WITHOUT FAITH

By:Milan Ford

The conversation began around 11:30pm. And it ended around 4:15am. I was sharing with my wife the other night how for the past few weeks, something rather unusual has been going on inside me. While I could not adequately describe to her what it was, I told her that it felt like it was a combination of extreme restlessness and interestingly enough, a sense of peace. And then, after hours of emotional rambling, I said these words to my wife: "I feel like I have gone as far as I can possibly go...WITHOUT FAITH."

I sincerely believe that where many of us are in life today is not actually a testament of our faith in God, but rather a testament of our individual skills and talents. And there (for many of us) lies the problem.

As believers, we tend to exercise our faith only in areas that we have seen God move before.But when it comes to the unknown, our faith remains still. Which as Hebrews 11:6 indicates, is not faith at all. "But without faith it is impossible to Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

Sometimes I wonder if we find more security in knowing who we are or have been in times past, than we do in believing who God is. As we enter this final stretch of the year, many of us have come to the end of some rather long roads in our lives that now require faith to move forward.

As we examine our hearts and lives today, many of us must come to the realization that the skills and talents we so heavily relied on in the past can no longer move us forward. Neither can the resumes (and perhaps associations) we worked so hard to build.

What lies before many of us now is a faith in what seems to be impossible. A faith that fosters a sense of restlessness, yet at the same time, a sense of peace.

May you and I lean hard into that peace today.

HIS VISION, HIS WAY, IN HIS TIMING

TGIF Today God Is First
Volume 2, by Os Hillman10-27-2009

"Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about'" (Gen 22:2).

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you would do almost anything to get it? Have you ever gotten so close to fulfilling a dream only to have it disappear right before your eyes? Such was the case for Abraham.

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. He would have a son. However, Abraham panicked when Sarah aged beyond child bearing years and tried to help God by birthing Ishmael through Sarah's servant, who was not the promised son. Eventually, Isaac was born, who was the promised son.

However, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son on an altar to demonstrate his obedience to God. Truly, this is one of the hardest instructions given to one of God's people in all of scripture. It compares only to the Heavenly Father sacrificing His own Son. God intervenes and allows a ram to get caught in the bushes nearby, symbolizing the Lamb of God as a prophetic sign of what is to take place in the future.

God often births a vision in our lives only to allow it to die first before the purest version of the vision is manifested. This has happened several times in my own journey. Oswald Chambers observes, "God's method always seems to be vision first, and then reality, but in between the vision and the reality there is often a deep valley of humiliation. How often has a faithful soul been plunged into a like darkness when after the vision comes the test. When God gives a vision and darkness follows, waiting on God will bring you into accordance with the vision He has given if you await His timing. Otherwise, you try to do away with the supernatural in God's undertakings. Never try to help God fulfill His word."*

When God's vision is finally birthed, nothing will stop it. Our job is to allow God to birth His vision through us His way and in His timing.

GIFTS TO MEN

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."

Ephesians 4:7-8

The gifts of God in a person's life are not merit badges signifying that person's consecration, wisdom, or 100 percent doctrinal truth. You might interpret the meaning of Ephesians 4:7 like this: out of unmerited grace, each person is given gifts for the purpose of being used to bless others. Gifts of the Holy Spirit, whether they are in the form of manifestations of power and revelation or in the form of people given as ministers, are for the purpose of blessing the church. Yet, most of us can hardly avoid the temptation of seeing supernatural power gifts working through an individual as a symbol of God's approval of that person's life, spiritual maturity, and doctrine. The more significant the giftings and power, the more approval from God—or so it would seem. If we understood that the manifestations of the Spirit are for the common good and not for the good of the individual whom God uses, we would be less likely to stumble over the idea that God uses imperfect, often immature people to bless the church.

{ PRAYER STARTER }

Father, use me to bless others. Display Your spirit and Your giftings in my life in such a way that no one sees anything of me, but sees only You.

Out of unmerited grace, each person

is given gifts for the purpose of

being used to bless others.

GOD WANTS US TO PRAY

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. —Genesis 25:21

It began with Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, who had a barren womb. She had no children, and it looked as though she never would have. In ancient times this was considered as a kind of curse, but it turned out that God was signaling great blessing to come. Barrenness was sometimes a symbol of promise in disguise.

Maybe you feel that you are in a similar situation, and you want something to happen. Perhaps it is to have a baby, to know a particular success, or to have a prayer answered, but you have come to a dead end. You ask, "Why?" Yet, maybe that which looks so bleak is God's way of saying, "Just wait a little while longer, and you will see all that I have done. I do everything with a particular strategy in mind."

Isaac prayed. One of the greatest mysteries that I know is the sovereignty of God in prayer. I know that God can do anything and doesn't have to answer to anybody, yet the same God tells us to pray. It amazes me. Perhaps you feel negative about the sovereignty of God, believing that there's no chance He'll give you mercy. Yet that's the point: God doesn't owe us anything. If we come to understand that, it might just put us in our place and lead us to pray.
Maybe the dead-end road you are on is God's way of trying to get your attention. When was the last time you prayed? How often do you pray? What is God doing to bring you to the place of prayer? Unanswered prayer is often God's way of getting our attention. You see, when we don't get what we want, we are more teachable; whereas when we are blessed, we can become more unteachable. God has a way of bringing you to such a place that you'll wait on Him.

