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Hebrews. Chapter Eleven
32. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.
33. who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34. quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight..
35. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
36. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated
38. of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40. since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
I know many of you, just like me found this to be a challenging year. We had great victories but suffered great losses. We faced trials and hardship and although we fought and prayed with all our might we still lost loved ones who went home to heaven. We know they are not lost, but only have moved away to their reward, but we still feel like we fought hard and lost. Many of us have struggled in many ways but we are not forsaken. We were told that in this world we would have tribulation but to be of good cheer. So what happened? Did our faith fail?
We as a church have fallen victim to a wrong idea of what faith is and what it isn't. We are told to ask for something and if we get it our faith worked and if we don't get it then our faith failed. This is left over garbage from the “name it claim it” nonsense that infected the church years ago. Yes there is truth in confession but I can confess a thousand times a day that I am going to be a trillionaire, but if that is not Father's will for me it will not come to pass.
Confession is not taking a promise that belongs to someone else and making it my own. For example. God promised Abraham he would become the Father of many nations. He didn't promise me that. I can't take his promise and make it my own. There are promises made to all of us and those we can claim, but the more you believe it the less you have to confess it. I don't go around all day confessing that my name is Michael. I know that is who I am. I don't have to keep trying to convince myself that is who I am by confessing it.
Our faith is not in situations and victory. Our Faith is in God. If you read all of Hebrews Chapter Eleven you will see great victory but also torture and torment, but if you notice it says that all of the ones in this chapter died in faith but didn't receive the promise that we have. The promise is the Spirit of God living within us. It's Christ in you the hope of glory.
Battles will come and go. We will win some. We will lose some but even in losing we have the victory if our faith remains in him and not in the outcome. The trying of your faith isn't in if you win the battle or lose the battle. The trying of your faith is whether or not we get the outcome we hope for do we still have faith in God and his Christ?
Hebrews. Chapter Eleven
32. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.
33. who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34. quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight..
35. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
36. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated
38. of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40. since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
I know many of you, just like me found this to be a challenging year. We had great victories but suffered great losses. We faced trials and hardship and although we fought and prayed with all our might we still lost loved ones who went home to heaven. We know they are not lost, but only have moved away to their reward, but we still feel like we fought hard and lost. Many of us have struggled in many ways but we are not forsaken. We were told that in this world we would have tribulation but to be of good cheer. So what happened? Did our faith fail?
We as a church have fallen victim to a wrong idea of what faith is and what it isn't. We are told to ask for something and if we get it our faith worked and if we don't get it then our faith failed. This is left over garbage from the “name it claim it” nonsense that infected the church years ago. Yes there is truth in confession but I can confess a thousand times a day that I am going to be a trillionaire, but if that is not Father's will for me it will not come to pass.
Confession is not taking a promise that belongs to someone else and making it my own. For example. God promised Abraham he would become the Father of many nations. He didn't promise me that. I can't take his promise and make it my own. There are promises made to all of us and those we can claim, but the more you believe it the less you have to confess it. I don't go around all day confessing that my name is Michael. I know that is who I am. I don't have to keep trying to convince myself that is who I am by confessing it.
Our faith is not in situations and victory. Our Faith is in God. If you read all of Hebrews Chapter Eleven you will see great victory but also torture and torment, but if you notice it says that all of the ones in this chapter died in faith but didn't receive the promise that we have. The promise is the Spirit of God living within us. It's Christ in you the hope of glory.
Battles will come and go. We will win some. We will lose some but even in losing we have the victory if our faith remains in him and not in the outcome. The trying of your faith isn't in if you win the battle or lose the battle. The trying of your faith is whether or not we get the outcome we hope for do we still have faith in God and his Christ?
If I pray for someone to be healed and they don't get healed does that mean that Jesus is no longer the healer? How silly? If you pray and the answer is yes then you win. If you pray and Father say's no you still win. The only way he would say no is if there is something better or a really great reason to say no. All the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ. He is the mediator of the New Covenant and all it's promises.
He will never hold back anything he promised, but sometimes we don't understand the eternal plan. When Jesus spoke about being crucified Peter got all disturbed and had to be rebuked. Would we not think the same thing if we were in his shoes? He couldn't see past the temporary and see the eternal. He couldn't imagine any scenario where Jesus being crucified and taken away from them was a good thing.
I don't always understand Father's reasoning but I am learning to trust him. I have prayed for loved ones who were dying and seen miraculous healing. I have prayed for loved ones who were dying and watched them die. I am not the healer. Jesus is the healer. When I pray I do so with all my heart and all my might, but if I don't get the answer I was expecting I have to trust him and keep believing in him. And I can't let condemnation make me feel like a failure.
