Have faith in God

And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mark 11: 22-23

In the passage above Jesus was telling His disciples that it is possible to make anything happen. The opportunity to do this was explained using what happened with the fig tree as an example.

On His way to Jerusalem from Bethany, Jesus saw a fig tree and He assumed it should have fruits on it because it had leaves on it. Even though the tree appeared like it had fruits on it, it just was not it. This deception of the fig tree resulted in a pronouncement from Jesus.

On His way back into Jerusalem, Peter noticed that the fig tree had responded to the words of Christ. Mark 11: 21. The word of God is powerful, cutting into the circumstances and sharper than we can imagine.

As a vessel of Christ we will speak that word and the circumstances in our life will respond to that word because of the faith we have in God. It is important for us to know that faith will move mountains and break lose the strongest chains.

The challenge of Christianity in 2018 is that a lot of us do not have faith on God, a lot no longer believe that the word of God is true for our situation and our time. We now believe that what we go through in life cannot be changed by the faith in God or His words.

However, I tell us today that we must have faith in God. Such circumstances have happened. There was never a prime minister in Egypt before Joseph, the sum and moon did not stand still before it happened in Israel.

What is faith? It is a constant, consistent, and unshakable believe in someone or that something would happen. This faith makes things happen and puts our mind at rest that everything would work out fine.

Whenever we are talking about the devil, it simply means that God has departed from us. His guiding power and protection He has withdrawn for a season. This alone gives the enemy a free day. Job 1: 9-12. Judges 16: 21-26. God is there for us where we are and when we seek Him. In the little whispers of our heart, in the simple confessions of our heart God hears and responds.

Why do we need to have faith in God

1. He is God and God all by Himself! The enemy can only attack you when God is not there. Isaiah 44:8, Rev. 4:11 Ezekiel 37: 3, Matt 24: 26
2. He can be all things to all men and various things to various people. In essence, God can be whatever you want Him to be and He can answer to any name you call Him. (God can take any form you want Him to take). Ex 13: 13-14 (Moses), Gen 12:1-3 (Abraham), Gen 6: 8 (Noah), Gen 22: 8-14 (Abraham & Isaac), Gen 22: 16 (Abraham)
3. Through your Faith God rewrites destines and circumstances of life. Luke 8: 43-48, 1 Chronicles 4: 9-10

God chooses people to bless irrespective of who they are or what they have done, all that He looks out for is for them to have faith. The only thing that prevents God from moving in your life and circumstances is you. You alone are the limiting factor to your greatness and breakthrough.

Today implore you to have faith in God, act out that faith and live by it. The changes that you seek will spring forth….

What is the solution?

And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel 4: 4 KJV

Mephiboseth started out his life in affluence, the son of a Prince, the heir apparent to the throne of Israel, until death came knocking. He was not born lame, but at the age of 5 years and occurrence took place that brought a problem into his life (physical challenge). The fear of  the nurse who believed that the death of his father and grand father would open the door to his death decided to flee with the boy. In her haste to save his life, she inadvertently put him in a position that wasn't bargained for. This is the story of a few of us.

However, the God we serve after creating the heavens and the earth, looked at everything and saw that it is good. He alone knows everything and has the solution to every problem. He sees the end from the beginning. And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lo–debar. Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! 2 Samuel 9: 1, 5-6.. KJV. God knew what the end of Mephiboseth would be right from the day he was born. His end was determined even from the beginning.

There are problems but there are solutions. Before a problem comes into existence, the solution was already created in waiting for you to discover the solution to that problem. The reason why problems linger is because most of us do not seek the solution. We go around sticking our head in the sand and waiting for someone else to proffer a solution to our own problems.

A lot of us magnify our problems because of the fear that we attach to the problems. The maid of King Saul on hearing the King was dead in fear and haste was instrumental in Mephiboseth lame. When we are faced with problems in life, we are not to allow fear to make it worse. The first step towards getting a solution is to remain calm, let the peace of God have sway.

