Become a faith giant

Pastor Tinashe Zinyemba The Christian Youth
IN my previous instalment I analysed various ways in which we can grow in God and establish ourselves in Him with sincerity. It is a shame that there are so many voices out in the world that preach from the scriptures yet few men and women of the cloth these days are taking the time to be intimate with the word of God.

If you are not careful you can easily be led astray. Today we will continue with the remaining four points that we came across as we go through the presentation made by pastor Gloria Copeland.

Become a faith giant

Faith-believing what God has said-is the foundation for a supernatural life. In John 6:28, the disciples asked Him, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answered in the next verse, “This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

The faith giants listed in Hebrews 11 accomplished great things through faith-by believing God. Verse one says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  It is only by faith that what you are hoping for will manifest. Today, your body may be sick or diseased, your finances may be in shambles, or your mind may be tormented by fear and worry.

If so, I want you to know I understand what that feels like.  And I also want you to know that you don’t have to stay in that condition.

Learn to stand on God’s promises and appropriate them in our lives. Believe and receive what God said is already yours, talk like it and act like it. And, the truth of the Word will make you free.  Never will you find in the Bible where God wanted His people to be poor, sick or defeated.

The only reason God’s people have been broke, disgusted, sorry and sick is because they didn’t do what He said-they didn’t do things His way. It’s easy to coast along and be like everybody else. But if you truly desire to be a faith giant and do exploits for God, you have to believe His Word. If you will believe His Word and do things His way, the supernatural can be your natural.

Attend to God’s Word

All it takes is one flash of light from the Word to change your life forever.  One flash of faith and you will realise, God said I can have that! As you speak that promise, it will become more real to you than anything else.

That’s when you have the victory on the inside-that’s when the natural realm must respond. That’s when the supernatural becomes natural. None of us can afford to be lazy about the Word of God.

Our future is tied up in how much Word we have in our hearts. That’s why God said, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life,” (Proverbs 4:20-23).

It’s up to us how much of the power of God we experience. As we feed on the Word, speak it and act on it, the Word will become a reality to us and the power in God’s Word will drive out fear, failure and sickness!

Purpose in your heart that you will not be lazy, that you will not draw back, hold back or sit down, but purpose in your heart that you will rise up and march forward and be on fire.

Soar in the Spirit!

We know too that “doing exploits” also requires laying aside every weight and sin that can hinder us (Hebrews 12:1).

Weights are things that hold us down in the natural realm-things that crowd our hearts and take our focus and energy away from the things of God.

Mark 4 gives a good list of those things. Although cares, distractions and desire for other things are not necessarily sin, they are things that will hold us down to the natural realm.  And, when the natural man is in control, faith loses its aggressiveness.

But why would anyone choose to live in the natural realm, on a low, low level, when we can live in the supernatural realm and soar in the spirit?

With the help of the Holy Spirit you can “crucify” the flesh, (Galatians 5:24) and renew your mind to the Word, (Romans 12:2).  You can be “spiritually minded” and experience life and peace. Or you can be “naturally” or “carnally minded” and think like the world thinks, and get what the world gets-death, (see Romans 8:6).

Your spirit-the part of you that is connected to God-can always be in command. When that’s the case, it isn’t difficult to receive the wisdom or help you need to overcome any situation.  When you are vitally connected to the God of the impossible, it becomes easy for the supernatural to thrive.

You can live a limited life in the earth-limited to your natural ability and circumstances-or you can live unlimited.  It’s your choice, just like it was Israel’s choice. They had to decide if they were going to follow after God, or settle for the natural things in the world and live like the heathen people around them.

Put Your Foot on the Promise

At one point in particular, they chose wrong. When God told the children of Israel to take the Promised Land, they forgot who was with them and saw only their own inabilities.

That generation did not take the land God said He had given to them. They refused to possess or put their foot on the land God had promised them.

But in Joshua 1:3, when God told Joshua, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you,” Joshua believed Him. Notice God didn’t say, “I’m going to give it to you”.

He said, every place you put your foot, I have given to you-(which is) past tense. If Joshua hadn’t picked up his foot and put it down on that property-on that promise-he wouldn’t have received it. But Joshua did!

The people were with him, and together they took the land. Joshua did what God told him, when He told him.

March around the walls seven times and then shout, God said. And, they did.

If their hearts had been hardened like the previous generation, they would not have obeyed God. It took God-inspired courage to do that, and they had hearts toward God.

What happened? God took action, and suddenly they were not limited to the natural realm. Miraculously the walls fell flat. The Israelites possessed their land.

When a miracle was needed, God performed a miracle. That’s the way God desires the Church to live-believing Him for the supernatural.

Today we are at the same place Joshua was.

God had already given him the land, but he had to act on what God said. God has told us things in His Word that belong to us. We have to put our foot on them and possess them. We have to walk out on the Word.

• Tinashe Zinyemba is a pastor with New Life Covenant Church. Email feedback at [email protected]