Tag: Have faith in God

The Testimony of the Lord is sure

Posted on by ascendthehill

“Who against hope believed in hope… and being not weak in faith… He did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.”

from Romans 4:18-20

The above scripture is in reference to Abraham, the father of our faith. The Bible is very clear about the shortcomings of our forefathers. It shows where Abraham lied a couple times and where he doubted if the promise would happen. Except, in this retelling of Abraham’s story, those moments are not even mentioned. It seems that God did not even care to bring them up. Why? Because God is love, and love keeps no record of wrongdoing. Love sees the best even when the opposite is showing itself. Love perseveres.

It’s amazing the way God sees things versus the way the accuser sees them. God sees past our shortcomings and sees the finished work of His Son Jesus. The accuser, however, only focuses on our failures and tries to disqualify us based on that.

You see a moment in your life does not define who you are. It’s only a moment. Those were only moments in Abraham’s life, and his story did not end there. God continued to encourage and speak to him, and Abraham believed in the One who promised.

Don’t let satan continue to accuse you for things that have happened. People may bring up your shortcomings and failures, but those people are only looking at the flesh. God never said that flesh would inherit the kingdom.

Zaccheus, A sinner Son

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable due to the crowd, because he was short in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because He was about to pass through that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

And [Zaccheus] hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully.

When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!”

But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.”

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

NASB, Luke 19:1-10

When Jesus called out to Zaccheus people in that community began to bring up all his sins and shortcomings. Do you think that the Lord didn’t know about Zaccheus’ sins before he had called him? Of course, he did. He knew exactly who Zaccheus was and what he had done; yet, this knowledge did not prevent the Lord from calling him. It may have offended everyone around Zaccheus, but God’s choice remained the same.

While the rest of the town was saying he was a child of the devil, Jesus declared his true identity over him. Jesus, contrary to public opinion, continued to affirm Zaccheus. Once Zaccheus finished speaking Jesus continued with his redemptive purpose in Zaccheus’ life. He declared plainly for all the accusers to hear, “…[Zaccheus], too, is a son of Abraham.”

God’s testimony is a more sure word than human verdicts

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.”

NKJV, 1 Corinthians 4:3

People may cast judgment toward you, but God’s word is the only one that matters. There may have been times when you were wrongfully accused or rightfully condemned, but God holds the final say in all things. It was the Law that condemned the woman caught in adultery, but Jesus Christ, the Son, set her free (see John 8:1-12). You see human judgments are just that, human. They do not hold the final verdict, that belongs to God alone. People may judge and cast stones without giving any grace, but remember “Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ” (from John 1:17).

God’s testimony is much more gracious towards you than you may believe. He is the savior, who came into this world to seek and save that which was lost. You may be like Zaccheus, listening to the crowd calling you a sinner unfit to have Jesus in your home, but Jesus is calling you a son. Turn off the noise of this world, and cling to the voice of your savior.

“For I know nothing by myself; yet I am not justified by this: but he that judges me is the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 4:4

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (NLT, Proverbs 4:23).

People may continue to speak against you. People may partner with the devil and bring up all your sins. People may condemn you and throw rocks at you, but don’t allow that to penetrate your heart. If the devil can get a person to believe from their heart the accusations spoken against them then he can try to set the course of their life.

“But be on guard against people, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues”

Jesus our Divine Judge, Matthew 10:17

“…But take courage; I have overcome the world!” (Jesus, the Savior).

You may have found yourself in a position where you’ve believed the accusations from your heart. If you have found yourself beaten down by the accuser, believing the lies that he has spoken over you do not lose hope! Even there our savior’s hand is reaching out to keep you!

“For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”

NKJV, 1 John 3:20

Stand strong before God and believe in his steadfast love and devotion toward you. God’s promises never fail. Continue to seek his face. He sees you. He’s always been faithful. He’s never failed. His mercies are new every morning!

I love you guys! When the world is against you and people have judged you harshly just remember the Holy Spirit’s testimony of your story is much different than you think. God doesn’t hold things against you. “…[Love] keeps no record of wrongs” (from 1 Corinthians 13:5) and our God is love! Keep pressing in He is for you! He loves you more than you could know!

Does Your Faith End in Death?

Posted on by ascendthehill

What is faith? And what is its purpose?

We desire to walk in faith, but sometimes we do not even know what faith is. We do not even know how to measure it. I used to think very rigidly when it came to the definition of faith because what was written in Hebrews 11:1

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

Hebrews 11:1

I thought, Well if we had faith then the things that we hoped for would manifest in our lives because the substance of our hope is faith. Substance being the material in which a thing is made of.

