Faith life of Samuel, the prophet

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

Let us skip over David and see what we can learn from the life of Samuel the prophet. There is an incidence that readily comes to my mind that shows Samuel to be a man of faith. We find it in 1 Samuel 16 when David was anointed king, because it is a very long passage let me tell you the story.

Samuel was told by God to go to the house of a man called Jesse and anoint the next King of Israel, God did not tell him how many sons

Jephthae’s story of faith

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

You will find Jephthae’s story in Judges chapter eleven. I believe his faith is exemplified in not just the victory he obtained but also that he did not withhold his daughter from the Lord even though she was his only child.

When Jephthae was to go to war he vowed before God that if he was victorious, he would offer to God anything from his house that

Faith lesson in Samson’s life

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

What faith lesson is there in Samson’s life? Samson is well known to most people if not all because of his physical strength and his fling with Delilah that led to his destruction. The story is found in Judges 13 -16. Samson at the beginning

Learning from Barak

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

Let us see what we can learn from Barak. Ba---who? I imagine someone asking. Don’t worry, his story is just before Gideon’s in the book of judges. But he is also

Faith life of Gideon

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

Let us study the faith life of Gideon and get some faith lessons from him. I know some of would never have considered him a subject in the study faith but if the Bible deemed it fit to mention him among the heroes of faith then he is one.

His walk of faith started with this;

“And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.”

God spoke to him and called him a mighty man of valour. Here was a man that was hiding in a cave to thresh wheat so that he will not be seen by

Every victory is a faith victory.

Hebrews 11:32-34

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

Sometimes in life we give attention to people who appear larger than life and forget those people whose accomplishments we

Faith is a law

Rom 3:27

“Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith”

We are continuing to look at what faith is, and what we see here is that faith is a law, as gravity also. 

What is a law? According to Webster’s New Explorer, it is a rule or principle stating something that always works in the

Faith and hope are not the same

Hebrews 11:1

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

To walk in faith accurately you must understand that faith and hope are not the same, don’t mean the same thing. To understand this difference, let us look at another translation of our text:

“What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for

Loving by faith

Ephesians 3:17-19

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

Let us work some more on this faith and love working relationship. Let me tell you this right off the bat, you can only love the way God wants you to love by faith. Yes, faith is the foundation upon which the love walk

Faith and love

Galatians 5:6

“For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love.” AMP

As we continue our thought from yesterday, I want you to see Paul’s expression of the working relationship between faith and love. Paul says four things in the working relationship between faith and love.

Firstly, he says our faith has to be activated by love, expressed and working through love. But then he also said something that

Choose the way of love

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3

“But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. 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 all 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.”

I will also want you to choose the way of love this year. I believe when you combine living by faith and walking in love you become unstoppable. You know Jesus combined the two in His great teaching of faith in Mark chapter Eleven, though indirectly. What does it mean to forgive, if it is not love in action.

“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

The word of faith

Romans 10:8

“But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.”

Let us try and break down further what I said yesterday concerning the word of faith being the gospel. To do that, I want you to see the Message Bible rendering of our text:

“So what exactly was Moses saying? The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God — "Jesus is my Master" — embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. 

You're not "doing" anything; you're

How to know if it is a word of faith.

Romans 10:8

“But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.”

Yesterday I said I will answer today how to know if a word been preached is a word of faith. Firstly, generally, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is a gospel of faith, it is a word of faith. The gospel if truly preached is good news and it should provoke faith in the heart of the hearer.

“And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In

Choosing what you listen to

Mark 4:24

“And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.”

There is one more thing I want to point at in choosing the way of faith, it is choosing what you listen to. What you listen to will determine what you choose finally. It will also determine what comes to you eventually. You cannot surround yourself with hearing words of doubt and unbelief and think you will be able to choose the way of faith. No, it does not work that way.

“This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith…He therefore that

Choosing the way of faith

Mark 9:21-24

“And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

We are continuing our thought on choosing to live by faith and what it means. We said firstly, it means to believe in the integrity of the word of God above experiences of man. Just as we saw in our closing Scripture of yesterday, Abraham believed because God said it even when his body said something different.

The second way to know you have chosen

Living by faith

Mark 9:21-24

“And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

Living by faith is a choice we all have to make for ourselves because when the rubber meets the road, it is going to be about what you can believe. In our text, the father of the boy wanted to push the responsibility off unto Jesus when he said to Jesus, “…if thou canst do anything, have compassion

Your life has already been framed by God!

Hebrews 11:3

“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.”

Talking about being framed by God, do you know your life has already been framed by God? I mean God has drawn the border line of your life before the foundation of the world. It is because some of do not know this that is why we do not get to turn out as He had planned us to do. For some it is because we do not know how to cooperate with God to make a reality of it.

Firstly, let me show you that your life has been framed by God.

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did

In a frame!

Hebrews 11:3

“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.”

The word ‘framed’ has this connotation, that is, to create a border line round about something. Putting that in our text for meditation, it means by the word of God you can create a border line round about your life.  When you put the word of God on your lips to declare it, you are actually

Furnishing your world by the word

Hebrews 11:3

“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.”

