I was reading the daily devotional Rhapsody of Realities by Chris and Anita Oyakhilome this morning when some light dawned deeply in me. I was pondering on the Loveworld Updates in the centre of the booklet where they gave some amazing news about the Good Friday Night of Miracles that took place on the 14th of April 2006. They said by a conservative measure, at least 3.5 million people were gathered in one single service. As I read the testimonies and saw pictures of people that had been healed of illnesses that had no medical solution, I became inspired and began to praise God under my breath right there in the train.
Then I began to think about why God gives us miracles. He does so because he loves people and he doesn't want them to suffer. That got me thinking about many lovely wonderful and amazingly FAITHFUL Christians who have various problems in their bodies. I thought of some who had died in car, plane, and various other accidents. And I caught the revelation of something that Pastor Chris has been telling us for some time,
FAITH and FAITHFULNESS ARE NOT THE SAME.
I realised that many of our faithful brothers and sisters expect God to deliver and heal them because of their faithfulness. Faithfulness is wonderful. Merriam-Webster defines it as
"Unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise"
God rewards our acts of faithfulness at various times in our lives and at the Seat of Judgement. Check out Malachi 3:16-18.
But faith is different. According to Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is seeing as real what is not perceived by the physical senses. This includes the promises of God which encompass our authority in the Name of Jesus, divine healing and divine health, angelic protection, and so on.
If we truly believed in this things, we would speak them out. Like King David said, "I believed and therefore have I spoken". Paul also echoed him in 2 Corinthians 4:13 and said if we believe, we should also speak. I've heard stories of Christians who were in dangerous situations and the first thing that came out of their mouths were words of fear. In particular, I watched a TV interview of a couple of missionaries whose flight developed serious trouble. They were on a missionary journey to somewhere in Africa. They told their interviewer that they looked at each other and said, "We're going to die!" I thought to myself at the time, "Wow, those are words of fear. It's a wonder they made it."
These were faithful men on their way to do a good work for God, but they hadn't expressed faith in their hour of danger, they had expressed fear. Their faithfulness will give them a reward before God's Judgement Seat, but it won't deliver them in time of danger. Do you remember the story of the disciples and Jesus in a boat on turbulent waters? If Jesus hadn't stood up to SPEAK to the storm and commanded it to be still, it would have raged on. Let me take it a step further, if he hadn't been in that boat, the disciples of Jesus could very likely have perished. What did he rebuke them for? For having LITTLE FAITH. He said nothing about faithfulness.
I learnt today that no matter how faithful I am towards God and the things of God, in my hour of need, danger, or difficulty, I must EXERCISE MY FAITH and NOT DEPEND ON MY FAITHFULNESS.
This is the key I learnt: Faithfulness gives you a reward, but faith delivers what you hope for unto you. And when I have faith, I will speak and act my faith for God responds to my words and actions of faith. The bible is full of abundant examples of this.
Then I began to think about why God gives us miracles. He does so because he loves people and he doesn't want them to suffer. That got me thinking about many lovely wonderful and amazingly FAITHFUL Christians who have various problems in their bodies. I thought of some who had died in car, plane, and various other accidents. And I caught the revelation of something that Pastor Chris has been telling us for some time,
FAITH and FAITHFULNESS ARE NOT THE SAME.
I realised that many of our faithful brothers and sisters expect God to deliver and heal them because of their faithfulness. Faithfulness is wonderful. Merriam-Webster defines it as
"Unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise"
God rewards our acts of faithfulness at various times in our lives and at the Seat of Judgement. Check out Malachi 3:16-18.
But faith is different. According to Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is seeing as real what is not perceived by the physical senses. This includes the promises of God which encompass our authority in the Name of Jesus, divine healing and divine health, angelic protection, and so on.
If we truly believed in this things, we would speak them out. Like King David said, "I believed and therefore have I spoken". Paul also echoed him in 2 Corinthians 4:13 and said if we believe, we should also speak. I've heard stories of Christians who were in dangerous situations and the first thing that came out of their mouths were words of fear. In particular, I watched a TV interview of a couple of missionaries whose flight developed serious trouble. They were on a missionary journey to somewhere in Africa. They told their interviewer that they looked at each other and said, "We're going to die!" I thought to myself at the time, "Wow, those are words of fear. It's a wonder they made it."
These were faithful men on their way to do a good work for God, but they hadn't expressed faith in their hour of danger, they had expressed fear. Their faithfulness will give them a reward before God's Judgement Seat, but it won't deliver them in time of danger. Do you remember the story of the disciples and Jesus in a boat on turbulent waters? If Jesus hadn't stood up to SPEAK to the storm and commanded it to be still, it would have raged on. Let me take it a step further, if he hadn't been in that boat, the disciples of Jesus could very likely have perished. What did he rebuke them for? For having LITTLE FAITH. He said nothing about faithfulness.
I learnt today that no matter how faithful I am towards God and the things of God, in my hour of need, danger, or difficulty, I must EXERCISE MY FAITH and NOT DEPEND ON MY FAITHFULNESS.
This is the key I learnt: Faithfulness gives you a reward, but faith delivers what you hope for unto you. And when I have faith, I will speak and act my faith for God responds to my words and actions of faith. The bible is full of abundant examples of this.
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