Tag Archives: bible

CHRIST IS OUR LIFE

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Colossian 3:4 KJV “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

The preceding verse to our key scripture says”Col 3:3 KJV “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”.This verse shows us how Christ became our life. On the cross, our Lord took our place. He became sin. This was our life and nature. Within this nature was absolute failure and total dominance by Satan. We were children and bore the very life of Satan John 8:44 .The only means by which men could become children of God was the complete killing of this nature called sin, as revealed in 2nd Corinth 5:212Co 5:21 KJV” For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Jesus’ death was the end of our old nature.

At the resurrection of Jesus, we resurrected with Him. Hebrews 2:10 put it this way,” For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” Jesus through His suffering has brought us into glory. We share His life, we are partakers of His glory. We are like the fruit of a planted seed. He was the seed that was planted, while we are the fruits.
The life of the fruit is the very life of the seed, and that is what we are. Jesus is our life. This life which is our real life, is hidden in Christ and God. Jesus is one with the Father, His life is the life of the Father, and that is where we are. We dwell in God.

In heaven, there are no two or three thrones, there is only one. Rev 4:2 KJV” And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” The Lord Jesus is the one John saw on the throne because He is the alpha and the Omega, the God of the Universe, the Father of Glory. Isa 9:6 KJV “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Our life is hidden in Jesus in God. Hallelujah!. We are physically living and walking on this earth, yet the life we have is Christ ( Gal 2:20). We must act, think and relate with men as Christ would have done. That is our real personality. We are actually from above and carry Christ’s authority and Christ’s power. This is the reason there are always angels to assist us, for we are sons of God. Heb 1:14 KJV” Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

These truths emphasize our uncompromised security. It also shows us how we ought to live on this earth. We must understand our mission and mandate our methods to fulfil our mission.

CONFESSION.

Glory be to the Lord. Christ is my life, and I live in heaven, yet I am living on this earth. My life here is the life of Christ
I have His life, so I bear His authority, His power, His favour with the Father, and the same angelic support and protection. What a life. I am light to my word and answer to the questions of many.

FURTHER STUDIES

Eph 2:6 KJV” And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”

Phi 3:20 KJV For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

CHRISTIANS, SPIRITUALLY LIVE IN HEAVEN

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 12:22 “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,”

(Read Hebrews: 12:22–29)

The above verse and a few that follow it show some of the mysteries that the Holy Spirit revealed to Apostle Paul.

In this verse, the Holy Spirit shows us that the believer is spiritually in heaven. He describes heaven as Mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and an innumerable company of Angels. What also comes to us is the sense of being aware of such an elevation. This understanding also deepens our sainthood. It simply implies we are holy men and women living in a holy environment. We must, therefore, walk, talk, and do things in a manner that depicts saints of God.

Every Christian hopes and anticipates to be in heaven. By understanding this verse, you are already there. Your continual obedience to the word would ultimately warrant your continual stay in this place. This is one of the greatest revelations to be given to the church. The scripture added that we live amid an innumerable company of angels. Angels are God’s messengers who play various roles in heaven, and one of their roles is to minister to the heirs of salvation; that is, you and I, who are born again. Hebrews 1:14 “Are they not ministering spirits who are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation”. These angels come to serve us upon the instruction of the Father. Note: they obey the father’s instruction, so, do not ask for help from them. Ask the father to send them on your behalf. We may ask the Father to assign them to various roles or our assistance.

What the scripture assures us is that we are in the midst of an innumerable company of angels. This must give us a lot of encouragement and also to kick out every fear from our lives. Another challenge faced by a lot of us is when our minds try to figure out how God would work out certain things for us. We need not worry our heads over how things would turn out. We have an uncountable number of angels who are there to assist us. Be always expectant of supernatural experiences.

CONFESSIONS

I am not an ordinary human on this Earth, I live in the presence of the Father and amid Angels. They always work for my comfort and deliverance. Glory be to God.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Ephesians 2:19, Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Ephesians 2:6 ” And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”

FORGIVE BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN THROUGH CHRIST’S DEATH

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 4:32. And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Once again, the Holy Spirit reveals a truth that had not been brought to the fore when the Lord was with His disciples.

