed, or we will accept what they said as truth and prove them right that we‘re a failure. You will only act on what you believe to be true. God tells each of His children that through Christ Jesus, we’re world over-comers. And through Christ, who strengthens us, we can do all things that He calls us to do. Praise the Lord! That's the truth and anything contrary to that is a lie. It’s our choice as to which “report are we going to believe.” God’s report? Or the devil’s report?

We want to succeed and often times, we get up enough courage to try and do something that pertains to the dreams and desires God has deposited in our spirit. But because we’re still operating by the old wrong belief system we run into a snag. This happens because we haven’t deleted all the old past files and replaced them with God’s positive information through His word yet. We will only get so far before we abort the effort to go beyond what we’ve been told negatively that we accepted and believe about ourselves. Thus we enter into a vicious cycle that depletes us not only of physical energy but of spiritual and emotional energy as well.

One of the biggest tricks of the devil is to keep God’s people going around and around in a vicious cycle of fear, shame , guilt, doubt, confusion, discouragement and defeat. His intent is to wear you down and wear you out so you will give up the “good fight of faith.” He hopes that you will throw in the perverbial towel and quit the race that is set before you and never fulfill your destiny in God. It’s sad but true that many of God’s children never fulfill the destiny that was given to them to cimplete here on this earth.

A person who is bound up in perfectionism, which is rooted in shame and fear of rejection, will usually not be gracious enough to give themselves permission to fail. What do we mean when we say fail? It means that in whatever thing it is that God is requiring of us, we have failed to be obedient. We have missed the mark. God’s promise to us is, “If you will confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). God has made provision for our failures through the blood of Jesus and extends His grace for when we do fail (sin) and miss the mark. We can have confidence and assurance in our Father God, Who never fails to bring us to the truth. The truth that He loves us and we can receive forgiveness and cleansing by the blood of Jesus. Glory to God!

When we come before Father God and confess our sin, does He berate us and tell us that we were stupid to have made the mistake? No, praise God! He says, “I love you. Now, by My grace, get back on the path I’ve set your feet on to walk and keep going. You can make it.” Thank God that we can come to the throne of grace boldly and receive grace and mercy in our time of need (Heb.4:15).

Praise Him that we can come and not be ashamed but we can stand before Father God covered in His love and the blood of Jesus. Hallelujah! That's good news to those who think that God is mad at them. God is not mad at you. He loves you and He has proven it by sending His only Son to the cross to die and shed His blood for your sins in your place. God will deal with the sin in our lives because He says plainly, “Those I love, I chasten.”

How many times have you made the statement to someone when you messed up, “I’m not perfect?” I would guess that we all have probably made this statement at least once in our lifetime. We usually make such a statement when we’re confronted with failure and we want to justify falling. From our preconceived wrong belief system that is somehow connected to our history, we believe that in order to be accepted of God and others, and even accepted by ourselves, we must maintain the control of perfection. That is, we must “get everything right the first time.” We dare not allow ourselves permission to miss getting everything right the first time, let alone missing it the second and third time.

In the very beginning of this word, Mark 11:22 very simply said, “Have faith in God.” This is what God asks of His children. Just have this simple child-like faith and trust that says, Father God really does love me. He cares for me and my life, and He has everything under His inscrutable and ever watchful eye. From Deut.6:5 we’re told, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Jesus quoted this in the New Testament and said, “Love God with all your heart and your neighbor, even as you love yourself.” It’s one thing to say, “God loves me” but can you say, “I love me too?”

From 1 Peter 1:16, God has told us, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” When He said this, He wasn’t asking us to be perfect in the same terms that Jesus; the Son of the living God is perfect. Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God, Who knew no sin. He is perfection personified. We are mortal human beings and God “Knows our frame, that we are dust.” Plus, “we have a high priest, Jesus Christ, Who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities (weaknesses), being tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin” (Heb.4:14). All of us, not having been perfected yet still commits sins of omission and commission.

God is not asking or demanding that we fit this mold of perfection, being without sin because we can’t. We must persevere toward maturity in the faith and in the fullness of Christ. We must continue to press on toward that goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil.3:14). We also have the promise of God that as we yield our bodies a living sacrifice unto God (Romans 12:1), the Holy Spirit will strengthen us and help us in our weaknesses. He will take hold of with us together to help us pray when we don’t know how (Romans 8:26). He will empower us to have faith in God and to step out on that platform of faith in the power of His might to do the things we‘ve been called to do (Eph.6:11). It will not be by our own human strength.