In Act's Chapter Twelve Herod cut off James' head with a sword. He arrested Peter and would have killed him but prayers were prayed and Peter was rescued. Was no one praying for James? Of course they were.
He will never hold back anything he promised, but sometimes we don't understand the eternal plan. When Jesus spoke about being crucified Peter got all disturbed and had to be rebuked. Would we not think the same thing if we were in his shoes? He couldn't see past the temporary and see the eternal. He couldn't imagine any scenario where Jesus being crucified and taken away from them was a good thing.
I don't always understand Father's reasoning but I am learning to trust him. I have prayed for loved ones who were dying and seen miraculous healing. I have prayed for loved ones who were dying and watched them die. I am not the healer. Jesus is the healer. When I pray I do so with all my heart and all my might, but if I don't get the answer I was expecting I have to trust him and keep believing in him. And I can't let condemnation make me feel like a failure.
In Act's Chapter Twelve Herod cut off James' head with a sword. He arrested Peter and would have killed him but prayers were prayed and Peter was rescued. Was no one praying for James? Of course they were.
Why did Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead but not his own cousin John the Baptist? Did he love one more than the other? Of course not. Could Jesus not have put his head back on his body and restored him? We know for certain that he could. Was John's blood necessary for the eternal purpose of God? Maybe so. Maybe some would not grasp hold of Jesus until John was completely out of the way? We don't know. We can only trust.
I say these things that you might find encouragement. Just because what you wanted did not come to pass doesn't mean you are a failure. So many of you are discouraged and ready to give up because you prayed and didn't get what you prayed for. I have been there. I understand disappointment, I really do, but just because you pray and the answer doesn't come doesn't mean you didn't have enough faith. It doesn't mean you are a failure.
Two apostles' mother wanted her sons to sit on either side of Jesus in his throne, but he said these things were his Father's business and he couldn't grant it. There are things we don't understand and we just have to accept the old saying “Father knows best.” Paul wanted to go to Asia to preach but Holy Spirit said “no.” There are plans and seasons that God ordained and we have to trust in his wisdom.
I say these things that you might find encouragement. Just because what you wanted did not come to pass doesn't mean you are a failure. So many of you are discouraged and ready to give up because you prayed and didn't get what you prayed for. I have been there. I understand disappointment, I really do, but just because you pray and the answer doesn't come doesn't mean you didn't have enough faith. It doesn't mean you are a failure.
Two apostles' mother wanted her sons to sit on either side of Jesus in his throne, but he said these things were his Father's business and he couldn't grant it. There are things we don't understand and we just have to accept the old saying “Father knows best.” Paul wanted to go to Asia to preach but Holy Spirit said “no.” There are plans and seasons that God ordained and we have to trust in his wisdom.
As I was writing down these words Father's voice came to me and he asked me to share these words with you. Here are his words:
My beloved ones, rest in me. Trust in my plan. Faith isn't about getting your way. It's about trusting me to make what is best for you come to pass.
My beloved ones, rest in me. Trust in my plan. Faith isn't about getting your way. It's about trusting me to make what is best for you come to pass.
Faith is like a little child who doesn't know how Daddy provides, but trusts him to do so. Little children don't try to work up enough faith for their parents to take care of them. They just trust and love and play. They don't go around quoting Dad chapter five where Dad promised them a new bike. They make their requests by asking but if they don't get everything they ask for they don't assume it was because they didn't have enough faith.
I have an eternal plan. You didn't choose me. I chose you, I ordained you. I delighted in you before you were born. Because you are my children you are born for eternity. You have eternal purpose inside your destiny. If you will trust me and let me choose what is best for you.
Don't be discouraged if you don't always get your way. That is the way a spoiled child acts. I promise you that I have eternal rewards for you and I have many gifts of my love waiting to lavish upon you. But please my beloved, know that you are in training. Hardships are necessary. Diamonds are not formed in marshmallows. Steel isn't forged in bathwater. Even Jesus became the perfect high priest because of the hardships he endured. We will rule and reign together and you are being trained for that purpose.
Please see yourselves as in training. Hardships are not punishment for lack of faith. They are just resistance to build your strength and trust.
I have an eternal plan. You didn't choose me. I chose you, I ordained you. I delighted in you before you were born. Because you are my children you are born for eternity. You have eternal purpose inside your destiny. If you will trust me and let me choose what is best for you.
