Barnabas Bulletin ~ 0144
A LESSON IN FAITH
For those of you who have read my recent article on “The Urgency Of The Hour,” you will know that while I was standing alone in my room in Nairobi, Kenya, in August 2012, that I had an encounter with God that impacted me in a great way. I want to share some of the results of that impact with you, as it has launched me into a different realm of faith and, in three months, we have been able to minister to thousands more people than we normally would have. In that encounter the Lord showed me the shortness of time we have left and the urgency of the hour of needing to get the Gospel Message out to the nations. I saw that while a number of countries are still open for the Gospel, the time is soon coming when many doors will be closed and we need to be active about the Master’s business – NOW! This experience took place when we did not have any extra finances for printing books (we had book printings waiting to be printed in three nations) and, while in Nairobi, we made a major decision to open a GFM Office for the processing of our free Bible Correspondence Courses – without any money to do that! But I had been impacted by the Holy Spirit. Some might ask, “How do you know it was God talking to you?” Well, one thing is for sure: the devil certainly does not want us Christians to be concerned about the times in which we are living. He does not want us to be more active in proclaiming the Message that does extreme damage to his kingdom! It was God talking to me because what has happened since that day in Nairobi has been a major thrusting forwards of The GFM Ministry, the provision of thousands of dollars that has enabled us to catch-up on all the backlog of printings, plus print more books (22,000 copies), establish the new office in Nairobi, and keep all the regular outgoings paid for as well. Besides that we have watched the “hits” on our Web Page go through a large increase of people visiting it daily (something else, like the increase in finances being given to The GFM, which is beyond our control). Faith is an action!
So, what is the lesson? The lesson is that “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). This is speaking of a now, present tense word from the Holy Spirit. When we hear and receive the word directly from God, with it comes the faith to be able to do what He is asking of us. Even though – as in our case – the natural circumstances all said otherwise, God was challenging me to “up the tempo” of my involvement in getting His word out to the peoples.
- We made major decisions based upon what God said, rather than what our circumstances dictated.
- As we gave ourselves to obeying the word of the Lord, something was released in the spiritual realm that released things in the natural realm, and we started experiencing a whole new realm of faith that has left us somewhat amazed at all that is happening right now.
When we can learn to do things God’s way, we step into a whole new realm and way of doing things and seeing God providing in ways we never experienced before. I am not talking about a new ‘programme,’ but it is about being led by God’s Holy Spirit. We Christians know all the theories of these things, but to actually walk in it by faith is a totally different way. Every time God speaks to us He gives us the faith to fulfil whatever it is that He is asking of us. I have also learned that every time God speaks to me it is a totally new challenge as to what I am going to do. Faith and obedience are not things that happen automatically. When we hear from God we have to make a decision as to whether or not we believe what He has said enough to commit ourselves to the doing of it – in spite of the negative circumstances that may be around us at the time.
IT IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE!
Have you noticed that it is easier to talk about these things than to do them? We often tell others to “have faith,” but do we have faith?
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Are we prepared to step out beyond the realm of natural circumstances on a word from the Lord?
The Book of James challenges us about faith: “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead (‘useless’)?” And “Faith without works is dead also” (James 2:14-26). There has to be a practical response on our part if we want to see God fulfilling His word and promises to us and through us.
For me, I long to be much more effective than I am in obeying the Lord and getting the Gospel in the Power of the Holy Spirit out to the nations and masses. The Holy Spirit within us longs to make us much more fruitful in the purposes of God.
- When we listen to God’s voice – and do things God’s way – then we will see a greater fruitfulness come forth in our lives and ministries that can happen no other way. God bless and speak to each one of us ~ Rodney W. Francis.
Bible Readings: James Chapter 2; Mark 8:34-38; Mark 16:9-20.
Prayer:
“Father, I come to You in the precious name of my Lord Jesus and ask You to help me to listen to and recognize the ways You talk to me. Help me to be more sensitive to You so that I can perceive and discern when You are speaking to me. I want to do Your will fully, and realize that it can only happen as I have a divine connection with You. Thank You, Lord, that You hear and answer the cries of our heart, and long to commune with us as Your friends. Speak to me today I pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
"The Gospel Faith Messenger" Ministry. PO Box 57, Paraparaumu 5254, New Zealand. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.