Thanks for checking out the Anchor Faith message podcast
from St. Augustine, FL.
Now enjoy this message. Glory to God.
You know that's what we've been talking about is real Bible
believe in faith, Amen. What the Bible says faith is
Amen. You know, I, I was hearing some
things lately and I've just gotten discouraged because I
feel like as much as we've had the faith movement come in, I
feel like we've stepped away from what real Bible faith is
because I hear these statements like now being said, well, what
happens when it don't work? Faith works, period.
It works, period.
And that's where we have to get back to that.
You know, we've we've made excuses of why we're not seeing
things take place. And the number one thing that we
have to do in a situation where we maybe say we've believed God
and we know we believed with all of our heart and something
didn't happen or something didn't change.
We can never go to faith didn't work.
We have to go to what did I not know about faith?
What do I not know about a situation?
Because God's word is final no matter what, Amen.
Hallelujah. So there's much to say about the
what ifs and the how comes, but it's not God's problem and it's
not God's fault. And we can never put the blame
on God. Amen.
Because true people of faith realize there was something I'm
missing. Or maybe I truly didn't believe
that when I thought I really did.
Amen. Because if you start making a
statement as if it doesn't work, then we will be people of
unbelief. Will be people of unbelief.
Period. We either believe what His word
says or we don't. There's no in between.
There's no halfway. It's all the way in.
It's all the way. Amen.
Hallelujah. So I'm choosing to believe what
His word says and that His word is the final say on the matter.
And if something did not turn out the way that I thought I was
believing, come on then I'm going to check myself.
I'm going to be true to what I, my heart is doing.
Amen. And I'm never going to put the
blame on God or that God couldn't.
No, there's something I don't know that I'm still in ignorance
of, Amen. I'm ignorant.
It's OK to say that because we are not all knowing and we don't
have all wisdom. Like God, we can tap into His
wisdom, but there are still things that He knows that we
don't. Amen.
And so you have to chalk it up to that, not that faith maybe
don't work. Or it didn't work, or it didn't
turn out the way that it should have worked.
So you make excuses of why then it don't work.
But you can still trust God, right?
So that's how people. But if you start going down that
road, then you'll start going down a road of doubt and
unbelief. I trust God no matter what, in
the good times, in the bad times and the impossible times.
Come on. I trust God no matter what.
It doesn't matter what my circumstance looks like.
I trust God and I stand upon His word, and it's the final say in
my life. We've got to get back to some
true biblical faith. You know, back in the day we
taught true biblical faith, but I've been hearing teachers today
making excuses of some things. Amen.
And I hate to say we got to get back to old school faith.
I mean, is it already old school?
The Word of Faith? When I taught faith and had to
live by it? Come on.
I mean, I'm telling you it hurt your feelings, it everything
within you. I remember sitting in Rhema and
hearing the aid they used to call it the AB CS of faith,
which is the foundations of faith.
And get in there and realize you don't have no more faith than a
man on the moon according to what the Bible says.
And then you sit up underneath another teaching and he says, if
you are not, if you are not in joy, you are not in faith.
Well, that'll hurt you. That'll hurt you.
These are the things that were being said to me.
And I'm like, what do you mean? If I'm not in joy?
I'm not Because faith rejoices no matter what.
Hey, man. So if you're in a place of
faith, then you can rejoice no matter what.
Well, you know when I first heard that it wasn't really a
joyful time in my life. Y'all heard my story, Some of it
last week I told Pastor Angie. I said I should have been put in
a mental institute after all I went through.
I said some other things too, but I won't tell you.
But anyway, according to how people Live Today and the weak
society that we have today. OK, so real biblical faith is
not weak. It's not weak.
It's not for the weak. It is not.
And to say that we are to live by it, we have to truly ask
ourselves with what am I doing when I'm encountering the
situations in life and does this look like biblical faith and
what the Bible tells me how I should be responding and acting
in this situation. That I'm walking through.
Amen. And he gives us everything we
need to be able to walk in faith.
Amen and to. Live this life of faith.
Amen. And so there is nothing new
under the sun and there is nothing that's different about
faith today than yesterday, because he's the same today,
right? Yesterday, today, and forever.
So if his bit if his definition of what faith was in the word of
God, it's the same definition of what it is today.
I don't care how watered down people try to make it right.
And so we have to look at what the Bible says concerning faith
and and we've been talking about that.
I just want to reiterate what faith we said how faith comes
true. Biblical faith comes from
hearing and hearing from the Word.
That's where true biblical faith comes from.
Not from your Instagram post, Not from whatever prophet so and
so said on Instagram. Not what grandma says, not what
the book of the author of the Word of Faith, whatever says it
is. No, it is what the Word says it
is. It's what the Word says it is,
and that's where we have to be. We have to get back to what the
Word says true biblical faith is.
I'm not living this life of faith on someone else's belief,
not living it on somebody else's belief.
I'm living it on the Word of God and what I believe.
Amen. Because this is where people get
in trouble. They start living their life
based upon what other people believe faith is instead of what
the Word of God says faith is, and build their life upon that.
And I'm seeing it happen in this day and in this hour that we're
living. And so we know that true
biblical faith can only come from the Word of God.
And we receive. We talked about this, we've been
talking about the measure of faith.
Every single one of us, the minute we believed in our heart
and confessed with our mouth that Jesus Christ is our Lord,
the seed of faith was deposited within our hearts.