In Mark 11:25 the Lord said the following to his disciples “And when ye stand praying forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses“. In this instance, the Lord links our ability to be given forgiveness to us, forgiving others. A similar statement was made when the Lord taught the disciples a sample prayer in Matthew 6:12 “And forgive our debt, as we forgive our debtors”.The Lord taught these things before he had not gone to the cross for us.

Apostle Paul, through insight gained from the Holy Spirit, after the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, taught that now we must forgive because Christ has already forgiven us. This is the grace of God. God calls on us to forgive all who hurt us because we have already been forgiven by Jesus. This allows us to consider how much God has loved us. Dear child of God, what price did the Lord pay for us to be acceptable before the Father? He sacrificed His life so we could be acceptable before the Father. Is there any sacrifice dearer than this? This truth leaves us with no stronger reason why we should not forgive our offenders.

The Lord once taught us that we would always have people offending us. (Luke 17:1) We must forgive all those who offend us. Several people are hurting because of what their loved ones might have done to them. Many homes are under deep stress because of offences. Our key scripture shows us that Jesus, despite our offences against him, gave his life for us. Just consider what 2nd Corinthians 5:19 says” To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their (sins) trespasses unto them…..” God allowed our Lord Jesus to die for our sins, and now he is not counting our sins against us. If he does not count our sins against us, why count your wife’s offences against her? Why count your husband’s offences against him? What about your friend, your neighbour, or even your mother or father?

What happens if we fail to forgive? We grieve the Holy Spirit, and we allow devils to torment us. Ephesians 4:30, Matthew 18:34. Do not refuse to forgive, for it is too expensive not to.

CONFESSIONS

Christ sacrificed His life to forgive me all my sins, I would also forgive everyone who offends me no matter the gravity of it. I have the ability to forgive.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Ephesians 4:30-31. “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:”

Matthew 18:33-34 ” Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him”.

HOW TO AVOID WEAK FAITH

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Romans 4:19 “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb”:

Our key scripture gives us a good clue on how to avoid weak faith. It says Abraham was not weak in faith; how? He did not consider or look at his body, which was as good as dead when he was a hundred years old, and neither did the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

This is a very important lesson to learn so we do not weaken our faith. Faith, although very potent and can achieve amazing feats, can be easily weakened and brought to zero if you look at the naturally negative things.

The lady who is trusting God for a husband must not look at the wrinkles on her face. She must not count the years rolling by. The couple expecting a miracle baby must stop looking at their age and other negative symptoms. Don’t look at your weak and hurting body if you expect to receive a miracle healing. They would weaken your faith.

In Matthew 14:30, the Bible says” But when he saw the wind boisterous he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried saying Lord save me”. The preceding story is about Peter. He started walking on the water when the Lord asked him to come. He walked quite a distance because when he called on the Lord to save him, the Lord just stretched his hand to lift him. Peter’s faith was deflated by what he saw. Faith is strengthened by the word of God. Abraham kept considering the promise of God and gave glory to God. This made his faith strong. He called himself the father of many nations. Please learn that once again, faith is a spiritual supernatural virtue. It has nothing to do with physical natural situations. Whether the condition is improving or delaying it adds nothing to faith. Faith ONLY thrives on the word of God. It should never be on how things are improving or not improving.

Tell yourself I will not look at the natural conditions. Even if it is improving, my sole consideration is the word of God. Listen faith COMETH by hearing and hearing by the word of God(Romans 10:17). Faith is not a product of the natural state of affairs.

Get your faith firm and strong by focusing on the word.

Note: the faith that is solely dependent on the word is real and can’t fail.

  CONFESSION.

The word of God is the only source of my faith. I feed on the word, talk about the word, and act on the word. This always brings me amazing results.

THOUGHT: THE FAITH THAT IS SOLELY DEPENDENT ON THE WORD IS REAL, AND CAN’T FAIL

FURTHER STUDIES
Romans 4:20-21 ” He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform”.

