ABIDING FAITH - Faith in Adversity
Introduction
A long time ago, there were three Hebrews children, called Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego, who lived righteous lives, yet things didn't go so well for them. They encountered evil, their righteous living did not go down well with some people in the kingdom of Babylon, who decided to set them up and destroy their lives.
But rather than succumb like everyone else around them, they refused to compromise their faith in God. At first, matters only became worse, but in the end, they came through smelling like roses.
Abiding faith is faith in adversity, when there is trouble and when the options are few. It is when your faith in God goes into a trial. It is the decision you will take when all the things you laboured for years to acquire does down the drain, when the children you are praying for their repentance gets worse, or when the only job sustaining the family is taken away by the devil and all hope seems lost
The nature of Abiding faith
I want to say that faith is not a gentleman concept, faith is a violent force. If you then add 'abiding' to a violent force, what you will have is the faith of "It must be done now, not tomorrow. You will have something like It's either God gives it to me or I don't want. You will have something like "If I perish, I perish" taken from Queen Esther- Esther 4:16.
If you ask blind Bartimaeus about faith, he will tell you the same thing. He heard that Jesus was passing by and decided his eyes must be opened that day or never. He cried Jesus thou Son of David help me. The crowd shouted him down, but he refused to keep quiet. Instead, the cried the more, and the Lord had to stop and attend to him, that's abiding faith - Mark 10:46-50
A sick man was taken to the hall where Jesus was preaching, and behold the hall was full to capacity, there was no space in the place and all access route closed. The sick man decided his friends should drop him through the roof of the house to see Jesus. The bible says that Jesus saw the faith of his friends and healed him, that's abiding faith when your trust in God is complete - Mark 2:3-5
What will you do? what will you believe, whose alternative will you choose? Will you trust in the Word of God and wait on Him, or choose the short cut options your friends will suggest? take the worldly alternatives open to you?
I want to say that faith is not a gentleman concept, faith is a violent force. If you then add 'abiding' to a violent force, what you will have is the faith of "It must be done now, not tomorrow. You will have something like It's either God gives it to me or I don't want. You will have something like "If I perish, I perish" taken from Queen Esther- Esther 4:16.
If you ask blind Bartimaeus about faith, he will tell you the same thing. He heard that Jesus was passing by and decided his eyes must be opened that day or never. He cried Jesus thou Son of David help me. The crowd shouted him down, but he refused to keep quiet. Instead, the cried the more, and the Lord had to stop and attend to him, that's abiding faith - Mark 10:46-50
A sick man was taken to the hall where Jesus was preaching, and behold the hall was full to capacity, there was no space in the place and all access route closed. The sick man decided his friends should drop him through the roof of the house to see Jesus. The bible says that Jesus saw the faith of his friends and healed him, that's abiding faith when your trust in God is complete - Mark 2:3-5
What will you do? what will you believe, whose alternative will you choose? Will you trust in the Word of God and wait on Him, or choose the short cut options your friends will suggest? take the worldly alternatives open to you?
In the case of the Hebrew children, their test was on the very word of God, that forbid the children of Israel from bowing down to worship other gods. They came face to face with death, and yet they did not shake or murmur. Instead, they told the King:
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter,” they replied. “If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18).
Their response was a huge act of faith. They knew God could deliver them from the death they faced, but they didn’t know if God will deliver them or not. So, they took their stand not to worship the image of the King.
What is faith?
1. Faith, according to scriptures is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
2. Faith is that rhema you receive in your spirit that God has heard your prayer. It is the assurance, the peace of mind you receive after saying your prayers.
3. Faith is the inner voice of God that directs us to pray for someone or to say a particular prayer, and when you say the prayer, the answer comes. It is not our making, it is from God.
4. Faith is a revelation from the Almighty God, inspiring us to do certain things and in some ways. It was God that gave Noah the inspiration to build the Ark. Many years ago, a poor woman had been praying to God to lift her out of poverty. Then a day came when the Lord gave her inspiration on how to produce a local delicacy and make it acceptable to more people. The Lord gave her everything from spices to the necessary condiments. The woman went into action and within a few months, she became a Millionaire.
