November 15, 2021
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Heb 10:38
As I walked through certain experiences over the past several decades, I was aware that many of those experiences were not so much for me as they were to share as a testimony to encourage others. The Spirit of the Lord has inspired me to share some thoughts and I hope they will reach the right people…those who are pondering the question of “why.”
There are a lot of people living very comfortably now and then there are those that suddenly got pushed out of their comfort into despair through the occurrence of a flood, fire, pandemic, job loss, foreclosure or something else. You don’t know how it happened and more importantly, you don’t understand why it happened. You may question what did you do wrong? Is God angry with you? How can you fix it? You, my friend, may be at the beginning of a long journey to learn your God or it may be a brief experience depending on your response. This is your opportunity to learn who God is because He is more than a story in the bible.
Many Americans have never experienced the desperate stories we hear from other nations of people who have gotten displaced in a moment or through a day’s trouble by storm or militia raid. They may have had to gather a few possessions in a bag and run for their lives, not knowing what the future held for them. Many of them are Christian believers with strong faith and they could share with us stories of the miraculous power of God.
When we read the story of Abraham, we identify with his faith and his wealth. But what must it have been like to be told to leave your family and go to a strange land (Gen 12:1) with no tangible reason to give your family and have no set accommodations awaiting you? Abraham believed his God by faith.
We read “the just shall live by faith” but many people have not had to stretch out on God in real faith. Usually we can find family, friend, a bank loan or program to subsidize the lack. What do you do when you have no money, no collateral, no friend or family that can help you? Who can help when there is a fatal illness? There are some situations that are a God moment because only He can get you out of it and there begins your story.
You may have had faith in the Word of God in your church and enjoyed great fellowship with believers and with God but walking by faith is so much different. You have legs; but if you never exercise them, they would stop functioning. Walking by faith means there is no tangible answer before you and you are relying on God to work a creative miracle for you. Abraham did not know where he was going or what it would look like when he got there. He had to believe to see results. Abraham believed what God promised and that is what we have to do also.
- Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Heb 11:1
- But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Heb 11:6
Abraham went up the mount with wood and his son to be sacrificed by fire on an burnt altar and yet he believed that both he and his son would return back from the mount afterward. He did not know how but he believed God. When you walk by faith you are walking from faith to faith believing every word God said. God swore to Abraham blessings that could not be denied because God cannot lie. Abraham had to stand on those promises.
- For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil… Heb 6:13-19
We have all put our confidence in someone who let us down but it is reassuring to trust in someone who cannot lie. If it does not exist God can make it happen; He is the Creator. God can make it happen for you because you are just that special as a child of God. Whether it takes one miracle or two or all day, you can be assured God will not let you down. The Hebrew boys believed and walked through fire and came out without even the smell of smoke (Dan 3:27). One thing to expect though is the unexpected. God’s ways are also strange; He will work in unexpected ways.
I have lived in the miraculous power of God because there was nothing else to depend on. I expected the Lord to be there and to fix it because I was walking in His presence. Christ was as real to me as the chair I sit on. I breathed the miraculous and was at home with it. God fed, clothed and protected me. He kept my body healed and took away any symptoms of illness. When I would fall down or mess up, He did not leave me in the dark. I looked for Him and He was there. My faith was simple and God was reliable. I did not know how to stop believing because believing was my normal. In the worst of situations, God is enough. I could go into more details but it would turn into a book rather than an article. The important thing to know is that once you have filled your heart with God’s word, you can walk on that word and live.
It was always God’s intent that we would live in fellowship with Him and walk by faith in His word and power. We have to realize that it is the devil that comes to steal, kill and destroy; and his work can affect our trust in God. Our world has become so far from God’s best and the troubles we experience give us an opportunity to learn trust in God again. Once we call upon Him in trouble, we need to maintain that fellowship with Him rather than think: “I can take it from here.” This is our new normal. He is our God and He lords over every portion of our life for our good. Abraham, King David and Elijah openly embraced God’s lordship over their lives and they enjoyed His presence and His blessings. Whatever our temperament may be, life will be better when we learn to take Jesus with us and enjoy His fellowship. When we walk with the Lord, there is no problem too big for Him to handle and it is just part of the journey. The Lord helps to carry the load and gives direction out of every storm. His desire is that we abide with Him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. Joh 14:23
Truth and Life Ministries of Christ with Apostle Joyce Reba Payne 