Continuing Faith in God

Hebrews 11:1

1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith >> seeking the Lord for a victory

Philippians 1:3-6

3. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4. Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
5. For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
6. Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Reminding ourselves that what God starts, He WILL finish

Romans 8:18

18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Romans 8:23-25

23. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25. But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Romans 8:26-28

26. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:31-21

31. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Reminding ourselves of what is to come, of hope, and with help, God doesn’t hold back

Matthew 7:7-11

7. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10. Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

If we know how to look after our children, how much more will God look after His children.

Luke 17:11-19

11. And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13. And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16. And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18. There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Act of Faith despite no visible signs of healing

Thanking God (before and after), also not being caught up in thinking we “deserve” this. It was the Samaritan that came back to thank Jesus.

Ephesians 5:20

20.  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Give thanks ALWAYS

Colossians 1:20-23

20. And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22. In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
23. If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Colossians 1:12

12.  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Continue in Faith, being grounded (established) and settled (content), and giving thanks!

James 1:2-8

2. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

LET patience …
If we lack, ASK … in faith NOT wavering

Ephesians 3:14-21

14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

HE THAT HAS EARS TO HEAR

 

God knows … but we still need to ask

Premise:

God knows every single thing about us:
But, we still need to ask for what we want!

The Talk:

1 Corinthians 10:13
13.  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

God knows every single thing about us:

  • good
  • bad
  • hair on our heads
  • cells in our body
  • the missing genes that we can blame our parents for
  • our hearts desires
  • our needs
  • our wants
  • our strengths
  • our weaknesses
  • what we’re capable of
  • what we’re not capable of
  • how we go about things
  • etc etc etc

And not only does He know this about us, but He knows it about every single person on the planet, that was and that has been …. He knows it all.

So come to a time of need, come to a place when things are not going well and we can find ourselves in the habit of thinking “well God know’s this already … so please God just answer my prayer!!” …. WHAT PRAYER ??? All we did was state a fact …. God does know – correct!
God can answer my prayer – correct!
But have we actually spent time asking??
Have we got on our knees and pressed in for a victory?
Have we spent time calling to God’s attention His promises that we gave us?
Have we spent time building up ourselves on our most holy faith?

We still need to ask for what we want!

Noah and the Ark
God made a way of escape, but he had to build a boat for 100 years to get there.

Genesis 6:6-8
6. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Abraham and Isaac
The sacrifice of Isaac – God made a way of escape with the goat

Genesis 22:8
8.  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Genesis 22:10-13
10. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Vipers and brazen snake
God didn’t take the snakes away, but made a way they could be redeemed.

Numbers 21:5-8
5. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

10 Lepers
Only one came back to thank Jesus

Luke 17:12-19
12. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13. And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16. And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18. There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Heaven and Hell
God hasn’t taken Hell away, but he has made a way to escape hell

  • Israelites through the Red Sea
  • Esther
  • Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo in the furnace.
  • Daniel and lion’s den
  • Peter in prison

How do we escape?
Don’t be overcome.
Have a strong foundation.

2 Peter 1:4-8

4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6. And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7. And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12:25-29

25. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
26. Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29. For our God is a consuming fire.

Luke 21:36

36.  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Hebrews 2:3

3.  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;