So, let me say it once again, God has never put the demand of perfection on His children. We demand that of ourselves. It comes out of our inflated ego that has its center in “self” and not in Christ Jesus and others. We are yet too concerned with what other people think of us rather than what God thinks of us. We have been a people who have been more concerned with pleasing others instead of pleasing God first. We worry about how others view the progress of our journey with Jesus, and how much fruit we’re bearing. We certainly are to be concerned with bearing much fruit to please God first and then to bless other people with.

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MEASURING UP:
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Our wrong belief system convinces us that we won’t be satisfied and able to rest in God in faith until we show the world that we’re a success. This kind of person will put the demand for perfection on themselves ruthlessly. They will push and push themselves to achieve until they’ve reached a satisfactory conclusion called success but by whose standards was it accomplished? God‘s standards or the world‘s? This kind of thinking where success is concerned comes from layers of wrong beliefs packed away in the files of your memory from past experience. We continually view our personal world through those layers of deception and preconceived notions with the end result showing us that we just don’t measure up.

It’s the vicious cycle again of trying to fit into that place somewhere when you can finally say, I measure up. Jesus says, you might not measure up according to other people‘s opinions and the world‘s standards, but in Me, you measure up because you are in Me, and I am in you. In Me, you don’t come short but rather, you can stand established in My love for you and in My truth. You can trust that I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life (John14:6) and I‘ll never fail you. Hallelujah! Its time to dump the old files and allow the Holy Spirit to help you create new files--a new and correct belief system by renewing your mind to the word of God (Romans 12:2).

The problem with thinking in terms of, ’do I measure up’ and always comparing yourself to other people is that you set yourself up to fall short of your unrealistic expectations. And instead of facing the pain of the failure, you mask it over with layers of self-justification. “I could have really pulled off that deal if it had not been for so and so in my way---if the money had been there---if the right doors had opened for me, etc.” The list of things we tell ourselves to avoid facing the painful truth of our own wrong belief systems of fear, doubt and self-righteous pride is endless.

God knows our potential for greatness because He put it there and it is toward this God-deposited potential, that we try to make our way to finding fulfillment. You can best liken it to the pull of gravity or a magnet. Without realizing it, you’re drawn to this core potential that God has deposited in you. He has good plans that He mapped out for you before the foundation of the world. Jesus told the Church (thats you if you‘re born again), “Greater works than these shall you do because I go to My Father.”

We can say all the right religious things without much thought and come to believe it because we’ve been conditioned to do so. But do we so radically believe that “God knows me personally and He truly does care for me and my life?” Do we believe this to the degree that we’re willing to follow Jesus with abandon and firey passion no matter how foolish we may look to the world? The truth is, most Christians are not at this point, although many protest and declare that they are passionate about Jesus. When you look at their life style and compare it to the words they speak, is there a match-up between the two? Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruits.”

What kind of fruit are we bearing that’s good and righteous for others to partake of and be blessed? What kind of good fruit do we see others bearing in righteousness that we can partake of and be blessed? We can and do bear fruit but the real question is, are we bearing the good fruit of the Spirit? Or are we bearing the rotten fruit of the flesh that's inspired by the devil? We often need to take an inventory of the kind of fruit we’re bearing according to Gal.5:22-23. Amen.

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WALKING ON WATER:
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Peter followed Jesus with abandonment and with a passion that I’m sure he didn’t understand until much later. He had the raw faith of a fisherman to step out and go where Jesus went. The ‘where’ didn’t matter. The important thing at the moment was the obedience to ‘follow’ and he did. Such was the time of being out in the middle of a storm where Jesus is seen coming toward them walking on the water. In a moment of passionate faith, Peter wanted to walk where Jesus walked--“Lord, if that be you, bid me come.” And Jesus answered him, “Come.” We know the story; Peter got out of the boat and took a few steps on the water.