Don't be discouraged if you don't always get your way. That is the way a spoiled child acts. I promise you that I have eternal rewards for you and I have many gifts of my love waiting to lavish upon you. But please my beloved, know that you are in training. Hardships are necessary. Diamonds are not formed in marshmallows. Steel isn't forged in bathwater. Even Jesus became the perfect high priest because of the hardships he endured. We will rule and reign together and you are being trained for that purpose.
Please see yourselves as in training. Hardships are not punishment for lack of faith. They are just resistance to build your strength and trust.
Your time on earth is not about earth. The world you know will be changed for eternity. This is why I told you to set your minds on things above and not below. Don't look at your hardships as punishment. Look at them as challenges. Each situation can teach you something about my character and teach you how to trust me more.
So many of you have learned through false teaching that you can take my word and drive your ship anyway you want it to go. You have free will and you can do that but it's not best for you. There is power in the scriptures that you can harness to have your own way, but these things will not be done in my name or my son's name.
So many of you have learned through false teaching that you can take my word and drive your ship anyway you want it to go. You have free will and you can do that but it's not best for you. There is power in the scriptures that you can harness to have your own way, but these things will not be done in my name or my son's name.
These are the ones who will stand before him one day claiming they did all these wonderful works in his name and he will have to tell them that they didn't know him and he didn't know them. They didn't seek a relationship of trust with him. They only wanted his power to build their names in the earth. Always seek relationship and not power.
Do you remember the greatest example of faith that my Son found on the earth? It was the Centurion who understood that the kingdom works because of the king. The king says go and one goes and he says come and one comes. They don't all go, they don't all come, each one does as he is told. Yes you are my children, my sons and daughters. Yes you have authority because of who you are. The true sons of God will always do my will, even at their own peril. They don't seek their own will but mine.
So my loved ones. Will you trust me? If you ask me for something and I say yes and give it to your right away will you rejoice? If you ask me for something and I tell you that you can't have that yet will you rejoice? If you ask me for something as my Son did when he asked was there anyway that the cup could pass from him, and you are told no, will you rejoice?
Oh my little ones, how I love you so. I told you to labor to enter into rest. Not to labor to prove you have faith. He that has true faith in me will rest in me. You will understand that faith is a gift I gave you. You will put that faith in me and trust me. My sweet ones, don't be discouraged if you don't get your way all the time. Keep trusting and keep singing. Know that I wrote your lives in my book long before you were born.
You are safe in me. Don't let others convince you that you need to move a mountain to prove you have faith. You already moved the mountain that they are still circling. You moved that big old Mount Sinai with all of it's laws and fear and condemnation. You moved it out of your way so you could come to the heavenly city, surrounded by angels and those who are gone ahead of you into glory. You have entered into trust and rest and into Christ. You are safe in us and your safety is not your own doing.
Do you remember the greatest example of faith that my Son found on the earth? It was the Centurion who understood that the kingdom works because of the king. The king says go and one goes and he says come and one comes. They don't all go, they don't all come, each one does as he is told. Yes you are my children, my sons and daughters. Yes you have authority because of who you are. The true sons of God will always do my will, even at their own peril. They don't seek their own will but mine.
So my loved ones. Will you trust me? If you ask me for something and I say yes and give it to your right away will you rejoice? If you ask me for something and I tell you that you can't have that yet will you rejoice? If you ask me for something as my Son did when he asked was there anyway that the cup could pass from him, and you are told no, will you rejoice?
Oh my little ones, how I love you so. I told you to labor to enter into rest. Not to labor to prove you have faith. He that has true faith in me will rest in me. You will understand that faith is a gift I gave you. You will put that faith in me and trust me. My sweet ones, don't be discouraged if you don't get your way all the time. Keep trusting and keep singing. Know that I wrote your lives in my book long before you were born.
You are safe in me. Don't let others convince you that you need to move a mountain to prove you have faith. You already moved the mountain that they are still circling. You moved that big old Mount Sinai with all of it's laws and fear and condemnation. You moved it out of your way so you could come to the heavenly city, surrounded by angels and those who are gone ahead of you into glory. You have entered into trust and rest and into Christ. You are safe in us and your safety is not your own doing.
The good fight of faith is to remain in rest and not to be discouraged. It is to know that no matter what happens you are in the middle of my love and my heart. He that believes that my son is the Christ has overcome the world. You may have failed at all you attempted to do but if you still believe that my son is your salvation then you are still in Faith.
Be at peace my children and share this peace with others. Encourage each other daily and love each other as your own soul.
This is the end of the words He spoke to me a few moments ago,
I hope you are encouraged by these words,
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
michael.
This is the end of the words He spoke to me a few moments ago,
I hope you are encouraged by these words,
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
michael.
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