Your Faith ~ Put It To Work

Today there was such a great entry in the Rhapsody of Realities… “Put Your Fath To Work” written by Pastor Anita Oyakhilome.

The opening scripture is Hebrews 11:1 which is “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.  The Amplified says : “NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].“

I just love that!  My faith is my proof, my evidence… my assurance.  People wonder how we can believe in something we may not neccessarily see ~ but we have proof, and our faith is that very evidence.  Notice in the amplified how it says the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].  Our faith perceives things that our five senses cannot, our faith perceives facts our physical senses are not sensitive enough to ‘tune into’.  Our faith connects us to the realities of the realm of the spirit (where all creation begins).

So if our faith is our ‘Title Deed’, there is no need to be passive any longer.  If you have something then acting passively and as though you do not seems foolish in a way.  Pastor Anita uses the example of James 2:17 which says “…faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone“.

So “… we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor 4:18).  We keep our focus and attention on the eternal  things of the spirit, because that is more real that what we can see with our eyes.  We live in the spirit and function in (walk by) faith… we are the children of God (Who is Spirit ~ John 4:24).

So if your faith is your evidence, proof, perception as real fact, confimation and title deed… how do we put our faith to work?

Pastor Anita puts it this way : “…if you truly believe God’s Word – that He is who He says He is, has done what He says He has done, and that you have what He says you have, then you must talk, act (behave) and live that way.” (parentheses mine).

We need to live the reality that what we receive by faith is more real than what we have in our hands.  We’re not pretending when we behave this way, we’re not trying to ‘attract’ something, we’re not trying to bluff ourselves in believing something by restrictng our actions, we’re not trying to convince ourselves… we’re simply walking in a higher reality, looking with the eyes of our spirits and walking by faith.

Put your faith to work… don’t stagger at the Word of God.  Your faith is the victory that overcomes the world (1 John 5:4).

Take care, God bless you mightily!

Miracles ~ In Your Hands

There was an entry in December’s “Rhapsody of Realities” (Wednesday Dec 26th entry) that really struck me, and I have continued to meditate on it ~ and I just wanted to share with you all a few things…

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome wrote an entry called “What You Need For A Miracle Is In Your Hands”, and it just spoke to my spirit.  

We read from Exodus 4:2 ~ “And the Lord said unto him, What is in thine hand?  And he said, A rod”.  This portion of scripture is actually showing just after Moses was given the charge to liberate the Israelites (about six million of them!) from Pharaoh, Moses asked the Lord “What happens if they don’t believe that you sent me?”.  God asks him what was in his hand and he wisely answered “A rod”.

 Why do I say “wisely”?  Well, Moses could have quite easily answered “nothing” because a rod might not be viewed by a man as being significant… and we can see that it didn’t have much of a natural connection with the ‘conversation’ they were having.

I studied what it meant in the original Hebrew “… in thine hand”, and it is yad.  This is a primitive word that distinctively means open hand.  It is used many ways, and among some of the meanings it implies are:

“Power, means, direction, custody, dominion, enough, ministry, with (him, me, you), and service”

Really think about what the Lord is asking… He is also asking you; what is at at your disposal?  What is within you power and means to do?  What direction can you take?  What is already in your custody, what do you have enough of?  What needs can you attend to right now, what is with you in this instant?  What service can you perform?

This shows us that there is always something we have and can do, no matter what.  Born again Christians shouldn’t lack.  Why not?  Because all things are yours (1 Cor 3:21), and you shall not want for any good thing (Psalm 34:10).  We can see that Moses acknowledged the good he had, the positive things he had, and what he could do!  Like we said before, Moses could have replied to the Lord ‘nothing’ and missed out on the miracles meant for him.   But through recognising what he HAD, great things then came from that rod.

So what does that mean to us as Christians?  If you feel in need or lack, firstly acknowledge every good thing (Philemon 1:6).  The Lord is asking you to give what is in your means and power. 

In the words of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome “Don’t be surprised when you think you’re in need and yet the Lord is asking you to give what you have.  At such times, be smart to recognize that a miracle is about to happen for you, for He’ll bless and multiply back to you whatever you present to Him.  It might be the last bit of money you have in your account; it might be your skill or talent; whatever it is, remember that its not the size or the worth of the thing that matters, but the quality of your faith. 

