What is Unconditional Love?

The word “love” is one is that we use to convey a passionate feeling towards someone or something. It’s a word that we often use as an expression or a selective emotion but without the heartfelt conviction of true sentiment. It has become a popular word in our vocabulary, but do we really understand what the word “love” means? Do we know what unconditional love is?

Webster’s Dictionary defines love as:

“(1): strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties <maternal love for a child> (2): warm attachment, enthusiasm or devotion <love of the sea> (3): unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another as the fatherly concern of God for humankind, or brotherly concern for others; a person’s adoration of God”.

Many of us use the word to simply express an emotion – ie: “I love this hat”, or “I love chocolate”. But in truth, there is no “emotional feeling” towards the hat or the chocolate. It may be an obsession or an excitement, something that delights us or that we have s a preference for, but we don’t have any emotional attachment to either of them.

In today’s world, love is often expressed loosely and without commitment, and comes with conditions. This is clearly noted by the number of divorces that are filed each year and it’s shocking to see that half of the marriages in 2009 in the US ended in divorce. And according to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri, the divorce rate in America for first marriage vs second or third marriage is: 50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second marriages and 74% of third marriages end in divorce.

So, when these marriage partners said “I do” at the altar, there were some conditions to their love that weren’t realized until afterwards because if the heartfelt meaning of the word “love” was part of their relationship, they would have overcome their differences and worked things out.

The affect of this conditional love is that there is no inner security that gives us the strength to have a happy and successful life because the attempts at love fail and are hurtful. Adults becomes angry and non-trusting and children grow up with an understanding that love has conditions that can’t always be met; that love is only temporary; and that love is something only we can have for ourselves to make our own lives successful.

However, this is not love because love overcomes everything, forgives everything and covers a multitude of sins. (1Peter 4:8) And this love is called, unconditional love.

When Jesus went to the cross, He took on all of our sins and our hatred and our sickness. If Jesus was not God, He would likely have chosen who He’d die for because there were few people who truly loved Him and so to become a sacrifice for anyone else would not have happened. Would you die for someone who was a child murderer and who would take your child if they could? I know I couldn’t do it.

But Jesus did! His love wasn’t conditional upon who we are or what sin we’ve commited. It wasn’t even conditional on whether or not we accepted His sacrifice. He became our redemption anyway so that ALL of us would be saved if we accepted it. He died for the men who scourged Him, for those who cursed Him and for those who hated Him. Jesus died for every person that ever lived and yet not one of us deserved it. His love for us was unconditional. He didn’t point a finger and say that our sin was too great or too hideous. He didn’t choose some of us over others. He died for ALL of us and allowed us all to be forgiven, regardless of what we have done in our lives. This is unconditional love!

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for His friends”

… John 15:13

Why Do We Need to Love God?

Many religious denominations teach us that obedience is the key to a successful Christian life, but obedience is only one of the contributing factors; it’s not the main issue. For a healthy Christian life we need to love God.

It’s not difficult to develop a love for God when we understand who He is and what He has done for us. The Bible says in John 3:16 that He loved us so much that He sent His Son to be a sacrifice for us so that we wouldn’t have to endure the punishment of sin. Out of love Jesus took our sin upon Himself and was separated from God so that He could take that sin to hell.

This was no easy task for Jesus. He had never been separated from His father before and now He was hanging on a cross, bleeding and broken, with all of our sin and sickness raging through His body while the demons of the devil surrounded Him and waited to drag Him to hell.

A migraine headache is horrible, but He took on everyone’s migraine headaches. And the pain and sorrow of diseases like cancer and heart disease – He took them all upon Himself. Most people have no concept of the torment that ripped through Jesus’s body.

Can you imagine the pain that Jesus suffered with all our sin and sickness thrust upon Him? And this wasn’t just for the people He grew up with, His family and friends who He loved. This sacrifice was for the millions of people around the world who never met Him. All the malicious rapists and murderers that committed hideous and disgusting crimes who we cringe at and hate – Jesus had a love for their souls and took upon Himself even their sins so that if they ever repented and accepted His sacrifice, even they would be forgiven and saved.