5. When it comes to our relationship with God, faith is recognizing who God is, and knowing how to serve God better, according to His standards. It is knowing how to offer unto the Lord excellent sacrifices.
6. The bible says by faith, Abel offered unto God, a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. The bible is saying to us that by the inspiration from God, Abel knew what an excellent sacrifice looks like and he offered it to God. It was not by Abel's wisdom NO, it was an inspiration from God.
We cannot get faith within ourselves, faith is from God. We do not have to do something to get faith. For every believer, we all have a measure of faith and that's why we repented of our sins and decided to follow Christ. We can increase our faith through the study and meditation of His word.
The Importance of Faith
Faith can enable us to do great things within minutes we connect to God. The moment your faith connects to the Lord, your desires are granted. Faith is the anchor of our relationship with God. God, Himself is a God of faith who speaks things into being.
Faith works for children of God. If you are not born again, no amount of faith you will profess that will deliver anything to you. Faith is the creative tool in the hand of believers to win and dominate in life. Brethren, without faith you cannot serve God, it's so simple.
1. God has made it clear that without faith we cannot please Him. The bible says in Hebrew 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
2. Faith is the anchor of our Christianity. Without faith, you cannot live holy or righteously, that is why faith is an anchor. Without faith, you won't believe in God. Neither will you believe that His word is true. Without faith you cannot understand the word of God or obey it, it will look foolish to you. Without faith, you will be mocking children of God as idle people. Without faith, a person is a stranger to the things of God.
3. Faith is very powerful. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said that even with just a little amount of faith, we can move mountains. It is a spiritual force, like love that pleases God and that's why faith is so unique. The business of a Believer is to please the creator and make heaven at last. Faith is at the centre of everything that will bring glory to God, so if we don't exercise our faith, we cannot see the glory of God and His name is not glorified.
4. Faith is a lifestyle, not an event or incident. The faith that brings dividend is the faith that has become part of our ways of life. We need to develop a lifestyle of faith and not the faith that is activated to get a miracle, after which we return to our doubt and unbelief.
5. Faith is a necessity: The just shall live by faith shows that faith is not by choice, but a necessity of life for all believers. The entire Christian experience is a faith journey because we are saved by faith, healed, delivered, and overcome the devil by faith. If you don't believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you are not yet saved.
6. Faith connects us to God, keeps us in Christ and delivers whatever we desire from the Lord. Faith is the Engine room of your Christianity. Faith determines the quality of life that a person will enjoy. It affects everything about us, including our bank account and the level of success we will command.
7. All spiritual battles are won by faith: A man of faith cannot lose any spiritual battle, but when your faith wanes or is switched off, you become spiritually weak and miserable. Imagine going into battle without faith, the person is a loser already. The absence of faith brings fear. When fear comes, the person will be troubled by what he sees and hears, instead of what the Lord is saying to him. You are not a loser in life until you lose faith.
8. There is no Vision outside Christ: A lot of people talk about the vision they have for life and ministry, even for their family, but without faith, nothing will happen. Faith puts the Almighty God first and doing His will saying 'By His grace' to anything you want to say. So, no matter how colourful a destiny may be, without faith, it cannot be fulfilled.
Attempting to fulfil destiny outside Christ is thinking your kick can pull down a 25 storey building, it's a lie, it will not happen. That is how it is for people who try to fulfil their destiny without Christ. You can be sure the dream will hit the rock.
Abiding faith
The bible talks about heroes of faith and how many of them died without receiving what they prayed for and many that tasted the fruit of their faith in God. How were those men able to stand on the Word of God and His promises even when their lives were in danger?
Hebrews 11 has the story of a woman who received their dead raised to life, as the widow who cared for Elijah, Shunammite who showed kindness to Elisha. Yet, there were others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. If they didn’t get God’s deliverance, they would rather die.
How many people in trouble will accept deliverance from any quarter, even if it was from the camp of the devil? How many people will insist on God kind of deliverance, no matter how long it would wait?