2 Corinthians 3:18 ” But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord”.

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH

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KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Timothy 6:12″ Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses”.

This verse (1st Timothy 6:12)reveals the real fight of Christians. Our fight is not against demons. Demons work to ground our faith, but we must work to keep our faith active. So long as your faith is active, no devil can stop you. (Mark 9:23). All things are possible to Him that has faith.

Every child of God must focus on building his faith strong in the Lord. It is your faith that overcomes the world, including devils and Satan himself (1st John 5:4). Our key scripture says we must fight the good fight of faith. It is a good fight. It is the kind of fight that gets you hooked up to God and brings His help and power to you. It is called a good fight.

A look at our key scripture from the Greek gives a different meaning for the two words fight. The first fight is”agonizomai” in the Greek language,
. It means “to enter into a contest” and the second fight is ” agon”which also means a place of a fight or an ‘assembly’ as an arena for a contest. What that scripture suggests is that as a Christian, you are in an arena for a fight, and you have no option but to fight. Many children of God are doing nothing about their faith, and as a result, the enemy is having an advantage over them.

To fight the good fight of faith means to keep your faith alive and active against contrary situations that seek to put you down. The essence of the fight of faith is not to cast away your confidence in the Lord in times of trials and difficulty. Hebrews 10:35,” Cast not away therefore your confidence which hath great recompense of reward”. Our faith is expected to triumph in every encounter that we may face. We are advised not to cast away our confidence but to fight to maintain our faith.

We engage in this fight as we feed on the word of God and declare with our mouths what the Bible says about that particular situation and then take a stand on what the Scripture says. It could be a persecution of your faith; you must maintain your declarations of the scriptures to keep your faith standing. It could be any other challenge that the enemy may raise against you. In all these, declare God’s word boldly to yourself and the devil, keep your faith alive and you will ultimately triumph. Do not complain and murmur. If you do so, it would be suicidal to your faith.

CONFESSION

I keep my faith active and alive in all times of challenges by declaring God’s word to myself and the situation. My faith continually triumphs over all difficulties.

FURTHER STUDIES.

1 John 5:4 ” For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith”.

Hebrews 11:33-34 ” Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens”.

SOME ACTIONS TO MAKE FAITH EFFECTIVE

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 11:13″ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth”.

The apostle in this instant reveals to us a very powerful principle to make your faith get results.

Within our key scripture are certain words that show positive actions that made their faith produce results. The words are:

  1. Seen
  2. Persuaded
  3. Embraced
  4. Confessed

For one’s faith to be potent and effective, one must employ these principles. First, you must be able to SEE your end or the answer: When the Lord God wanted Abraham to receive His promise, He made him have a picture of what He had for him; Genesis 15:5 “And he brought him forth abroad and said look now toward heaven, and tell the stars if thou be able to number them, and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be”. Your faith is made stronger when you can see what you anticipate. You must first have a picture or be able to see what you hope to get. The sick man must stop seeing himself as sick and see himself as healthy and strong. The unmarried woman or man who aspires to marriage must see himself or herself married. Your vision would either lift your faith or kill your faith. You are praying for a meeting place, start seeing yourself meet in a new hall with all that you desire to be there, available.

Secondly, you must be persuaded about what you are seeing. To be persuaded means to induce one by words to believe. This implies you start saying words like “Indeed I see myself healed and well or I can see myself married” or “I see us meet in a five thousand seated hall”. You induce words that excite your faith. Your faith is strengthened by what you hear. Refuse to say any negative word.

The third act of faith to be taken to make your faith produce results is to embrace your answer. This means to receive joyfully or welcome” the answer. In more simple terms, you celebrate the answer. You rejoice in your heart about your answer. Thank God that you have your answer. Abraham, according to Romans 4:20, glorified God for making him Father. of many, although he had not physically seen the promise.

The final step of faith is to confess that you have the answer. You keep declaring that everything is alright. Abraham started calling himself the father of many nations, although he had no child.

