Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Spirit Savvy Network ... With faith all things are possible

by Dale Shumaker

2. With faith all things are possible                             

"Nothing will be impossible for you" with faith. Jesus said it. It's a very bold claim. And Jesus is the son of God and He is telling us when we even have very small faith, nothing will be impossible. When Jesus says this He was explaining to His disciples why they couldn't cast out an evil spirit from a person.  He said it was their lack of faith. With Faith, "nothing will be impossible for you." (Some manuscripts add with prayer and fasting. See Matthew 17.)

This is a tremendous declaration by Jesus and most certainly worth thoughtful consideration, but  more than that, daily reliance on. What we are about, our mission begins with faith, believing it can, and it will happen.

God gives us a Magnificent mission. It is bigger than us. If you master this one quality, Faith, all things will be possible for you, when you believe. What God asks you to put your energy, time, talent to, it will be done... when you master Faith.

Will I find faith on the earth when I return, Jesus asks. Did you have faith, belief, undeniable belief that what you see and hope for will happen? Faith is the trigger that fires the powers of Heaven to earth. (see Luke 18)  

Faith is having belief in the vision of your mission that God has given you. It is seeing it in your imagination, and believing it will certainly happen. We all can dream something, but the belief it will happen takes faith. We believe it can happen when we are certain God's Spirit gave us the idea, commissioned us to do it. When we are absolutely certain of this, His Spirit goes before us.

Your Magnificent Mission is driven by faith. Faith is seeing the outcome of your mission, in its most ideal form. You see it vividly in your mind. You live in the excitement of what you see can and will happen. You think about it all the time.

Faith is seeing your life through God's eyes. Seeing what He has made you for, what His purpose for you is, and what mission He designed... just for you.

When we live only in the limitations of our own ability, we may lose heart in anything we set out to do. When we live in God's vision for us, see that vision, and see Him there helping us, it ingrains courage and feeling of being unstoppable. Sometimes we may not see progress but with faith in His Spirit we continually keep forging ahead.

God with us is a powerful sustainer, regardless of trying circumstances, faith in Him maintains us,  keeps us on course. Jesus said He would be with us always. Jesus said He would sent the Spirit to help us. The Bible has claim after claim of God being with us while we are living out the mission He inspires us to do, has prepared us to do, has made us to do. His mighty, unmatchable Spirit will be with us as we do it.

As you cultivate your mission, faith is the key to keep you going regardless of what is going on around you. The Scriptures say the righteous live by faith, living in the excitement of His vision for you. We see it so strong, so clear in our imaginations, we are driven by what we know it will be and can do for mankind.

Obstacles don't cause us to give up, they may delay us, but we never give up. The noble nature of what we are doing energizes us to continually advance forward when life throws obstacles at us. Actually, setbacks and challenges build our faith as we work through them. In them we build faith muscle. We get stronger in faith to conquer even bigger challenges that we may face ahead.

It's a vigorously-strong, ever-growing force that moves our minds, fuels our spirit, keep us moving up to higher levels when things go well, and inbreeds in us an unexplainable capability to overcome when things may go wrong.

The Devil's scheme is to make us dwell on the fear of failing. In Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill he says the devil's two secret strategies to defeat us are fear of failure, and not having a clear view of our direction in life. The devil wins when he can get us off track, and discourage us so we quit. If we don't quit, we win.

Faith overpowers fear and aimless living. To outwit the negativity of the mind (our devil), we fill it with vision of what can be, and are driven by the power of the image of what our Magnificent Mission will do when accomplished. What we believe and ask God for will come about when we can see it, know it, feel it actually happening (in our imagination before it happens), that's faith. (see Hebrews 11)

With Faith, we don't have to know how, we just know, with complete confidence in God, that He will

George Muller was a man of great faith. He built several orphanages in the mid to late 1800's on faith. Here's one acclaimed story about his faith.

