I Will Now Tell You How to Get and Increase Faith

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."  (Rom. 10:17--NASB----- And you paid so much for all those books on faith!)

 

Searching for faith?  Here you have it, the answer, the true source of faith, straight from the "God-Breathed" Word.  The KJV chose to translate it, "the word of God."  This is incorrect.  The Greek word translated, "God," is, Christou, i.e., Christ, Messiah.  The Kingdom of Darkness has one hatred today.  It is not you; it is not me.  It is the Person and Name of Jesus, the Christ.  Keep His Beautiful Name out of people and you eliminate faith, the faith which brings the salvation of mankind, "the word of Christ." 

 

Our text is very powerfully simple and straightforward.  If you have "the Word of Christ," you have faith.  If you do not have "the Word of Christ," you do not have faith.  I don't care what a person may call whatever he thinks he has.  No "Word of Christ"-- no faith--- period.  Faith does not come from feel-good religion, prayer, worship, conferences, mission trips, super star leaders, or anything else.  The purpose of any means of grace is "to bring us to Christ."  If they don't do that, they are worthless pagan pursuits!

 

You and I have a continual choice every day, every moment.  Stay full of "the Word of Christ," and we stay full of faith.  Of all the scores of passages in the Bible which mention faith, our text is the only one which actually tells you how "faith comes."   Other passages either rebuke or commend concerning faith, reveal what faith accomplishes, what "faith is," etc.  But here the Breath of God says, "Here it is.  This is it.  This is what you long for, and this is what you can have.  Drink deeply of "the Word of Christ, and you will just keep going "from faith to faith"----------to faith-------- to faith!

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, never allow me to be deceived by thinking faith has any other source than Your Word, The Christ-------- and thank You so much for Him.  Amen.

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The "Secret Place" and "The Shadow"-- Our Dwelling Place

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."  (Psalm 91:1)

 

I first committed this Psalm to memory when I was smuggling Bibles into communist East Europe in the 1970s and 80s.  Over the years I was a part of teams taking thousands of Bibles to the persecuted Church.  On one mission in 1982, we were approaching a relatively remote Romanian-Yugoslavian border crossing.  As we came around a cut in the mountains, a huge guard tower loomed in the distance.  It was the largest I had ever seen.  Its purpose was clear-------- intimidation!  Our text, however, written on my heart, loomed larger.  The "secret place" and "shadow of the Almighty" is the only unassailable place for the Believer in Jesus Christ. Where did the power to "break through" come from that day in September, 1982?  It came then, and keeps coming, from the "God-Breathed" Word in Jesus Christ. 

 

So many people claim that they don't read the Word because they don't understand it, or what is even more scandalous, they "don't get anything out of it!"  If you find yourself at times loosing this battle, let me encourage you with something.  Read and confess out loud the Words of the Blessed Trinity.  Let the mind understand what it can, but don't let that bottleneck keep you from the life-giving, sustaining power of the Word of God Himself, Jesus Christ.  Psalm 119:130 says, "The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple."  The word for, "entrance,"  (NKJV) or "unfolding," (NASB), means, "doorway; opening."  The Word of God is the "doorway" to "understanding."  It is the "entrance" first; then whatever "understanding" we can handle will come.  If your concept of understanding keeps you from the "entrance of [His] words," cursed be that understanding!

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I look too much for understanding.  Help me to look more for the "opening" of Your "Doorway."  Amen.   

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Great articles today @    www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com       

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Go Ahead--Pray It

"Show me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, because You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me."  (Psalm 86:17)

Our text is a simple prayer of this man with "God's heart."  Some mock at sign seekers.  That can be valid if the signs are just an attempt to replace faith.  But David could be praying here, "These people who hate me need to know that they are hating your man.  Show them something of Your favor in my life so that they will be ashamed for hating Your servant.  Let them see that You are The God of Help, 'the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.'"  (I highly recommend praying the Word.)

The Bible says that the Covenant People of Jesus Christ "will never be ashamed."  You may look at your life today and feel that your accusers are justified.  The Accuser never sleeps!  But try "looking unto Jesus."  Jesus destroyed hate in His Blood at The Cross.  It "shall not have dominion over you!"  When the world shows hate, Jesus will "show...a sign for good."  A Good God can "show" nothing else.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray with the Psalmist, "Let them know that this is Your hand; You, LORD, have done it.  Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, they shall be ashamed, but Your servant shall be glad."  Amen.


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"The Devil's Most Wanted List"

"No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier." (2 Tim. 2:4)

 

An evil dictator once said to a top general.  "You don't have to understand.  All you have to do is obey."  Even evil, wicked men can utter good principles.  There have been many times, when all else had "failed," this maxim kept me going.  Western man requires too much "understanding" before he obeys.  Kingdom man--------------- obeys.  

 

A friend of mine sent me this quote from Leonard Ravenhill, an English Evangelist and very possibly the greatest revivalist of the twentieth century.  "The Sunday morning service shows how popular your church is.  The evening services show how popular your pastor is.  Your private prayer time shows how popular God is!"  It reminded me that about 38 years ago, after our son died, a pastor's widow gave me the book by Ravenhill, Why Revival Tarries.  Along with intense reading and absorbing of the Scriptures and prayer in the Spirit, this book helped me to survive.  Why?  It reminded me of my roots, my Dad and Grandfather, two great, praying men, and, the command of Jesus, "that men always ought to pray and not give up," literally, not "be afraid, to become discouraged, to become weary or tired, to despair, to lose heart, to tire of." 

 

One of the Brothers who went with us to "The Call" in Washington, DC, said at one point in the 12 hour gathering, "Some times I wonder if I should be doing this."  Of course he should.  He meets the criteria.  He loves Jesus Christ and His Church.  He is a Faithful Brother.  When he hears "the call," he responds. Sound like a "good soldier of Jesus Christ." to me!  He is a man who may not understand it all---------------------------but obeys.

 

I sit/stand in such gatherings and have a gamut of emotions and actions.  Some times I don't do much of anything, just observe, look into the eternal heavens, consider my smallness and Jesus' Greatness, enjoy the moment, join  the multitude in praying, shouting, singing, worshiping, interceding-----"You don't have to understand.  All you have to do is obey."  Evil people destroy with this.  Jesus saves with this.   

 

By the way, here is another quote of Ravenhill which I shall never forget---- "My main ambition in life is to be on the Devil's most wanted list." 

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I do not make this statement lightly.  I do so in the fear of You!  Amen.   

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