When Jesus went to the cross He demonstrated the epitome of love. No other person on earth could ever do what Jesus did. No one would stand in the gap of a child murderer and say, “I’ll take his punishment so that he can stand before God and be clean and forgiven”.  Most people have a hard time forgiving evil doers, let alone wanting God to forgive them and let them into Heaven, and no one in their right mind would ever take on their punishment for them.

But Jesus did because He is God’s Son, and He and our Father both love us with unconditional love. Jesus took our punishment before we even repented – before we even knew Him - and He’s taken the punishment for millions of people who refuse to repent and accept what He’s done. Jesus knew this would be the outcome and yet, He did it anyway. John 3:17 says that He wants everyone to be saved and He never excluded anyone from the blessing.

So, when we look to God we shouldn’t perceive Him as an idol to be worshipped, but as a spiritual being – that we all are – who loves us more than we could possibly know.

Obedience requires a constant chastening of the mind and a control over our actions, but love has no borders, no rules, and no conditions. The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:8 that love covers a multitude of sins. It doesn’t judge and it doesn’t condemn. Love is forgiving and gives the opportunity of a second chance.

When we see God as the father of love, and we see what He has done for us and we accept Him for who He is, God gives us His spirit to help us stay in touch with Him. Romans 5:5 says that the love of God is in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. It’s not through our acts of obedience but through the committment of our hearts that unites us with God through His Spirit.

Even in our natural lives it’s easy for us to love and bless our own children, but we don’t have that same feeling towards the children of the neighborhood or of other communities. Just as our children are bonded to us through our relationship with them, so are we bonded to our Heavenly Father through our relationship with Him. And His Spirit is in us and fills us with the love that God has always had for us so that we can also love Him.

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” … 1 John 4:10

 

 

 

The Beginning of Love

God is love and everything God does is initiated in love and because of love. He created us because He wanted to have a family and He gave us everything to keep us healthy, happy and content.  This is the beginning of the Love of God.

God walked in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and we can only imagine how beautiful that relationship must have been. Even though God saw everything and knew everything, He wanted to share His love with Adam and Eve, and His only rule that He gave to Adam was to not eat from two particular trees.

In their innocence they would likely have shown Him everything that was new every day. God would gently hold the new lion cubs that delighted Adam’s heart, and He’d stroke the precious baby songbirds in their tiny nests. He would inhale the perfumed fragrance of the roses on the perfect bush and He would walk with them barefoot on the carpet of soft green grass.

Eve would likely have prepared a delicious vegan meal and the three would have dined in peace and tranquility as they laughed and talked as any children would with their father. Evenings were a special time for Adam and Eve because God came to visit.

But as with any great story, there is always a dark side and Satan was determined to steal God’s joy by destroying His relationship with His children. He managed to deceive and convince the serpent to let him in if only just to see this beautiful garden, and then once he was inside he begged to be able to speak to Eve just to tell her that he was proud. Eve was flattered and then she was deceived when the devil convinced her that this same loving God, her father, would not kill her for eating from the forbidden tree. After all, could a father that loving do anything to hurt them?

So, Eve ate the fruit from the tree and nothing happened. She didn’t die. She felt great. She listened to the devil again and took some fruit to Adam. He knew it was wrong but he loved her and listened to her. He took his eyes off of God and committed the first sin. He ate the fruit, an act of disobedience that would change their lives – and ours – forever.

From that second on, Adam felt the cold surge of sin creep throughout his body as the devil laughed cynically through the serpent. Adam was sorry and wanted to take it back but it was too late. Sin was in him and now the presence of sin was in the holy garden.

God cannot be where sin is and so when He came for His evening meal, He called for Adam but he and Eve were hiding because they knew that they had disobeyed God, that they were no longer pure, that they felt separated from Him – and they were ashamed.

