…You (put your name here) through faith, has been protected by the name of the Father (John 17:11), are shielded by God’s power until the day of His salvation, have been chosen and set apart, sprinkled by His blood have been given a precious gift, a living hope, our Father back, and our faith protected. We have an inheritance that will never spoil, fade, rot, die, corrode or rust. Because it is undefiled; God is undefiled! Halleluyah, We have Living Hope for Eternity. His name is Jesus- Lord to the believer.
So, let us get to our two scriptures today.
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
1 Pet 1: 6-7 NLT
Got faith! Anyone who knows me knows that “faith” is my favorite subject! I learned that FAITH is a wonderful gift to have. Faith is a seed. The Word is a seed. And the two together, with momentum, make a powerful weapon. And, when you walk by faith and not by sight, you walk in the Power of God, with His blessings overflowing in your life.
So when the trials come, you have a choice; sink or swim! This scripture tells you that when trials come, and your faith is genuine- it shows to God the proven character of your faith in which the end result is God’s YES- which is: Praise! Glory! Honor! Because we cried out: “Abba Father!!” and He came! We cried out: “Jesus” and He heard and delivered us. We cried out “help” and our help came immediately. Faith is something unseen, yet in the deepest part of us seen. We know that God is here for us. He is mighty to save! He is our healer, our deliverer, our provider, our help, our strength! (I can go on and on) as you know who God is to you and how God has provided Himself to you in ways you never realized. It was FAITH that cried out! And it was God who said, “okay, Yes!”
God is precious that way! He is ever generous, never stingy with His blessings! He wants you so blessed, so happy, so loved to abundance!
We were never promised a life without struggle or hardships. We were never promised a life without trials, were we? But when trials come, we have an out, we can pray! We can trust God to help us! We can cry out, “Abba Father” and guess what? He hears us, and He comes to aid us.
When we are tested by fire, we are rescued. The “proof of our faith” has been tested, and the result is praise, honor, and glory!
Have you ever been in a place where all you had is God to rely on? That you even told Him, “who else would I turn to, God?” I have. I had a choice to utilize my faith and stand on solid rock (choose Jesus) or sink in the miry clay (allow my flesh to take over). I chose Jesus to help me through.
Do you know that Jesus helped me in my faith? He helped my faith to grow stronger every day? He gave me His Word to speak out, pray out, sing out and BELIEVE out to Him- honoring Him in every fiber of my being. Every minute of my day, in faith, belongs to Him.
My faith was tested by fire, to God, he saw this little girl praying with all she had, believing with all she had, trusting in God with all I had for a life, my soul mate that he wouldn’t die. I was seeing with my very eyes life ending- my husbands. But faith saw a different picture. LIFE, not death, not just any kind of life but I prayed for ABUNDANT LIFE! At the time, I didn’t know what I was praying, but now I know. 2 years later, a liver transplant later, new life later, a healthy life later, God gave me the words to speak out, the scriptures to believe and pray out and the faith to cry out: Jehovah Rapha (God our healer) and God came, God delivered, God healed, God provided, God did all He said He would because the momentum of faith and Word together caused spiritual blessings heaped upon spiritual blessings, favor, and grace came to my faith, and made it strong IN Christ Jesus, and to God be all the glory and honor and praise!
When fire comes, the tests come! I read the other day on a church sign post, there is no testimony without a test! True!
So that the proven genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, perishing though being refined by fire, may be discovered to result in praise, glory, and honor in the revelation of Jesus Christ!
So, I ask again, do you have faith, genuine faith??? Is God proud of your faith??
Does your faith produce? Faith produces you know! It produces glory, honor, and PRAISE! \0/
It also produces REVELATION. Your eyes will be opened to Truth. The truth of whom you serve.
The God you serve is so gracious and so good. Talk about genuine! He will not let you stay in the fire. You know sometimes, we stupidly walk ourselves to the fire? How dumb!
But all we have to do is cry out JESUS!!! like Peter on the water, Lord help! as he sunk in the water. Did Jesus let him drown? No! He helped him. Indeed, Peter’s faith was a couple steps in the right direction- although he sunk, he still had a two-step kind of faith. I give him credit! :-)
In closing,
We all have trials! Everyone has problems here and there. But as a Christian, a follower of Jesus, Truster in God there is something wonderful for us: HOPE!
If we stay faithful until the end, don’t you think your Heavenly Father will be faithful to you? If you purpose in your heart to stand firm, and set your face like a flint, and REFUSE to sink in that miry clay while your faith is being tested, don’t you realize that your Father will honor your faith? According to this scripture your faith in this situation is far more precious than gold, and as it is being “purified” so are you.
You are strong, and IN Christ, your genuine faith is made strong, and purified unto PRAISE, glory, and honor unto God the Father, who deserves it all!
Jesus, thank you again for faith! I say with all my heart, I BELIEVE, and I thank you with every fiber of my being and spirit, I love you, Lord. I love you. Bless us today, bless our faith. Open your Word and give us Revelation of who You are. Show us Jesus, that you have given us all a gift: a measure of faith, and we can all utilize it, for Your glory. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen Jesus!!! HalleluYah!!!