Living By Faith

REJOICING: A FORM OF HUMILITY

God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (James 4:6)

Rejoicing is a form of humility.
Mark Hankins

In 2 Samuel 6, the Ark of the Covenant was coming into Jerusalem. The Bible says when the ark came into the city King David danced before the Lord with all of his might. The scripture says he threw off his royal robe and danced in his under clothes because of the glory that was coming back! David loved to be in the presence of God!

After he had danced before the Lord, David fed the entire nation. When he went to bless his household, his wife told him that he looked like a fool. She despised him in her heart because of his response to the presence of God. David responded to her by saying, “I will yet be more vile than this. I will humble myself in the sight of the people, and I will lower myself in my own sight.” (2 Samuel 6:22)

David’s rejoicing was a form of humility. If you are more concerned with what people think about you than what God thinks about you, you will never walk in victory. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up!

Confession: I will rejoice in the Lord and humble myself before Him because He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

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ALL IS FORGIVEN

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. (Isaiah 43:25-26)

Never look back if you want the power of God in your life.
Smith Wigglesworth

In Earnest Hemingway’s short story, “The Capital of the World,” he tells the story about a father and his teenage son who lived in Spain. Their relationship became strained and eventually shattered when the son ran away from home. The father began a long journey in search of his lost and rebellious son. Finally, as a last resort, he put an ad in the Madrid newspaper. His son’s name was Paco, a very common name in Spain. The ad simply read, “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the Madrid newspaper office tomorrow at noon. All is forgiven. I love you.” The next day at noon, in front of the newspaper office, there were 800 “Pacos” all seeking forgiveness.

God is in the forgiveness business. His forgiveness includes the total erasure from His memory that sin was ever committed. He does this for His own sake so that He can bless us the way He wants!

Confession: I believe that God has forgiven me. If God does not remember what I have done wrong, then I will erase it from my memory as well! (Psalm 32:1)

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SHOW ME THE GLORY

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee… To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
(Psalm 63:1-2)

The Holy Spirit will reveal to you every conceivable good that God has for you!
Mark Hankins

God wants to reveal Himself to us; He is just waiting for us to ask Him to do so. Moses asked God in Exodus 33, “Show me Your glory.” God revealed His glory, the revelation of His name, and His goodness to Moses. David also asked God to reveal His power and glory in Psalm 63.

The glory refers to God’s manifested presence. The Hebrew word for glory is chabod. Chabod means wealth, numbers, commerce, power, wisdom, promotion, superiority, dignity, authority, nobility, splendor, valor, magnificence, extraordinary privileges, and advantages. One of the meanings of chabod or glory is loaded or heavy with every conceivable good!

When we finally get the revelation of our place in Christ, we can be confident of what will happen next; the glory—the unlimited goodness of God– comes!

Confession: I am confident that as the Holy Spirit shows me the reality of my redemption, He will reveal every conceivable good that God has for me! Holy Spirit, show me your glory!

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FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26)

Faith will not move anything until it moves you. The first part of you that your faith will move is your mouth!
Mark Hankins

In my psychology class, we learned that reasoning will not change an emotion, but action will. In other words, you can’t feel your way into better behavior, but you can behave your way into better feelings. God created us so that actions are stronger than feelings. Faith is an act. By faith we access the grace of God. Just a little bit of faith can access a whole lot of grace.

God has already done everything He is going to do about our salvation, our healing, our deliverance, and our blessing. Jesus paid it all and then sat down. Now it is our move — we have to know what He’s done for us and act in faith on the Word of God.

Many churches are full of nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and prepositions but God is looking for verbs. He is looking for people who will believe and will act in faith.

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

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BELIEVE IS A VERB

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (James 2:17)

Reasoning will not change an emotion, but action will!
Mark Hankins

I recently watched a man on television who said that he had written the first novel that had no verbs in it. He said it was full of nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and prepositions, but no verbs. They asked him how well the book was selling and he said, “not very well.” When asked why, he said, “Because it has no action.”

James 2:26 says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also.” The Amplified Version says, “For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from (its) works of obedience is also dead.”

The word, believe is a verb and verbs always denote action. Faith, on the other hand, is a noun. However, effective faith (faith that gets results) must be translated into action.

Confession: I am a doer of the Word of God, not just a hearer only (James 1:22). My faith is in action! So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power [inoperative, dead]. (James 2:17 AMP)

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