Job said, “Though He slays me yet will I trust in Him.” After all the troubles came on Job, he sat on the ash heap nursing his wounds when his wife shouted out the exact words spoken by Satan before God “Curse God and die.” But the man replied saying: “Naked came I into the world, naked shall I go out. Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”
I heard of a Chinese group that was saved. And the revolt came, and those in authority came after the missionaries to kill them. They said to these native Christians, “You tell us where the missionaries are, and we will save your lives.” But they wouldn’t tell, though their heads came off. Esther said, "If I perish, I perish". These are the faith that pleases God, for which God cannot ignore.
How is it possible?
1. When you are born again and Spirit-filled
2. When you are dead to the flesh and your lives are hidden in Christ. The three Hebrew children were dead to the flesh, and so they did not complain or question God. They were willing to forfeit their lives for what they believed.
3. We should strive to resist and conquer sin in our own daily lives, as there is no alternative to holiness.
4. Holy and Righteous living - Using the case of Shedrack Meshiak and Abednego, we see that from the onset, they had decided not to eat of the King's meal, regarding it as idolatrous food. They regarded themselves as Servants of God that should not be polluted by the King's food, and so they rejected it for three years.
5. It is possible when we know who we are in Christ - Servants of the Living God, who should be different, holy and honest in everything we do.
Practical Steps of what to do
We have to come to a point in Christ when we take everything that happens to us in its stride and ask the Lord to take over. That is when we can give God the glory for our troubles. When we exalt Him in our trouble, we show that our trust in Him alone.
It is an attitude that indicates a belief that the troubles of today will lead us to better children of God tomorrow. But if we want a solution at all cost, not minding where it is coming from, we may be fine, but we have lost the divine promotion God intended for us, what a great loss.
We must avoid demonic and worldly ways and answers because it will lead us to unfaithfulness in the future. If you chose to use a surrogate mother instead of praying and waiting on the Lord for children, you may have a child, but how have the problem drawn you closer to God.
Learn what did Hanna do when her adversaries were mocking her. She continued in prayer and later got desperate with God and offered to give God her first son. Immediately God answered her and she later had other children after giving Samuel.
Job Loss: When your Job is gone, thank God for the situation and believe it is for your greater tomorrow. Take your Bible with you and lock yourself up in a room for 3 - 7 days in prayer and fasting, asking God for direction and what to do next. The Lord will give you inspiration in due time, that will change your story.
Don't get afraid or desperate in the wrong direction, don't join fraudsters to defraud people because you lost your job, or join Armed robbery groups to rob and steal from people. Don't join smugglers, all these are evil.
If you are a woman and life is getting too hard for you, the same process will bring you God's mind for your deliverance. Lock yourself up in a room for fasting and prayer. Do not join prostitution ring because you have no job, pray and trust in God for direction.
Some ladies are even employed, and yet they are members of a Ladies club who do their own prostitution in the clubs. In the morning, they look totally innocent. That is evil. Remember the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Pray and wait on the Lord and you will not be disappointed.
I don't know what you are facing right now that you need faith to conquer, but remember that if you don't have the word of God in your heart, you cannot stand on the word you don't know, study to know the word of God. Rejects devilish alternatives and persevere to learn the spiritual lesson you need to move to the next level.
God allowed King Nebukadnazer to pronounce the judgement of the Hebrew children to teach the King some lessons and to allow us to know His mighty power to deliver.
If you will win by faith, your mindset must change to that of King David in the bible. David inquired of the Lord every time he had serious troubles. He believed God's counsel that he will pursue his enemies and overtake them and recover all they took away from him, and it was so for him.
I don't know what strongman or devil is troubling you, you must reject worldly alternative and short cuts, it will lead you to sin and hellfire. Take the matter to God in prayer, ask for a way of escape, follow it and God will give you victory.
Conclusion
The unbeliever can afford to underestimate the power of a life of faith, but a born-again Christian cannot. It will amount to losing the essence of being a child of God. It is to accept the life of poverty, struggle and failure instead of a life of hope and joy in the Holy Ghost. It is a disaster for a Christian to ignore the life of faith.
May the Lord grant you understanding in Jesus name!
FIRE...
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