Neither Adam nor Eve had the realization of what had happened or that they had initiated the fall of mankind, but God knew – and the devil knew. Yet, God was more sad than angry because He loved them and now He had to cast them out of the perfect garden. Now they were separated from Him and they couldn’t come to Him to talk or laugh as they used to do. Now they had to live in a world that was not perfect, that was filled with tribulation and that was controlled by Satan.

It must have been a very emotional event. God was hurt beyond words; Adam and Eve were very sorry for what they did and now they would have to live without the father who they loved. But when God sent them out, He made a promise to them, that He would send a saviour who would take this sin from them and cast it into hell so that they would be pure once again and reunited with God. Adam and Eve waited and hoped every day that this would be the day of their redemption, but sadly, it was a few thousand years later, long after their passing, before the Saviour came.

And God kept His promise and Jesus, His own son, came to earth and was born through Mary so He could have a human body like ours. But Jesus had no sin in Him because He wasn’t from the lineage of Adam; He was from God. And so on the cross He took upon Himself all of our sin so that He, too, would be punished and sent to hell because of that sin. But since the sin was not part of Him, He was able to drop it off and leave it there, and then He descended out of hell and rose to Heaven where He has prepared a mansion for us and where He waits for us.

Satan thought that he’d killed God’s plan when Jesus took on that sin, and he thought that Jesus would die, too, and would have to stay in hell. Can you imagine his shock when he saw that Jesus was still alive? Or his astonishment when Jesus freed all the people who the devil thought he’d stolen from God? Or the fear that he endured when he watched Jesus rise to Heaven and then promise to return and destroy him?

Now you know why he is working so hard in this world and why crime and sin and perverseness is out of control. The devil knows his time is running out and he wants to do as much damage as he can in the time he has left.

Meanwhile, God has His children back to love and bless – and all we have to do is accept Jesus as our Saviour and thank our Father for His faithfulness and for His love.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but would have everlasting life”

…. John 3:16

Why We Can’t Walk by Sight

Many of us are standing in faith and believing God for healing, financial release or for some other need in our lives. We have given the situation to the Lord and we truly believe that He has heard us and answered us, and so we live each day in a state of waiting to see the blessing. But we have to be careful to not lose our focus and begin to walk by sight.

When we walk by sight we can do ourselves a lot of harm because it destroys our ability to believe and accept the things we’re hoping for.

Faith is the substance – the energy or the spiritual power – that’s inside us and that gives us the ability to hope and believe.  We can’t see faith because it’s an intangible substance that’s in our heart and in our mind. It’s a trusting and accepting attitude that has nothing to do with what we see in the physical world.

Sight, on the other hand, presents a tangible substance and when we focus on what we see, our natural senses take over and we accept what is in our sight as being what we’re going to get. Once we allow ourselves to walk by sight, we tend to lose the hope we had of getting something beyond what we see.

We live in a natural body that exists in a natural world and that is governed by natural elements.  When we step out into the spiritual world it takes a strong spirit within us to stay focused and to not look into the natural world that’s all around us.

The two worlds are very different and since the natural world is the only tangible one, it’s very easy for us to look with our natural eyes for the things we’re believing for in the spirit. But we can’t walk by our natural sight when we’re looking for things through faith.

We were healed on the cross and when we believe that, God begins to change our body so that it can receive the healing, but sometimes there’s a lot to do and since our body is a natural being, it takes time for the healing to manifest. This isn’t to say that God can’t or won’t give us instant healing because He still does that, but in most cases the Lord works within the system that He created.

Sometimes it can take weeks or months for the body to properly repair itself and become whole again. If we focus too much on what we see now, we may become discouraged and begin to doubt the fullness of the healing that will come later.

Our physical eyes can become our enemies when we’re standing in faith, so we need to close them and look with our spiritual eyes that see us healthy and healed.

We can’t be in a hurry to receive the manifestation of the healing when we’re trusting God for it because He knows the fullness of our problems and He’s fixing all of them. He created us and He designed our body to repair itself and be healthy, so in His infinite wisdom He works within the natural elements of our body and repairs it, one cell at a time.

