Unwavering Faith

  

Scripture: James 1 v 3 - 7: "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."


Faith is confidence in God's ability to do what He has promised in His Word, or to us as an answer to prayer.  When we know the Lord in a personal relationship, a friendship, we know that He is always with us and if we ask for anything according to God's will, we will have it.  Unwavering Faith has no fear nor doubts, you know that you know that you know the need will be met.

There are certain areas in which the Gift of Faith from the Holy Spirit - the kind of supernatural faith in which you never question God's ability to answer positively - is a huge blessing!  Personally 35 years ago I lost all normal means of financial support.  The Lord has faithfully met every need every day for all these years.  There were lean times too when it was hard to believe He would be able to supply but He did and always has honoured this need.  

The true secret to continual supply is tithing to your spiritual storehouse, the place where you are spiritually fed.   Any other kind of giving is not a tithe but a gift.  When you do this in obedience to God's Word this is the result....
Malachi 3 v 10 - 12: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 
11  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 
12  And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts."

I am very thankful to the Lord for those who choose to bless this ministry, and are in turn blessed accordingly.  May the Lord continually bless you all.

People lose faith when they do not get immediate answers to desperate prayers.  They blame God for allowing a loved one to die or be seriously injured, or have a chronic disease.  Instead they should seek the Lord's view of the situation.  Find out why this awful thing happened.  Remember, born again Christians are passing through this world system but not subject to Satan.

There are no easy answers to some of life's hard questions, but the Lord is faithful and full of love.  In John 10 v 10: "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

The thief is Satan. His nature and intention towards all human beings is to steal, kill and destroy.  People think he is a mythical figure and his demons are mystical and non-existent.  Satan likes it that way because he can do all his deadly work and have God blamed for it.  He is a comic book hero or villain, good for a laugh, instead of the deadly foe he really is.

Jesus came to bring us life in full abundance.  We need to be realistic and examine all sides of the situation.  We need to know our enemy and his intentions, and we need to outwit him through faith and prayer.  Jesus said we must work out our salvation through fear and trembling. 

Philippians 2 v 12: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

This is an active application of our faith.  It can be a bit scary at first until you see the results.  You need to assess your life and home for anything forbidden by God that could be an open door for Satan to harass you.  What idols do you have in your home?  Perhaps a statue of Buddha or a shrine to Mary, or carved or sculpted African heads.  These things attract evil spirits to your home, and they bring sin, sickness, and death with them.

Do you have books or movies that exalt witchcraft or occultism.  Like The Omen, The Exorcist, Harry Potter series, or Rosemary's Baby;  or Vampire movies?  Or pornography? Do you listen to Death Metal music or even some metal bands that definitely do not exalt Jesus.  They hate the Lord of glory who died for them nearly 2000 years ago.  

Even the names of these bands are designed to mock Him like Cradle of Filth and Nine Inch Nails.  Black Sabbath honours witchcraft, and so on.  Look with fresh eyes and ears on what you or your children are allowing to invade your soul for music can be a deadly deterrent to true faith.  Satan was created as a spirit containing every instrument of music.  When he fell from Heaven, his music became a weapon of mass destruction.

Ezekiel 28 v 13 - 15: "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 
14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee."

All this fell with Satan including false religions he concocted that made people worship him through walking up and down on beds of fiery coals.  And many other rituals, false idols, sacrifice of babies, to compromise our faith in the One True God causing us to waver.  He will do anything and everything to distract us from Jesus.  His deadly music leads to promiscuity, banned substances laced with Fentanyl, alcoholism, violence, mockery, character assassination and suicide.

Just a little bit of leaven (sin) leavens the whole lump.  Just a little bit of sin makes you vulnerable to the invasion of demons into your home or life.  If Satan had known how the death of Jesus would result in His resurrection and plan for every believer to become a powerhouse like Him, he would never have crucified Him.  Satan has had to work overtime to ensure we never use that power against him.

Your faith will waver, and your prayers will not be heard.  To have unwavering faith you need a clean home and a clean heart.  Ask the Lord to show you if there is anything in your life or home that offends the Holy Spirit.  It may take time to get it all sorted but that is what the trying of your faith is all about.  It produces patience, or endurance, and that is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  We need to outwit that wily thief and get back on the right track.

We have an annual memorial of the ominous day that mankind killed the Son of God, our only hope of the salvation of the human race.  Jesus was arrested, tried, condemned to death, scourged with metal-studded whiplash that tore the skin off His back.  He was crowned with thorns from an extinct tree called Nabk, mocked, spat upon and his face terribly injured when they yanked His beard off of it.  But He never said a word.

Only He knew why that day would be called "Good Friday".  He died to set us free and Jesus needs you to overcome the enemy so that you can live a life of true spiritual abundance.  Only Jesus knew that the grave could not hold Him and after three days He would rise again immortal, forever alive, clothing believers in resurrection power.

It makes us  clean and holy vessels meet for the Master's use.  It removes fear and trembling and we become bold in our faith and witness.  Even though some people shun us and our faith, keep going, their problem is still to be overcome and they have idols that need breaking.

I Samuel 15 v 23: "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king."

When people are rebellious the sin behind it is witchcraft.  The two go hand in hand.  Witchcraft is not just spells, black magic and sorcery, its nature is portrayed as rebellious, demanding, controlling, intimidating, using emotional blackmail,  striking to manipulate bosses, possessiveness, jealousy and intimidation to achieve power over people.  The definition of witchcraft is the control of any person, situation or place by means of a spirit which is not the Holy Spirit.  A spirit sent through witchcraft is a demon bringing destruction.

Idolatry is stubbornness, iniquity or sinfulness.  If we are set in our ways and don't allow the Lord to make changes to our habits, traditions and worldly lifestyle after we are born again, there are idols in our hearts or homes making a blockage.  This will cause our faith to waver at difficult moments in our lives when we really need God's help.  Alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, and other addictions cause these blockages as well.

Spend quality time with Jesus every day.  Study your Bible and do what it says to do.  Forgive people that have hurt you. Be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Do not quench Him or His work within you.  Have faith in God, doubting nothing.  Walk in the Light as Jesus is in the Light and have fellowship with other Christians.  Ask God to reveal if you have been deceived by the doctrines of men, and make the necessary changes.  

If you abide in Him your faith will never waver.  You will live an abundant life and witness the answer to every prayer.  Everlasting joy will be upon your head!


Prayer:  Heavenly Father You delight to comfort and help Your children, but there are things we must do to work out our salvation.  We cannot passively fight battles against Satan and his demons, we must use our spiritual weapons to overcome them. Teach us Father to use the authority Jesus gave to all mankind through His death and  resurrection to win the lost. In Jesus' name. Amen