"If any man comes after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will find it." (Mark 8:34)
'Marketing the Gospel' - is it a contradiction in terms? The concept sounds sort of self-defeating, like trying t... Read more
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We may have heard at some point in our lives that if we truly believe in something, having faith that it will happen, then it really will happen. Some people don't completely accept that, but the Bible is clear; what you believe is what you get. Jesus said, "Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them" (Mark 11:24).
But, He didn't say we would see the manifestation of our prayers immediately. We need to give God time to work things out, continue in our faith, and not doubt, "For a man who wavers is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord" (James 1:6-7). Expectation is the key to receiving from Him. What good does it do to pray without expecting God to answer? You might as well be talking to a tree. The Bible says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to Him must believe that He is God, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). Have you noticed that most people do not expect things to work out? In fact, most people have been taught to believe in negative outcomes. The reasoning is; "If things don't work out, I won't be disappointed." There's no logic in that! Even though one may not be expecting, one still at least hopes. The fact is, crushed hopes cause disappointment. Having faith and expecting in the positive is vital to our success. If we could only believe that everything will work out and trust that what we want will happen, we'd have great results. Life would change dramatically. But, for some reason, most people just can't believe that things will work out for them. They look at past results and judge their future based on that past. It's true that future results can best be predicted by past behavior. So, if your past behavior has been to not expect in positive outcomes, then change that behavior. It doesn't take any more effort to believe in a positive outcome than it does in a negative one. Faith is required to receive from God, and our expectation is proof of our faith. So, if we ask God for something, but then we don't do anything on our part to bring it to pass, we must question our faith. God will do His part for sure, but we are required to do our part as well. What is our part? Expect! Believe it, confess it, and anything else that could possibly be done on our part, for "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:20). So truly believe in something! Have faith that it will happen. Again, the Bible is clear; what you believe is what you get. Jesus said, "Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them" (Mark 11:24).
When I was young, I used to love to go to Sunday school just because I loved to hear the Bible stories. Quite honestly, even at a young age, I realized the church we went to was full of hypocrites, but that didn't stop me from l...
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