We have to trust Him and we can’t allow ourselves to focus on the body because then we begin to doubt Him. He’s working through us the whole time and we can’t rush Him and we can’t put a timeframe on Him. We have to believe that He knows best; that He knows the whole situation and that He loves us and is healing us, in spite of what we think we see – or don’t see.

Walking by sight will not only bring doubt into the healing that God is doing in us but it will destroy our faith in Him as our God. We have to walk by faith and believe that He is the “God who heals us” and that “by His stripes we are healed”.

Whether it takes a day or a month or a year to see the fullness of the healing, we need to realize that God knows more than we do and we have to give Him the reverence and the respect to do what He has said He will do in us and that He will do it in His timing.

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” … Malachi 4:2

Faith Isn’t Always About “Me”

Often when we’re standing in faith and believing God for something, be it healing, finances, a relationship, a job, whatever it is our focus is on us because it’s our need. Our every thought is directed to strengthening our own faith and trust in God for the answer, but we need to step outside of our own little space and realize that faith isn’t always about “me”.

While we are going through our trials there are many people right around us who are also hurting and looking to God for help. We can get so involved with our own issues that we don’t even see what they are going through and we don’t perceive that they need our help and our prayers so that they, too, can have faith and begin believing for their own victory.

We need to realize that when we are standing in faith, God is with us and working on our behalf. Our victory won’t come any sooner with us just staring at ourselves in the mirror and waiting. We need to step out of our own circle of needs and help others, and we can do that by reaching out and praying for them and encouraging them. (Don’t Quit Your Day Job)

Praying for others not only builds up our own faith even more, but it gives us the confidence in God to be able to encourage the ones we’re praying for. As we step out and apply our faith to help others get their victory, we become advocates for His will and others can see His truth through us.

The more we give of ourselves to others, the more we reap in our own victories. We don’t use this as a selfish formula for personal gain, but we use it as a growing process so that the faith that is in us will spread to others to make them strong; to make the body of Christ stronger.

This world is attacking too many people with disease, tragedies and struggles, and as Christians we want to be able to reach out and help as many as we can – and we can start by praying for the ones right around us who we know need God’s help. We can speak to people and encourage them in the Lord, help them to see what was accomplished on the cross, and stand with them as they step out in faith and become stronger.

And as they become stronger, so do we. When our focus is on others, our own faith grows and any doubts we had will fall to the wayside.

When Jesus was on the cross, He had every reason to cry, to be angry, to be totally stressed out. But He didn’t cry; He wasn’t angry and, in fact, He never even fought the soldiers or the crowd that scorned Him. His concern was His mother and He asked John to take care of her. (John 19:25-27) In all His agony and humiliation, His thoughts were not for Himself. He knew what His purpose was, what His goal was, and He knew that He had a mighty victory waiting for Him – and for us.

We have to accept that our faith and trust in God for our situation will bring the victory over it, and we need to use the “waiting” time to help others. We cannot be so focused on just us that no one else matters, because they not only need our help but they are part of our healing process. Our faith gets stronger and others are helped when we reach out and raise others up to the Lord because faith is not something that we hoard all to ourselves. Faith is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1) and when people around us don’t have that hope, we need to reach out and share it with them because faith isn’t always about “me”.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  … Colossians 3:16

 

 

 

It’s Time to Put Faith to Work

It’s time to put our faith to work! I’m asking everyone to please join me in a stand of faith for a young woman who is in the hospital fighting with cancer for her life.

Her name is Fawn and she and her husband love the Lord but the enemy has attacked her with this aggressive disease and they both need us to stand in faith with them. We can stand together, put our faith to work and lift Fawn up to the Lord and believe that He will touch her body and heal her. Fawn was already healed at the cross but her circumstances are hindering her from receiving that healing.

I would like us all to take a stand in faith and declare her healing before the heavens and ask the Lord to strengthen her own faith so that she can believe and accept her healing. She’s weak and needs our support. The enemy is moving fast but the Bible says in Isaiah 59:19 that “when the enemy comes in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.”