As children of God, and joint heirs with Christ, we have that capacity and power to turn problems to opportunities. Since we are made in God's image we are charged to be a reflection of God's nature. One of God's nature is to solve problems and rise above them.

A lot of us do not even know who we are in Christ. In Christ we are high above problems and born as solution providers. In most cases we are seated beside the solution to our problem. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. Genesis 21:19 KJV. Hagar had been sent away with her son. They had consumed the little that they had to eat, so she waited for death. But because of fear and the magnification of the problem in her mind, she didn't even see that the solution was beside her. It wasn't until God opened her eyes that she saw the well of water.

How did she come about this solution? And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. Genesis 21: 16-18. 

1. She lifted up her voice to God
2. She separated herself from the focus of her problem 
3. She had to be calm and not fear

So we have to be able to do this if we want to be the solution to our problems. We are born with the solution to all our problems, even before the problems arise. 

Blessings of God

"Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you." Haggai 2:19 KJV

When we want to know who God is, you need not look too far but into the words of life. Look unto Christ Jesus who is a direct image of God's person. If God is called a good shepherd therefore God must be a good God. 

The reason why God gives good things is because He is good. When God gives he would do so lavishly and freely without withholding anything back. Psalm 48 says God is beautiful for all situation and Mark 7:37 the word says that God has done all things well. 

The blessings of God lifts up His people. There is a phase in life when man is lifted above his brethren and another phase when man is lifted far higher unto a global level.  "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22 KJV"

In the beginning God blessed man Gen 1:28; after the flood the first thing God did was to bless mankind through Noah and his family. God kept speaking His blessings into the life of His children. 

In 1 Chronicles 4:10 Jabez asked for God's blessing and he got it. The blessings of God didn't change the name of Jabez but instead changed his life so much so that his name became a symbol of blessing. 

The four things that God's blessing do

1. Places your life in the forward direction 2 Samuel 3:1 Ex. 14:15
2. Puts a hedge of protection around your life Numbers 23:23 Psalm 23
3. Amplifies your efforts Prov 10:22. What may seem difficult becomes easy for the blessed
4. It affects every area of your life

Who is qualified to be blessed?

Every child of God who believes in and accepts Christ is entitled to the blessings of God. Ezekiel 47 spoke about the different levels of blessings of God. Why is it that we are all believers but we enjoy God's blessings differently? The level of our relationship with God determines the level of God's blessing operating in our life. 

God's blessing is there and available to us all, however the blessings we receive is hinged on the level of and power that works in us. To enjoy God's blessings there are 3 triggers..... 

1. The first trigger for blessing is the lifestyle of man. Ps 119:1&59, Ps50:3. Draw near to God that he may draw near to you. The way we live our life is the first trigger to the kind of blessings that are available to us. Our lifestyle denotes our interests, opinions, behaviours, and behavioural orientations. 
2. Honour to your parents, to the elders. Ex 20:12 is the first command with a promise. Don't wait to honour your parents do it on time. In Gen 27 Isaac ask the son he loved to make him a meal so that he can bless him but Jacob honoured his father by bringing the meal and brought it on time. Honour your parents but do this while they are alive and with you. 
3. The people we walk with determines our level of blessing. 1 Sam 10:10. We must be selective about who we allow in our space. Be mindful of who your friend is. To overcome you must do load shedding of friends you move with. If it doesn't bless you do away with it. As good as Joseph was in the interpretation somebody had to recommend him. Our relationships can make or break us. 

God's blessing brings acceptability. When a man is blessed he would be good enough and his qualification and gifts would open space of acceptability to him. "Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well." 1 Samuel 16:16. Joseph was a dreamer and his dreams opened a door to him. He was brought out of the prison to interpret the dream of Pharaoh but ended up as been accepted into a position of the Prime Minister of Egypt. 

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Ephesians 3:20". Let God know that area of your life where you need his blessings.