God will maintain your right and your cause

1 Corinthians 15:57

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Yesterday I ended on the note that when God has given you the victory, then your response is to praise Him and thank Him for what He has done. This perfectly is in order as you stand on the threshold of a new year, to end a year with the voice of thanksgiving and praise and at the same time to enter a new year

The reason for your victory

1 Corinthians 15:57

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Do you know that right now you have the victory. Yes you have it. You see God speaks ahead of our lives and tells us what will be before things actually happen. What God wants me to tell you right now is that you have

Faith of fear?

Mark 5:35-36

“While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.”

Faith or fear, which is reigning in your heart right now as you inch closer towards the new year. It is easy to know, the same way faith comes so also fear and they work by the same principles. These are diametrically opposite forces, that is why where

Seeking God

Jeremiah 29:11-14

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord…” NIV

The fourth thing that enables you not miss God is in what God said Himself in our text; “…You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I WILL BE FOUND OF YOU…” (emphasis mine). Did you see that?

Discovering God’s plans for your life

Jeremiah 29:11-14

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord…” NIV

We are still on discovering God’s plans for your life.

The third thing that enables you not to miss it in the goals you set for yourself in the new year is if you also engage in what David

The coming year

Jeremiah 29:11-14

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord…” NIV

The year will soon come to an end and right now there will be a flurry of activities both in the natural and spiritual, one thing that will be uppermost in people’s minds is what the new year holds for them. The other thing that you will going around is talk about goal setting for the incoming year. Let  me encourage

It's Christmas!

Matthew 2:1-2

 “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”

Today is celebrated the world over as the day Jesus was born, it’s Chrstmas day! So we continue our faith lessons around one of the most significant events of the Christian calendar. Now let us not split heads over whether Jesus was actually born in September or not, that does nothing to our faith. The Magi saw

Lessons of faith

Matthew 2:1-2

 “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”

Let us take more lessons of faith from the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. We use to have bumper stickers that read, “wise men still seek Jesus”. It is not just wise men that seek Jesus, it takes faith to

Righteousness Consciousness

Romans 5:17

“For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”

Let me show you today some things you will begin to enjoy when you become more righteousness conscious.

Firstly, you become more bold.

Object of Redemption

Romans 5:17

“For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”

We are still continuing our meditation on the above scripture. Someone said righteousness is the object of redemption. I cannot agree more, why? It is because by making us righteous God brought man back to the place where we have access into his presence and could fellowship with Him like Adam

Understanding Righteousness

Romans 5:17

“For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”

One of the things that affect the faith life of God’s people is their understanding of righteousness or the lack of it. So let me help you gain some understanding today because when you do your faith walk will be stronger.

Firstly, it is to understand what it is. It is to have a right standing before God, which means being able to stand before the

Faith in God never fails

Luke 2:21-30

“And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation…”KJV

We are still looking at lessons of faith from the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and the events surrounding His birth. Here is the story of a man called Simeon who the scriptures say had a word from God that he will not

More lessons of faith

Matt 1:1-6

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

Let us take some more lessons of faith from birth of Jesus today in consonance with the season we are in. Did you notice in the genealogy of Jesus Christ that there are at least four women mentioned whose background under

The birth of Jesus

Luke 2:1-16

 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

Let us learn another faith lesson from the birth of Jesus from our text above.  God’s ways are different than man’s ways. People expected the Saviour to come as a king but He came as a babe born in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. Too many times people are expecting God to come through for them through some predictable means and so miss out

The power of agreement

Matt. 18:18-20 “Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” 

It is important to know the power that is involved in coming together to do things, in the congregation of the house of God. When we come together to permit or agree on something it shall be done. Amongst other things it also shortens the time of waiting for manifestation. What does it mean to agree? It means to be

There is a lifting up

Luke 13:10

“And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.  And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.   And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.” 