As you are in a new year, it is very important that you take note of some things that enable you to have this year turn out the way you desire it to be for you in God. Our text for meditation says the worlds were framed by the word of God. The word for frame in the Greek there means to furnish completely, to adjust, to mend or to repair. 

This means you also can repair, mend, restore adjust and completely furnish your world by the word of God. I like the aspect

Having our desires granted

Mark 4:26-29

“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”

The last thing we see in our text in the process of the kingdom in having our desires granted is that

“…when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”

What does this mean he puts in the sickle? The

Process of manifestation

Mark 4:26-29

“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”

The third thing you see about the process in the kingdom, is the process of manifestation. We understand from our text that manifestation is progressive.

“…For the earth bringeth forth fruit

Planting the seed in our hearts

Mark 4:26-29

“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”

We are still understanding the process of the kingdom of God. We have seen that everything begins with the planting of the seed of God’s word in our heart. There is a part to the planting of the seed in our

Plant the word of God in your heart

Mark 4:26-29

“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”

There is a process to obtaining in the kingdom of God which every believer must familiarize himself/herself with. As you seek to have many things happen for you this year understand this process very well and you shall not be denied.

Firstly, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground…”. Everything begins with the seed, the seed of God’s word

When God visits

Gen 50:24-25

 “…God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.”

It is clear from our text that when God visits he does things.

Genesis 21:1,2; 1Samuel 2:21 – when God visits

Launching out into the deep

Gen 50:24-25

 “…God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.”

Still talking about God’s visitation, I want you to understand again that this is more than talking about God being present in a general sort of way. Let me illustrate it this way:

“And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were

God's visitation

Gen 50:24-25

 “…God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.”

One of the things I believe God wants to do is visit you this year in a definite tangible way. Did I hear you say Amen? When God visits, it implies Him coming down as it were to manifest Himself in power and

You will begin this year with harvest

Psalm 65:11

“You start the new year with a good harvest. You end the year with many crops.” Easy to Read Version

I bring you this word today. You will begin this year with harvest! Yes, this year will begin for you on a note of harvest. Harvest of favours, blessings, miracles and harvest on your financial seeds. Can I hear your loud Amen? Can God do this? Yes He can.

Let me tell you the story of two women, Naomi and Ruth. 

Naomi and her husband had left their country to go to another country, an idol worshipping one because of famine in their land, they went with their two sons. After a while these the sons married two ladies Orpah and Ruth. Not too long Naomi’s husband and two sons died in that land which made Naomi decide to return to her own land. 

Moreover, she heard that God had visited her own land and the people had bread. On her return, Ruth went with her. This is Naomi’s testimony upon her return:

“And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?” Ruth 1:20,21 KJV

So you have someone who is bitter and empty. She seems to have come to the end of her world. But guess what, when she arrived, it was at the time of harvest. This time of harvest was to begin the turning point of her life.

“So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.”

This means they began the new life on a note of harvest, this set off a chain of events in their lives that brought them total restoration.

I PROPHESY TO YOU THAT YOU ARE BEGINNING THIS YEAR WITH A GOOD HARVEST.

Decide to move forward

Job 5:8-9

“I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number.”

Let us learn some things from our story in 2Kings chapters 6 &7 from those four lepers that will enable you to experience the great things that God is set to do in your life this year.(read these two chapters again today)

  1.     The lepers had to decide to move from a

Becoming great

Job 5:8-9

“I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number.”

Friends, God wants to do great things in your life this year irrespective of where you at right now. I want to remind you of a story in 2Kings chapter 6. It is the story of how God used some lepers to turn around a situation of famine in Samaria. Things were so bad in that land that they were eating dove’s dung and asses’ head which were very expensive to get. Where they don’t get those things to eat, they were eating their children. 

That is how bad things were. (I am sure

God is set to do great things for you

Job 5:8-9

“I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number.”

"If I were you, I would go to God and present my case to him. He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles. NLT

"If I were in your shoes, I'd go straight to God, I'd throw myself on the mercy of God. After all, he's famous for great and unexpected acts; there's no end to his surprises. MSG

I have purposely given three versions of this passage, so that the passage itself will speak to you by itself without much comment from me. God is set to do great things for you, He is set to perform miracles and surprise you this new year. Are you ready to receive these things to be done for you? Then the Scripture tells you what to do also:

  1.     commit your cause to Him – the book of proverbs says commit thy way unto the Lord and trust also in Him and He will bring it to pass. Another place says He will establish your thoughts.

  2.     Throw yourself at the mercy of God. The Scripture says we should come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find help in time of need.

  3.     What qualifies as great thing in your sight is what you should go to God for, don’t be ask for less.

Put Praise First!

Judges 20:18

“And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up first.”

You are in a new year, and this time of people are still in the season of asking God for things, making requests from heaven and there is nothing wrong with that at all. But I feel led to ask you to go another route. What route is that? The route of praise! In our text, the children of Israel had an issue with their brethren, the Benjaminites