Search Menu Toggle navigation
Living By Faith
Search Menu Toggle navigation

MAXIMUM JOY

Consider it maximum joy, my brothers, when you get involved in
all sorts of trials. (James 1:2 Berkeley)

The reason the devil is putting pressure on you is because
God’s got a blessing for you!
Mark Hankins

I played on the championship football team in high school. We were undefeated, so we always went out fully expecting to win. One day the coach told me, “Now Hankins,” as he grabbed me by my shoulder pads, “you might be able to go around the tackle, but by the time you go around him, what you’re looking for already went by.”

Then he said, “The only way you can play defense is not to avoid the pressure the tackle is putting on you. You can’t go around him — if you do, you will miss what you’re after. You’ve got to fight through the pressure.”

The reason the devil is putting pressure on you is because God’s got a blessing coming for you! So when pressure comes from every side, face it and get happy right in the middle of it! The devil is saying, “Hey, give up and just go around.” You say, “No. I am not going around. I am going through this tackle!”

Confession: The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me walk upon my high places. (Habakkuk 3:19)

  • 0

THE SECRET POWER OF JOY

Even now you are happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from
heaven itself. (1 Peter 1:8 TLB)

Rejoicing is an act of faith.
Mark Hankins

One day, the Lord spoke to me very clearly and said, “If you only knew what happens in the spirit when you rejoice, you would rejoice every day.” When we rejoice, we are acting like sons and daughters of God!

Rejoicing is an act of faith. Remember the words of Paul in Acts 27:25, “Cheer up…I believe God that it shall be as He told me.” When we believe God, we can cheer up! Believing and rejoicing ushers in the glory and goodness of God in our lives.

Rejoicing enables us to make progress in difficult times. Joy is the secret of faith and endurance. James 1:2 says to count it all joy when trouble comes. This must be why Job laughed at destruction and trouble. (Job 5:22) Of course some people may think you are a fool, but if you have found joy, you have found the secret of survival and success.

Confession: Even now I am happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from heaven itself! The joy of the Lord is my strength. Just like Job, I laugh at destruction and trouble because I know that joy is the secret of faith and endurance. Ha! Ha! Ha!

  • 0

THE COMFORTER HAS COME

Never the less I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (John 16:7)

The Holy Spirit takes everything Jesus has done for you and makes it real to you. Mark Hankins

Before Jesus went to the cross and ascended to heaven, He spent a lot of time teaching about the Holy Ghost. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is described in John 16:7-15 The Amplified Bible gives these words to describe the work of the Comforter: Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby. 

The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth and show you things to come. He will show, declare, and transmit the things of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to you. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would move in you and dwell in you. He will bring you into close fellowship with the Father and the Lord Jesus.

The Holy Spirit takes everything Jesus has done for you and makes it real to you.  He is the power and presence of the risen and triumphant Christ in you!

Confession: The Holy Spirit will guide me into all truth. He is the power and presence of the risen and triumphant Christ in me!

  • 0

CRANK THE CHAINSAW

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. (Acts 1:8)

The Holy Spirit is a genius. If you will listen to Him, He will make you look smart! B.B. Hankins

There is a funny story about a country boy who cut trees for a living. He heard of a new piece of equipment that was supposed to make work a lot easier and faster called a chainsaw. He bought one from the store because the man said he could cut up to 30 trees a day with this new chainsaw. After using it for a few days, he took it back to the store and complained that he was only able to cut 2 or 3 trees a day.  The store manager took the chainsaw from him and pulled the starter rope. With a loud noise, the chainsaw started. That country boy jumped back, startled by the noise, and said, “What’s that?” Being as ignorant as he was, he had never cranked the engine!

Many people struggle in the work of the Lord because they have never been filled with the Holy Spirit. He is the power that enables us in every area of life. We must give the Holy Spirit His proper place everyday.

Confession: Greater is He that is in me that he that is in this world.(1 John 4:4) I choose to give the Holy Spirit His proper place every day. Thank God for the Holy Spirit!

  • 0

RESURRECTION POWER

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

The power that God used to raise Christ from the dead dissolved, melted, and liquidated the works of the devil.  Mark Hankins

Jesus came to redeem us primarily through His death and resurrection. The power of Christ’s resurrection is destructive — not to us, but to the works of the enemy. The word destroy is luo, which means to loose, break, or undo. Jesus rose from the dead to undo all that Satan had done in man through the fall. Jesus put an end to the works of the devil by first bearing those works in Himself as our substitute in His death, and then rising again free from them all.

In 2 Peter 3:10-12, the word luo was translated “melt” and “dissolved.”  When we take this definition back to 1 John 3:8, we get an interesting insight into Christ’s destruction of the works of the devil. “Now the Son of God came to the earth with the express purpose of liquidating the devil’s activities.” (Phillips Translation)

God made Jesus to bear and become all that was wrong with us in spirit, soul, and body and then vaporized it with the power of His resurrection!

Confession: Jesus was my substitute! Because of His death and resurrection, I am free from the works of Satan! (John 8:36)

  • 0

Sign up for Living By Faith Blog Subscribers

* = required field

Recent Posts

Categories