The bible says this woman was bowed down, bent over completely, so much that she could not even look up or lift up herself, in other words she was cast down. Jesus said “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity” these words of Jesus had power and was enough to heal her, but then the bible says He laid

Faith in your faith

1 John 5:4

“…This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” NIV

“For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.” NLT

Do you have faith in your faith? You better do because according to our text for meditation, it is your faith that is used to overcome the world. The New Living Translation makes it clearer, it says every child of God

Some faith lessons

Matt 1:18-23

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"-which means, "God with us." NIV

As Christmas approaches let us learn some faith lessons that  God walked in to bring to reality the birth of our Saviour. If God obeyed His own laws of faith in other to give substance to His desire, then you and I cannot do any less. Firstly, note the highlighted sentence, “all this took place to

Have the God kind of faith

Mark 11:22-25

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

It is said that literally verse 22 can read “have the God kind of faith”. So I want you to see some important things about the God kind of faith.

Firstly, it is released through the mouth. Faith not

Highest form of faith

Matt 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

Walking by faith

2 Cor 5:7

“For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.” AMP

There are a lot of activities happening in these times around us calling us to pay attention to them rather than the word of God. If there is a need to live by the above scripture more than ever before , it is now. I mean this times call for us to live by faith and not by sight or appearance for the things that we see were

God is coming out 2

              

 Eph 3:20 “Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think according to the power that worketh  in us…”

Let us examine this issue of allowing God to come out of the box in your life one more day

You have to change whatever perception you have of God so that you are not putting your God in a box because God is an exceeding God.

1Cor.2:9 “But as it is written eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which god hath prepared for t

God is coming out of the box

Gen 15:1” After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision saying Fear not Abraham, I am thy shield and your exceeding great reward”

You must accept God as an exceeding God; you must see Him as an exceeding God. You need to know whatever image you have of God, He surpassed that image, He exceeds that image, He can outdo that image, He is above and beyond that image He is an exceeding God.

Why would He come to Abraham in this way?  Why would He say this? Obviously Abraham is afraid of something. What could He be afraid of?  In the earlier chapter; the Bible shows to us Abraham had just won a great battle, He had a great spoil, great material possessions, and He gave tithe of the spoil, and gave everything back to the people that have it. It is after these things that the word of the Lord came to Him saying Abraham; Fear not: 

That was Abraham’ situation, what is your own situation? In what area have you obeyed God that it seems as if you are lessened rather

You can have faith in God and your faith will not fail

Heb 6:16-19

“Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us

Two parts to breakthrough

Gen 27:39 “…and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion that thou shalt break his yoke off your neck”

Heb. 11:20 “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come...”

There are two parts to having your season of breakthrough come upon you. The first part is the blessing that comes through the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the second part is living consistently by the word. The second part sets you up for the first, and it is the two together that brings the breakthrough season upon you and makes it your own.

Living consistently by the word 

“ …by thy sword , you shall live and serve your brother but the time shall come when you will grow restive and break loose and you shall tear his yoke from off your neck.”Gen.27:39 amp.

Esau was a hunter who use bows and arrows; his father

Worship

John 4:20-24

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Worship has been defined as

1.              The reverence, honour and homage in thought and feeling or action paid to God, men or angels

2.              Evolved from “worthseipe’ a word which means to give worth to someone or something.

3.              To esteem the worth of and to make a suitable response to that worthiness- what is God worth in your life?

4.              It is the human response to a gracious God.

5.              It is the surrendering of our nature to him. It is the submission to His will and His purpose.

6.              It is the deeper than human emotion, the response of our spirit to that of God’s – an attitude of the mind.

7.              It is a loving attempt to pay our unpayable debt to God.

True worship is when men agree that God should not sit on the throne of the universe but also on the throne of their lives that is why worship is a matter of the heart.

Worship is not having a day off work, it is not religious singing of songs, it is the way you are and the way you live that counts to God. Worship is much more than what people’s mind has reduced it to- a location.

Your worship must guide your spirit in the pursuit of truth and the truth is in Jesus;  anything out from that is pure religion.