Nothing is impossible to God and all things are possible to those who believe. I believe that Jesus healed her on the cross and I know that if we stand together and believe with her and for her that Fawn will receive her healing.

When I fought my battle against cancer all of last year I put my faith in God, had prayer warriors pray for me and never took my eyes off of the cross. The scripture at Matthew 8:11 was on my lips constantly. It wasn’t easy and it was a harsh time for me, but I’m healed – against all the odds I beat the disease that the doctors said would take my life before Christmas. God healed me, and I know that with all of us standing in faith for Fawn, she will arise from this bed of affliction and receive her healing, too.

So, please join me in a stand of faith so God’s daughter can be free, and then listen closely because you’ll hear all of Heaven rejoice!

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” … Matthew 8:11

 

When do we Reach Our Goal With Faith?

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

As we continue to struggle in this world and build our faith, we realize that we are able to believe God for bigger and greater things. When we started out we used our faith sparingly, then more often for daily situations, and then for things that were crucial circumstances in our life.

We get to the point where we are so committed to the Lord that our every thought becomes a step in faith. We begin to communicate with the Lord all the time, thanking Him and praising Him for all the things in our  life, like the birds that welcome the morning with a friendly song, our home, our family and our job. We realize that everything we have is a direct blessing from God, and we learn to trust Him for every minute of our lives.

Some of us face life and death situations where we literally put our lives in God’s hands and trust Him completely for healing that the world says won’t happen. But we know our Father, we know His Word and we know that Jesus already healed us on the cross. So, we praise Him and thank Him for that healing and we stand with other prayer warriors and then we receive the manifestation of that healing. Our faith grows even more because we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is greater than any problem this world can throw at us.

But where do we go from here? Have we made it to the top? After all, we stood on faith and survived a situation that otherwise would have killed us. Surely, there can’t be anything greater that would need faith than that?

True, we stood on our faith and trusted God with our lives and it may have been a hard battle that we won because of our faith, but it doesn’t end here.  Why? Because faith is not a goal while we’re on earth; faith is a lifestyle. As long as we live here we need faith to be our substance for the things we hope for from God. Without faith we will live in doubt, and with doubt we will live in defeat and fear, and we’ll become servants of the devil.

We need faith so we can maintain a good relationship with the Lord, so we can know His will for us and so we can live victoriously. Our faith never ends. The Bible says that His mercies are new every morning, but at the same time, there are tribulations waiting to attack us. Our faith in God will allow us to trust Him to get us through each day with victory, with grace and with love.

There is only one goal for faith, and that is for us to get to Heaven and be with the Lord. Once we are there, we no longer require faith to know the truth because we will become one with Him and the truth will be in us - and there won’t be any conflict to challenge it. Our goal and final destination for our faith is to be with Jesus. This is when we reach our goal with faith.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions;  if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” … John 14:2 

 

 

 

 

 

Does God Love Some of Us More Than Others?

When Christians discuss the concept of faith, they quickly realize that God seems to pour more blessings onto the ones who have the most faith. And while we need to discuss the levels of faith among ourselves so we can learn and grow, it can present some serious issues if we don’t understand what faith is. We can adopt a feeling of animosity towards the ones who have great faith, or adhere to the thoughts that God isn’t fair and that He likes them better than us. We need to understand what faith is so we don’t have to ask the question, does God love some of us more than others?

Faith is the trust we have in God. It’s the substance that allows us to seek after God with our heart and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It’s our confidence in God and our belief that the Bible is His written words of communication with us.

When we trust God with our whole heart for something, nothing becomes impossible to us. Jesus said in Matthew 17:10 that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we could speak to the mountain and cast it into the sea. And although most of us don’t have that much faith, it IS possible to get it.

But we don’t get it because the overpowering influences and the circumstances in this world work hard to make sure we don’t get that much faith. We live in a world controlled by the devil, and within the elements, laws and prevailing conditions of his rule that take pre-eminence over every situation in our natural lives. So our faith is never as dynamic as it could be, yet there are many Christians who fight their battles with their limited faith and seem to progress more than others.

