Have Faith in God!!!

Act_16:5  And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily. 

Rom_14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

Mat_21:21  Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Mar 11:22  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. Mar 11:23  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

For this post I will digress from "Dead or alive" and give you what I felt led to share on today. Where He leads we follow and our Agendas should never take precedence.

There is a distinct difference in scripture between "the faith" and "having faith". This is chiefly why I believe in the "Word of Faith movement", not withstanding the numerous lost people out there who take it the wrong way. And this goes for every known belief movement by the way. Show me a Christian denomination that doesn't have loonies and I will show you the Second Coming of Jesus.

The faith is the belief core which identifies all who belong to Christ. It was a title used to identify us during the early days of the Church because we were different. It also describes the way in which we come to belong to this body of Christ, which is by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave His life a ransom for us. Therefore the undertone when one declares himself a Christian is that he is convivted in that one truth even though he has not seen Jesus facially or heard from Jesus necessarily. The substance and object of his beliefs is an intangible. That is why we were called those of "the faith". Therefore we can establish that "the faith" is an explanatory noun i.e it is a name given to us by virtue of certain traits unique to our worship.

Having faith is another thing altogether, if we are to look at the Word of God didactically. Having faith is the present continuous state of conviction in God. This one is applied primarily to a person or collectively to a group of people who possess the trait. It is the heart element that gives birth to the title above. It is apparently a measurable trait, but only at a spiritual level. 

Rom 12:6  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

It is that response of the human heart to the unctions, the instructions and the revealed truths of Gods Word (Read Heb 11). Even though it is an intangible trait, it has tangible results or outworkings. Mark 11:22 is the foundation for the popular "faith moves mountains" slogan. Jesus Himself intended for us to understand this aspect of Christian life. It is what I call the "circumstance changing obligation" of a Christian. Someone might say "the working of miracles and transformation of lives is all God's work" and that is very true. However the scriptures clearly require that we avail our faith for God to use as He sees fit. This is because God works through men to accomplish His agenda on earth. Otherwise the work of evangelism would be entirely His. Paul tells us that faith without works is dead. This he said in admonishing those who were of the faith, but had no corresponding actions to put their faith to work. 

WHAT FAITH DOES

1. Matt 6:30- Faith assures us of God's provision and gives us peace in God. It's one of the most basic outworkings of faith. Having peace in God because you know the provision is guaranteed. Also read Dan 3. The Hebrew boys were at peace when their lives were at risk.

2. Matt 14:31- Faith will enable us to do seemingly impossible things. A lack of it will lead to us drowning in life's challenges. COntrary to popular belief these days it's not grace alone needed to survive the storms of life. It's grace through faith!!

3. Matt16:8- Faith helps us understand the mysteries of God. Also read Heb 11:3. There are certain things that only a man of Faith can understand.

4. Matt17:17- Faith helps us alter the situations in other peoples lives. Be it sickness, or posession having faith will enable us to take a stand on their behalf and deal with the supernatural bondages. Also read James 5:15. There is a prayer birthed in the heart of a man of faith, it is "his" prayer that can save the sick.

HOW FAITH COMES

Faith can come and that is one of the greatest joys of the faith!

1. Rom10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Every kind of faith can come through the hearing that comes from the Word of God. (Another story altogether!) This is why we listen to the Word of God, why we meditate on it. We want that hearing that brings faith into our hearts!

2. 1Cor2:4-5. Faith can also come through witnessing the power of God on display. Acts 1:8 tells us that we will be witnesses after being endued with power from on high! Proof producers of the goodness of God hallelujah!!! And when men sees the proof they will come running to the light. 1 Cor14:24 shows us that a display of the gift of prophecy can lead to the conviction of a man unto repentance. Hence we need miracles in the Church in these last days. A cautionary note though is that, not every miracle is from God. Just like not every preacher is sent of God.

Stay Growing in the faith and in faith!! It's the guarantee that your future is better and brighter! It's the guarantee that you will make the world brighter and better for others as well!

In His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe

Dead or Alive? (Part 1)

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Rom_6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Rom_6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The phenomenon of death is a topical one in the Scriptures. The first person who was "promised" death was the first man Adam. Christ had to die in order for us not to be dead anymore, we seem to die with Christ, but the life we live after we are alive in Him seems to be a life of death, and this time death to sin.

People ask the question "did God lie to Adam or did he mean a different kind of death?" Truthfully speaking "God cannot lie"(Tit_1:2) So proposition 2 takes effect. A different kind of death. We need to note that God said "in the day that thou eatest thereof", which means after eating from the tree the two human ancestors became dead men walking. This principle becomes the major stumbling block for those who do not understand being "born again" and why it is necessary. There is more to the death of man as the monarch of creation and the impact of that single "day" than can be expounded on this short blog, perhaps another time, but it happened just as God said it would.

In summary sin entered into the world through that one act of treason by man(original world dominator and custodian). (Rom5:19). Death became a reality in a world which was free from death. In it's simplest definition sin is that death dealing agency which results in alienation from God. Just as God's life was intended to be progressively enriching, sin is progressively debilitating.

Rom_5:19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Then Christ died. Not as a child of disobedience, for His lineage was not in man but in God. And thus He couldn't partake of that separation from God save He give up His life as a ransom for those who deserved eternal separation by reason of their nature of sin. This is where it becomes very interesting. He who didn't deserve any form of death partook of it, those who didn't deserve reconciliation with God now had the choice to come back into it and have life again (Jhn3:16) Sin came with the aid of man and his escape has been made such that he still has a part to play in his accessing of life.

