Thank You Jesus, You are the owner of my soul, Alpha and Omega You are worthy to be praise in all generation there is no one like You, Alpha and Omega You are worthy to be praise.// O Lord, my God, How Excellent is Your Name. In all the earth, how precious is Your Name.
Father, who is like unto Thee, You alone are Awesome. Excellent, You alone are worthy of our praise. Thank You for the gift of this day, glory be to Your Holy Name. Though we can determine when we want to sleep but You alone determines when we wake up. I am in Awe of Who You are, Lord. We bow before Your Throne to worship and adore You. Blessed be Thy Holy Name.
Beloved, a demonstration of faith come from the trust you have within. Taking another angle to the definition of faith – faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true (Phil1:27; 2Thess 2:13). Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true and therefore worthy of thrust. It admits of many degrees up to full assurance of faith, in accordance with the evident on which its rests.
In the context of yesterday’s message, King Jehoshaphat believe what the man of God told me concerning the situation he was facing and he demonstrated it by abiding on the terms of instruction. How earth can any sane person go to war with singers (2chr 20:21). What are the weapons of war? But here, we have singers with instruments of praise (vs 28; Ps 150:3-5).
Beloved, if you are yet to apply the message of Sept 2, I will encourage you do so now so that the theme of this month will beginning to speak in your life now. I have two outstanding testimonies, an undeserving encounter and testimony as a result of praise and worship as was directed by the Spirit of God within forty-eight hours of that obedience.(Col 3:15)
A simple faith worked for Jehoshaphat, it will also work for you if you believe what the word of God is saying concerning those challenges. He had victory and according to the Word of God he did not fight in the battle for the battle had been bought over by God. All that was needed from them is the sing praises while God is to battle with His enemies.
Every enemies of ours are God’s enemy. So will you stop fighting battles and start praising God! and experience the same miracle as did Jehoshaphat.
Simple faith was also demonstrated by Mary- the mother of Jesus. Be it done unto me according to Thy Word (Lk 1: 30-38). Are you catching the fire, beloved?
Simple faith is demonstrated by these fellows and the result was so amazing. But simple faith has some limitation if not checked and develop upon.
One of the limitation is that those in these categories of faith development are at very high risk of falling if they do not grow into the next stage of faith development. Why? you may want to know.
These persons are highly dependent on other persons’ direction, instruction, and the correct interpretation of the meaning of the bible. These are bottle-fed, milk Christians always needing someone to nurture and care for them spiritually. These people go to church, bible studies or conference to be fed spiritual food. Unknowingly, sometimes, thy snack on Christian fast food and Christian junk food that appear good but are ultimately not going to nurture.
They read their bible because others tell them to do so, they learn because authorities teach them, Interpretation of the Bible, right and wrong behaviors, doctrines to believe, rituals to perform are received from others. They take no personal responsibility for their own spiritual growth and development. They apply teachings in a literal and rather mechanical, uncritical fashion. If the authority does not tell people at this stage what to do, then they will not make any changes in their behavior or thinking.
Today’s teaching is going to take us to another level in demonstration of our faith in God. Are you ready? Let get going:
. . . because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me—yet many oppose me.—1 Corinthians 16:9
Open doors of service may also let in adversaries. Paul had many of both. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians from Ephesus, he was trying to determine where to go next. He chose to remain longer in Ephesus because of the open doors of service God granted him. Knowing that God had opened the doors of ministry, Paul was not going to leave, regardless of how many enemies he faced.
We might assume that Paul would reach the opposite conclusion. In light of the opposition he faced, he could have concluded that it was best to serve in less hostile regions. Instead, Paul based his decisions on God’s activity rather than on what people were doing.
As you respond to God’s invitations, don’t be caught by surprise when adversaries try to thwart what you are doing. If you concentrate on your opponents, you will be sidetracked from God’s activity. Don’t base your decisions on what people are doing. They cannot prevent you from carrying out God’s will (Rom. 8:31).