Is it favoritism on God’s part? Does He let some Christians have more faith than others? Does He just like some Christians more than others?

No, not at all. Some Christians receive more from God because they truly love the Lord and are committed to Him, and they are constantly seeking God and increasing their faith and trust in Him.

John 3:16 says that God loved the world – that means He loved every single person who ever lived on earth with the same amount of love – and He gave His only Son as a sacrifice so that whoever would believe on Him and accept this sacrifice would have everlasting life. He didn’t say only the rich and famous, or only certain cultures, or only the healthy and good-looking – He said “whoever” - meaning that each and every one of us from Adam and Eve forward has the same preference or opportunity to accept what Jesus did on the cross and to live within the freedom and blessings that come with it.

Some Christians get the love that’s in this verse and study the Bible with fervency. They accept God as their reason for living and enjoy worshipping and praising Him. Every day their desire to know everything there is to know about Him grows and the relationship between them and God develops into something beautiful based on love, trust and faith. When they have a need they believe that God will provide it and He does. God is able to bless them because they have faith in Him.

Others just receive the verse as their ticket to Heaven. They accept that Jesus died on the cross for them but they can’t fully understand the whole concept of the cross, and so they stay in an attitude of content just knowing that they have a home in Heaven.  But when they need something from God – healing, finances, help in a situation – they dive right into prayer and expect God to just zap an answer. And when He doesn’t, they say that God has favorites.

But that is the furthest thing from the truth. They don’t know God and haven’t bothered to know Him even though they attend church just as often as the ones who live for God. So, their prayers either don’t get answered or if they do they take a long time to come and then it’s not exactly what was expected.

And it’s not because God loves any particular Christian more than another; it’s because He is able to show His love to some Christians more than others.

When we have faith in God, we please Him. Why? Because faith allows us to know God, and the more we know Him the more we love and trust Him. And the more faith we have, the greater our understanding becomes and the more freely we are able to worship and honor Jesus as our Lord and Savior and follow His teachings. God sees our heart, and it’s the faith inside our heart that pleases Him. He is able to bless us because He knows that we are able to receive the blessings.

God doesn’t favor one Christian over another because He loves us all with the same unconditional love. But He can bless some of us more easily than others because our hearts and minds have faith in Him and love for Him, and we are able to accept from blessings from Him.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” … Hebrews 11:6

 

Don’t Quit Your Day Job…

Like anything else in life, when we’re waiting to receive something we want to just stop everything and wait for it. And while the excitement of our expectancy grows, we have to remember that we still have a life to live, things to do and people to see. So, while we’re waiting for this special thing to happen we need to keep busy and not quit our day job.

When we have given our problem to the Lord, we need to know that He received it and will take care of it. When we know beyond a shadow of doubt that God is now in control, we need to relax and get back in tune with life. If it’s a financial blessing that we’re waiting for, then we need to accept that it’s coming – but that can be hard to do because we tend to check often to see if it’s arrived yet. We check our mail box and our bank accounts so often that we can become obsessed with looking for the answer instead of just accepting that it’s coming.

And while we’re waiting on the manifestation of our healing, we constantly check ourselves to see if there’s any change yet. We know it’s coming because we know that God has healed us, but we check every five and a half minutes anyway.

While this is a normal reaction for most Christians, it’s really a waste of our time and our thoughts. If we believe that God has answered then we need to accept that fact and get back to our lives instead of putting everything aside until WE see it happening. The more we just wait and do nothing, the more chance doubt has to set in and turn the scripture around to read, “we walk by sight and not by faith”.

We might not have a job to work at while waiting, but we can take advantage and do things that otherwise we never had the time to do. We can spend more time with the family, more time in prayer and worship or more time volunteering our services to help others. We can keep ourselves busy doing things that will render our time valuable instead of wasted.

And when we’re ill and waiting for the manifestation of the healing, it may be impossible to return to work or to do much of anything physical, but we can still use the time to glorify God. We can pray and worship from our heart without moving around, or we can talk to other Christians and help build their faith, or we can take the time to study the Bible or read other inspiring Christian books.