We've all been given the measure of faith and it's up to each and
every one of us to determine what type of increase in our
faith wall we're going to receive.
Are we going to receive a 30 fold return?
Are we going to return us, receive a 60 fold return or are
we going to receive 100 fold return of the seed of the word
that been planted in our heart? It is up to each and every one
of us. We've all been given the measure
of faith and guess what? That measure of faith can
increase and it can grow. And it's up to us to say, I'm
going to, I'm going to get all that I can get.
Amen. It's up to us.
And the more faith that you want, guess what it's going to
require? The more word that's going to be
in your heart, the word more. Word that has to be in your
heart. The more word that has to be in
your heart. You know I I love people's books
and you know I love you know that people.
Have to start sometimes with little devotionals, but that
should never be, and I've said this, it should never replace
you personally reading the word of God for yourself cover to
cover. Amen.
Because even in devotionals and even in people's different
books, there's always going to be the thought process of the
person that's writing the book. You can't get away from it, OK,
period. And when you read little
devotionals and different things like that, it's always going to
be according to the way they believe in the word.
But the greatest thing you can do is learn how to discipline
yourself to be a disciple, a student of His Word, Amen, So
that then you can be assured that the Holy Spirit, who is the
great teacher who lives on the inside of you, can really teach
you the foundation of His Word, Amen.
Hallelujah. So our faith, true biblical
faith must be built upon this word.
And we've all been given the measure of faith, and it's up to
us if we want to see it increase.
And we said this, that faith is the currency of the Kingdom.
Faith is the exchange. Faith is the very thing that we
we had to have to be able to tap into heaven, Amen.
It's the very thing that we had to have to tap into heaven for
his Kingdom to come and show up in our life.
We had to exchange faith for that, Amen.
So the very way that we received from God our salvation is the
same way that we're going to receive every other promise from
God. We're going to have to hear the
Word, we're going to have to receive the Word, we're going to
have to believe the Word, and then we're going to have to act
upon the Word. And one way we act upon the Word
is we have to open up our mouth because the word would be in our
hearts and we'll release it from our mouth.
And that activates the exchange. OK, it activates the exchange so
every time. Anytime we see a promise in His
Word that belongs to us because we are supposed to walk by
faith, the righteous shall live by faith.
Amen. Then we are going to have to
believe it, speak it, and act upon it and whatever it is that
He gives us the direction to do in our lives, Amen.
For whatever it is that He we are to believe Him for, All
right? So we're going to have to act
upon it. We're going to have to speak it.
And I believe that we're in a season.
Where we're going to have to speak and declare His word more
than ever before, because the world has done a good job at
shutting up Christians and what they believe.
And therefore we are going to have to be more intentional to
speak forth the things that we believe and to declare the
things that God has said belongs to us, right?
He says that our business can prosper.
Then guess what? That should be a daily
confession in your life. You know, we've gotten away from
our confession because people say, oh, it's the blame it and
claim it group. So everybody quit claiming it.
Or blab it and grab it or whatever, I don't know.
Did I say it right? OK, So we're going to have to
increase our speaking in these this day that we're living, and
especially because of the pressure that is being put on
the church right now. All right, because of everything
that's going on in the world, I'm going to tell you it is
truly the church is being attacked.
I mean, and if you can't see that, then you are living in
another world, OK? And we are going to have to step
up in our confession and in the things that we believe God has
said that belong to us and being.
More purposeful to declare and decree some things, because
where the word of the King is, there's what.
Where the word of the King is, there's power.
And when we release His word, there is power backing it.
He will accomplish what His word was sent to do.
The Bible says Amen, There is power backing His word.
Come on. And we have to release it on
every occasion. More and more.
I just believe that we've gotten quiet.
And so This is why some things are at a standstill or a stall
in people's lives. But I guarantee you, if you
would just stir up your faith and get the scripture to stand
upon and start decreeing and declaring that this thing is
going to change and it has to change and it's going to change.
Come on. And I declare in Jesus name,
whatever it is, is going to change.
This is what you have to start doing so that we can start
seeing a breakthrough in some situations.
So we've all been given the measure of faith and we all are
to walk by this faith. We said that faith is according
to Scripture in Hebrews 11/1. Through through three.
Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction
and evidence of things not seen, right?
So we said this, that faith, when you break that out, is a
firm persuasion based on what you believe, what you accept as
truth, what you adhere to firmly, And it governs what you
think, what you say, and what you do.
Because if it's not governing what you think and what you say
and what you do, you are not in faith because that is the result
of you firmly believing it in your heart.
You're adhering to it. And you're letting that govern
your life by what you're thinking on, by what you're
saying, by what you're doing. Your actions will always fall in
line with what you believe. Your words will always fall in
alignment with what you believe you're thinking.
Your thought life will have to fall into alignment as you renew
your mind to what believe. So I'm not going to think faults
that are opposite of what His Word says, not going to think on
those thoughts that are opposite of what God's Word says.
I'm not going to think on cancer if He tells me by His stripes
I've been healed. I'm not going to think on blood
pressure come on controlling my life if he says by his stripes
I've been healed. And I'm doing what I know to do
even in the natural to be able to help that situation.
I'm listening and I'm yielding and I'm hearing what he says and
I'm not going to think on things because I'm firmly persuaded
that what God's Word says and it governs my life.
Amen. It is the substance of my life.