If your walk with God does not put a fire of desire , commitment and dedication to God in your heart , then you are a worshipper of Baal.

The most important thing God requires from us in our relationship and walk with Him is our worship, so we should give Him the wholesome worship He requires and deserves.

You cannot say you are a worshipper and it does not take something from you because

               Worship is obedience. Constant, continuous obedience to God Hebrews 11:8; Rom6:16 there is no worship without a life of obedience John9:31 you won’t have problems serving God if you are a worshipper.

               Worship is sacrificial – worship is costly; it will not always be convenient worshipping God – you must let go what you are holding on to.

               Offering is worship – let God be the judge of your offering, listen to God in giving; because it is an indication of what you think He is worth to you.

               You are a worshipper when indeed Jesus is Lord over your life

               If you are doing things for the sake of the glory of God you are worshipping Him.

               Mark 12:28-30 “And you shall love the Lord your God  out of and with your whole heart and out of and with your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (with your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the principal first commandment”. This is WORSHIP! And worship is the highest expression of faith in God.

Love is a debt you owe

1Cor.13:1-3”Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have faith, so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity. It profiteth me nothing”.

For In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything but faith that worketh by love. If love is absent you cannot enjoy overwhelming victories. Your faith can only work when it is accompanied by love.  If you are still working things outside of love you will not get the result you ought to get because it is love that hastens things, quickens things and put speed to things. When love is absent, you are slowing your life down.  God has done everything He will do for us, we are the ones to determine when or what will happen to us and at what time, and one of the things that determine this thing is this love walk.

Praying in tongues by the help of the Holy Ghost is one of the potent forces that a believer has in bringing victory to his life, but when it is done without love, it becomes noise making. That means the thing that is supposed to bring victory is not working because there is no love

Fellowshipping together - an outflow of love

1John 1:7 “ But if ye walk in the light, as he is in the light , we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus  Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

1John 2:10”He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion for stumbling in him.” 

Heb. 10:24 “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:”

There is something that is inextricably linked to loving our brother and sister with the love of God. It is fellowshipping with our brother and sister.

“If we want to deal with God the right way we have to learn to love the right way. If we want to love the right way, we have to

deal with God the right way. God and love can’t be separated! “[Introduction to epistles of John in the message bible]

The reason God and love cannot be separated is because God is Love. Let me rephrase that: God and loving our brother cannot be separated. Therefore loving our brother and fellowshipping with them cannot be separated. Therefore when we run away from fellowshipping it means

i.               We are in darkness or darkness is in us

ii.              Our love is not complete.

“But if we walk in the light (love), we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin”.

“But if we [really] are living and walking in the light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestation”. (Amp)

Fellowship with God exhibits and proves itself by fellowship with other brethren. We are made to relate not only to God but also to others. “It is not good for the man to be alone…” ……..So God created man in His

Do not be afraid

Fear not but be strong- Rev.Ekine

Josh.1:5-9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

In this passage, Joshua was about to step into the shoes of Moses, he was faced with what seemed to be an uphill task of possessing the land for God’s people, but God comes and tells him as he faced the high walls of Jericho“…do not be afraid.” In the same way God is telling us not to be afraid, because He is with us.

Isa.8:11”Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 

We shouldn’t allow the things we hear to frighten or dismay us because we have His word; this is the only thing that takes away fear. Then He says “…be strong,” once we are afraid we’ll not be strong.  What strengthens

Covered by His Love - I'm Protected.

Songs of Solomon 2:4 (amp)

“He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love (for love waved as a protecting and comforting banner over my head when I was near Him).”

There is a lot fears right now hovering around in the atmosphere what with the incidence of bombing going on in the country and the attacks going on in some parts of the country. Added to this is the already prevalent issue of armed robbery attacks and the like.

All these however are in line with what the scriptures foretold:

“But understand this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear] 2Timothy3:1 (amp).

Though this is what the scripture say. Does it mean God’s children are left at the mercy of the elements or the devil? No absolutely not. You

Fear not but be strong - Rev.Ekine

Josh.1:5-9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whither-soever thou goest.”

