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Faith
For Daily Living
by
Rev. Peter Rahme
While
in prayer recently I
was reminded by
the Lord of how high my faith level was as a baby Christian. I could
believe
Him for almost anything according to His Word, and received it. When
you come
to God, trusting in His Word and you obey Him in the area of giving, He
will
make a way when there seems to be no way. David writes in
the Psalms: "I
have been young; now I am old; yet not once have I seen the righteous
abandoned
or his descendants begging for bread." Psalms 37:25
(CJB)
Before
receiving the gift of salvation, I had been married for fourteen years.
I could not keep a job for more than a few months at a time and we were
continuously broke and could never make ends meet. I was also always
down, depressed and confused. Then I was gloriously saved on May 27th,
1980. I was on fire for God and so grateful for my salvation (and still
am) and wanted to live by the Word of God. I'll never forget, on
Sunday, June 1st, 1980, I managed to scrape up seven Rand and fifty
cents (South African currency) which is not even one dollar today. That
Sunday I went to church and when I put it in the offering basket I
literally felt a heavy load lift off of me. That was almost 29 years
ago and in all those years of serving the Lord, He has come through for
us every time we have had a need, because we have never stopped tithing
and giving.
Faith
is the
foundation which we build our lives upon as we take our spiritual
journey in
Christ. It begins with us hearing the message of Jesus, believing it,
receiving
Him into our hearts by confessing Him as Lord, and then a measure of
faith is
imparted to us. Faith is a miraculous journey of trusting and believing
God for
all that He has provided for in Christ. Hebrews 5:9 says,
“…He
became the author of eternal salvation to
all who obey Him.”
"So
faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the
preaching
[of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself)."
Romans
10:17 (AMP)
The Just shall live by faith
Romans
12:3 says, “God has dealt to each one a
measure of
faith." Every
believer has been given a measure of faith, so that each and every one
of us can
build up our faith (Jude
1:20). Four times in the Old and New
Testaments the
Word of God says, "the just shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4,
Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38). I believe the Lord is
trying to
get a point across to us.
"But without faith it is
impossible to please and be
satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must
[necessarily]
believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who
earnestly and
diligently seek Him [out]." Hebrews
11:6
(AMP)
When
we don't put our faith and trust in our heavenly
Father, we are literally saying He is not big enough to take care of
our little
problem. By doing this we cut off the connection of faith and therefore
we
cannot be pleasing to Him. Just as parents are willing and
strive to
provide for their children, in the same way God is able and willing to
provide
for our every need.
"So if you, even though
you are bad, know how to give
your children gifts that are good, how much more will your Father in
heaven
keep giving good things to those who keep asking him!" Matthew 7:11 (CJB)
We are heirs of God
It's
not God's nature to be unkind.
Everything God has given us has come freely from the abundance of His
grace. We
have received His Son, and the gift of His Holy
Spirit. Romans 8:16-17 says "…we
are children of God, and if
children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ."
Please
understand the significance of being an heir of God – this is
not an earthly or
heavenly measure; "but of God Himself". God has also blessed us
according to Ephesians 1:3 "…with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."
Hallelujah!
Build your foundation on
the Rock
Don't
lay a foundation for yourself on
sinking sand, trusting in man and the world system. This world and its
system are as strong as a
spider’s web in the midst
of a tornado, or a house made of twigs in the path of a hurricane. We
cannot
put our hope and trust in anything else except
the
sure rock of our salvation
which is Jesus Christ and no other. Our God is literally
going to shake everything in heaven and on earth, but God's
kingdom cannot
be shaken.
"...but now He has promised,
saying, "Yet
once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." 27 Now this,
"Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being
shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be
shaken may
remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be
shaken,
let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and
godly fear." Hebrews 12:26-29
So
stand firm on the rock of our Salvation and the author
and finisher of our faith. Don't be moved by the things that are coming
upon
the earth. God is going to shake heaven and earth to show us who has
put their
trust and faith in Him; and who has put their trust into the world's
system. So
let’s please our God and put our faith entirely in Him. He is
a rewarder of
those who earnestly seek Him! Hallelujah!
The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all. Amen.
Bro
Peter Rahme
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