It is the foundation of my life. It is the what I have built my
life upon. It is the sure foundation or the
setting up under. That's what that word substance
means. Faith is what I live upon.
And true biblical faith comes
from the word of God. You know, I love.
I was kind of focusing on this today when I was studying and
meditating in Hebrews, you know, in Hebrews. 11 Let me just read
this because there's so much I could just continue to teach on
faith forever and ever and ever. But you know in Hebrews 11 when
you start reading that it says this now faith is the assurance.
This is another translation of things hoped for the.
Convictions of things not seen, for by it the men of old gained
approval by faith. We understand that the world's
were prepared by what the Word of God so that what is seen was
not made out of things which are visible.
And we talked about this faith is out of this world because
faith is unseen. It is not in this natural realm,
but it's built upon the Word. In Genesis 11 we said this is
that the earth was void, right and empty.
But then God spoke a word, let there be, and out of that word
became the visible. Out of the word became let there
be light. When He said let there be light,
His power was released. He spoke it and guess what
happened? He spoke the word and the Word
created the substance of what we can see.
So the Word of God is what is the substance of faith, the Word
of God and He created the world in any everything in it by His
Word. So I'm going to tell you
whatever we need to create in our lives is going to be upheld
and created by what we hear. Faith comes from hearing and
hearing from the word of God and the word will create what it is
that we are believing for. Hallelujah, glory to God and
look. And I was reading through
Hebrews, even in Hebrews chapter.
I have it here somewhere because I didn't know where I wanted to
go tonight in Hebrews chapter. I thought I put it on here.
Hebrews chapter 4. I believe it is no.
Hebrews one. Hebrews 11 and three.
Listen to this God after He spoke long ago to the fathers in
the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last
days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of
all things, through whom also He made the world.
And He and His radiance of His glory and the exact
representation of His nature and upholds all things by what the
word of His power. He upholds everything by the
word of his power. His word has power to create
whatever it is that we will believe him for.
Hallelujah, glory to God and there's power backing it.
There's power backing it, supernatural power.
Our faith is out of this world. We are to get the supernatural
on this natural realm and create what it is that God says we can
have. Hallelujah, and it's all done by
faith. He says it's impossible to
please him without faith. Impossible to please him without
faith. Amen.
So we have to stir ourselves up to realizing that, listen,
things are not going to change. Because the bottom line is we're
just not really in faith. We are not firmly persuaded that
God can do what he says He can do with our marriages, with our
family, come on, with our finances, whatever it is.
We just are not firmly persuaded and that's the reality.
We are not living true biblical faith.
And there's got to be a a check because I'm going to tell you in
these last days and the way, why do you think he says in the last
days when I return, will I find what in the earth?
Will I find faith in the earth, true biblical faith in the
earth? Or is it the faith that man has
created that we just can run around and be all joyful and go
to a faith conference and say, oh, we were in faith, we
shouted, we rejoiced and we ran and yet get out and our lives
are not changed. Things are not different.
Come on. Our faith was not to be in the
run and in the dance and in the shout.
Our faith was to be in the Word of God and what the Word says.
I'm telling you, we got to shake ourselves, Hallelujah, because
we are just truly not firmly persuaded that what God says He
can do. That's just the bottom line.
You know, look at the life we talked about this last week.
Looking at the life of Abraham. He was the Father of faith and
the perfect example. We talked about this, and he was
willing at God's Word to sacrifice the Son that he had
believed God for. He was willing to sacrifice the
very thing that he had to believe for, right?
This was being required of him to test his faith to.
See, are you going to walk this out in the earth, Abraham?
So of course God had a provision for him because he saw that his
heart was willing and obedient to do whatever the Lord had told
him to do, even though he had believed God for the promised
son, right, for the promised son.
He, I mean, he was firmly persuaded.
And we know, and one when you read about Abraham, he was
firmly persuaded that God would just have to raise him from the
dead, even though he had never seen a resurrection and never
even had heard of a resurrection.
He was firmly persuaded. Well, God, God promised me, God
promised me that he would be the inheritance and he would be the
one, come on. So I believe God that he must
going to be able to raise him from the dead.
He had faith in God because, see, that's what real faith will
be, that you are firmly persuaded in who God is and who
God is. And who God is, that he is all
sufficient. Who God is?
I think we've forgotten who God really is.
Do we really believe who He really is?
He is all powerful. He is everything.
He can do anything. Come on, we got to stir
ourselves up, Hallelujah and knowing that God is able to do
and uphold all things by His Word.
Come on, he's still got the world.
We sing it. He has the whole world what he's
upholding. He's upholding this whole world
by his word. By his word, he's upholding it.
And no matter what goes on, he will have the final say.
He's going to have the final say.
Hallelujah, he's going to have the final say.
It doesn't matter what things look like.
Come on. Because we are not supposed to
live by sight. Faith does not live by sight.
Faith lives in the unseen meaning.
It don't seem like this is ever going to change.
It don't seem like the finances are going to be there.
It don't seem like, come on. But I don't walk by what I see
or what it seems. I walk by faith and what His
word says. Amen.
Hallelujah. Glory to God.
So we are to operate in a whole nother realm, and we've got to
get this as believers in this day, in this hour that we're
living in, I'm telling you, it's time for us to raise up in our
thinking, rise up in our walk with the Lord, because we are
not to live in this realm. Come on, we're right.