FANTASY OR FAITH

By; Berni Dymet

Luke 22:42 "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done."

Can I ask you something? When is faith, faith and when is it fantasy? I mean I read my Bible. There's story after story in there about God doing miraculous things. And yet, I've seen people believe God for things and then fall flat on their faces.

I was intrigued by what a real estate agent, John, said to me the other night. He said, "You know, I think that real faith isn't presumptive." And he captured for me in just that one short sentence something that I'd suspected all along.

There's the "name it and claim it" school of faith. Anything I want. Anything. And then, there's the kind of faith that humbly bows down to God in the midst of the mighty storms of life; the faith that perseveres.

The faith that rejoices - believing that God knows what He's doing.The faith that only wants what God wants - not my will but let your will be done. And my hunch is that that's exactly the sort of faith that gets whatever it wants.

WHATEVER HE SAYS, DO IT

By: Bishop Eddie L. Long

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” (John 2:1-5)

You have grown in the spirit. Many of the trials you have had to deal with in the past were to help you grow in God. There used to be a time in your life when God would speak to you and give you a sign that it was He. Some of you have been waiting on a sign. As you grow up in God, as your faith increases, evidence decreases. What God is saying is that by now you ought to be mature enough in Him that He does not have to confirm what He said. He should no longer have to treat you like a child and send several prophets.
The period of time from Adam until Jesus was on the cross was about 4,000 years, or “4 days.” Since then, 2000 years have passed, or “2 days.” We have now entered into the third day. God set up a wedding for the third day. We represent the bride; He’s the bridegroom. Your name is about to be changed.

At the wedding Jesus and disciples attended, they ran out of wine. They were doing something they enjoyed, but they ran out. There used to be situations you were involved in that would make you feel good, but you have run out. God said to tell you that the stuff you used to do, the business as usual that used to feed you, pump you up and identify you, no longer does anything for you because it has run out. The places you used to go and the things you used to do just don’t do it for you anymore. Just as Mary told Jesus that they had run out of wine, many of us have been crying to Him because we are hurting; we have run out of what used to make us feel good.
When Mary told Jesus they were running out of wine, He had to draw a line with her. He was not being disrespectful when he responded, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

Essentially, He was asking her, “Are you calling me because you think I’m your son? And are you asking Me to stir up what you used to have? If so, I am not going to revive what ran out, what I killed. I am not going to allow you to go back to the same old stuff. I have moved you to another place. What’s run out doesn’t have anything to do with Me. If you are asking Me to make it work like it used to, that’s not what I’m about. You have to look at Me in another way. I’m not just Jesus your son; I am the Christ.”

Jesus was not going to allow His destiny to get messed up, not even by His mother, so He had to make an announcement to her. He was saying, “I’m not about what they are doing because they have run out. I want you to understand that if you call Me, I’m going to do something supernatural. I’m operating because I am the Son of God.” Respectfully, Jesus was drawing a line. You have to do the same thing. There is a time in your life that you have to know that you know who you are, so that not even your momma or your daddy can dictate otherwise. In Matthew 19:29, Jesus reminds us: And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. You have to draw the line in your relationships, in your families and with the folk around you. There is a higher calling that’s higher than just your blood. There is a blood call of God.

What God has for you, you have to separate. You might have to ask, “Where did this come from?” When Jesus gave them new wine, it was so good it blew them away. God is about to give you a joy that has never been tasted. Not happiness, but joy. He says, “If you are going to flow with me, do whatever I say, even if it does not make sense to you.” You are about to get some new wine.

God is about to lift something up and demonstrate Himself in such a way; it is time for the people of God to rule and reign. But I have an announcement: He saved the best for last. New wine is about to be served, but it is only served when you are obedient—if you are going to go with God, whatever He says to you, do it.

NOT FOR SALE

And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. —Genesis 25:33-34

As Isaac's firstborn son, Esau was entitled to the birthright and inheritance—but we do not speak of "Abraham, Isaac, and Esau." Esau sold his birthright for one meal. When Jacob offered food and asked for his birthright, Esau could have said, "No! It is not for sale," but he did not. He sold out the eternal for a moment's temporal satisfaction.

You were bought with a price—the precious blood of Christ. Nothing in you or that you have is for sale. You and everything about you belongs to Jesus.

The devil will offer you momentary satisfaction as he reaches for your birthright. He will tell you it is all right to keep your tithe, all right to keep your offering and satisfy the lusts of the flesh and of this world. He will tempt you to sell your time for momentary pleasure. He'll encourage you to barter away your godly inheritance.

Resist the devil's counsel. He promises the rainbow-but only delivers the rain.