One way to avoid judging anyone is to sometimes choose to be a fool for Christ’ sake. If someone creates room to receive feedback or constructive criticism of their actions or lifestyle, take it and deliver your opinion in a most respectful manner. If no such system exists, trust Jesus to handle it.
The main problem with being like Hymenaeus and Philetus who were identified as ‘babblers’ and ‘chatters’ is not just that it limits an individual’s usefulness for God’s purpose, but this thing has the potency to spread fast (like cancer) through a section of the body.
But could it be that the manifestation of your long awaited hope is starring at you and yet you do not see it as such? We know that God is faithful; He will always come through. That’s how we know that the hope that is rested on Christ does not disappoint. We just need to LOOK with our spiritual eyes in order SEE it and then take it by faith
Jesus said when a woman loses one of ten pieces of silver coins, she doesn’t go ranting or become uncontrollably distraught. No, she calms down, puts herself together, lights a candle, picks up a broom, looks, searches, looks again, searches in every possible nook and cranny, until she finds it. And when she finds it, she rejoices greatly, calling on her friends and neighbours to come celebrate with her (Luke 15:8-9)
Israel lacked spiritual sensitivity and understanding as to the exact description and role of the Messiah. They missed the who, when and how of their expectation. Hence they didn’t recognize the time of their visitation, and so couldn’t engage their faith to seize and embrace their long awaited Messianic Hope. Thankfully it wasn’t all of Israel that was spiritually insensitive at the time. The Bible speaks of Simeone’s relationship with the Holy Spirit and how this sharpened his spiritual sensitivity, helping him recognize the Messiah even at A Baby, INFANTILE stage….
I’ve been really looking forward to this part of this study series- Victory Through Hope! In previous parts we have seen how we can have and enjoy victory through faith and love. Well, the 3rd thing in our 3 Essential Elements of victorious Christian living is Hope.
This is part 21 of this study series and today I start looking at Hope by sharing a story from many years back. Stay with me…
For a short period in my teenage years I had the privilege of spending quite a bit of time in a Christian home with 2 spinsters who were in their late thirties. Friday nights were for night vigils and ‘serious’ prayer sessions. Whether you were bright-eyed, half-awake or in dreamland, there was no escaping participating in these ‘serious’ prayers. One of such prayers obviously was for the spinsters to get married without further delays. Did I enjoy these sessions? Not quite sure. What I do know though is that I learnt to pray that my own husband would show up at the right time.
As a very young believer, I knew almost nothing about the mechanics of faith; of believing, confessing and acting on the Word of God. Infact, we seldom prayed Word-based prayers those days. It seemed like dedicating an entire night to prayers was good enough to catch God’s attention. Now that I think about it, indeed God meets us at the different levels of our belief, more importantly, His love and mercy transcends the foolishness of man’s heart and still reaches out to do him good. Because many years after engaging in those ‘powerful’ prayer sessions, all I did was simply to remind God concerning my request, believing and hoping that He’ll grant my heart desire.
Hope is one concept that can be vaguely understood by Christians. We commonly define hope as meaning an aspiration, an expectation or desire for something to happen. And really the Bible definition of hope is somewhat closely related to this; where hope means a joyful and confident expectation of good, an assured look into the future or the anticipation of good (1 Corinthians 13:13. AMP, Titus 1:2). So unlike Faith which is NOW, hope is unseen and in the future (Romans 8:24-25). Meaning that if you needed something to happen Now, you should be engaging Faith instead of Hope because Hope always looks into the future.
Biblical hope waits with confidence and joy. Indeed, Hope waits and waits and waits patiently. And really when you think about it, this seeming ‘indefiniteness’ of Hope is not so hard to grasp when you understand its anchor or foundation- which is Christ. Yes, the confidence and assurance that the object of Hope will manifest is Christ (1 Peter 1:21, Colossians 1:27). That is some great news, isn’t it?…. To know that as long as there is Christ, this Hope will not fail, it will not disappoint. Halleluyah!
Now did I mention that a whole decade passed by before the answer to my powerful night vigil prayers manifested- 10-plus solid years and AMEN (It was so)!! My ‘hope’ didn’t disappoint.
I know that 10 years is probably nothing compared to how long you have waited for the manifestation of that expectation. Yet, I encourage you to still Hope, friend hope with joy, confidence and patience because this Hope (that is built on Christ) does not disappoint. And better still, you can begin to give tangibility to the object of your Hope when you let Faith kick-in……that’s absolutely correct! Faith is the Substance of things we hope for, the Evidence of the things which are unseen physically (Hebrews 11:1).
So now you realize that one of the implications of Hebrews 11:1 is that when the Expected Time for the manifestation of the object of Hope comes, Faith should be engaged in order to bring these things to fruition. Yes, NOW is the time to get relevant scriptures on those things you believed God for in the years gone by and start speaking and acting as though they really are. Because faith calls those things that be not as though they really are. Halleluyah! Praise The Name of Jesus!!
Why don’t you join me in the next part as we continue to explore the relationship between Faith and Hope, as well as see more ways to get our Hope manifesting.
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Remember that you can access previous parts of this study as follows; Part 1: Study Background. Part 2: The Scope of the Christian Victory. Part 3: How Christians Gained Victory. Part 4: How Faith, Love and Hope Mix Together for Victorious Christian Living. Part 5: The Nature of God’s Love. Part 6: Characteristics of God Kind of Love. Parts 7 and 8: Winning Through Love. Part 9: How to develop our love nature. Part 10: Giving Is Not (always) Love. Part 11:Victory Through Faith: Understanding Faith. Part 12: Victory Through Faith: The Righteousness of God. Part 13: The Stimulus for Faith. Part 14: The Faith of Abraham (A). Part 15: The Faith of Abraham (B). Part 16: The Blessing of Abraham. Part 17: Activate The Blessing. Part 18: Abraham’s Righteousness. Part 19: You Can Grow Your Faith (A). Part 20: You Can Grow Your Faith (B).