Not of this world. We're not supposed to live by
this realm and what we see. We are supposed to live out of
this world with our faith. Amen.
And I'm going to tell you the only way you're going to do that
is by the word. And being firmly persuaded in
who God is. And who God is and in your
relationship with the Lord, because I feel like many people
have gotten away from really discovering who God is because
you just love him, you just. Serve want to serve him.
It doesn't matter about anything else.
I just love him and I want to serve him.
I love him and I want to serve him.
So to love him is to love His word and get to know Him.
And when you know him, listen. When you know him, then you'll
trust him. When you know him, then you will
believe every word that comes out of his mouth.
You'll believe him because he is not a man that he should lie.
He is not like all of these other lion people.
I mean, come on. And they'll lie to you.
They lie right up in the church, straight to your face.
Even born again believers just lie straight to your face.
So what does that do to us? Put stuff in our psyche that God
must lie or that he can't be true to his promises, right?
No, God is not a man that he should lie.
And this is what we have to begin to start re resurfacing in
our relationship with him. You know what, Lord, I just love
you and I trust you and and and the promises that you said
belong to me. I thank you.
I trust you. I walk in faith and believe you
know God and and will do whatever you need me to do just
because I love you. It's not because of anything
else. It's not because of anything
else. It's not.
I don't have a relationship with you so I can get a.
Better a bigger. House and a better car and all
these things. No, I love you because of who
you are, because you are faithful and true.
But. If because of who you?
Are says that there are things that belong to me, then I want
you to navigate me in those areas because I want to receive
all that you said belongs to me. Hallelujah.
You know, so we need to get back to what is this thing really
about? What is this thing really about?
I'm going to tell you, you know, this life of faith is not for
weak people. It's not it's not for weak
people. True biblical faith is not for
weak people. I want to talk about the
characteristics of faith because I want you to see what the.
Word. Says that faith looks like we
know that, he said. Faith is a firm persuasion, a
confident expectation, something that I adhere to, that I allow
to govern my life, meaning my everyday walk with him.
This thing is not just about Sundays and Wednesdays to come
in here and have a good dance and have a good shout, have a
good worship. This, this thing is about you
receiving the engrafted word of God.
Which is able to save your soul? What is your soul?
Your mind and your will and emotions, it is able to get
placed within your hearing and within your heart so that you
can actually activate faith in what the word was spoken so that
you can walk it out in your everyday life.
And you can be an overcomer and, and, and, and you need to thank
God every day that you have the seed of His word in your heart
and every day saying thank you, Lord, that I have the mind of
Christ because I am not going to fall into, come on the thinking
of this world because it is insane.
Not going to do it, not going to believe a word I'm not going to.
I am seeing, I mean just the depravity of man right in things
and. And, and we have to be real
about what does true biblical faith look like.
Let me read you a couple of scriptures here.
Hebrews 10/23 says this. Let us hold fast the confession
of our hope or faith without wavering, for He who promised is
faithful. We have to be those that are
going to hold fast to the confession of our faith.
Because I'm going to tell you we are living in an hour where
people's faith is being shaken. People are thinking and
believing crazy, not in alignment with His word at all.
And we have to have discernment in these last days.
So He's telling us, listen, we're going to have to hold fast
the confession of our faith. We're going to have to hold fast
in what we believe. That means we're going to have
to have a grip on it because the enemies out there trying to get
us to loosen up our grip of what we believe and how we believe to
be able to lay down to all of these agendas that the world is
pushing. And, and what's sad is I'm
seeing so many believers getting caught up in it, so many
Christians getting caught up in, in all of these agendas and all
of these lies. All of these things that are
being pushed in our world and the number one reason why is
because they are illiterate of the word of God.
And you're and you're thinking, how can that be in the world
that we're living in, the nation that we're in with a church on
every corner, with, you know, all the availability of all
these things because people are not firmly persuaded and what
they believe, they're letting all of these other belief
systems mix in with what they think they believe.
Mixture. Oh, OK.
Well, I can see how. Yeah.
They're giving in to all these
things because they don't want to be staunch on the just what
does the word say? I mean, I don't even see that in
the word. So I don't even know this crazy
thought that you're even thinking, Right.
Because it's not in the word. You're thinking wrong.
So we're going to have to hold fast the confession of our faith
without wavering. That means there's going to be
opportunity for you to waver. That's good.
Faith has a firm grip. It's not something that's weak.
No, when you are firmly persuaded, you have a firm grip
on that thing that you believe and you're not.
Nothing's going to be able to shake you off of it without
wavering, it says without wavering, without being tossed,
without come on, you got to hold on to it.
You know they talk about, you know Pastor Hagen would always
talk about a bulldog. When a bulldog latches on to
something, you have to beat that dog off of it, right?
A pit bull, you have to beat it off and you could literally
could probably beat it to death. I've never seen it happen and
it's still. Going to hold on, right?
And that's the firm grip we're talking about here.
Hold. Fast to your confession of
faith. Hold fast to the thing that you
believe without wavering. That means you're not going to
waver in the midst of what it is you're having to hold fast too.
And that's being firmly persuaded that nothing's going
to move me. It's not going to get me off of
what I believe. I don't care what is being said.
I don't care what is happening. I'm not going to be moved off of
what I know God has said. Look at Hebrews 10/20. 3/3/20.
Five in the. Amplified.
I want to read it, so let us seize.
