What we look at in life, will determine, if we have more, less, or not at all faith in God. What we look at, we pay attention to, and give ourselves to it. If we look and our attention remains with the circumstances of our life, or with the news on the TV, or with what the doctors or friends say to us, then we can be full of fear, and lack of faith.
In Matthew 14:30, you can see, that as long as Peter was looking at Jesus, in the middle of the storm, he was safe, and was walking on the water. But the same verse says, that Peter shifted his attention from Jesus, and began to look at the wind, he became afraid, which proves, that he lost his faith in the word which Jesus gave him, ‘come’, and began to believe in the power of the wind and the storm, rather in the power of God and his Word. The Bible tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Peter was doing just that, fixing his attention to Jesus, and walking on the water for a few seconds, but then he fixed his eyes on the circumstances around him, and especially on the wind. I am sure Peter began to think to himself, how powerful that wind and storm was, and completely forgot, how powerful his God was. But that is what happens to everyone, who fixes their attention on the wrong thing, because what we give our attention to, we empower to influence us, either on the circumstances in our life, which will produce often fear and no faith, or on the Word of God, which will produce faith and diminish fear. If Peter decided, to stay focused on what Jesus told him to do, and carry on looking at Jesus, instead looking at the wind, he would be able to walk on the water, and he would be able to walk over many other things and challenges, in his life. He had to stay focused on the words of Jesus, instead of focusing on the power of the wind and the waves. That is what determines success or failure, faith or doubt, victory or defeat.
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Pray or perish. The more we press the snooze button, the less we pray, and the more we are tempted. The less we pray, the more we sin. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. That is a command, not an option. How can we be filled with the Holy Spirit if we do not pray? Jesus said in another place that we are in error, because we do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. How can we know the power of God, if we do not pray? Knowing and even acting on the Word of God is not enough. If we do not pray, we lose communication with heaven, and when we do, the communication we are left with is this world and what it has to offer. The image of God shines brighter and is shaped more and more in our life, when we pray. Less prayer, less image from heaven in us, and more from the fallen human nature in us and this world. Surely Jesus prayed more intensively, the closer he came to the cross. That is why he urged the disciples to do the same, shortly before he was captured and crucified. In the most crucial time in the garden of temptation, they pressed the snooze button. I am sure God wanted them to press the prayer button instead of the snooze button. The less we pray, the more we sleep. The more we sleep, the less we have what heaven has to offer. When we press the spiritual snooze button, we drop the Sword, and lose the battle. The less we pray, the more we sin. The more we sin, the less we grow in maturity in Christ. The less we mature in Christ, the more of the solid food for us God has we miss. We carry on drinking only milk and stay like a spiritual infant. The enemy knows that the less we pray, the more we can be tempted, so he is watching for an opportunity we give him, when we press the snooze button. Are you struggling at the moment to get a job? There are so many people now in the world, who need employment, because of the Covid 19 pandemic. Perhaps you have been looking to find a new job for a long time. Be sure of the fact of the promise of God, that he cares for you and will provide you with an employment. But how can you be sure? Well, let us look at Psalm 112. In verse 2 the Word of God says that if you are a Christian, and serve God, you will be blessed. How can you be blessed, if you do not have a job? The two just do not go together. It is all down to what we want to believe more. The circumstances of unemployment we see, and our empty pocket, or the Word of God, and what God says about it. Think about it. God created the whole universe and the earth, and all the gold and diamonds in the earth just by his Word, by what God spoke. He created the universe by his spoken words out of nothing. Now, do not you think, that God will surely provide you with a job by commanding a job to be given to you? He even gave job to Adam and Eve from the very beginning. And now, you are his beloved child. He was willing to give up for you and me, the most precious he ever had, his Son Jesus to suffer a horrible death on the cross, for my and your sins. God the Father did not refuse to let Jesus go on the cross for you and me. And will he be unwilling to give a job to you? No way! He promised to give good gifts to those who ask him. So, do not wonder anymore, if God will provide you with a job, because he will! God said in Psalm 112:3 that wealth and riches will be in your house, if you believe in him and follow him. That wealth and riches surely includes an employment! Why should God want to give you wealth and riches, and not want to give you a job? God wants not just to pay your bills, but for you to have more than enough. That is what he said, that wealth and riches are yours! That is much more than just having a job! He wants you to have more than a salary! God wants you to be rich! Read verse 3 again! That is the opinion of God, not a man. God wants you prosperous! That is God’s own idea, not man’s! Wealth and riches means only one thing, wealth and riches, and there are no ifs, no buts, and all the other stuff, which does not come from heaven. |
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