Our Faith

JOSHUA COMMANDING SUN TO STAND STILL

Pastor Carter Conlon said in a sermon last Sunday from Time Square Church that " FAITH IS NOT FAITH, UNTIL FAITH IS ALL YOU HAVE..."

Several times each day I claim something in my life after I have made my request known to God. God is not on my time schedule; He hears each and every prayer and will answer them as He sees fit.

If what I have requested will bring glory to His Name, the answer to the request is assured. If there are areas of my walk with Him that need improvement or adjustment (which is usually the case), the request may be delayed for a season. Abraham walked with God for many years before he received the promised son that would continue his legacy of being chosen of and a friend of God. Isaac thorough great hardship and difficulty realized that Jacob was the continuation of the promise; Jacob, not Esau.

Jacob suffered much heartache, and heartbreak concerning the promise that was continued through his son Joseph. Heart break to the point that he thought for years that Jacob had been slain by a lion or wild beast.

All the while, God was at work! Jacob sold into slavery, accused by Pharaoh's wife of abuse, thrown into prison, forgotten by his fellow prisoners, and finally deliverance. What must have been going through the mind's of these men who had received the promises from God and things seemed to be going in the opposite direction in their lives!

Should it be any different with us? I wonder what the enemy of mankind, Satan and his forces of darkness and deception were whispering into the ears of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph? The situation is the same for us. Satan walks to and fro throughout the earth seeking whom he may devour. But, thank God, if we resist him in the faith, God says he has to flee. Our faith is the victory.

As was Joshua, we are in a battle. Our successes for God's Kingdom great importance to our development, our influence, effectiveness and our faith. God listened to a man, Joshua, and He froze the movement of the sun! To each is given a measure of faith and we can pray for more! Often, the way of a true walk with God seems to be like putting thread into a needle. It requires constant attention and concentration.

God will cause anything that will bring us harm to stand still as the sun did for Joshua; evil and Satan can go so far and no farther. Often times, what the enemy meant for harm will cause us to only draw closer to our Father and great growth and maturity is the result of what was meant for evil.

Every evening, before retiring for the day, no matter what that day brought, we can rest assured and take great confidence that we are a day's march nearer our heavenly home!