And hold fast and retain without wavering the hope or faith we
cherish and confess, and our acknowledgement of it.
For he who promised is reliable, He is sure and faithful to his
own word. Come on, let us not get,
consider, and give attentive, continuous care to watching over
one of study how or studying how we should stir up and stimulate
and insight to love and helpful deeds and noble activities.
Not forsaking or neglecting the assembling of ourselves
togethers as believers, as is the habit of some, but
admonishing, warning, urging and encouraging one another, and all
the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.
So the only way that we are not going to be able to waver and
not lose grip is to be in the word.
But also so be in the House of the Lord with one another
assembling together. And he says all the more we
should be reminding people. And now we're living in a world
and in a society today, you know, that does not want to
assemble because of COVID. And it had started before that
actually. But anyway, you know, they don't
want to assemble it. They want to watch it online and
in their own. But I'm going to tell you, you
are not going to make it in this last day on your own.
You need the body, you need the church, you need one another.
We are connected to one another and that's what's going to help
stimulate us in times where we are having to hold fast.
There's going to be someone else connected to you that can what
help hold on to you as well. But if you get off by yourself,
you're out there for the wolves to come in, take you off and all
the craziness of the world, you're going to be right out
there for their disposal. Amen.
So faith holds fast says hold fast.
That does not sound like a weak person to me.
Faith holds fast holds fast. Hallelujah, it doesn't lose its
grip, but it stays firmly gripped upon the promise of God.
Amen, it says Second Corinthians 1/2 when he says this, for all
of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ, where it
says yes and Amen. Amen.
All of His promises are yes and Amen.
And I'm going to tell you that's what we have to stand on.
I believe God no matter what, no matter what.
I'm going to hold fast to my confession of faith and I'm
going to stay put. I'm going to stay with a firm
grip on the Word of God. Faith endures.
This is number 2. Faith endures.
Faith is not weak, say faith is not weak.
Faith endures. Faith endures.
Listen to what Hebrews 1035 and 36 says Therefore do not
castaway your confidence, which has great reward, for you have
need of endurance, so that your so that after you have done the
will of God, you may receive the promise.
So faith endures, OK, endurance. What does it mean?
The power of enduring a difficult situation.
So that means we're going to be in difficult situations, but
those that are firmly persuaded, those that have true biblical
faith are ones that can endure the situation.
They can endure the circumstance.
They can endure or outlast whatever it is that's going on
that the enemy is trying to get them off of.
They're going to be able to endure through it.
So you need to say my faith endures, my faith endures.
Listen to what it says. Also, the power of enduring a
difficult situation or the capacity of something that is
able to last and withstand the capacity we've all been given,
the measure of faith. We all have the capacity to
endure whatever the difficult situation is that we are
encountering. Amen.
Period. And with and and outlast it and
withstand and get the victory on the other end.
We can endure it and go through it and win.
Amen. Hebrews 12/1 and two says.
Therefore, since we have such a a great a cloud of witnesses
surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and sin
which easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the
race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the
Author and the what perfector of our faith.
Hallelujah. Who for the joy set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the
right hand of the throne of God. Hallelujah.
So He was able to endure the cross.
So this scripture is letting us know because He was able to
endure the cross, that means we can endure in the race that
we're running, period. And we can have joy in it
because faith rejoices even in the difficult situations.
Faith rejoices. I'm going to say it till it
hurts you like it hurt me. Faith rejoices.
Come on, even in the middle of the difficult situation, you
should still have joy. Come on.
What did James say? Count it all joy when you enter
into come on trials and tribulations and circumstances.
Because the person that is firmly persuaded, come on,
firmly persuaded in a position of faith that I'll be able to
endure this and come out on the other side.
So I might as well rejoice and be excited about the my test is
being proven. Come on, my faith, my faith is
being proven. Hallelujah.
No matter what the situation is, no matter how difficult it is,
what it looks like. I mean, y'all heard some of my
testimony. That was just a little snippet.
I mean just a little snippet and I was thinking this was really
the 1st 4 years of our marriage. I mean talk about God doing a
whammy on me. I mean, you know, I just wanted
to love the Lord and serve the Lord and and have a Great
American Christian life. You know, my husband go to
church, me go to church, raise my family in church, live in a a
nice house with a white picket fence where he worked a job nine
to five. And lo and behold, just because
I love the Lord and was going to church, he did this to me.
He turned my world upside down. And I'm going to tell you in the
midst of that tipsy topsy upside down.
It was not fun at all. You know, Pastor heard us me
telling about his little bike story.
Well, he reminded me, he said, yeah, Marcie, don't forget the
the the pedal flew off on me too.
Not just the wheel. The pedal.
Broke off one day when he was
riding that bike to the cemetery and so.
But you know, y'all heard that I prayed in the Holy Ghost, and
I'm firmly persuaded that that's the only thing that delivered me
from my problems. Because when you don't know how
you ought to pray, you go pray in the Holy Ghost, and he's
going to deliver me out of my troubles.
And he did. It got us back to Florida and
then the troubles began again. Right and.
So we moved in with. His mom and he got a job and you
know, we were there for, you know, a little while, maybe 6 to
9 months. But praying in the Holy Ghost.
He still didn't know I prayed in the Holy Ghost and got us out of
that hell pit. And you know, I had not told him
still to to that day, you know, and so.
