Todays message : DO NOT LOSE HOPE – Part 2
1 “Now Faith is confidence in what we Hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:1-6 NIV
Last week we learned what faith is.
Faith is the confidence, the certainty and the assurance of the things we HOPE for; God moves in your life through your Hope and based on what you are expecting.
What God will do in your life will (often) not make sense to you because faith is not logical. Miracles have no logic.
Faith is the certainty of what we expect! Do not lose your hope!
Where there is no Hope, Faith cannot operate!
Faith doesn’t work without Hope! Faith is the substance (certainty) of things we expect.
That’s why the enemy is always attacking your Hope!
The day you lose Hope, you lose your life! So, the devil is not after your faith, he is after your hope!
Satan’s desire is to kill, steal, and destroy your Hope and if he succeeds, he will have destroyed your life!
My faith is the confidence of things that I hope for!
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
It’s the assurance of what we do not see! Faith is the proof, the assurance, the receipt, the evidence of things we hope for but do not see!
“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him”
1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV
This is the evidence of things unseen!
Do you remember when you were a child how you had a great imagination and you believed anything was possible. You used to say: I’m going to be a doctor, I’m going to be an astronaut, I’m going to be the president, some even jumped off from trees because they imagined that they had the power to fly!
Jesus said that we have to become like children again, we must have faith like children if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3)
Some of us have stopped dreaming, stopped believing and I have a question for you:
What took away your Hope? When did you stop dreaming? Did you let the abuser take away your Hope?
Faith is the assurance of things not seen! Stop acting like an unbeliever. Walk on what God says, talk about things based on what God says, move in what God says and preach what God says.
You think you are waiting on God but it is God who is waiting on you!
God is waiting on you to believe all the things He’s said about you instead of what you imagine about yourself.
“By faith we understand”
Faith is the Truth we stand on! It’s my safe ground!
I know it’s hard to understand many things in life. There are a lot of questions in life, but by Faith we come to understand!
“By faith we understand that the universe was formed through God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible.” Hebrews 11:3
By Faith we understand that God made us, gave us a plan and we messed up because of our own choices!
But He still, has His plans for us! Your life is in His hands, your next year is in His hands, the whole universe was formed at God’s command.
Faith pleases Him and we must believe that everything is possible for those who have faith.
“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible.”
Everything that exists, everything that is touchable, tangible, physical, everything that you can pick up, hold and feel did not start in the physical realm.
Everything started in the spirit.
That’s why the enemy attacks your spirit and mind, because everything that you will receive from God comes from your faith and your spirit.
How can you have Faith and increase it?
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:17 NKJV
If I’m going to have Faith, I have to control what I hear! I have to shut down all these voices, external and internal ones.
Because what I hear informs my belief system and it can either cancel out my blessings or improve them.
If my belief system is sick; my Faith will also be sick.
Faith is about what and how you think and believe.
“For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he” Proverbs 23:7
You can be a servant of God, you can be in church, you can be a good person, but still your faith might not be working!
Faith is only for this life, in heaven, after death, we will not need any Faith!
Faith is for this time, it’s for your physical life and if you want to please God you need to believe in the impossible!
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. Hebrews 11:5
Enoch pleased God with his faith!
He didn’t bother to please people, his neighbours or his family, but he pleased God!
Are you trying to please people that have no consequence?
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
Enoch pleased God by faith. Without faith you cannot please God.
We should live a pure life, but it isn’t purity that pleases God.
We should praise God, but it isn’t our praise that pleases God.
The way we can really please God is by Faith!
We need to trust God, even when we don’t understand His ways.
Example: a child trusts his parents, he believes that his parents’ intentions are good, even when he does not understand every decision they might make.
Did you know that God has designed your entire future for you? He has the best for you, the best place, the best possibilities, all in store for you!
If you get out of God’s way and designing your own life, making your own plans, then things will going wrong for you.
Just give it all over to God and say: whatever you want me to have, I will take it, whenever you think I’m ready for it, I will move into to, whatever you design for me, I will go for it!
This is Faith! You have to move according to God’s will.
And remember, without Faith it’s impossible to please God.
You can sing, you can preach, you can dance, you can come to church, but you may still not be pleasing to God, because what really pleases God is our Faith!
Some people believe in God, they work for God, they pray, they worship God, but they do not have a faith that pleases God.
“Because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
This verse says we need to believe in two things: That He exists and that He rewards – that He gives out blessings, that He gifts those who seek Him.
Many believes that He exists, that He is God but they don’t believe that He rewards those who seek Him.
Some people say: I want just “spiritual things”, “I just want to be saved and go to Heaven”, “I don’t need to bother God or to pray to receive things”
God loves you and He is pleased when you have faith for small things and great things, spiritual but also material things!
Jesus not only saved and delivered people from demons or gave them “spiritual blessings”, He also performed many miracles giving them “material blessings”.
Where did Jesus perform His first public miracle? What did He do?
1: Jesus transformed water into wine in a wedding’s party. (John 2:1)
This was the first public miracle of Jesus. Jesus was invited to a wedding party in Cana, where, by turning water into wine, He expressed His power by providing joy and satisfaction to the married couple and his guests.
2: Another wonderful miracle was in the lake of Gennesaret.
After an unsuccessful night, fishermen filled their nets with an abundance of fish. (Luke 5:1)
3: Taking money from inside a fish’s mouth.
His disciples had no money to pay taxes, so Jesus said,
“Go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.” Mt 17:27
Jesus ordered them to miraculously remove a coin from the mouth of a fish to pay the temple tax. God can operate miracles in your financial life too!
God cares about you, He wants to act in all areas of your life! He wants to meet all your needs! He is a God of miracles.
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”
Ephesians 3:20 NKJV
Why does God want to perform miracles in your life?
Your miracles will attract other people to God. You will “showcase” God’s abilities. God is glorified when miracles happen in your life.
That’s why I declare: God will open the doors for you! God will give you the document you need, he will give you the house you need, the husband or wife you need, the work, the money you need! How many people can say amen!
Without faith it is impossible to please God. In addition to believing that He exists we need to believe that He rewards those who seek Him!
The greatest miracle you could receive is your salvation, we all need to be born again, repent from our sins, and give ourselves to the Lord Jesus!
This is the greatest of miracles, but God wants to do even more! He wants to act in your life, God has the power to heal you, open doors to miracles in your marriage, your family, your professional life.
Believe and do not lose hope because God has tremendous things to accomplish in your life!
Believe in the impossible, wait for the impossible, because this is the Faith that pleases God!
May God bless you, and never lose Hope!