Friday, 01 April 2022
“But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, GOD accepted Abraham before he was circumcised! Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that GOD had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised” – Romans 4:10-11 NLT
Like the Apostle before me, I know a man. A businessman whose business was not at the level that he desired it to be. Men in his church were called to demolish a wall to prepare for an expansion. As he was busy wielding the hammer to demolish the wall, he believed that as the wall falls, his business expansion obstacles were also falling. He made his faith literal, not just theoretical and as a result, GOD honored his faithfulness and his faith. This is the difference between faith that believes and waits, and the faith that believes and acts (doers of the Word and not just hearers).
I’ve realized that most of us approach Christianity in the same way people approach playing the lotto. People play the lotto and hope that they win because they know that their success is not dependent on them but rather that it’s just luck. They then play the following week and keep their fingers crossed that they win this time around. In the same way that we believe GOD for something (eg. business, marriage, healing, etc), we come to church and hope that our numbers get called and that we win big. When it doesn’t happen we come back again next week still hoping that maybe this time the jackpot is ours. One day is one day, in the meantime, we pusha, phanda, and play.
Yet if you look at the woman with the issue of blood, she didn’t go to Jesus hoping that He would heal her. She decided in her spirit that if she touches His garment, she will be healed. It’s an expectation and not a lottery. She put a demand on her faith, and as a result, she got her healing. Thousands surrounded Jesus hoping for breakthroughs, while a single woman came to claim her healing. Her only obstacle was getting to Jesus. If she achieved that, everything else was a foregone conclusion.
“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize]” Matthew 11:12 AMP. Sometimes you have to have that aggressive type of faith that refuses to take no for an answer. In Mark 7:24-29 the Syrophoenician woman refused to take no for an answer. She came to Jesus expecting her daughter to be made whole. When Jesus initially denied her (I believe it was a test), she refused to back down and as a result, she got her wish (forceful faith). Luke 5:17-39 the men had decided that their friend will be healed if they can get him to Jesus and as a result, no obstacle was going to deny them their objective. As to how and when was not a bother to them. They had stubborn faith that didn’t take no for an answer. As a result, their faith impressed the LORD.
There are many instances in the Bible that depict men and women who refused to take no for an answer (eg. Mary and the wine at the wedding). So when we come before GOD we need to have an expectation, an objective. We don’t come and hope that maybe the LORD might do it, and if He doesn’t we’ll come back again and hope for another day. I’m not advocating for arrogance, but an expectation to see GOD coming through for us. If you have a good relationship with your earthly father and you want something from him, you expect a positive response. It is the same with GOD, He is our Father and our needs matter to Him. With Him, we don’t phanda, pusha, and play when we approach Him. We know that the lotto/prize is meant for us and we have come to collect it.
So when we come before GOD we need to have an expectation, an objective. We don’t come and hope that maybe the LORD might do it, and if He doesn’t we’ll come back again and hope for another day
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