Have you ever had a Holy Spirit-inspired dream, a dream of doing something really great for Jesus? A dream of being so prosperous, for instance, that you can finance a nationwide revival? A dream of leading thousands of people to the Lord?
At one time or another, you probably have, but perhaps you backed away from it. You thought, Oh my, I couldn’t do that. Satan’s kept me defeated for so long I have a poor self-image.
You’ve been walking by faith. You’ve been believing God to meet your need. But what do you do when the results seem slow in coming and you are tempted to give up?
Be patient!
There is not much said about patience these days. But, when it comes to receiving from God, it is just as important as faith.
It will make the difference between success and failure for you.
Whenever you find yourself stumbling into failure or sin, check your love life. Sit down with the Lord and ask Him to show you if you’re in strife with anyone or if you’ve taken offense. If you have, the devil can come in and trip you up.
As a preacher, I’ve seen that happen countless times. I’ll be preaching about something and some believer will get upset with me about it. He’ll decide I’m wrong and go off in a huff—and first thing you know, he’s in trouble.
No matter how long you’ve been living by faith, no matter how much you’ve learned about it, every once in a while you’re going to suffer a setback. You’re going to run into some circumstances that just don’t turn out the way you expect them to.
When that happens, remember this: Those setbacks are just temporary. You may have lost a battle, but you’re not going to lose the war. Just get up and go at it again.
“But I don’t understand it,” you say. “I did the best I could. I walked in all the truth I knew to walk in. Why didn’t I get the victory?”
Failures and disappointments. Aches and pains from the past that just won’t seem to go away. Most of us know what it’s like to suffer from them but too few of us know just what to do about them. So we limp along, hoping somehow they’ll magically stop hurting.
If you’re ever on a losing streak and need someone to tell you how to turn things around, go to God. He’s an expert on the subject. He’s suffered more losses than anyone who’s ever lived.
Just think about it. He lost Lucifer, His top-ranked, most anointed angel. And when Lucifer fell, He lost at least a third of His other angels as well. Then He lost the man and woman He had created. And because He’d given them dominion over the earth, when He lost them, He lost it too. Any way you figure it, that’s a lot of real estate down the drain!
Resurrection. What do you think of when you hear that word? Most people think of the past. Of a stone rolled away. An empty tomb. And a risen Lord.
Praise God, Jesus is alive today, isn't He?
What we don't fully understand is this: He's not the only One who has been resurrected. We've been resurrected too!
We were spiritually resurrected the day we made the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives. That day we passed from death to life. The greater part of your resurrection has already happened!
Some people have the mistaken idea that when the direction of the Holy Spirit comes to them, they can just ignore it for a while if they want to and then obey Him later in their own good time. They think to themselves, I know what I'm doing is wrong. I know my lifestyle isn't right, but I'm just going to do it a while longer. Then I'll get things straightened out with the Lord.
Too often we ask God to fix the problems around us when what He really wants to do is solve the problem within us. I did that myself for years where my weight was concerned. I prayed and prayed for God to help me lose weight. Yet I experienced repeated failure. I lost literally hundreds of pounds, only to gain them right back again.
Finally one day, I made a firm decision. I told God, "I am not going one step further until I find out what to do about this!" Then I went on a fast, shut myself away from everyone, and determined to hear from God.
The living Word of Almighty God is the only power strong enough to discipline your flesh. It's the only power that can cause you to think, look, talk and act like a born-again man.
When I became a Christian, I was dominated by a horrible smoking habit. I tried to quit every way I could think of but nothing worked. After months of struggling and failing, I decided to attend some meetings in Hilton Sutton's church in Houston, Texas. Before I went into those meetings, I tucked my cigarettes above the sun visor in my car and left them there.
Years ago, God spoke a phrase to Gloria's heart that I've never forgotten. She'd been asking Him to teach her to walk in the spirit, to operate more fully in the supernatural power of God.
In consistency lies the power, He said.
That revelation was tough for me. In the natural I'm anything but consistent. My human nature tends to be up one day and down the next. But, praise God, I don't have to depend on my human nature to get me by. I have Jesus Christ living within me and He's the same yesterday, today and forever!
I don't care how badly you may have messed things up yesterday or how many mistakes you have made, I want you to begin this day knowing you are righteous! Not because of anything you've done but because you've received, by faith in Jesus, the very righteousness of God.
Just look at the kinds of benefits the Word of God says that righteousness will bring:
"The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree" (Psalm 92:12).
"When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth" (Proverbs 11:10).