Please understand that before you make your confessions, you would have first, seen the answer, persuaded yourself of it, and then embraced it excitedly. If you do these things rightly, your answer can not elude you.

CONFESSION

Thank you, Father, for your word. I see my answer as I persuade myself of it, embrace it heartily, and boldly confess it.

THOUGHT: YOUR FAITH WILL NOT FAIL, KEEP WORKING IT.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”.

Hebrews 11:11. “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised”

FOLLOW THE FAITH OF THE FATHERS

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 6:12″ That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

One great lesson of all times is to learn to follow. Following makes things easier because you are not the starter but a follower or learner.

Our key scripture teaches us not to be slothful or lazy but to be alert and diligent to learn from those who have succeeded. The Bible says they inherited the promises through faith and patience.

Hebrews 13:7 has the following to say “Remember they which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God; whose faith follow, consider the end of their conversation”. We are to remember those who have taught us the word of God. He says we must follow their faith. To follow the faith of somebody is to consider the steps of faith taken by an individual as well as the outcome of these exploits, so you do likewise resting on the fact that if it went well with them it will go well with you.

The Holy Spirit gave an all-time statement after Heb. 13:7 as follows “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever”.(Hebrews 13;8) This scripture means the Lord Jesus who did not fail, these men who taught us the word of God and honoured their faith stance would likewise honour your faith stance for He does not change. Note the man with an example to follow or learn from him.

You can never be a failure following successful people. In the worst-case scenario, you would become like them. And remember, these are successful men. The Bible said we must not be slothful to follow such people.

In our times God has raised a number of generals who have achieved so much for God and we would do good for ourselves and the next generation after us to learn from the life, faith and experiences of such men. An example a of some of these men who have passed on into glory are Dr Billy Graham, Kenneth E Hagin, Archbishop Benson Idahosa, Smith Wiglesworth, Rev Mckweon and many more,

Some of those who are living in our times are men like our pastors and other leaders who taught us the word of GOD and many more. Get to know their stories and learn from their examples.

PRAYER

O heavenly father help me to learn from the examples of all those who have taught me the word and jow their faith-made exploits.

FURTHER STUDIES:

Matthew 4:19. “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

2 Timothy 3:14. “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learnt them”

BELIEVING WITH THE HEART

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Once again, the Holy Spirit unfolds a very important truth about partaking of our salvation in our key scripture. Salvation is an all-inclusive word. It means to be saved from sin, healed from diseases, preserved from trouble, be at peace, deliverance from demonic activities, as well as any form of comfort that a man would need.

We learn from our key scripture that it takes believing in our hearts that our Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, and confessing with our lips, the lordship of Jesus to be saved.

The heart is the centre of the human being. I am not talking about our physical heart. The word heart is at times used interchangeably to mean the mind and emotions, which is the soul or to mean the spirit of man. “For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thought and intents of the heart”(Hebrews 4:12). Our heart is the seat of thoughts and decisions. The heart, therefore, controls the direction and general state of every man.

How do we believe with the heart?

Without believing with the heart, our salvation can not be complete. To believe with the heart means you are ready to throw your whole weight or life into what you have believed. One may believe with his head. In this instant, he is not ready to cast his life on what he claims to believe. It is called mental assent.

Believing with the heart is to let the word settle in your being without giving attention to other opposing or conflicting situations. This piece of scripture of promise becomes your meditation and rejoicing. For example, if the Bible says “Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases…..” (Matt 8:17). Within you, you focus on this scripture, thanking God and rejoicing that there is no more disease in your body. You no longer accept any contrary symptoms, although they may be showing up.

You keep this scripture at heart, and you do not attend to any other contrary thoughts. The Lord said in Mark 11:23 as follows “Whosoever shall say unto this mountain be thou removed and be cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith”. This simply means accepting the word as it is and acting on it. This is what it means to believe with the heart.

CONFESSION

With my heart, I believe all that the word says. I cast my whole being on what the scripture says without any hesitation or negative anticipations. All things are always possible with me because I believe with my heart.

FURTHER STUDIES:

Psalms 112:7-8 ” He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies”.