Whatever you have is God point of contact to bless you; learn to present what you have to Him in faith, and He’ll multiply it back to you“

Read Mark 6:37-44, where we see the multiplication and supernatural increase from such a small amount.  Acknowledge every good thing in your life, use your faith and present who you are, what you have and what you can do, to the Most High… because He causes you to increase in every area, and when you are seeking Him, you shall not lack ANY GOOD THING.

 Every thing you need for that miracle is in you hands… set a time for your miracle and present what you have to God in faith… you will not be disappointed!

Take care, God bless you all mightily ~ until next time

Giving of Yourself

Sunday service, our chapter leader Pastor Carol was ministering to us some of the teachings and revelations from Christ Embassy’s International Pastor’s and Partner’s Conference (Lagos, Nigeria).

Our brother Peter shared a testimony from this awesome conference, that he learned “The more of yourself you give, the more of God you get”.  Now, I really thought about that one… the more I give of myself, my time, my finances, my mind, my life… the more of God I get… the more of His blessings, His grace, His life.  What more could I want in life, than to know God more and more each day??  What more could I want, but to become more like Jesus each and every day??  Some think that by letting go of ‘yourself’ to God, you lose your joy, you lose the enjoyment in life… but that is so far from the truth.

When you accept the Word as Truth, when the Holy Spirit is living in you and He is your Counsellor, your Advocate, your Stand-by… when you live your life by the leading of the Greater One, you experience blessings of peace and joy.  Psalms 16:11 says “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence there is fullness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures forever more”.  So we know that our joy and ‘pleasures’ are in the presence of the Almighty!

 Have you heard of the Mimshach (Mimshak) anointing?  It is the anointing for increase, growth and expansion, from God that works in your life.  It causes you to increase in everything you do, your school, business, job and every area of your life.  We were admonished to walk in the light of the Mimshach anointing that has been released on our lives… and I am taking that word personally!

Another point to think about, is the authority you have as a believer when preaching the Gospel.  If you read in Matt 4:18, we see Jesus tell Simon Peter and Andrew to come and follow Him.  Notice that neither fellow questioned the master, never asked ‘who do you think you are, and why should we follow you?’… the authority that Jesus had, caused them to just ‘up & go’ without hesitation!  Do you know that you have the same authority in your ministry, because we have Christ in us?

Brethren, the time is over for apologies!  This is not an apologetic Gospel, it is not an apologetic message!  There is such urgency in the realm of the Spirit, we need to be at work for the Kingdom, we need to be preaching the Gospel to ALL nations!  We need to manifest the presence of the Spirit of God, we need to take charge of our families, friends and all others in our ’sphere of contact’ through prayer and ministration.  People all around you will perish through the lack of knowledge of what Christ did for them, and we need to give them that knowledge. 

 Some Christians feel that they lack in their lives ‘and if they just had ______ then they could preach effectively’, or ‘they don’t have enough time’…
Well, the Word says that “… they that seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing” (Psalms 34:10), so don’t see with your physical eyes, see with the eyes of your spirit… see the abundance in your life, and use it to further the preaching of the Gospel.

Some feel as though they have no-one to preach to, or not enough time.  If you talk any person, you have an opportunity to tell them the Good News.  No matter how small a window of time you have, be conscious that you can make an impact in their life.  Why not distribute a few copies of our devotional “Rhapsody of Realities” written by Pastors Chris and Anita Oyakhilome?  Pastor Chris is the president and founder of our ministry, and this devotional is CHANGING LIVES!  Visit www.rhapsodyofrealities.org for more information (you’ll be glad you did!)

If you hear someone complain, why not use that as a window to tell them the Gospel?  Tell them the truth; that God does not glory in anyone’s suffering.  Tell them the reality that Christ died so we would be free of sin and suffering that comes with it.  Tell them that when they accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour, they are born of incorruptible seed, and are made more than a victor in every circumstance in their life.

Just tell someone the Good News today: Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever!