Libraries are full of books that are rarely read after the month of their printing. But God’s Word carries His very life in it and speaks in a fresh way to every generation. He has given us something to say that we can believe in.
Our attitude toward His written Word really determines how much of Him we will experience in our everyday lives. His written Word is a treasure beyond all the riches of this earth. It is designed by God to take the place of Jesus in His absence. It connects us with His thought process. It never sleeps, nor does it ever change its message.
“We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.” Colossians 1:11-12 NLT
Strength from God for the journey will see you through life’s most difficult challenges. Having lived in Russia for approximately 10 years I learned how God can provide even our simplest request in the most difficult economic situations. I remember one winter in the early 90’s I wanted a pair of gloves to match my coat. No one was selling anything but Soviet-style grey and black gloves, and there weren’t a lot of those available. My coat was multi-colored and I wanted a pair of matching red gloves. To my missionary friend it seemed like a fantasy to desire a pair of bright red gloves in the, at that time, dull, dirty city of Moscow, but one morning as we emerged from the Moscow Metro (subway), there on the corner stood a grandmother selling an assortment of brightly colored gloves! My friend gasped and said “Look! Leslie, there are your gloves!” This was a tremendous testimony to this young missionary who did not have much income and who had no experience living by faith.
“Have faith in God,” Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours… Mark 11:23, 24 NIV
Remember today that God provides strength for the journey! Have faith! He is with you even in the small things!
Laws are designed for good. They are intended to protect us. When an offender breaks the law, we want him in jail. There are laws in every area of creation, both seen and unseen. For example, there are laws that govern nature, such as the law of gravity. We build our science on laws that work. In physics, for instance, there are laws that dictate how electricity works. These laws have always existed. When men understood them, they could harness the power of electricity for good to bless mankind. But if these laws are broken, then what was meant for good can do evil to you. The same heat generated by electricity to cook eggs on your stove, will also cook you if you sit on it—even though you own the stove. The laws that govern electricity are not respecters of persons.
In the same way, the law of faith is a dynamic given for the good of mankind to bring the blessings of heaven to earth. It is the currency of heaven. It is the evidence of things not seen. It is the victory that overcomes the world. It is the answer to all things desired. It is what makes possible the things that look impossible. We can value it for our benefit, or it can easily be used for our destruction. Let us operate in the light of the faith revelation.
What is our future? If we really believed that what we plant today is what we will see tomorrow, then we would start planting what we want to see. What are the seeds that we have to plant? The law of sowing and reaping shows us that good and bad are the result of what we sow.
If we want good in our life, Jesus told us very clearly what the seeds are when He revealed the law of faith. Faith is designed to bring to pass good desires, or what you want. If you are not admiring your life right now, then change the seeds you are sowing!
There are laws that govern God’s “moral universe” just as we recognize the laws that govern the physical universe. Cause and effect is used to defend the creation of earth by God. Is there a cause and effect in the realm of faith where actions can predict results? If we have an unchangeable Christ, can we discover principles of His kingdom that are unchangeable?
In Galatians 6:7 Paul said, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” God declared that seedtime and harvest would continue as long as the earth remained (Genesis 8:22). He sowed the seed of His Son to reap the harvest of billions of sons and daughters. There are two overriding truths here: Seed produces after its own kind. And seed always produces more than the amount of seed sown.
These truths will work in every area of life. At my home I have terrible bushes that try to overpower my property, and they flourish. If these principles work for bad, corruptible seed like those undesirable bushes, just think how well they will work for an incorruptible seed like the words, thoughts, and actions motivated by your relationship with your Lord!
We are seed planters. Everything in my life; my world, my body, my ministry, my job, and my family begins with a seed.
How much do you want out of life? How high do you want to climb? How long do you want to live? How much power will you exercise? What goals do you want to reach?
You could say this: whatever you give yourself to will increase. Whatever you put your focus on will multiply. In your life, whatever you pay attention to will grow, and whatever you ignore will diminish. Seeds give back what you plant, and more.
Do you know the parts of a seed? There are three. First is an outer husk—a hard, permanent shell. Second is the inner meat. And third is the germ or life spark. Science has been able to duplicate the outer shell and the inner meat but not the germ.
It’s important to comprehend how the seed works in order to comprehend how faith works. The outer shell is for protection and permanence. In the realm of faith, it represents the permanent parameter of truth. It is the known will of God. Apart from the known will of God there is no Bible faith. This is like the boundary on a basketball court. The game will continue until the ball goes out of bounds and the referee blows the whistle. When the whistle is blown, all play stops. Like the game on the court, Bible faith cannot operate outside the bounds or the known will of God. And His will is revealed in the words, example, and finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
The inner matter, or meat, of the seed is what the germ feeds on. You could say that your spiritual life is feeding on the ideas, inspirations, concepts, and wisdom of Scripture that daily nurtures you or builds you up.
The third part of the seed, the germ, has the life force that is the creative power making it all happen. In science we would call this a dynamo, or self-starting and self-sustaining energy. In the spiritual realm, this is the same life that resurrected Jesus in the tomb. It is the new source of life not limited to the earthly realm. When we say yes to God’s plan, our ”yes” acts as a catalyst that sets in motion all the unmerited favor of the Creator for His creation. Our positive expectation mixes with truth and creates the desired result!