Then we get back to. Florida and we're still living
with his mom and you know, he got a job so we were getting
back on our feet and we moved. He actually, I think at that
time got back in the National Guard because he had gotten out,
you know, when we moved to Georgia.
And so he got back in the National Guard and we got into a
place in Stark, moved back to Stark, which I lived there for a
season of my life. And so we were living in Stark
in this house. We had just moved in.
And lo and behold, this is after we were going to the Baptist
Church with his mom, at living with her.
We were going to the Baptist Church.
And you know, he, we always served in church because that's
what you do. So we were serving and he was
going to work with the youth and do some stuff.
And then the elders started telling him, well, you know, you
can't talk like that with the teenagers.
You can't talk about the devil and you know, blah, blah, blah.
So he had a little run in with the elders.
Well, by thou, now my husband's discouraged because, you know,
he's thinking he's going. We left the cemetery and now the
Baptist Church kicked him out because they didn't want them
talking about the devil to the teenagers.
And so he's discouraged. He's down and out and.
We're. Moved into this place in Stark
and next thing I know we get a knock on the door and this guy
shows up and he said, Hey, I heard a pastor lives here and
and he said, well, I'm not a pastor yet, you know, and
everything. And he said, well, I'm a pastor
of an Assemblies of God church. So then I told him, I said, well
babe, I really think since you're so discouraged with this
Baptist stuff, I want to tell you I believe what these
Assembly of God people believe because I actually speak in
tongues. And.
So my confession is starting now, you know, And I said, and I
think we need to try this church out, you know, and so we went to
the church and the first thing the pastor talks about is being
filled with the Holy Ghost. This is in 1995.
And so, you know, my husband and this pastor connected and, and
met early in the morning on his way to to work every morning,
like at 5:00 AM in the morning. And he walked him through the
scriptures and showed him the revelation of being filled with
the Holy Ghost. And he got filled with the Holy
Ghost. Amen.
So I'm going to tell you, if you are not filled with the Holy
Ghost, you need the Holy Ghost because He will save your life
from the pit of hell. Seriously.
So I'm totally, totally, totally convinced that's what got us out
of that situation. And we got and we got into this
church and he got filled with the Holy Ghost and we started
serving there and things began to happen for our life because
we're actually filled with the Holy Ghost and are learning now
how to be led by the Spirit and not by sight.
Oh, well, we think we should go to this school because so and
so's going to this school. We didn't know.
He didn't know for sure, right,
Because he wasn't filled with the Holy Ghost.
He was just doing what he thought he should do in the
natural. But then you get you figure out,
oh, now we have to be led by the Spirit of God, and this is what
the Holy Spirit is for. But anyway, so those were still
difficult times of US navigating, you know, where we
were supposed to be. And you know, the 1st 12 years
of our marriage, we moved 22 times, all because God called
us. We didn't really know what we
were doing, didn't know what we were doing, but we did know His
word, and we did know that His word was the best for our life.
Because we sure didn't want what our lives were before, right?
And so we were learning how to get to know God through his.
Word. And letting him navigate us into
the places that we were supposed to be.
And because we were led and, and God brought that pastor to our
doorstep, straight to our door. Find out even though he's an
assembly, he's a God pastor. He graduated from Rhema Bible
Training College and he told my husband, he said, which is a
whole nother story that I do not have time to talk about even in
the midst of that learning process of being at that church
for from 95 to 98 we were there. So whole scenario situation, but
what was I saying? Rhema, Rhema, yes, he was a
Rhema graduate and so he taught, he said to my husband, he said
if you really believe you're called to the ministry, you need
to go to Rhema, you need to go to Rhema.
And we have 3 kids at this time, you know, just getting settled
back in with him having a job back in the guard and you know,
three years and now he's talking about wanting to pick up, sell
everything, pick up and go to Oklahoma.
I'm from Florida. Georgia's one thing, South
Carolina's one thing. It's still the South.
Y'all going out to the West to Oklahoma.
That's a whole nother ball game. But so that was a whole nother
challenge and we had no money. I mean, we're in.
Listen, guys, we are like 23. The first four years of our
marriage we're in. I mean, I'm 23 years old.
So by the time I go to Rhema, I'm like 28.
We're young, three kids, and I feel like I've already lived 9
lives. Because that is not even the
rest of the story. So.
But anyway, all of this was a journey of my life.
Of faith in God and being led by Him.
The best we knew how to be when we didn't know the ABC's of
faith and we didn't know spirit, soul and body and how to be
hearing from the Holy Spirit and how to yield to the Holy Spirit.
So what I'm saying is God can do it in you if we would just take
time to be students of his word. And that's the thing we did.
We just read his word every day. We prayed every day and in that,
that's how God was navigating our life, not knowing all along
that we really had true biblical faith and we really were being
LED sometimes by the Spirit, but there was a lot of mistakes
along the way. But I do know this.
He got us to Rhema and that changed our life forever.
Changed our life forever. But we had nothing.
We sold everything, packed up our three kids and moved out to
Rhema. No job thinking we had an
apartment that ended up being a sublease moved in to an
apartment that the owner or the apartment people didn't even
know that these other people that had leased it was
subleasing it to us. And so that was a whole debacle.
We show up in the middle of the night and have to, you know,
deal with that situation. The the very next day got all of
our money stolen out of my wallet because I left my wallet
and someone stole all of our cash that we owned it to our
name but they left our Rhema check.
