Today we continue our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume IV — The Wonder Twins”. In this series, I am teaching on the fact that we need both faith and patience in order to be able to receive and enjoy the promises of God. Why? Because in most cases, there is a space between the promise and the performance and in that space, we must believe, withstand, endure, and overcome, while still believing, no matter how long it takes. This is how we live a life of faith.
Just the other day I was thinking about the fact that my wife (Isabella) and I are so accustomed to standing in faith until we see what God said that we don’t ‘think it strange’ for us to stand in faith for years if that is what it takes. One of the foundational scriptures I shared with you last week, when we opened this series, is Heb 10:35.
Heb 10:35 says, “Do not, therefore, cast away your confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward.” The next verse says, “For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.” If the Bible says we need something, we need it. The Bible is clear that not only do we need faith, but we also need patience. It is through faith and patience that we will inherit what God has promised (Hebrews 6:12).
On Saturday I received a letter from the government. As I read it, I rejoiced and gave God praise. The letter was confirmation of a promise I received from God in 2015. Back in 2015, I shared something with my Pastor, Tony Brazelton, about a decision the government made concerning my wife. Pastor Tony looked and me and said that I would receive the same thing. When he said it, the Holy Spirit, inside of me, confirmed that the Word he released was a Word from God.
Remember, God can speak to you through His written Word, by His Spirit, through a dream while you are sleeping, an open vision while you are awake, or prophetically through someone else. When Pastor Tony said what he said, and the Holy Spirit told me that what he said was actually a Word from God, then I was in a position to operate in faith. Faith beings where the will of God is known. As soon as I received the Word, the onus was then on me to believe it and to perform whatever actions are required on my part (which is faith, because faith is an action word), to bring it to pass.
I needed to receive this Word as a Word from God, just like it was a Word written in the Bible. We are called to believe every Word God has ever spoken over us and we must keep believing until we see the manifestations of it. No matter how long it takes. In this case, it took 5 years. Most people today can’t wait for 5 weeks. But listen, if God said it, we must continue in faith until we see (in our hands) what we are already received (in our hearts).
Isabella and I are so accustomed to believing God for things that if it takes days, weeks, months, years, or even decades, we never cast away our confidence (or faith), because we know that our confidence (or faith) will have a great compensation of reward. In other words, we will be rewarded for believing God, for years if that it was it takes until every promise is manifested. This is what this series is about. This is why we need faith and patience!
I am still laying the foundation for the series. On Friday we looked at the fact that we are:
1) Pleasing to God when we operate in faith (Hebrews 11:6)
2) Saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8,9).
3) Called to live by faith (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38, Habakkuk 2:4, and Galatians 2:20)
4) Called to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7
We still need to look at:
5) Fighting the fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12)
6) Praying the prayer of faith (James 5:15)
7) Speaking the language of faith (Matthew 8:8)
8) Overcoming the world by faith (1 John 5:4)
Today I will cover #5, fighting the fight of faith. Let’s get into it.
So what does this mean for you today? Lots of things. Let’s get into them.
1. The fight of faith is a real fight.
When you are truly in a fight, you are engaged. You don’t put your guard down. Your adrenaline is pumping. Your focus is clear. Your senses are fully engaged. If you really want to win the fight you are LOCKED IN. Well, if that is true for a physical fight, it is true for a spiritual one as well. Our fight not against flesh and blood. Our fight is spiritual. When you are in a faith-fight you have to be locked-in. You must be focused. Your heart must be engaged. Your Spirit must be attuned with God. You cannot let your guard down. You cannot relax your faith.
In order to keep your faith fully engaged, while you are fighting, you must meditate and meditate on what God said over and over again. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing, and hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). The more you meditate the Word God spoke over you, the more your faith will be built up, and the more equipped you will be to keep going and keep believing it, no matter how long it takes.
2. Fighting the fight of faith is not for the faint of heart.
Excuse my common vernacular here, but the life of faith is not for punks. Living by faith is not a joke. Your faith must be active. Your belief system must be engaged. The devil is going to do all he can to get you to give up, cave in, and quit. Satan knows that he cannot stop God. He also knows that he cannot stop you when you in faith, actively believing God. But if he can get you to give up on God and to stop believing, then your faith will fail. But satan did not cause the faith-failure. It’s not that satan stopped you. YOU STOPPED YOU! You stopped yourself. THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN LOSE IS IF YOU QUIT! But if you keep receiving Today’s Word, I declare that you will not quit. Your faith will be stirred up. You will be engaged. You will believe God. You will remain in faith, no matter how long it takes. You will believe and say what God said until you see what God said!
3. You are in a faith-fight with COVID-19.
In closing, let me say something about COVID-19. You are in a faith-fight. You can do natural things, like stay at home, practice social distancing, wear a mask and gloves when you go out, and wash your hands consistently. But bigger than all of that, there is a spiritual fight going on right now that is much bigger than the natural one. In this season the devil wants to cause you to doubt God. In this season he is trying to get your to shift your focus. The enemy wants you to relax the grip you have on your faith. Satan wants you to give up on God’s promises. He will tell you that because of COVID-19, if you were working a job, you are going to lose your job and you won’t get it back. If you have a business, he will tell you that your business will fail in this season and you won’t be able to recover. Satan will tell you that the promises you were believing God for are NOT going to come to pass because things have changed.
But I am here to tell you that God has NOT changed! God is still God. His promises are still true. Every promise is still YES and AMEN! Every Word He spoke over you is still valid. It does not matter how long it takes. It does not matter how bad the world gets. God already knew all these things would happen when He spoke the promise. This means God is still watching over His Word to perform it in your life!
Never give up on God. He will never let you down. The only way a promise from God can be void in your life is if you consider it to be; if you stop believing. God will never give up on you, but you can give up on Him. In this season, I declare that you won’t! I speak life and blessing over you! I declare, that even now, your faith is being stirred up. You are in a faith-fight. This is not the time for you to relax the grip you have on your faith. Your faith shall not fail. I declare that every promise God has spoken over you SHALL come to pass, in the fulness of His timing. And you will hold on to your faith, no matter how long it takes. I declare this by faith, in Jesus’ name!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I was saved by Your grace when I exercised my faith. I now walk and live by faith daily. I fight the good fight of faith. I am not moved by anything the enemy does to me. I am not moved by negative news or news that is contrary to what You spoke over my life. I am only moved by what You say. I believe Your Word. I live by every Word You speak to me. And I declare, that every promise You have ever made to me shall come to pass, in my life, before I die! I am in a faith-fight. My heart is engaged. My Spirit is focused. My mind is stayed on You! I trust You! No matter how long it takes, my faith switch will remain in the ON POSITION! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
