The Walk of Faith
Our journey with the Lord is by faith and not by sight—so if we want to go on with God, we must stop looking at things with our natural eyes. Spiritual things can only be understood with spiritual insight.
Think of Abraham. Romans 4:3 says,
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
We don’t have any righteousness at all. We can’t possibly keep the law. We simply believe God.
Jesus tells us,
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16)
The devil wants to discourage us and stop us from moving forward. So when going through hard times, it’s important to recall how God has come through in the past—and we can have every confidence that He will do it again.
I remember how our budget was so tight at CBN Asia in Manila that we had to pray hard to meet every payroll. Yet all that changed after we held an outreach in Varanasi, India, where 50,000 people came—and 5,000 people filled out salvation response cards. To teach all these new believers who knew nothing about Christianity, we wanted to create a pastoral training center. It was a great idea—except I didn’t have the money. I committed $5,000, but there wasn’t a penny more.
The next day I got an urgent call from my wife in Manila. She was so overwhelmed with emotion that I could hardly understand her. An anonymous donor had just sent a check for $500,000—a bank manager’s draft drawn on a bank in upstate New York that was hand-delivered to our office in the Philippines. It was an unbelievable miracle. We sowed the seed, and 24 hours later God gave an increase of 100-fold. We had a time of celebration!
Right now, God is giving us many open doors to take the Gospel into the world, and He wants us to take that step of faith and walk through.
We have the assurance that God has spoken. When we do what He wants in the world today, and when we do it in God’s way, we know that God is in it. And we simply need to say, “Yes and Amen!” God bless you.
Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle: 365 Sermons
Faith and life
‘Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.’ 2 Peter 1:4
Suggested Further Reading: Colossians 3:1–10
Rejoice in this, brethren, you are made partakers of the divine nature, and all these promises are given to you in order that you may show this forth among the sons of men, that you are like God, and not like ordinary men; that you are different now from what flesh and blood would make you, having been made participators of the nature of God. The other result which follows is this, ‘Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.’ Ah, beloved, it were ill that a man who is alive should dwell in corruption. ‘Why seek ye the living among the dead?’ said the angel to Magdalene. Should the living dwell among the dead? Should divine life be found amongst the corruptions of worldly lusts? A member of Christ’s body found intoxicated in the streets, or lying, or blaspheming, or dishonest! God forbid. Shall I take the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? How can I drink the cup of the Lord, and drink the cup of Belial? How can it be possible that I can have life, and yet dwell in the foul tomb of the world’s lusts? Surely, brethren, from these open lusts and sins you have escaped: have you also escaped from the more secret and more delusive temptations of Satan? O, have you come forth from the lust of pride? Have you escaped from laziness? Have you clean escaped from carnal security? Are you seeking day by day to live above worldliness, the love of the things of the world, and the ensnaring greed which they nourish? Remember, it is for this that you have been enriched with the treasures of God.
For meditation: Never treat evangelism as an excuse for worldly behaviour. We must meet unconverted people, but what will make an impression upon them is the fact that we have been transformed by the grace of God. This should be seen both positively (Matthew 5:16) and negatively (1 Peter 4:3–4).
A Lesson in Pruning
It can be painful when God cuts fleshly habits and attitudes from our life, but that allows growth in Christlikeness.
Years ago I lived in Fruitland, North Carolina. It was apple country, and several of my parishioners were growers. When I stopped by to visit one of them, I found him mercilessly cutting branches from one of the trees. He told me that to produce an abundant crop of the best fruit, he had to prune the branches. It might look as if the tree was going to die, but new growth would spring from the wounds.
Our conversation helped me understand why the Lord sometimes acts as a pruning knife in our lives. To get a plentiful crop of spiritual fruit, He must remove anything that hinders us from becoming the person He designed us to be. The process is often painful as God cuts away fleshly habits and worldly attitudes, but His pruning results in us becoming a more accurate reflection of Jesus Christ.
Being loved by God doesn’t mean being coddled. Our comfort is not His primary interest. Just as a grower prunes an apple tree to get a bountiful harvest, so God must sometimes cause us pain in order to bring forth greater spiritual growth, Christlike character, and abundance.
Trusting God – Streams in the Desert – January 24
But the dove found no rest for or the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him… And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf (Genesis 8:9-11).
God knows just when to withhold from us any visible sign of encouragement, and when to grant us such a sign. How good it is that we may trust Him anyway! When all visible evidences that He is remembering us are withheld, that is best; He wants us to realize that His Word, His promise of remembrance, is more substantial and dependable than any evidence of our senses. When He sends the visible evidence, that is well also; we appreciate it all the more after we have trusted Him without it. Those who are readiest to trust God without other evidence than His Word always receive the greatest number of visible evidences of His love.
–C. G. Trumbull
Believing Him; if storm-clouds gather darkly ’round,
And even if the heaven seem brass, without a sound?
He hears each prayer and even notes the sparrow’s fall.
And praising Him; when sorrow, grief, and pain are near,
And even when we lose the thing that seems most dear?
Our loss is gain. Praise Him; in Him we have our All.