Trusting God through every season, prayer, and the daily walk of worship.
Knowing God exposes you to the greatest power. With God nothing is impossible. With God, every promise is guaranteed. God can not even be compared to those miserable and weak forces that people relied on before Jesus came. Therefore, after knowing God, it is expected that you cannot even consider going back to the obviously weak and miserable forces. How can you turn back to weak and miserable forces?
When troubles occur we ask so many questions. We ask why it is us who must suffer. We wonder how long it will last. We even question why a loving God would allow this. We sometimes feel our life has just been all trouble.
In our text today Paul tells us that in our outward visible life we suffer greatly. Outwardly we are wasting away. Outwardly we are thoroughly beaten. Then the Apostle writes that, but inside is the opposite of the outside. On the inside, we are getting renewed and strengthened daily. How is your inside?
Faith faces the reality that saying no to sexual advances may cost me dating partners. Faith faces the reality that honesty and integrity may cost me the favor of my bosses. Faith faces the reality and the obvious harm, then faith walks in the opposite direction of that reality believing that God will make the impossible possible. Faith faces the reality and then walks in the opposite direction!
You can’t work hard enough to please God. God has to enable you to please Him. Without God you can’t or it is of no effect. Without God you can give tithes and offerings but it elicits no sense of satisfaction. You can’t work for salvation!
The evidence of conversion is not just understanding the teachings of the church and active participation. The evidence of conversion must include a generous giving to support the mission of the church. You are not truly converted if you are reluctant to support the mission of the church you have joined. Your conversion is fake if your giving is tokenism. If you believe in it you finance it!
When outright evil and corrupt people keep succeeding, do not despair, it won’t be long. Their current success is a setup they can only escape by repentance. Without repentance, when evil will eventually be exposed, it will be too late to repent. When evil succeeds, it is a setup!
You cannot pray for something and hang around acting and speaking doubt. The one praying to God must act in faith as if God has already granted it. Go rejoicing before finding out if your prayer has been answered. Take God at His word! If you take God at His word, you will depart after prayer. Have you departed?
Jesus crossed barriers to reach this woman. The woman also crossed barriers to reach Jesus. She had to cross the tribal hostility barrier. She had to cross the shame barrier by going publicly announcing in her city that Jesus had exposed her secrets. To make progress you must break barriers!