Substance:
1. In a general sense, being; something existing by itself; that which really is or exists; equally applicable to matter or spirit.
3. The essential part; the main or material part.

Webster’s Dictionary 1828

To a degree, this is true just look at the people in this world. New agers manifest things for themselves by their own belief. Secular people get the things they hoped for by believing in themselves (actors, athletes, business owners, etc…). It’s all based on their belief because Jesus’ words remain true.

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-8

This is a spiritual law. It cannot be broken. Jesus is the Word of God and what He speaks is. The children of this world have been able to receive things because of faith, and they don’t even acknowledge the Creator they pay homage to the universe or their hard work. Why? “…[God] makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (from Mat. 5:45). AND they had asked, sought, and knocked…

Some of them have great stories of personal trials that they overcame to get to where they are at. And most people honor them for their diligence and grit to not quit even when times got tough. They aren’t even paying respect to God and yet they attained what they sought after… Let that sink in.

Jesus Demonstrating Faith To Teach Us.

I was asking the Lord today if He knew Lazarus was going to die or if He was just walking in faith? I believe He has shown me it was both. He both knew Lazarus would die and He was walking in faith. Let’s dive into it.

Jesus receives a message from Mary and Martha, "Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick."

When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified by this."

Then a couple days later Lazarus dies. After Lazarus died Jesus knew it in the spirit and told His disciples.

Then said Jesus unto them plainly, "Lazarus is dead."

From John chapter 11.

Messengers were not sent in that day unless the person was on their death bed. So when Mary and Martha sent Him that message it was to notify Jesus that His friend that He loved was about to die. But what does He do when He hears the message? He spoke!

Faith speaks. “…I believed, and therefore I have spoken…” (from 2 Cor. 4:13). He spoke the word concerning this man. He refuted the message of these women and said, “this sickness does not lead to death…” He confessed! “…with the MOUTH confession is made unto salvation” (from Rom. 10:10).

The reason why I was asking the Lord if He knew if Lazarus would die or not is because I know how the devil operates when a person moves in faith. He tries to go against the very word or thing they were believing for. So when Jesus said the sickness is not unto death the devil was like, we’ll see about that… and then went and killed him.

I believe what God has revealed to me is that Jesus was goading satan into it. Because He knew His enemy too and knew that the devil wouldn’t be able to help himself except try and make an attempt to say that he has the power. That usurper…

“Faith subdues the facts to the truth”

Then when Jesus knew about Lazarus’ death He tells His disciples plainly, “Lazarus is dead.” Notice here Jesus didn’t refute the fact that Lazarus was dead. Faith does not ignore the facts. Faith subdues the facts to the truth. And what was the truth? “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified by this” (John 11:4). Then He goes and resurrects the guy.

What was Jesus’ hope? That God would receive glory by the Son being glorified in this. Was His hope fulfilled? Yes. How did His hope get fulfilled? By faith. His faith manifested the hope which He had.

So faith is definitely what our hopes are made of! But God showed me that faith is more than this for the one who believes in Jesus. It is believing in who God is.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that HE IS, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

Hebrews 11:6

God showed me that for the follower of Jesus faith is believing in the revealed nature of God. Not just the Jehovahistic names (which is good), but in who Jesus has revealed Him to be.

“No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

John 1:18

“Philip said unto Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you have not known me, Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father; and how is it that you say then, show us the Father?”

John 14:8-9

The Sad Truth of Religion

Not many people look for faith in the Christian religion. A lot of people have been duped into thinking that Christianity is about being a “good person”, but I am here to tell you it is about faith in Jesus! It is about Faith in the Word of God and manifesting His Word in and through our lives! Not about trying hard to be righteous through our own human effort, but through believing in Him!

While believing in Him we will endure hardships. But when we go through hardships our faith should not rest in our ability, but in who God is. As I said before many people have endured hardships in this world and received what they desired in this earth by believing in themselves and the world honors them for their endurance. But for us, our endurance is not a self-centered belief. It is a belief and trust in who God has revealed Himself to be through the face of Jesus. If we endure it is proof that our faith in God is genuine when we do not quit when times are tough. And our endurance actually brings praise and glory to God!

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 1:5-7

I love you guys and God bless you in the knowledge of Him through His Son Jesus!

  • A BRIEF TAKEAWAY FROM THIS POST:
    1. Faith is what our hopes are made of.
    2. Faith speaks.
    3. Faith does not deny facts.
    4. Faith brings facts in submission to the truth.
    5. Faith endures.
    6. Faith believes in the revealed nature of God through the face of Jesus Christ.