"The children are dressed and ready for school. But there is no food for them to eat," the housemother of the orphanage informed George Mueller. George asked her to take the 300 children into the dining room and have them sit at the tables. He thanked God for the food and waited. George had an unbudging belief God would provide food for the children. Soon there was a knock at the door. It was a baker. "Mr. Mueller," he said, "last night I could not sleep. I felt an urgency to bake some bread for you. So I got up and baked three batches for you. I will bring it in."

Shortly thereafter there was another knock at the door. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. The milk would spoil by the time the wheel was fixed. So he asked George if he could use the milk. He would give it to them. George smiled as the milkman brought in ten large cans of milk. It was just enough for the 300 thirsty children. (from Christianity.com)

Do this.
Write down your Magnificent Mission vision, make it clear on paper, or your computer. Email it to a few trusted people. Tell others about it. The more clearly you see it, the more conviction you have in sharing in it. The more you share it with others, more your conviction builds, building faith. Be careful at first to only share it with trusted friends who love and support you.( see Habakkuk 2)

Meet with one or two others on a regular basis to talk about your mission, pray about the vision. Share the inspired thoughts you get after praying. In faith, act on it.

To build your faith, go to a Bible website (e.g., Bible Gateway) and type in the word "faith or believe or trust" in the keyword search. Note all the places it comes up and how it is used. Write down or store in your cell phone some of the verses that inspire you, that impress on you how Great God is. Recite them often. Read them frequently, memorize them and recite them to yourself daily. Our faith is based on God's Power. Keep reminding yourself it is by His Power and not just yours. It's by His Spirit all things are accomplished.

Create a daily Bible reading plan. Take time each day to read the New Testament, Psalms, the prophets in the Old Testament. Many daily devotional books have a daily Bible reading plan. Read the selective Scriptures they recommend. I like Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest." On the Internet version, it has a selection of chapters in the Bible to read each day. I click on them and read them too as part of my devotions.

Of highest importance is invest in a Study Bible. Read the comments, background for the verses and sections of the Bible. Many excellent translations exist that have Study Bibles. This will be one of the best investments you can make in your life. Buy a good one, refer to it regularly, and have it as your reference guide throughout the day. (Also, many have an app for your mobile phone.)

A key to building faith is to focus on faith-building Scriptures, have a daily Bible
reading time, establish pondering sessions daily, listen to those who speak faith.

Your Magnificent Mission may seem beyond you, your means or abilities (as you see them now).  For it to happen, it would take great faith. The first step in your mission is believing in God, that He is with you and He will help you. Believe it will happen, and begin what you feel impressed to do.

A magnificent mission so often seems bigger than you. But given by God, it is something that only His Power can do, and you must have faith in Him who is much bigger than you for it to happen. Start by believing it can happen. And with the Power of the Spirit it will happen.

Consider this.
Sometimes our faith wanes. Sometimes we grow weary in sticking to our mission. Before Jesus died, He said He would come back when He did die. The disciples weren't so sure after Jesus was crucified. In fear, they locked themselves in a room fearing they might be the next ones to die. Although, in spite their fear, Jesus came to them. They even locked the doors, locking him out. Miraculously, He came to them through the walls and appeared to them. (see John 20)

Consider the soldier with a sick child who told Jesus he believed but asked for help about his unbelief. In compassion and love, Jesus will come to help you even when you lack faith. He is the builder of our faith and knows our human tendencies for being discouraged, and giving up. (see Mark 9)

When you put your trust in God and His Holy Spirit, in your weak moments He will send someone to lift you up. When Jesus invited Peter to come to Him on stormy waters, Peter began walking to Jesus on the water. When his eyes got off Jesus, he saw the choppy waves of water around him, his faith faltered. He began to sink. Jesus reached out and saved him from drowning. Jesus spoke out, Oh you of little faith. Keep in mind that although Peter lost faith, Jesus still saved Peter from perishing in the storm. (see Matthew 14)

When you put your trust in Jesus in your mission, even when your faith fails, Jesus' love for you will not let you drown. The Spirit is compassionate, and His Power will be with you as you build your faith in All That God can do through you. In every obstacle, challenge, or set back you face, when you overcome through faith, you grow stronger in your faith for greater things ahead.