We had a check that was given to us our tuition for our first
year Rhema for 3050 something dollars.
They didn't steal the check but they stole all the cash.
So guess what? We had to walk by faith and
believe God the first day of arriving in Oklahoma.
But God? But God, Hallelujah.
No job, no money. And you know what we didn't do?
We did not call home. We didn't call a friend.
No, if God called us out here, then guess what?
By faith He is going to take care of us.
Now. He had to remind me of that
because I'm in mom mode. I got my kids to feed, you know.
So all of this is a life and a journey of faith in God.
This is believing God, walking by faith, and walking this thing
out that God is asking us. To do every day.
Where things don't look right, things aren't right, you have
nothing but this. And do you know this is what he
wants us to live on, period, Period.
We're to live by the Word of God, to live by faith, and when
we are in a place that we are walking out what He is asking
and requiring of us in situations that seem difficult
and contrary to what we can see, you can be assured your God is
going to come through for you. And He can do it again and again
and again and again and again and again, if you will only
believe that His Word is forever settled.
And I'm going to tell you that is an uncomfortable life to
live. And that is why most Christians
don't live a true biblical faith life.
Because it is uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable even today.
It's, it ain't easy, but it's easy in Him because our faith
has increased. Your faith should be increasing
because you've seen the faithfulness of God time and
time and time and time and time and time and time again.
Amen. Hallelujah.
So it was able my. Faith, our faith was able to
endure. I have to share these
testimonies with you because I'm going to tell you our faith can
endure in whatever situation you are in if you just do not quit.
If you don't quit, if you just stay in the Word and you stay
believing and you stay doing exactly what God is asking and
requiring of you, you can be assured that your faith will
endure the difficult situation in the midst of you holding fast
to the confession of your faith. Amen.
Hallelujah. Let's read a couple more and
then we'll be done. Highly.
If you have to go, you have to go.
But y'all are y'all are listening.
Good. So Hallelujah.
Glory to God, so faith that endures.
Hallelujah. Listen to.
James, I want to read it we quoted it James 1-2 and eight
consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter
various trials, knowing that the testing of.
Your faith produces what endurance?
Endurance. Your faith is being tested to
prove out your endurance with Him.
Do you know people have quit on God so many times?
They were not able to endure the difficult situation and they
bailed on God and said God couldn't do it, but really He
was testing where they were really at.
Do you really believe me in the midst of this situation?
Will you stay and hold fast to your confession of faith?
Will you believe that I can do the impossible?
We can sing about it all day long, but nobody wants to walk
it out anymore. And there's work that's being
done within your life as a believer when we allow our faith
to be tested right so that we can be those that will produce
endurance. It says let your endurance have
it's perfect result so that you would be perfect and complete,
lacking nothing. But many people quit.
And their endurance is not perfected.
And guess what, you going to go through it one more time.
Or. Another time.
And This is why we see cycles in people's lives as Christians.
This is why we see cycles because they will not let their
faith have that perfect work and endure through the difficult
times that this is difficult in my life and I really need to
deal with this issue that I am dealing with and I need to let
God do it. I need to let my faith work in
this situation, but. Because I won't endure the pain,
and because I won't endure the difficulty of having to deal
with myself. So we fake it and then guess
what? It comes back around and you're
dealing with the same thing the next year and the same thing the
next year because you're not firmly persuaded, you are not in
a firm position of faith in whatever it is that's going on,
period, Period. He wants to do some things
within people's lives and they resist.
I mean, don't you know that? I listen?
I didn't say this last week, but.
When we were in South Carolina one night, we only had one
vehicle. He was working and I
contemplated. I wanted to pick.
I wanted to get my kids up in the middle of the night and
leave while he was at work to see I was raised to leave.
We've all been there. I wanted to leave and I was in
this mode about, you know, he's at work and I'm supposed to pick
him up at a certain time. I ain't picking him up.
I'm done with this. I didn't ask for this.
God, I don't even know what you think you're doing.
So I said I'm going to let the kids get to sleep, I'm going to
put them in the van, and I'm going to drive myself right back
to Florida. And Oh well, for him.
I mean, I was taught divorce is no big deal.
Went through it many times. So I had a choice to make.
Am I going to continue the cycle or am I going to endure the pain
of the crucifixion of my will and the crucifixion of my flesh
and of what I want and what I wanted for my life?
Or am I going to submit to the plan of God, the purpose of God,
even though I had no understanding of what was
happening? And if I would have quit and I
would have bailed, that wouldn't be what we see today, I can
assure you of that. So everybody in their walk of
faith has decisions to make. Whether we going to submit our
will to what he wants to really do and go through the pain and
whatever it is the. Cost to be able to.
Walk. In the freedom of what God has
planned for our life before we were ever in our mother's womb
that in the midst of everything. I had no clue what I was doing
in my life, but God had a plan and I could have thwarted it and
wanted to multiple times and said it so much.
Told him if he didn't like it he could hit the road.
I wanted to divorce and he said don't you ever say that again in
our house and I had a real good learning to do there called
submission and biting my tongue. Right.
So all of these things are God doing works within our lives
that we can resist. And the bottom line is our faith
will not work and be perfected the way that he wants it to be.
And we'll have a false sense of faith or reality, false sense of
reality, when that is not true. Biblical faith.
