Happy Sunday!
Dr. Bill Winston continued the series, "Receiving Your Inheritance" with the subtitle, "Commanding the Blessing".
It doesn't take long to realize that life can be hard. We are in a fight! As believers we are fighting, "the good fight of faith". The Apostle Paul encouraged his son in the ministry by writing, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, where unto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."(1 Timothy 6:12 KJV). Even Jesus warned us that we would run into some opposition. Mark 10:29-30 says, "And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's. But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, WITH PERSECUTIONS; and in the world to come eternal life."(KJV).
Don't worry! It's a fixed fight! We Always Win! 2 Corinthians 2:14 says, "Now thanks be unto God, which ALWAYS causeth us to TRIUMPH in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place."(KJV). It was the same for the Children of Israel. In Deuteronomy 2:24-25, God commanded them to go forward and receive their inheritance. He told them to contend with the occupants of the Promised land in battle and guaranteed their success. In the same way, God wants to take you into your promised land. Dr. Winston said, "The Blessing operates by Faith! Faith is the guarantee. Faith activates Heaven to make what you believe a reality! Without Faith most of what God has for us isn't manifested." Did you see that? We are missing out on our inheritance because of a lack of Faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, "You can never please God without faith, without depending on him. Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely look for him."(Living Bible).
What is Faith? Good question! Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of things we cannot see."(Phillips). We have to be confident that the Word of God is true! One of the worst enemies of Faith is unbelief. Sometimes we allow unbelief in without even recognizing it. A co-worker asked a question last week. He was amazed by a friend that had several children in jail, or prison. He asked, "Would you blame yourself or feel that you missed it if your child went to prison?" I was the only parent to say yes, I would believe that I missed it somewhere. I know you are ready to respond, but let me finish. The Word says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."(KJV) So based on this scripture from the Word of God, if we train our children up right they WILL NOT depart from it. To say that this is not true, is unbelief. To change this scripture as some do, and say even if they rebel they will come back is adding to the Word. Throughout the Word, we are warned about adding or taking anything away. We are also told, this Word is not up for private interpretation-(1 Peter 1:20). Just because Aunt Susie was the sweetest woman you know, and her son Jody killed ten people we cannot say that the Word of God is not true. God said it and that should settle it! If there is any discrepancy, it has to be on the part of the humans involved. Now, before you say I'm judgmental or pretending my children are perfect, hear me out. I know that I have disobeyed God. There are consequences for my disobedience. Some of those sins have affected my children. I have confessed my sins, and I am forgiven. God does not Condemn me or you! Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."(KJV). But the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. John 16:8-9 tells us what happens when the Holy Spirit comes, "When He arrives, He will uncover the sins of the world, expose unbelief as sin, and allow all to see their sins in the light of righteousness for the first time."(Voice). We have to accept responsibility, ask God for forgiveness, and believe his grace and mercy are enough to change any situation. 1 John 1:8-9 is written to the church, born-again, spirit-filled believers. It says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."(KJV). These people were already saved. This scripture was not speaking about confessing your sins at salvation. This scripture is talking about realizing we miss it from time to time! We aren't flawless. Pride will cause us to seek to justify what has happened or what is happening. But humility will cause us to say, "I missed it that time God, help me not to miss it again!" James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."(KJV)
OK, so I went way over there to say that unbelief will block our Faith. Unbelief is a Blessing-Blocker! The serpent used unbelief on Eve to deceive her. He made her doubt, and question the Words that God had spoken. In order to receive our inheritance we have to remove any Blessing-Blockers! Sin, unbelief, bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, pride, fear, and many others will block our blessings. If we will listen and obey, Deuteronomy 28 describes all the wonderful blessings we can expect. If you continue reading Deuteronomy 28, you will arrive at verse 15. Verse 15 starts to describe the curses that will come upon you if you fail to listen and obey. I'm praying you never have to experience those curses. But if you are experiencing anything described in the latter verses, ask God for Wisdom to get back on track. James 1:5 says, "If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it."(Living Bible).
Fighting unbelief one scripture at a time. Love and prayers, Cynthia
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