Friday 24 April 2015

FAITH: By Nafisat Ibrahim



SPEAK: FAITH is a strong conviction of the potency of the promise of God against all odds. And by speaking what we believe, we are releasing potent spiritual substance into the atmosphere to accomplish the spiritual things you have settled in your heart. Faith is the solid rock on which we face the fiery darts of the devil. When we believe, our obstacles are spiritually removed; they are physically manifested when we SPEAK IT OUT.
Jeremiah 5:14  ...i will make my word in thy mouth like fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them…” in other words, whatever we open our mouth to say according to the word of God shall devour every hindrance to our obstacles in life.

ACT: (demonstrating Faith) Faith without practice is mere religious act. Hannah acted by faith after speaking to the Lord....and her countenance was no more sad....1samual 1:18. That is a demonstration. She has decided to act like a mother even when she hasn't taken in. Therefore faith is translated as BELIEVE- SPEAK-ACT.

BE RELAXED: God is a God of patience. Faith needs to be tried to enable it grow, that trial is through patience. Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world. Hebrew 10:36 God saying..... For ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God, ye may receive the promise. God determines our attitude of patience in faith. Are we patiently waiting in smile and thanksgiving or in anxiety and worry? Look at what happened to Saul in 1samuel 13:13. Patience is a virtue that gets us to know God by personal experience. May GOD in His infinite mercy grant us the spirit of patience that we may show forth His glory in Jesus Name!
Blog written by Nafisat Ibrahim

You can be assured that God NEVER FAILS Hebrew 13:5 “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” It is just a phase and you shall overcome by the power of GOD.





Wednesday 15 April 2015

THE CENTURION FAITH: PRINCIPLES FOR RIGHT BELIEVING



Mathew 8:5-13
                We can afford to become and be Christians, but we can’t afford to be ignorant of the Faith or get stuck up at a level. We need to keep growing in the Faith; building our knowledge of God and His methods of operation. As 2 Peter 3:18 says to …Grow in Grace, and recognition and knowledge and understanding of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. We need to GROW in the knowledge of Him who gave us salvation and the benefit-packages that comes with it.
I wish biblical principles were written in italics so that as we come across them in the scriptures we can highlight them or have them printed and then perhaps the Christian walk will be smoother. But since that’s not the case, we ought to labor in the Word. 2 Timothy 2:15 admonished to “study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial) a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing (rightly handling and skillfully teaching) the Word of Truth” It is as we do our utmost to labor that the texts in this book are opened to us in another light as Revelation to see the principles that underlies as we read and study. With that said, there is a lot we can learn from this account of the healing of the centurion’s servant.
If there is anything that gets the attention of God, it’s our faith. He never takes it for granted or gets familiar with it. It always makes Him wonder. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him.”. If it is impossible to please God and “the just shall live by Faith” then whatever Faith is, that is exactly what we should live by. Isn’t it a wonder that the
Creator of Heavens and earth, the omniscience could be taken by surprise at the Faith of the centurion. After careful study of this account the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see these lessons I am about to share with you.
PRINCIPLES LEARNT
1.       Understand Authority: This seem normal, when the centurion used the knowledge of his own position and power in the Army to understand Jesus’ universal and sovereign Authority and Power. Convinced, that His Position and Word are potent to alter circumstance regardless of location or proximity. You must understand how authority operates in the Kingdom. Jesus wondered at the Faith of this unbeliever to have understood such deep things that only covenant Christians should have known. But we need to understand our position and His position in the hierarchy of Authority in Heaven. Ephesians 1:20-21 “ which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”  Ephesians 2:6 also revealed that we are “… raised up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” Interesting to know that we are Heirs with Christ in Authority and Power and Blessings.  These are scriptures you may have known before today, but how much have you meditated on them before today. Spiritual truths are slippery and we must be put on reminder until they are fully manifested in our lives.
2.       Be Subject to Authority: Mathew 8:9. He understood he is subject to Authority and so other authorities are subject to him. Could this be the very position of somewhat Christians who desire to wield authority when they are not first subject to it? Before we desire to take on the world and cast demons out and mountains into sea, heal the sick and operate like God operates. James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” This is an all-time principle.  We need to be totally surrendered and yielded to God in our minds, actions and for circumstance to scamper before us.
3.       Humility: From our text it is clear that the centurion is not a Jew, possibly he is a Roman centurion assigned to or seconded to Herod’s army. A centurion is in charge of hundred men, and probably similar in the Roman hierarchy to the position of an army captain in our own time. To have put such faith in Jesus shows he has a clear sense of who Jesus is and his Humility is shown to be grounded in a profound respect for Jesus’ position and what His Level of authority is.  In His entire ministry on the face of the earth before this time, He had not seen such simple and humble yet powerful display of “so great Faith” by a high ranking official. A Faith found, not even among the covenant people. If we have no humility of heart, then we have no business being Christians. Jesus Himself as powerful as He is has modeled such Humility before God and obtained a Name higher than every other.   Philippians 2:7-9
4.       Be Passionate: What lead to the move of this Great Faith was the compassion this top official had for his servant, whose name was not even mentioned. This man was so passionate about his servant’s condition so much that of all the issues he had to deal with in Leadership; he was more concerned about the illness of his servant in his house than any other thing bothering him at work. He is in the army I am so sure there were other important things he had to care about, his promotion or even to have more influence in the region. The one issue he brought before the most Powerful Man that ever walked on the surface of the earth was for the healing of his servant. Little wonder did Jesus wonder at him.
5.       Speak: Faith is not Faith until Spoken. Speak of the Authority you have in Christ, in any circumstance you find yourself whether in contradictory or good circumstances. Neither knowledge nor assumption of what you claim to believe will produce result if not spoken. Knowledge without corresponding action will end in frustration. An example of this, is the woman with the issue of blood Mark 5:28 “For she kept saying, if I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health” She consistently told herself.  If you believe it will dominate your thoughts and out of the abundance, the mouth will speak. Abraham consistently believed but in Praise to God. Romans 4:20-21 “…he grew strong and was empowered by Faith as he gave Praise and Glory’’ his conviction was in the assurance that “…God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had Promised”. The centurion somewhat interrupted Jesus and told Him to “only speak the wordand verse 8 and 9 was centered on this. He understood the power of the spoken word. This is the Foundation of our Christianity. The next verse Jesus marveled when He heard that, and turned to the crowd and affirmed to them that he has not seen anything like it, not even in Israel. 2 Corinthians 4:13 “Yet we have the same spirit of Faith… We too believe, and therefore we speak”
It is not the matter of whether God can or cannot do it. It is if you Believe that He can. Because God is Able and Mighty to do. Above all you could ever ask, imagine, or think. Whatever issues you’re dealing with, I believe this account will provide you with the ingredients you’ll need to counteract the enemy and bring about your desired result. The Lord is Your Strength.