Many times the most rewarding spiritual work is done in the crucible of persecution and opposition. While Paul was in Ephesus, a riot broke out in reaction to his ministry. The city theater resounded with an angry mob who shouted for two hours in support of their god, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:23–41). Despite this fierce rejection of the gospel, Ephesus became one of the chief cities from which the gospel spread throughout Asia.
It takes spiritual discernment to see beyond human activity to God’s will. As you seek places of service, look beyond what people are saying to find what God is doing.
The grace do what you just read receive in Jesus Name. Beloved, no power is strong enough to hinder what God want to for you or through you. So be strong in your heart and be determine to fear God only and not man. Paul demonstrated his faith in God by believing everything he saw or heard about Jesus and modus operandi given to by Jesus to preach the gospel to the gentiles. In spite of the looming danger and emanate death, he took the gospel to court where he was charged (Act 26:1- 32).
Are you facing a challenging right now or it is possible that something might come up in the future that will challenge your faith in Christ. The next message coming your way will address it. So let’s get going:
Three Godless Values That Confront You Daily
- “Reason is superior to faith.”
That is, facts and faith inhabit two separate realms and must not be mixed. In this age of reason, most folks view God as irrelevant. Redundant. Therefore, Christianity is “severely questioned, contemptuously repudiated, or studiously ignored.”
“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.” (Romans 1:28)
- “Business practices are amoral. Value-free.“
That is, pragmatic realism dictates the modus operandi. Just get the job done. Religious idealism has no place in the hard-nosed business world of Machiavellian reality.
“They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” (Romans 1:29-31)
- “We are emancipated, self-sufficient individuals who are free to do as we so choose.”
That is, democracy means I am owed individual freedoms as I understand them. Personal responsibility for my actions does not enter into the picture.
“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” (Judges 17:6)
CONCLUSION: A cursory review of the 20th Century (Auschwitz, Hiroshima, etc.) makes it self-evident that this philosophy has led to a profound sense of isolation, “fear, [and] disenchantment… A feeling of abandonment, doubt, a sense of danger, alienation, and anxiety.”
“The wicked man flees though no one pursues… There they were, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread.” (Proverbs 28:1a; Psalm 53:5a)
CHALLENGE: That as Jesus’ disciple we take counsel of the Scriptural injunction, “Be sure that no one leads you away with false and empty teaching that is only human wisdom, which comes from the ruling spirits of this world, and not from Christ.” (Colossians 2:8 – New Century Version.) (Adapted from FOTM).
Beloved, how reasonable was the action of King Jehoshaphat? Fact and reason are two enemies of faith. You must be careful about how you treat both else you get into trouble and remain stunt in your Christian growth. We earlier made mention of Mary the mother of Jesus that she demonstrated a simple faith by believing and accepting what the angel said to her.
Now the danger of simple faith is the these category of Christians does want to go beyond what their pastors, teacher or Father in the Lord said, they are reluctant to search out the scripture, even when they read they still rely on what are told and not what the bible is saying.
King Jehoshaphat demonstrated simple faith as we read towards his end. He made no effort in growing his faith except what was told him by prophets (2chr 20:35-37). Unlike Jehoshaphat, Mary the mother of Jesus went forth from simple faith to maturity. She became a custody of God’s workings in the life of Jesus. The life and death of Jesus was no surprise to her, she also joined the apostle in spreading the gospel after the death of her son (Lk 2: 17- 19, 32; Mk 6:3).
Beloved, we like Mary must move from simple faith to level of believing every Word of God coming to us in Jesus Name. After this time you will never remain the same. Your faith will make mountains to move. No demon will withstand your going forward. Every activities of the wicked hitherto concerning you will be frustrated at your appearance in Jesus Name. Glory be to God.
Be careful with the way you conduct your businesses, God is also taking note it. Don’t demonstrate your freedom by being lawless or living in sin. Abide in Christ and live eternally. Build up your faith in Christ also (1 Thess 3:1- 10; 2 Thess 2:13-17).
Remain blessed in the Lord.