While Peter had been anxious to follow since the day Jesus had called him, at the same time; he experienced many painful failures. In his journey with Jesus, he had to be brought face to face with the dark side of his fear and doubt because they were enemies to the call of greatness on his life. Even though he was passionate and obedient to step out in faith when Jesus asked him to, those layers of past painful experiences often threw up a wall to block his progress. The same thing often happens to you and me.

So many times we blame the devil for what we do ourselves. That’s not to say he’s not an evil influence because he is. But the truth of the matter is, the devil can’t make us do anything. He can only make suggestions, just as he suggested to Eve, “Has God said...? We’ve been given the free choice of will and we can either say, “yes” to the devil, or we can say, “No!” To say ‘no’ is to resist his suggestion (James 4:7). Just like Peter, God allows our faith to be tested so that it may be strengthened and come forth as pure gold. The devil can only do what God allows him to do.

When Peter’s faith was tested and because of his past history, his perception of his future was out of harmony with how he viewed his present. This was because his present was still tied to those painful experiences of his past that he had not yet dealt with. Despite that, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the Word, “Come.” He had no sooner stepped out of the boat to make His way to Jesus, Who was the ultimate fulfillment of his destiny, than he was faced with those layers in the dark shadows of his soul. His present circumstances (wind, storm, waves) dictated how he not only viewed his present but it diffused the clarity of his future destiny until he became confused and fearful. When he saw he couldn’t handle the pain of his soul alone, he cried out, “Lord! Save (deliver, heal, make whole) me!” This must be our cry as well.

Many people don’t follow Peter’s example and call out to Jesus in humility to save them from themselves. They still harbor the past belief that if something is to get done, they must be the one to do it. Thus, they end up struggling to hold onto control, thinking that somehow they’re responsible to fix things. If we can stay in control and at least, attempt to fix things, just maybe we can hold onto our pride and people won’t see blatant failure in our lives.

When Peter called out to Jesus to save him, it was to humble himself and say, “I can’t do this alone. I’m going under without your help Jesus. I can’t walk on this water (this word yet). I can’t fulfill this destiny you’ve chosen for me and succeed at it--by doing it independently of you.” Peter had to come face to face with the pain of his failure and admit his weakness in order to be able to embrace Jesus in his present, as well as embrace the greatness of his future destiny. He had to face things and no longer run from the dark shadows of fear, doubt and unbelief. He had to deal with the pain of false expectations. He had to turn loose of everything he had been holding on to that was comfortable and just simply have faith in God.

When he could truly come to the place of having faith in God, only then could he begin to have faith in himself. Only when he truly believed that the God of the universe took special notice of him, loving him unconditionally, only then would he be able to love God and his neighbor as he saw that he could love himself. This holds true for you and me, and for all of God’s born again children.

Was Peter an absolute success after he called out to Jesus? No, he wasn’t. He made many more painful discoveries about the dark areas of fear and doubt in his soul. But once he faced the bitter truth of each one, those things were no longer able to have control over him. They were no longer able to dictate his walk in Christ. Instead, these painful truths brought freedom and enabled him to more fully embrace his God and his destiny. It brought him to have faith in God and faith in himself. It helped him to have faith that the plans God had for him were indeed good and he could believe the truth that, “whom the Son sets free is free indeed” (John 8:36). After all, he had heard Jesus preach this truth.

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CONFIDENCE IN GOD:
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If you have no confidence in God’s abilities, then whatever degree of confidence you might have in yourself is based on a false belief. Otherwise known as deception. True confidence comes from God. It comes by having faith in God. Having confidence that God is who He says He is, and He will do all that He says He will do---even when everything around you shouts differently. True confidence is based in God’s character; because He is a God of integrity and honor. True confidence believing that God is “not a man that He should lie.”

He has even put His Word above His name because being integral over His spoken and written Word is that important. It’s important to God, our Father, that we believe what He says and trust that He will do just exactly what He promises us He will do. He’s a Father Who absolutely keeps His Word to His children and in that truth, we can have confidence.

Confidence is based in our experience of God on a personal level, meaning when we invite the presence of the Holy Spirit to come into our intimate space, He doesn‘t come to hurt but to heal. Sometimes, we fear that level of intimacy because we wonder if God will accept us---even love us if He see’s all of our flaws? The truth is, He knew about your flaws long before you did and He still loves you unconditionally and has already accepted you in the beloved Jesus (Eph.1:6). “Even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Thats total acceptance. God can’t accept you any more than He already does.