Sometimes all you require to surmount a persistent health challenge is the wisdom of God delivered to you through a divine instruction. And sometimes a divine instruction can help you stand out from a pack of equally qualified folks, colleagues or schoolmates.
God’s powerhouse is the Holy Spirit. Hence to be strong in the power of God’s MIGHT is to be strong in the Holy Ghost. And one way to be strong in the Holy Ghost (strenthened in your own spirit) is to pray regularly in the Holy Ghost.
I started this study series last Friday (22/04/22) which centres on us (believers) taking advantage of and enjoying everything Jesus got for us.
You can read up on Part 1 here.
Some key things mentioned then were:
▪️God wants the best for us and He has provided it all in Christ.
▪️God will not take away the giants (troubles, challenges, difficulties, opposition) we encounter as we move to possess our inheritance in Christ. Tackling them ourselves helps us build patience, character and hope which equip us for the future.
▪️Just like, Caleb, we must stir up the spirit of faith in us and also commit to following God fully.
Today we answer the question…….
Of the 12 spies sent to spy out Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb made it to the promised land. God specifically distinguised Caleb as having a different spirit and of following Him fully/wholeheartedly.
“But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.” Numbers 14:24 NKJV
What exactly did Caleb do?
While majority of the spies conveniently presented a fact-file of their visit with some added negativity (Numbers 13:32-33), Joshua and Caleb had a different perspective.
We see the conclusion of Caleb’s report in Numbers 13:30
“And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” Numbers 13:30 KJV
–Let us GO UP AT ONCE, and possess it–
Why do you think Caleb took this stand?
He trusted in God’s faithfulness and was willing to obey, heed and follow God completely. Make no mistake about it, that just like the rest of the spies, Caleb saw the good fruits of the land, saw it’s inhabitants but he refused to see himself as grasshopper against giants. No! Not when the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is his God!
At some point in your Christian walk, to take the land and enjoy all of God’s promises in Christ Jesus, you must answer the question of whether you truly trust God? Do you really trust in His ability, strength, faithfulness? Can you take certain ‘risks’ based on God’s Word to you? Do you trust God enough to get off that sick bed simply because His Word says you are healed or are you seeing yourself worse? Do you trust God enough to make that career move in the midst of uncertainties or do you fear a possibly transient (but impactful) loss of income? Do you trust God enough to let Him sort out your marriage or children as you keep speaking His Word over them? Can you start that ministry or business simply because God spoke to you to do so?
When you trust God, you will Obey and Act on His Word.
Caleb said, let’s GO Up At Once, Abraham had to MOVE from Ur towards an unknown promised land because God said to go. Moses led Israel from Egypt towards an unknown promised land because God said to ‘move’.
You have to MOVE in order to take the land.
Now, you have just trusted the Lord’s command and MOVED. Congratulations! You just initiated your Change process! However, wake up because you have just landed yourself in the midst of giants.
As said earlier, apart from Joshua and Caleb, the other 10 spies presented a bad report. But really they presented what they saw with their physical eyes (well, with some twists). Apart from the milk and honey, there were indeed giants in the land, the cities were fortified and very large, the inhabitants seemed obviously stronger than the Israelites (Numbers 13:27-29). So there were problems, troubles, challenges. However Joshua and Caleb chose to see a victory. They focused on God’s promises.
Sometimes I listen to people talk about all the unpleasant experiences in thier lives, family, marriage, etc. They narrate these experiences with much detail and accuracy. I listen, listen and listen again, waiting to hear just one faith word come out of their mouth, but then they link another problem and start reinforcing all the enemy is doing with their words.
Some persons who know me pick an offense with me because they see me as mostly keeping to myself. They think I don’t ‘mingle’ much. Well try engaging me with some good bible study time, you’ll be amazed?. Otherwise, sorry, I will not spend my precious time reinforcing what the enemy is trying to do. Tell me some good news about what God is doing. Halleluyah! And let’s search the scriptures together to fix that mess the enemy is trying to create around you. Praise God!!
Do you know that apart from Joshua and Caleb, the other 10 spies died in the wilderness alongside the rest of Israel? Why? They became experts at grumbling, complaining, recounting their unpleasant experiences. They died in the wilderness as a result of unbelief and disobedience (Numbers 14:20-24).
Dear friend, sometimes just ignore the facts and instead, plug yourself into God’s system by speaking His truth.
Anything threatening the actualization of God’s promises in your life can be likened to a giant (opposition, trouble, challenge, difficulty). When you find yourself among unfriendly and dangerous giants, you fight to live. And the weapon of this fight is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).
To take the land and enjoy all of God’s promises, you must fight to overcome the giants and strong people in the land. Align yourself with God by continually confessing and acting on His Word. Caleb started aligning himself with what God said concerning the land by saying “we are well able to take the land“. David when up againts Goliath sent forth words of victory even before the actual physical fight.
Dear friends, possess the land, take your trust in God a step further; MOVE. And as you move, keep the Word of God relevant for your individual situation always in your mouth.
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Well, thank you for joining me again today. I hope this study is inspiring you to boldly step into God’s plan and destiny for you. Please join me next Friday as I share the concluding part.
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Child of God, make no mistake about it, there’s a devil out there whose sole agenda is to steal from you, kill and destroy you (John 10:10). He will never announce himself as a thief, destroyer or killer, rather he specializes in throwing deceptive schemes laced with lies at you. God doesn’t want us oblivious of his tricks, strategies, lies or manipulations. Being strong in the Lord positions us to recognize and withstand these devious schemes.