Romans 10:10 ” For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

GROWING STRONG IN FAITH

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Romans 4:20 “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God”;

Our key scripture once again reveals a truth that was rather silent in the story of Abraham in the book of Genesis.

Abraham did not grow weak in faith through unbelief but rather became strong in faith, giving glory to God. Giving God the glory always strengthens faith. True faith in God always celebrates the answer before it materialises. Anybody who claims he has faith yet is worried or complains does not know what he is talking about.

Faith in God is the answer to worry, fear, anxiety, and most of the emotional mishaps that most people go through.

What made Abraham so joyful, although the answer seemed not to come to pass? Abraham understood the significance of covenants. He knew that in a covenant relationship, there was no room for unfaithfulness. He therefore did not consider all the negatives that were with him and his wife. (Rom. 4:19). Faith is always weakened when one is overtaken by the negative situations that may be showing up.

When Peter walked on the water in Matthew 14:25-29, it was the billowing waves and the high winds coupled with the knowledge that water does not hold anybody up. These natural reasons killed his faith, and therefore, he began to sink.

This wrong reasoning or negatively being conscious of the potential for failure is overcome by voicing out praises unto God. Speak forth what the Lord says. Thank God for victory through his word. Declare boldly what the word says. Positive words would likewise stir up positive faith. Abraham gave glory to God. He said words like’ God, you have made me the father of many nations, and my wife is the mother of princes. You are the strong and faithful one. I thank you that I have my Isaac’. This was the daily declaration of Abraham. Now note this don’t say words like I know God would make all things beautiful in his time. This statement is a postponement of your answer. Faith always takes hold of the answer in your heart, not anticipating that the answer will come one day but rather, it is with you now. The words one says in such a moment matter a lot. They either strengthen your faith or erode it.

CONFESSION,

I praise the Lord for his everlasting faithfulness. I have whatever promise God has given me by faith. I thank and celebrate my answer today. Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!

THOUGHT: STRONG FAITH IS A FUNCTION OF RIGHT WORDS AND RIGHT ACTIONS

FURTHER STUDIES:

Psalms 23:1 “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want”.

John 16:33. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

WHAT IS FAITH?

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 11:1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Our key scripture is the best definition of faith. It is also a very powerful revelation that the Holy Spirit gave us. Faith is a very important subject to study and to live by. The Bible said by it the elders obtained a good report. (Hebrews 11:2) One cannot be ignored and missed up in the crowd when one walks by faith. Without faith, one cannot please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

Our key scripture teaches that faith is a present-moment assurance or possession of something hoped for. It is a title deed of something that is not physically at hand. A celebration of an anticipated answer. Faith in God is a confident assurance of a promise that God has given. Faith focuses on the promise of God and not the challenges around. Faith in God is spiritual and supernatural, so it is always superior to every natural opposition.

Hope is an anticipation or an expectant
ion and faith take hold of that which hope has obtained.

Faith and hope are partners. Hope always goes ahead, and faith comes along to take hold of that which hope has had. Without hope, standing up faith is paralyzed.

Although faith always dares the impossible, it rests on the mightiness and faithfulness of God. It is always the reliability of God that makes his words give birth to faith. Romans 10:17″So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God”. If your faith is getting weak, what you need mainly is to give yourself a high dose of the word of God.

Faith’s achievements in a man are as God himself, for faith is God acting through a man….. The Lord said all things are possible to him who believes. (Mark 9:23)

The scripture narrates a few of the works of faith in God in Hebrews 11:33-34 “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness was made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to fight the armies of the aliens”

These feats are continually being wrought by all those who take the path of walking in faith. Faith in God and faith to dare the impossible is normally not popular, yet those who stand for God are always celebrated. Be among those who would be celebrated for their faith in God.

CONFESSION

My faith in God is forever alive. By it, all things are possible to me. Life is exciting and beautiful because of faith in God. Faith in God always pleases him.

FURTHER STUDIES:

Matthew 14:29. “And he said, Come. And when Peter down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.”

Mark 9:23 “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth”.