Biblical faith was put in your life to be able to help you
overcome everything, everything within your life, every dynamic,
every situation, anything that you are walking through and how
you are walking and the way it. Works is you reading the word
and seeing. Oh, I don't have to actually
live in a life of insecurity and rejection.
Oh, I don't have to actually live a life of fear.
Oh, I don't have to actually live a life addicted to
something. Oh, I don't have to actually
live a life where I can't have a happy marriage.
And so therefore I'm going to let God do his perfect work
within me, and I'm going to do it.
All by faith. I had to do it by faith, period.
And what did He say? He said this, that you would be
tested, though by fire may be found, result in praise and
glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And though you have not seen Him, you love Him.
And though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you
greatly rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of glory,
attaining as the outcome of your faith and the salvation of your
souls. Amen.
Hallelujah. We better end.
Let me just read off what these other ones are and we'll talk
about them next Wednesday. Faith contends.
True biblical faith contends. I'm telling you, faith is not
weak. Faith contends.
Faith fights. Come on.
Faith stands firm. You see what true biblical faith
looks like. It is not an easy thing.
It is not a weak thing to actually be in a life of faith.
These are the postures and characteristics of faith.
So that means whatever he's saying, faith looks like I'm
going to be in those positions and actually demonstrate that
I'm going to have to stand. When I've done all the stand,
I'm going to stand. I don't care that I've stood for
the last 15 years of believing God for a family member.
I don't care that I've stood for the last whatever believing for
breakthrough in my finances. I don't care when you've done
all to stand. You stand firm on what you
believe so that you can begin to see the reality of it.
But when you what did he says I have no fat pleasure in those
that shrink back from their faith.
Hebrew says that too. I don't have any pleasure in
people that shrink back. And what happens when you get in
a difficult situation as well? What do you want to do?
You want to shrink back? You want to pull back?
Oh, no, God, I can't go there. No, you can't touch that one
thing. You want to pull back.
Instead of just pressing on in and saying, come on, let's do
this thing by faith, I'm going to whip it once and for all.
I'm going to overcome it once and for all.
I'm going to walk through this situation once and for all.
The way that you said I can walk through it.
Faith continues. Faith continues.
Because where He is faithful, we can be faithful and we can
continue in whatever it is that He is requiring and asking of
us. Faith is firmly established.
That means we are immovable. Faith is firmly established.
My life is built upon. The Rock.
It's built upon the rock and it cannot be moved.
When the winds and the waves come come on, and the rain, all
of it comes, guess what's not moving?
Not me, because I'm built upon the rock.
So faith can continue on and be faithful.
Whatever it is that He is requiring and asking of us, we
can be firmly established and built upon the Word of God.
Faith considers Him always faithful.
Always faithful because, he says even when we are faithless, He
is faithful. He's faithful.
No matter what, he's faithful. Guess what else faith overcomes
and has the victory. You know what else we've already
said? This faith will rejoice in the
midst of trials and tribulations.
Faith will rest. When you are truly, firmly
persuaded your faith in your faith, there will be rest within
your soul. Faith rest.
There will be rest. You will be at peace.
You will be at rest. You know what?
I'm not worried about it. Not a single day.
Because my God. My God, come on.
Faith only believes. Faith doesn't doubt.
Faith is unwavering. Come on, faith.
Will do what the impossible says cannot be done.
Hallelujah. Things may look impossible, but
I'm going to tell. You, if you are firmly persuaded
in your heart and you begin to speak to that thing, whatever it
is, the impossible situation can turn around.
I'm telling you it can turn around this.
Is a true look at what faith looks like.
Straight from the word of God, nothing else.
Straight from the Word and we have.
To I want to read this last scripture which it says we have
to ask ourselves 2nd Corinthians 13 five test yourselves to see
if you are in faith. We have to not this fairy tale
of what you think you're in if you don't have all of these
attributes of faith working in your life, if you're not
standing firm, if you're not holding fast your confession, if
you're not believing God, if you're not rejoicing, come on.
If you're wavering, if you're in fear, all these things, if
you're not enduring in the. Situation that seems difficult.
You can know that you're not firmly persuaded.
That's just the bottom line. You're not firmly persuaded,
you're not in a real position of faith.
So he tells us we are to test ourselves to see if we're in
faith. Examine yourself.
Or do you not recognize this about yourself, that Christ?
Jesus is in you. Amen.
And unless indeed you fail the test, Hallelujah.
Test yourself to see. Are there these doubts?
Are you wavering? Are you walking by what you see?
Are you walking by sight? All of these.
Things we can ask ourselves and we can say, you know what?
I'm, I'm pretty much, I got that one, that one and that one.
But you know what? You're right.
I'm not firmly persuaded. I need to do this.
I need to stand firm, whatever, because it's very clear what he
says faith looks like. And it's not our opinion or what
we think. It's what His Word says faith
looks like, what its attributes are, its characteristics.
Amen according to the Word of God.
Amen. Hallelujah.
Do you believe God? Do you have faith?
Come on, do you have faith? Hallelujah, glory to God.
Well, then you can rejoice and be glad in that, that you have
the faith of God. You have the God kind of faith,
Hallelujah. And you know what that means?
Nothing is impossible for those who believe nothing, no matter
what it is, no matter what's going on, nothing is impossible
because I have the God kind of faith.
I'm going to exercise that faith.
I'm going to do that faith. I'm going to walk in that faith,
and I'm going to see the promises of God in my life.
Hallelujah, Thank you so much for listening to this message.
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