Dear Friend,
It was in early 2014 when I heard a preacher make a statement that had an impact on me. He said the following:
"Learn to believe God for your health and finances; because the day will come when you'll need to know how to do both."
- Mark Brazee
I'm writing this as of end January 2015; and I see more clearly than ever the necessity of us being able to believe God for MORE than just our health and finances! We live in a time where inflation of prices is rapidly increasing by the year, and unknown diseases that seemingly have no cure run rampant. It'll take faith in God to be able to stand tall through the storms of life that are coming our way.
I do not write this as someone who's already reached the pinnacle of learning faith; as there is much more to it that remains to be experienced. I write this as a reminder even to those who embraced the message of Faith; and have grown lax concerning it for whatever reasons best known to them.
The message of faith isn't just a teaching to be understood intellectually and left in the back closet to be forgotten; it is a lifestyle that all of us should live.
In Genesis 26:18-32, we read the story of Isaac re-digging again the wells that his father Abraham had dug prior to his death; and as he moved on, he dug new wells that had water in them. Likewise, as we revisit the message of faith and its importance, I'm believing that new wells will be opened up for us, enabling us to press even further in fulfilling the plans that God has for us.
The writer of Hebrews writes in Chapter 11, that
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
To those who seek a different meaning to this; I regret to inform that it means the same in Greek: that it is impossible to please God without faith.
The Believer's walk is to be a walk of faith, as Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that we "walk by faith and not by sight".
We also cannot be saved except through faith. Salvation is a free gift given by God. It is His grace in action. However, as we read in Ephesians 2:8
Ephesians 2:8 (AMP)
For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
The word 'saved' can also be taken as healed, preserved, made whole. God has graciously extended His gift to you; but it is through the exercising of your faith that you are able to take what He offers to you.
God has not promised the Christian a life of absolutely no problems. We're not going to float through life on 'flowery beds of ease' as some would put it. There are challenges that we'll all go through. Paul strongly encouraged his spiritual son Timothy to 'fight the good fight of faith' (1 Timothy 6:12).
Thank God for Romans 12:3:
Romans 12:3 (NKJV)
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
God has deposited in you and I a definite measure of faith that enables us to believe Him! And it is through that faith that He has given us that we'll be able to stand strong through 2015!
So revisit those old wells! Find good teachings on faith that will help build you up and remind you on how you can exercise your faith in believing God that He'll see you through all the way to the end!
Blessings!
Ken