In this passage, Joshua was about to step into the shoes of Moses, he was faced with what seemed to be an uphill task of possessing the land for God’s people, but God comes and tells him as he faced the high walls of Jericho“…do not be afraid.” In the same way God is telling us not to be afraid, because He is with us.

Isa.8:11”Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 

We shouldn’t allow the things we hear to frighten or dismay us because we have His word; this is the only thing that takes away

Experiencing Overwhelming Victories through Overwhelming Love - 2

                    

 Romans 12:21 “Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good”

We are continuing our meditation on the above text and theme.

God’s way is love, we can only have God’s kind of result if we do things God’s way, Love is the answer of God to the world.

Looking down through the ages, God has always answered through love. For instance, when man sinned against God in the Garden of Eden God killed a lamb and clothed their nakedness to cover man up. God does not answer tit-for –tat, an eye for an eye. His way is the way of love. You must choose to answer life with love. Unless we make this choice, things will become more and more difficult for us.

Brethren, you have been wired to

Experience Overwhelming Victories by Overwhelming Love

Rom 12:21 “Be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good’

The word overcome means ‘to get the better of’ it means to overwhelm, gain superiority or upper hand’

There is a way to overcome and overwhelm evil. God’s way is the way of love and it’s the winning way.

1Cor.13 tells us that “love can endure everything without weakening. Love never fails or fades out or comes to an end”.

How would you like to be on the side of something that never fails at all times? If you stay on the side of love you will always win, whether against the devil or human beings.

Natural human beings don’t have an answer to love. Please know that God is not punishing us by asking us to love our neighbours but rather He wants us to win all

Do not be overwhelmed

Philippians 4:6 (AMP)

“Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition ( definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.”

We are at the season of the year that there is a lot of activities both in the physical and in the realm of the spirit. It is also a period when there is a lot of anxiety in the hearts of people. This is why I want you to meditate on our text for today. You see you cannot be in faith and entertain anxiety or worry at the same time. Where faith is present, anxiety and worry take a flight out of the window and vice versa is also true.  

Our text for meditation says to not allow anxiety in your heart under any circumstance or over anything, this means God is saying to you He can meet you at the point of your need. 

So, rather than allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the many things you need to do or accomplish before this year ends, turn it over to God and rest in Him. 

The Scriptures say, “He is able to keep to the uttermost that which is committed to His hand” and also that “faithful is He who promised, who also will do it”. Lastly, Jesus said:

“So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.” MATTHEW 6:34 AMP

Faith as a Shield

Ephesians 6:16 (NIV)
“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

1 Tim 6:12-13 (NIV)“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Taking a cue from our meditation some days ago where we saw that Jesus brought the use of faith to two main things, which were to get rid of stuff we don’t want and to bring in stuff we want, I want to point out to you today two other uses of faith.

From our first text for meditation, you can see that faith is used for defensive purposes because it is symbolized as a shield. A shield is for

Faith is a man’s grip on God

Luke 5:17-20
“And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.”

Where God’s word has been preached or taught, power is present. Where the Holy Spirit is also power of God is there. But you will notice that even though the power of God was present to heal, nobody got healed until someone came who had faith. Faith is what is used to take

The use of faith

Mark 11:22-24

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

It seemed like Jesus broke the use of faith down to two major things: Firstly, it is to get stuff you don’t want but are already in your life out, “…that whosoever shall say to this mountain, be thou removed…”. Secondly, it is to get stuff you want in, “…what things soever ye desire, when ye pray…” 

Some people will feel guilty that that is all their

What comes next to obedience?

Romans 4:12

“And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.”

One more thing on walking in the steps of the faith of Abraham. After righteousness has been established in the heart as the heart is changed and the fear of God is implanted in the heart, it enables obedience. Now look at what comes next to obedience:

“Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Hebrews 11:11 KJV

What comes next to obedience? You receive strength to do whatever you have been asked to do. But that is not how we want it, we