We have entered into life, indisputable, however we have also entered into a different class of death. We are dead to sin. Death has pivotal points of reference. If we don't understand where our point of reference is as believers we lose a vital vantage point. The devil wants us to believe that we are still on His side of the fence, and God is still "trying" to move us. But it's the other way around glory to God!!!! We are on the side of His life, and the devil is peaking into it trying fruitlessly to move us back.

You should not be afraid of death..it's which side of death you're on that should bother you. Be dead to sin (alienated from it's debilitating effects, free from it's fear mongering tactics, and it's effects on the quality of your life, free from all it's sponsored effects i.e sickness, infirmity, poverty, weakness), and be alive in Christ (in His kind of life, it's benefits, walking in the power of it)

HOW TO

1. Receive Christ and be born again (Rom10v9-10): Christ died already, paid for it already, it is available to all those that accept it as a free gift. Confess His Lordship, in your life and receive His life!!!

2. Work out your salvation (Php_2:12): After number 1 you need no more to make you any more righteous (right with God) than you are already. However renew your mind. (Rom12v1) Make it your goal to live like the man God meant you to be. Blameless in every man's sight, for it is this that gives God the glory for what He has done in your life.

3. Find others who have this life who will help you grow. We are only as strong as we are united! (Acts 2:42) Iron indeed sharpens iron

4. Share your testimony. Allow others to have the same experience you have. If you have it you can't keep it to yourself! It's too good not to share Remember each life that accepts Christ is a life which has escaped death, and come back to life!

In our next blog we will, God allowing, look at the effects of death and the effects of life in more detail.

John 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed!

In His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe

A Royal Priesthood (Part 2)

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

1Pe 2:10  "Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." KJV

1Pe 2:9  "But you are a chosen race, a priesthood of kingly lineage, a holy nation, a people belonging specially to God, that you may make known the perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." WNT

Continuation....

We touched on the Royalty part of the subject in our last edition. This one will endeavor to move to the priestly part. Our God has always been a God who values interaction with His people. In the Adamic Covenant we had God being available to man by His visitation in the Garden (Gen 3:8). We see the same with Enoch, with Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Israel, it seems God is unwilling to go without human interaction.

In the Mosaic Covenant we find God instituting the Priestly office as a means to administer reconciliation with His people, to act as intermediaries in His quest to have fellowship with man. God is principle "bound", hence when man violated His divine statutes and alienated themselves from His life He "had" to allow the course of the redemption plan to go it's full course. In this covenant God would once again dwell with man (i.e in the symbol of the Ark of His presence). The priests were the Central to this covenant because they held the ordinances of God within the Ark. They stood on behalf of the nation and gave God the sacrifices meet for the covering of sins primarily so that the slate would be clean again for the sinful nation. We see how instrumental and influential this post of priest was in that when the lepers were cleansed, they had to get the approval of the Priest in order to re-enter society (Mar 1:44). 

Over and above their duties, the carrying of the presence of God, ensured that the blessing and power of the Lord rested on Israel, to the extent that the physical forces before them responded to that presence (Josh 3:13) Now just to clarify again; we ARE a Royal Priesthood. We carry God's presence within us wherever we go.

1. As priests we are Covenant custodians: contrary to popular New Age beliefs, we have a covenant with God, which has requirements. These are not requirements to remain in righteousness but requirements to exhibit and walk in the fruits of righteousness. To be a Priest requires awareness of the nature and precepts of God. For we cannot represent Him whom we do not know. A devout prayer life is critical in this regard. To constantly inquire of the Lord concerning your life and the lives of those around you. To know as the Psalmist says "their end", what their current and future prospects are hence what is needful for them.

Gal_5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit (the recreated human spirit that is alive in God) is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 

Psa 73:17  Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 

2. As priests we are Covenant enforcers: There is a rising tide which I find being driven in the body of Christ. It is a tide which seeks to nullify what God promises the recipients of the New Covenant. There has never been a covenant which didn't promise prosperity for the children of God, physical and spiritual gain and increase as a result of walking with God (Isa_33:24  And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity). I will also be quick to say that these covenants were also balanced in that there was a provision or a requirement to be in "right standing with God" in order to partake of His promises. The priestly office is particularly critical because it is meant to keep the people of God in balance by reminding them of both the promises and the requirements or statutes of God. To mature in Christ is to hold both sides with equal mastery to the glory of God.

*God's material blessings were not selective, they were for the covenant nation. His health promises were a national promise. He never selected a few to prosper and a few to be disadvantaged perpetually. This is the God we serve.

Deu_11:13  And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 

Gen_28:4  And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. 

Gal_3:14  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 

Heb 6:13-14 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 

Those that preach prosperity and those that preach suffering for Christ, have two ends of the same stick. Unfortunately we have excess on both ends and we find the world wondering which way to go when we should actually just give them the whole stick to familiarize themselves with the "whole counsel of God". To be a Priest means to understand the heart of God and represent it to His people. I have not exhausted the subject but I have distilled what I believe are some major aspects on it. This is a deep kingdom albeit it is built precept upon precept.

In His Royal and Priestly Service,

George Mwamlowe