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"Did God Really Say...?"

In the garden, the serpent posed a question to Eve that began with the words "did God really say." That is a question still circulating in the thoughts of believers when they feel like their promise is delayed in its coming. But let us redirect this question to ourselves.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. 2 Corinthians 13:5 NIV

What are we saying that we are believing God for? "I am believing God for this job." "By faith, I'm going to get.." "I believe God is going to do... for me." Where is the substance to any of those declarations? Did God really say?

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

In order for something to qualify as true Bible faith, there must be a supporting Scripture to give substance to it. Random desires with Christian lingo attached have no guarantee of fulfillment. These only hurt the faith of the one who "declares" it and that of younger believers who see the parade of confessions with no completion. God is then held responsible (in their eyes) for not carrying out what He really had no part in from the beginning.

We are so blessed to have the Holy Spirit who bears witness with the Truth (I John 5:6) to lead us in what we pray and believe for, leading us by peace (Colossians 3: 15 AMP). Whatever our need is, there is Scripture to back it! The Holy Spirit will give us that rhema word that directly applies to our individual situation at that time, that inspires and encourages us to release our faith in the One who can never fail!!!

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" Numbers 23:19 NKJV

So examine yourself according to and in comparison with the Word of God and see if you are really in true faith. True faith always produces!

Think You're Just a Number?

"For God so loved the world..." Probably one of the most familiar Scriptures known by people of all nationalities, religions, and walks of life is John 3:16. Of course, it is a powerful thought to look at the world in which we live and think about a perfect and holy God loving the people that we see or hear of in the news..or us. Sometimes, though, being a member of the "world" that He loves doesn't satisfy the longing in our own hearts to be loved as an individual. Me. Personally.

Ephesians 2 begins by reminding us that once, we were "dead, doomed forever because of [our] many sins. (NLT)" It goes on to describe that we used to be under the control of the devil, obeying every impulse of our corrupt nature, just like the rest of the world. After a couple of verses of very long, very detailed description (in the Amplified, it seems very long) of the way we used to live, in verse 4 we get a "but God."

But God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us...

I have to stop right here! In order to satisfy the great, wonderful, intense love with which He loved me... great, wonderful, and intense love for me!! Ok, going on for the sake of context..

Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation). And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One). He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:5-7 AMP (emphasis mine)

We are part of this "through the ages to come"! He wants us who are in Christ to clearly know "His kindness and goodness of heart" because we are in Christ Jesus!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! I John 3:1 NIV

God has lavished His intense love on us! The way that we can get under the shower of this love is to spend time with Him in His Word! It is no wonder we read in Psalm 16:11, "in Your presence is fullness of joy." In His presence, we are overwhelmed by the "great, wonderful, and intense" love He has for us. We are lavished with His love. We are washed of the rejection, hurts, disappointments, inadequacies, and fears of this life. We are refreshed from the weariness, labor and toil of trials, tribulations, and even the mundane responsibilities of this life.

He wants to wash and refresh, overwhelm and lavish His great, wonderful, and intense love for you! YOU!!!

Confidence in Prayer

How many people lack confidence in approaching God! How many wonder if they are praying according to God's will! How many are uncertain that they will receive what they are asking from the Father!

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. I John 5:14-15 NKJV

And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him. AMP

God's will is not some mystical, impossible-to-be-discovered unknown that He is withholding from us! The Bible reveals His general will; what He wants for all mankind. Then there are plans specific to a person's life and situation that He will also reveal! You may have heard it called His rhema word. In his book Sparkling Gems from the Greek, Rick Renner describes rhema as "something that is spoken clearly and vividly, in unmistakable terms and in undeniable language". Psalm 25:14 and Proverbs 3:32 says He will even tell us secrets!!

This passage in I John builds a sure foundation that we can have a confident boldness in the character of God ("this is the confidence we have in Him"), be assured that we can know the will of God, and, because we are sure that what we are asking is in "agreement with His own plan," we can know "with settled and absolute knowledge" that what we are asking is "granted as our present possession"!!

When All You Can Do is Pray

"I guess all we can do is pray." I'm sure you've heard or said this before. I know I have. When we see what the Word of God says about prayer, though, we may laugh the next time we think this way.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16b NKJV

Let's look at the main words in this verse. Our prayers are effective when we are praying God's Word (John 6:63, Hebrews 4:12). I believe fervency comes from God's love (that has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit [Romans 5:5]) and true compassion for other people. We know that we are made righteous through the blood of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). Avail is defined as "to be of use or value to." So if we string those definitions together, we have a foundation of faith from the Word to know that our prayers are of much value!!

The Amplified Bible says it this way:

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

That word dynamic is the same word from which we get "dynamite." Your prayers are like dynamite in your own and in other people's life!!!

So PRAY!!!

Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. Ephesians 6:18 AMP

Pray knowing that your prayers are powerful and effective (James 5:16b NIV), even EXPLOSIVE to destroy the works of the enemy and release the will of God!!

Welcome

Hello and thank you so much for visiting my first blog (attempt). I guess we will see what happens with it.