I remember a young man named Ildus that we met at one of our meetings in Bashkortostan. Ildus could not speak and had severe difficulties. Our ministry workers found him outside our tent meeting begging in the trashcans, and someone decided to invite him to our meeting. They brought him in and I was preaching that day. He came up to give his testimony after I finished speaking. He was so excited as he came up onto the platform and walked over to the microphone. Everybody was expecting this wonderful healing testimony, but when he picked up the microphone he said, “ooh, ooh, ooh” and pointed at his heart.
Right at that moment my husband walked into the meeting, and I could see him looking at me thinking, Leslie, what are you doing? Obviously this young man has not been healed. I remember I just said to the audience and to my husband, “Everyone look! It’s obvious that Jesus has touched his heart and brought peace into his life.” So we all celebrated the smile he had on his face and the fact that something had happened in his heart.
Well, the next day when we were conducting a similar meeting and my husband was speaking, here came Ildus into the meeting again with that big smile on his face. He came up to the edge of the platform and wanted to testify. I could see my husband looking at him thinking, Hmm, I don’t think I’m going to let this young man up here; it doesn’t appear that he is actually healed. But one of our directors, Akop, was on the edge of the platform waving at us saying “No, it’s okay! It’s okay—he’s okay!” My husband still had the same reaction, as if to say, sure he’s okay…you’re going to let him up tonight like you did yesterday? But Akop kept saying “No, it’s real! It’s real!”
So this young man marched out to the center of the platform in front of all the people, took up the microphone, and began to tell a story. He said, “Last night when I went home after the meeting and I was alone in my room, Jesus walked into my bedroom and put His finger on my forehead. And when He did, all of a sudden the fog left my mind, and for the first time in my life I began to think clearly!”
Satan’s tools have never changed. He has no greater power than to fog, distort, and cause confusion in the minds of people—to cause them not to understand who this God is that we serve, and to deny the One who was sent to deliver us and bring us into fellowship with God.
But this young man, who the day before could only speak in grunts (he showed us the papers—he was in one of the more serious classifications of mental retardation), was healed when Jesus walked into his room, extended His hand, and touched his forehead. And when He did that fog left his brain and he could think clearly!
This is the eternal question asked by humanity all over the earth and especially in Westernized societies! Satan to this day is utilizing the only tool he has available…deception. He attempts to pervert the word that God has given us. Ephesians 6:11 tells us to be aware of the devil’s schemes. In fact, we are mistaken if we think we must fear the power of the devil! He has no power but that which we give him when we distrust God’s Word.
We are encouraged to take a stand against Satan’s schemes, strategies, deceits, wiles, and tricks. We are not encouraged to take our stand against his power. Satan has only one tool, and that is to pervert God’s truth and convince us not to believe what God has told us in His Word. Essentially the plan of evil has not changed from the first day until now!
God has given us who are created in His image the ability to transform others. How? By the creative power of the words we speak. We have seen multitudes of people change from sad to glad, from depressed to joyful, from sick to healthy, from lost to saved, from fearful to faithful, from worried to peaceful, and from every other negative state to a positive one. These changes occurred after they heard and believed the words and thoughts of God.
On the border of Romania in the Carpathian Mountains, we were holding tent meetings that were transforming every strata of society. The associate major was so touched that He gave the unused sports center to the church for their new building so youth could find Christ.
A gang of boys came in one day to break up our benches and disrupt the meetings. The leader was going to give the signal when to start the disruption, so they all sat, waiting in anticipation. Sitting there in the presence of the Word, they felt a strong pull to give their lives to Jesus. When the gang leader stood up to give the signal to start trouble, he instead came forward to be born again. The gang all came forward and three weeks later at the baptism service on the river, they all jumped into the river together to be baptized, then began sharing amazing stories of transformation with us!
God has given us all that pertains to life, and we have the answers (2 Peter 1:3). We have a source that cannot be controlled by other humans, economics, armies, or any powers.
People are excited when they hear the voice of God’s scriptures declaring that all things are theirs to enjoy. It is God telling them to enter the supermarket and fill up their basket as often as they like. They go into the store with joy, but they are dismayed when everything they want is packaged as bags of seeds. It’s not in the form they were looking for! God promises us apples, but He rarely, if ever, gives us orchards or even a single apple tree. He gives us apple seeds.
People want instant gratification. The seeds God gives will produce everything they want in life, but they must plant them. The seeds will produce the image they project. They will grow. They will multiply just like any other seeds. God’s words are self-fulfilling. Jesus’ words are pre-programmed to produce the images of you and your life that He bought and paid for. His words are self-fulfilling in your life.
A tomato seed is pre-programmed to produce tomatoes. It does not matter how much the tomato seed would like to produce potatoes or how long it tries to grow them. It can only produce what it was programmed for.
Whatever seeds from God’s storehouse we plant, we will have the same harvest as God Himself would receive if He planted them!
What is Jesus looking for? When He returns will He find faith? (Luke 8:18)
Faith is what Jesus is looking for!
If we take scripture at face value, it is clear that faith is God’s expectation of humanity. An active trust in God’s Word is based on the finished work that Jesus Himself accomplished. When a man with an epileptic son came to Jesus for a miracle, the man asked if Jesus could do anything. Jesus immediately responded, “Everything is possible for one who believes”(Mark 9:23).
The problem is not with Jesus! He is able. He is willing, and He is ready, but He wants to know if you believe He will do it.
“For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love” (Galatians 5:6, Message).
This faith works within the framework of love. Love is the foundation. GOD’S LOVE provides the motive for our confident belief. We trust God because we know He is a loving God.
Love was here long before contracts and covenants. Love is a selfless willingness to do good and right for all. The impossible can spring from this foundation!