In relation to what you’ve been through in the past or what you may be going through now, the truth is, God has been orchestrating your life in such a way that you could finally face the painful truth of your inner fears and doubts. God is after oneness through intimate relationship with each of His children. He sets about to bring you to the place of communion and co-laboring with Him in order to remove the blocks that have kept you from your heavenly Father.

The process to get there can be gut-wrenchingly painful but the end result is a growing faith and confidence in God. He shows us our true identity in Him and empowers us to step out on the water of His Word that sets the course toward our destiny. From there we’re given fresh vision through new eyes to see that Jesus and His glory is the ultimate fulfillment of all we‘ve been longing for and pursuing after. Hallelujah!

The end result is glorious in that we become more like Christ and bear His image with each step of faithful obedience we take. When we determine to stay focused on the Author and the Finisher of our faith, Jesus, it is to behold Him in His majestic glory. And whatever we spent our time beholding (focus on), that is what we become. For example, if you behold threatening circumstances and a negative environment, you become fearful and critical.

Out of this can come a critical spirit that is directed at everything and everyone by critical words that cause others to be wounded. Instead of that, let us behold Jesus in His glory and focus on the goodness of the Lord so that criticism can be turned into thanksgiving, whereby, you speak words of faith and blessing. Let us focus on Jesus so that His glory and goodness can be seen in us by others and they are drawn to Him. Praise the name of the Lord.

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THE LORD’S BURDEN IS LIGHT:
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In this journey with Jesus we‘re on, there is pain as we learn to face the truth about ourselves first and then about other things as it becomes necessary. Truth that will enable us to become free of the dark shadowy parts of the past. Those dark shadows of shame, fear and doubt that have lurked in our souls to deceive us into believing and saying, “I’m just fine.” This is merely one of the masks we wear to hide the inner conflict and turmoil we experience when battling fear and doubt alone. It becomes an automatic response we give out when asked how we are and which, other people expect to hear it. But are we “just fine?”

We don’t have to carry around with us all the baggage that we do from the past. Jesus has already carried it for us and you can be free today if you want to be and choose to be. You don’t have to face the process alone. Jesus has promised in His Word, “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...” Our labor is to be in co-labor with Jesus as we journey through the valley of the shadow of death on our way to ultimate joy that becomes unspeakable and full of glory in His presence. Our co-laboring with the Lord truly begins within this personal journey to come out of the proverbial “dark tunnel” of our souls and into the glorious light of His truth and freedom and anointing.

Jesus said, “My burden is light and My yoke is easy.” We must be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to help us throw off the heavy burdens of the past. We must humble ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to shine the light of truth in our hearts and expose its true motives, intents and purposes. We must allow Him to expose those areas of darkness in our souls that tend to control our present and cloud over everything we attempt to do toward the fulfillment of our destiny in God. This requires that we become obedient and yoked to God’s will and purpose for our lives. It requires that we become un-yoked to our own agenda’s that are influenced by our past history of failures that leads us to follow our will instead of God‘s will.

It requires that we abandon our hearts to God and not lean to our own understanding, trying to figure every detail out. It requires that we have faith in God and Him alone. It requires that we put our all on the line to trust God as a child would trust a loving parent to do him good. “If an earthly father, being evil, knows how to give good gifts to his children, how much more will your heavenly Father give to them that ask of Him?”

We’re required to believe and trust that God knows what to do for us every moment of every day. He knows how to do it and when is the best time for all the good things He’s promised to manifest. To have this child like obedient faith in God pleases our heavenly Father and will mean our being successful in bearing much good fruit to bless others (John 15:5).

Plus, when our ways (faith & obedience) pleases God, our heavenly Father, He makes even our enemies to be at peace with us. Hallelujah! Praise God! With the faith we have for our journey with Jesus, let us exercise it in Him more and more so that it can be said of us that we had, “great faith” in our God who never fails. Great faith in our God, our heavenly Father who is faithful to reward all those who believe that He is, and who diligently seek Him; for it is impossible to please Him without faith (Hebrews 11:6).

Plain As Day Ministries

Shirley Williams
11-10-03

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