Today we continue our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume IV — The Wonder Twins”. As I continue to lay the foundation for this series, I am providing somewhat of a faith refresher. I will do the same for patience when this portion is over. We need both faith and patience in order to lay hold of the promises of God. I shared 8 things about faith. Here they are:
1) We are only pleasing to God when we operate in faith (Hebrews 11:6)
2) We are saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8,9)
3) We are called to live by faith (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38, Habakkuk 2:4, and Galatians 2:20)
4) We are commanded to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)
5) We are urged to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12)
6) We are supposed to pray the prayer of faith (James 5:15)
7) We must speak the language of faith (Matthew 8:8)
8) We ultimately overcome the world by faith (1 John 5:4)
I dealt with #8 yesterday. Let’s go back to it again today.
(1 John 5:4,5 NIV)
4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
(John 16:33 NKJV)
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Faith sees, believes, and receives what God has already provided.
a) In Matthew 16 Jesus taught His disciples about the victory the Father had already provided. He was not speaking of a victory they could humanly see at the moment. Jesus was speaking of a victory that would manifest itself later, in the earth, but as far as He was concerned, the victory was already attained. The battle was already won. Faith has the ability to see God’s will before it manifests in the earth, and then act in the present with a sense of confidence in God’s divine future.
b) In Matthew 16 Jesus was preparing His disciples for the difficult times ahead. Jesus could look down through time, by faith, and see the blessing waiting for them on the other side of the challenges that were coming. So Jesus, with complete faith in the revealed knowledge of what was to come, said the following to His disciples: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (Matthew 16:33).
When you can already SEE the victory God has already provided, by His amazing grace, you can face the challenges you are required to overcome in order to receive that victory, and you can do so with peace in your heart, with faith in your God, and with confidence in His finished work.
c) When God promises to give you “the victory” over something, you should do two things. First, get excited. Because God has revealed to you what He has already done (in the spirit realm). Your victory, as far as the earth realm is concerned, is only a matter of time. Second, get prepared. Because you can’t have victory without a fight. For you to experience a great victory, you must be willing to face great opposition. The good news is that God has already given you the victory. Even over COVID-19. Even over the negative impact this disease is having on this planet. God’s grace is already on you to WIN. You must simply have the faith to access His grace for the victory! Your faith lays hold of what God has already provided.
d) Remember, God never promised you a trouble-free life. What He did was give you His grace to face and overcome every challenge you will face on the road to your destiny.
2. You get to participate in Jesus’s victory, but you must do so by faith.
a) The Apostle John said, “Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 Jn 5:4). God has already overcome the world. He did this through His Son. He did this by His power. He did this for His glory. God now extends His victory to us by His grace. We access His victory with our faith. It’s not that we are making anything happen. It’s not that we are creating or obtaining a victory. It’s just that we get to enjoy the victory Jesus already obtained for us!
b) When the Apostle John said, “Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith”, the emphasis was on God and not man. We can overcome the world by faith because Jesus already overcame it. We now get to enjoy the victory Jesus already provided.
c) Jesus obtained the victory. This victory is now offered/extended to us by grace. (Not because we are so good, but because God is). God simply requires us to use our faith to access His grace. When we do, we get to walk in Jesus’ finished work.
d) When we live by faith we simply get to receive and maintain the victory Jesus already obtained for us.
e) So what does this look like in practice? How does this manifest in our present-day? It looks something like this:
— You know God already made plans for your life. This means that you also know that faith cannot be about you coming up with whatever you want and then laying it out before God in a petition.
— Faith is about you developing a relationship with God to the point where He is able to commune with you and you with Him. At that point, you are able to hear His voice and discover what God already planned for your life.
— Once you are at this point, faith is your ability to live your life based on what God has revealed to you about your future — even when it flies in the face of everything you are currently facing (like COVID-19), even if it is contrary to what people are telling you, and even if it is contrary to your life experiences — when you are able to accept what God said and live your life based His Word and the leading of His Spirit (without any sense-realm evidence to support what He is saying), that is FAITH! And that is how you ultimately will LAY HOLD of what God has ALREADY PROVIDED! You are not trying to MAKE anything happen. You are simply trying to ALIGN your life with what God has ASSIGNED you to do in the earth. As you do, you get to experience what God already planned and enjoy the victory He already provided. This is the life of faith!
3. The victory has already been provided.
If you come to God from the position of lack, like you need something and you are asking God to DO something for you, then you are acknowledging the fact that you DON’T BELIEVE it’s already done. And if you believe this way, your faith is going to be OFF. Because you are asking God to DO something He already did. Let me put it this way. Let’s say I buy a dozen donuts and place them on the kitchen counter. I then call my kids to the kitchen and say, “Hey, I bought these donuts for you. They are here if you want them.” And then later, one of my children comes up to me and says, “Dad, can you go buy us some donuts? I would really like a donut right now.” I would be disappointed because my child did not acknowledge the fact that I already provided what they are asking for. Their job was to simply LAY HOLD of what I already provided. The same holds true today, for us, in so many ways.
Sometimes Christians believe there is something else that needs to take place. They are waiting on God to do this or that. But God has already done all He needs to do for us to live the life we were born to live. Waiting on God’s timing is one thing. But waiting on God’s performance is something else. If you believe God needs to DO something before you can move, you will be waiting a long time. It’s already done.
*** You must get to the point where you realize ‘you lack nothing’. All you need has already been provided.
*** You are called to live by faith. Because faith is how you access what God has already provided. God’s part is done. As you enter this day, are you determined to do your part?
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I know I am called and commanded to live by faith. Everything You do for me, You do by grace. Grace is unearned and undeserved. Everything I do in response to Your grace, I am supposed to do by faith. By faith, I lay hold of what Your grace has already provided. Your part is done. The victory is won. I am not trying to make anything happen. I am not trying to obtain victory. By faith, I now simply receive and maintain the victory Jesus already obtained for me. By faith, I receive what You have already provided and I live in expectation of manifestation, no matter how long it takes because I have faith and patience! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
