"Faith On Trial"

[Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

Photo Reference: http://crossroadstabernacle.blogspot.com/2011/04/faith-on-trialagain.html

 

Scriptures (biblegateway.com – KJV)

James 1:3-4: ³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. ⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

1 Peter 1:7: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

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Our faith is on trial! Do we REALLY believe God like we say we do? Our faith is on trial every single day we wake up! Not only is the world watching us, but the devil is watching us too. They are watching to see if we really are trusting God like we say we are.

Before I go on with this message, I want to stop here and give you the Bible’s definition of faith. This is what Hebrews 11:1 says faith is:

 “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]” (biblegateway.com – Amplified Bible).

We see here that faith is the “assurance” (confirmation, the title deed) of the things we hope for, the proof of things we do not see, and the conviction of their reality (the things we cannot see reality). Faith is perceiving that the thing we hoped for, has happened but it has not been revealed to our natural senses. You cannot have faith without hope; they go hand in hand.

The NKJV (New King James Version) of Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (biblegateway.com).

You see here that faith is the substance of things we hope for, the evidence of things NOT seen. Faith is what holds what we are hoping for together; it cause us to hold out until our change come.

Now that you understand what faith is, let us move on.

We got to know, that we know, that God is with us and for us! Even when we cannot track or trace Him; even when we cannot feel Him; we got to know that God is with us. We must know that God is NOT a man that He can lie; He will do what He said He would. God is Truth; there is no false in Him! God told us He would be with us, even until the end of the world, so we got to believe (have faith in, have confidence in, rely on) that. No matter what, we got to believe that God is with us whether we can feel Him or not. We cannot allow anything to shake us loose from our belief; our faith, that God is with us, for us, and NOT against us.

God is our EVERYTHING; He is more than enough for us – He is all we need. We cannot allow our trials and tribulations to stop us from believing God, especially since Jesus told us we would have them on this earth but to be of good cheer because He has overcame the world. The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy; he wants to shake our faith and stop us from believing God – don’t allow him to do that!

This reminds me of a movie, “Prisoners” I saw years ago. At the end when they found out who kidnapped their children, the kidnapper told them, the children were kidnapped to make the parents lose faith in God! I was like, “WOW!” The devil will do ANYTHING to make us not believe God; to shake our faith! But he is a liar! We will trust in the Lord until we die; we will not allow ANYTHING    TO SHAKE US! Glory to the Lamb of God! We will be steadfast, immoveable, ALWAYS abounding in the work of the Lord because our labor is NOT in vain (1 Corinthians 15:57-58). We can be steadfast because God has already given us the victory, through Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57).

The old song came to me that said, "Standing on the promises of God!" I am determined to stand on the promises of God forever; no matter what comes, will, or may, I will not be shaken by what I can see.

The things I see are not real anyway, they are only temporary but the things I cannot see are eternal! And when life causes me to lean, I will lean on the promises of God!! Glory!! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED ANY LONGER!! I will not settle for anything but be led by the Holy Spirit in everything!

Sometimes, we look for signs for God or anything to prove He is with us but it is not needful. God spoke to me and told me, I don't need a sign to let me know He is with me; I just have to believe He is with me. When we believe before we see, our faith will grow. Even when I don't have a sign or feel or see Him, I still know He is with me and working in my life and on my behalf because He said He would never leave me or forsake me! That is standing on His promises!

We need to get rid of old, religious ideology and take God out the box! For centuries we have thought God moved only a certain way and then we think He will move the same way all the time! NO! God is BIGGER than that! We CANNOT put Him in a box; we MUST take Him out the box and think outside the box to really see God move in our life!

We MUST break free from foolishness and let God be God and He WILL change our lives forever! WE MUST STOP looking at God with our own corrupt sense and ask Him to reveal His TRUE self to us; otherwise, we will NEVER see or know the REAL God!

WE MUST STOP preceding  God to be one thing when He really is not; this is caused by us NOT REALLY knowing who God is, NOT REALLY knowing who Jesus is, and NOT REALLY knowing who the Holy Spirit is!! Not only do we need to know God, but we need to know who Jesus and the Holy Spirit is too-They are One and cannot be separated-you cannot have fellowship with One without having fellowship with the Others!

Let us throw out our perception of God and REALLY get to know Him by seeking His face! Having our own perception of God causes us to lean to our own understanding and NOT acknowledge God-we think it is God that is leading us but it is NOT; we are leading ourselves! Let's ask God to open the eyes of our hearts so we can REALLY see Him in the fullness of His glory!

 

Let's begin our journey TODAY of seeking to know who God really is and decide to lose our perception of Him-of what He will and will not do or the way He moves in our lives!

Father I thank You for taking the veil off our faces and the scales from our eyes and do whatever else in us You need to do so we can REALLY KNOW You, KNOW Jesus, and KNOW the Holy Spirit! Clean the clutter from our minds so we can focus on You and hear You when You speak to us!

Father we desire and pray what Paul desired in Philippians 3:10, we want to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, and be conformed to His death.

Holy Spirit, help us to be more like Jesus, wash us, regenerate us, renew us afresh, create in us a CLEAN heart and renew a right spirit within us! Holy Spirit, clean our souls from ALL trauma, ALL hurt, ALL pain, ALL dysfunctions that are keeping our flesh alive and hindering us from allowing You to lead us in the right way to go! Clean the junk out of our souls! 

Holy Spirit, we surrender our life to God, we surrender our life to Jesus, and we surrender our life to You; lead us in the way we should go! Do in us EVERYTHING that needs to be done so we can walk out our purpose that God has called us to walk! 

Thank You Father for hearing our cry to know You, to know the Holy Spirit, and to know Jesus so You All can do what needs to done in us so we will be obedient to You and finish our course You called us to finish!

Our lives are in Your hand Father and we trust You wholeheartedly to do what is best for us in EVERY circumstance! We will not panic when things happen to shake us because our trust is completely in You! We thank You Father for doing what needs to be done for us, in Your time and in Your way! We ask this in Jesus' Mighty Name and thanking You in advance for doing it! Amen!

 

In His Service,

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

 

 

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