Remember the words of Jesus, whatever you ask in prayer and believe you have received it (that it is already accomplished as you speak), it will be done for you. Faith in prayer is seeing the answer on its way the moment you ask, and in faith you see and know it is accomplished. (see Mark 11)

Faith is the building block of strength necessary so you persevere in your mission. Your faith is what makes it possible to accomplish incredible results as you journey through your Magnificent Mission.

Scripting your Movie.
The righteous ones live by faith. Everyone mentioned in Hebrews 11 had a vision of a mission beyond what man would see as possible. In obedience to the vision of the mission God gave them, they moved ahead without any doubt of their mission being accomplished. They lived working in certainty in what they saw, in the vision of the mission God gave them, in a concrete conviction it would happen. Each had faith that if God gave them an assignment, God of all things possible, will make it happen. Without question, each knew he could count on that.

As expressed in Hebrews 11, God created the universe from nothing. What we see now was created out of what was not seen, and His Spirit made the invisible become tangible. This is a key power of those who live by the Spirit's power. What is not seen as tangible, but is seen in the imagination, can by the Spirit's Power become visible. Anything is possible through faith... seeing it, believing it, and living as if it exists.

By his vision of the mission God gave him, Noah began building a big boat that would save mankind. He began building it in a country not known for very much rain. He did it without a chainsaw or engineer-verified blueprints of a ship that could be seaworthy, and with no experience in such a thing. It took him over 100 years to build this giant boat. And he did it while being constantly ridiculed by those who lived nearby. (see Genesis 6)

Joseph had a dream. In his dream he saw sheaves of grain bowing down before him. He told his brothers they  were the sheaves bowing down. This angered his brothers so they sold him to some sojourners on the way to Egypt. After being sold again as a house servant for one of Pharaoh's captains, things got worse. The captain's wife tried to seduce him and when he refused, she accused him of trying to force himself on her. The Captain put Joseph in prison. While in prison he interpreted a dream for a cupbearer of Pharaoh also in prison. Joseph made the cupbearer agree that if Pharaoh liked the interpretation, to ask Pharaoh to release him too. Pharaoh liked the interpretation, but the cupbearer forgot about Joseph. Joseph was left in the prison.

Some time later Pharaoh had a dream he couldn't figure out. He learned that Joseph could interpret dreams, so Pharaoh sent for him. Joseph interpreted the dream. Pharaoh was so impressed he put Joseph in charge of administering his crop production. Being in this position of authority, Joseph was able to save the Israel nation when a famine hit the area. God used Joseph through all his ups and downs to save Israel from starving. He was also reunited with his father and family. But it was only through Joseph's trials that he was put in a place to save his country. (see Genesis 37-46)

The moral of the story: Noah was given very detailed instructions on building a ship that would keep mankind alive. Noah remained faithful through the many years it took to build the ship. Because of his perseverance the ship saved the existence of man. Joseph, although probably the most gifted of his brothers, faced setback after setback before he was placed in authority to save his nation. In God's plan each setback was not a setback at all, but a stepping stone to where he needed to be to fulfill his Magnificent Mission. Each setback served as value to prepare him for the position of trust and authority to save his family, and his people.

But then the fall back. After Joseph died, the Israelites fell into slavery. Sometimes to save ourselves, we can fall victim to a greater demise. The slavery of Israel that followed was worse than the famine. Learn the walk of faith, and to not be dependent on other men. Learn to live within your means and don't sell yourself short, for a short-term gain. If necessary, live humbly until God opens the doors for your mission. But continue to study and prepare for it.

Faith is a long journey sometimes. It may take several life episodes, with many maybe seemingly unrelated, to bring us to the mission God has assigned us to do. But when the rewards come they are exceptionally outstanding.

With your vision of your mission, have faith through all that may come against you, or divert you. In faith, see the result even when you have no idea of how it will eventually work out.

Faith is the invincible foundation your mission is built on that withstands everything that may try to tear it down. Faith is the power that advances you to greater things... your Magnificent Mission.


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