There are things we can do to occupy our minds and our hands while we’re waiting to see the blessings of the Lord. Maybe there’s something that we want to do for God, or maybe we need to wait on Him and find out what He wants us to do. It’s an opportunity to seek after God that we can’t let fall to the wayside while we do nothing at all.

This author has experienced all the fears, the doubts and pain imaginable during her own stand in faith as she waited to see the healing manifested in her own body. She not only spent time with the Lord building her faith, but she used her time to write a  powerful and inspiring book that is based on all the messages the Lord gave her. It’s called Let Faith Arise! and will be released sometime in April. It’s endorsed by a reputable and notable pastor in the US and will help to build your faith in God.

It’s not an easy road to tread. We’re waiting on God anxiously to receive our needs from Him knowing that He has heard and answered our prayer, and we stand in faith each day  with our hearts opened and ready to receive.  And I know that if I hadn’t kept myself busy that the enemy would have stolen the faith I had. But writing the inspired messages that God gave me has turned out to be my greatest blessing – and it will be a powerful encouragement to many other Christians, as well.  And if you keep your mind and heart busy and don’t quit your day job waiting for your miracle, you too will see the goodness of God in the land of the living.

“For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.”

…Ecclesiastes 5:20  

 

 

Faith is Made Stronger in Numbers

If one person could have the faith to move mountains like Jesus says in Matthew 17:20, then think what two or ten or a hundred people standing together in faith could do! It’s true – faith grows in numbers.

Sometimes things will come against us and we are able to give the situation to God and truly trust Him for the answer. But then  other times the situation is so great, so intense, so life-threatening that we don’t feel that same confidence when we’re praying, and so we need to get other Christian believers to intervene for us.

It’s not that we are failing the Lord or don’t trust Him, but that the world has surrounded us so badly that we can’t see beyond our circumstances. When the doctor says that we are ill and have only a short time to live, the trauma of that report can be overwhelming and can prevent us from praying with the faith that we thought we had. And we may have a lot of faith but not enough to combat this battle.

When we are alone in our prayers in a crushing situation, we can often miss some of the elements that are involved and we pray only for what we feel is the answer, and we pray with more fear than confidence - and that’s because we’re right in the middle of it. We see only the immediate need and can’t emotionally see beyond that.

But when other Christians join us in our stand of faith, they are able to seek God’s intervention for us and for the situation and for everything that is affected by the situation. They are able to remove themselves from the circumstances and pray without bias and without judgment. Their faith is strong and direct because they are not burdened down with the emotions or sufferings that we may be enduring.

Their prayers for us will strengthen our faith so that we can see beyond our circumstances and look to God for the healing. And if they are praying for someone who cannot pray for themselves, they will continue to stand in the gap and their combined prayers and stand in faith will be a powerful plea before the Lord.

God sees their faith, their determination and their praise for Him, and He is able to move in their presence and answer their prayers. The Bible says in Matthew 18:20 that when His children gather together and worship Him, His presence is with them.  The perfect time to give our problems to the Lord is when we are in His presence.  So, when He is with us and we can feel His presence, we can receive what He’s giving us because He’s right there with us, and in Proverbs 15:29 it says that He hears and answers our prayers.

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”  …  Matthew 18:20

We don’t open the floor to make our need a chat session to discussed or compared or to be subjected to ridicule. This is a battle and we have declared war on the devil so that we can take back what the Lord has given us, and so we need to seek out prayer warriors who will stand with us in this battle.

Perhaps they will be members of our church, our community, a Christian television or radio program, an online prayer group or friends and family members. Depending on the circumstances, sometimes we need to go beyond those who know and love us and call upon those prayer warriors who will stand and remain standing because they aren’t part of it.

Faith in God is our most powerful means to receive the blessings of God!

Two or more Christians standing together and bonding their faith for a specific purpose is the best thing we can do when the situation affects us to the point that we can be distracted or discouraged. It’s the best strategy to keep doubt and fear out.