Members godsgurlie_077 Posted January 18, 2008 Members Share Posted January 18, 2008 This week we have been having revival services and today I thought I would share what the one Pastor was talking about. Faith is tried, it is tested and it can be true. The Pastor was pretty much talking about the man who was born a cripple. Turn to Mark 2vs1-5 As we know the four friends carried him to go see Jesus and when Jesus saw them it says in verse 5 Jesus saw their faith because they had so much of it. I mean think about it wouldn't it be great if Jesus could see our faith because their is so much of it. I don't know about you but I say too many times our minds doubt the power of God and instead we are filled with fear and this is a serious thing because it can conquer our faith and that is something we don't want. At least I wouldn't want it I am not sure about you. How big is your faith? Is doubt getting the best of you? Is fear one of your struggles? Are you putting the will of God before your own will? Is you faith so big that God can see it? If not what do you think the problem is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Disciple Maker Posted February 7, 2008 Members Share Posted February 7, 2008 "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." Audio Message on Faith: A Doxological Vision of God (How Big is Your God?) http://www.ambassadors.edu/OnlineSermons/2007-2008%20Spring%20Semester/2008-01-15---A%20Doxological%20Vision---Dr%20Lance%20Ketchum---46.mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lettheredeemedsayso Posted July 21, 2008 Members Share Posted July 21, 2008 "Lord' date=' I believe; help thou mine unbelief."[/b'] Audio Message on Faith: A Doxological Vision of God (How Big is Your God?) http://www.ambassadors.edu/OnlineSermons/2007-2008%20Spring%20Semester/2008-01-15---A%20Doxological%20Vision---Dr%20Lance%20Ketchum---46.mp3 Exactly. Not how big is my faith but " How big is your God?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joyfulpraise93 Posted July 21, 2008 Members Share Posted July 21, 2008 Exactly. Not how big is my faith but " How big is your God?" Amen Amen Amen...Glad God doesn't do things because of how great my faith is, but because of WHOM I put it in. Just like in salvation...we're not saved because of our great faith (because most of us have only little faith at that time), but because we put our faith in Christ Jesus, God's Son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Good topic. :smile Excellent on-line message, too. Yesterday, in Sunday School my pastor talked and encouraged a discussion w/ my class about being average Christians. The world is filled with average Christians. My goal in life has been to "try" to be above average. With that in mind...why not be "above average" in what matters the most in life...being a disciple for the Lord Jesus Christ? In the evening service, we are studying the Book of Hebrews. The title of the sermon was Slipping. Slipping is really unintentinal. It happens b/c of neglect. We don't plan it...we drift into it, if we are not careful. It is carelessness when the mind becomes pre-occupied. One point he talked about, was for Christians (of all ages) to remain teachable. Always, be teachable and open to correction...which comes from the KJVO. Lately, what we have seen in this country is "slipping" individuals and "slipping" churches. Of course, this is only a brief part of his message. It is essential for Christians to keep their eyes focused on Jesus so we don't slip. That is done through prayer (praise and worship), Bible reading and study, devotional time, fellowhip in our local IFB churches, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kevinmiller Posted August 12, 2008 Members Share Posted August 12, 2008 Amen Amen Amen...Glad God doesn't do things because of how great my faith is, but because of WHOM I put it in. Just like in salvation...we're not saved because of our great faith (because most of us have only little faith at that time), but because we put our faith in Christ Jesus, God's Son. True, but we often limit what God wants to do in our lives because of our lack of faith. Miracles happen in other countries where Christians are persecuted or where life is difficult for them because they have the faith to believe God can do it. When someone gets sick, we pray they'll get better but is our faith actually completely on God to bring miraculous healing or we 50 or 75 or 95% reliant on the doctor to fix it for us? The faith to truly believe God for miracles is when God begins to perform them. "Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Matthew 17:19-20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 What you said about in other countries seeing more works of the Lord( my wording but that was my understanding of what you said) When my son was younger we were having problems with our windshied wipers. My husband told me to avoid being out if it was raining for just a few day's until he could fix it. Well I went to pick up our son at an activity and suddenly a downpour where you couldn't see with wind shild wipers or not!! We had no cell phone to call hubby. I pulled over to wait for the rain to maybe lift but after atleast 20 minutes it only worsened and was beginning to get dark. I explained to my son what dad had said about the windshild wipers that there had been a short. We decided to just pray that the Lord would make the windshild wipers work once more so we could get home in the rainstorm. After a good while of praying I started the car and told the Lord we trust him to supply our need. They worked!!! But here's the biggest thing of all. Of course when we walked in our home my husband was calling from work really concerned. I explained what had happened. He became very silent and said "That's not possible!" I assured him I was telling the truth and he could talk to our son to verify. That's when he informd me that it wasn't physically possible because he had not only disconnected but removed the part that connected to the windshild wipers to make them go. Just alittle faith is all we need! pixiedust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John81 Posted January 31, 2009 Members Share Posted January 31, 2009 What you said about in other countries seeing more works of the Lord( my wording but that was my understanding of what you said) When my son was younger we were having problems with our windshied wipers. My husband told me to avoid being out if it was raining for just a few day's until he could fix it. Well I went to pick up our son at an activity and suddenly a downpour where you couldn't see with wind shild wipers or not!! We had no cell phone to call hubby. I pulled over to wait for the rain to maybe lift but after atleast 20 minutes it only worsened and was beginning to get dark. I explained to my son what dad had said about the windshild wipers that there had been a short. We decided to just pray that the Lord would make the windshild wipers work once more so we could get home in the rainstorm. After a good while of praying I started the car and told the Lord we trust him to supply our need. They worked!!! But here's the biggest thing of all. Of course when we walked in our home my husband was calling from work really concerned. I explained what had happened. He became very silent and said "That's not possible!" I assured him I was telling the truth and he could talk to our son to verify. That's when he informd me that it wasn't physically possible because he had not only disconnected but removed the part that connected to the windshild wipers to make them go. Just alittle faith is all we need! pixiedust Praise God! What a wonderful testimony of God's answer to prayer! Our Heavenly Father has answered prayers regarding our car in amazing ways. We server a most wonderful God. Part of the reason there is sometimes so much more noticible answer to prayer in some foreign countries than here in America is due to a lack of real faith here in America and also due to lack of rightly asking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 What is "rightly asking"? :puzzled: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John81 Posted January 31, 2009 Members Share Posted January 31, 2009 What is "rightly asking"? :puzzled: Asking with the right motive, asking within the will of God. For instance, praying for the money needed to supply a true need would be appropriate but to pray for the Lord to let you win the lottery, or praying for money to buy a fancy new car better than the Jones', would not. A great book on prayer, which includes many amazing answers to prayer, is "Praying: Asking and Receiving" by Dr. John R. Rice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Now I get it! thank you! I'll be very careful to make sure I'm praying this way now. I think I do already but (don't laugh!) I'll pray about it! pixiedust :pray :pray :pray :pray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John81 Posted January 31, 2009 Members Share Posted January 31, 2009 Now I get it! thank you! I'll be very careful to make sure I'm praying this way now. I think I do already but (don't laugh!) I'll pray about it! pixiedust :pray :pray :pray :pray :smile :thumb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alimantado Posted February 2, 2009 Members Share Posted February 2, 2009 When my son was younger we were having problems with our windshied wipers... That is quite a story! I don't really know what to make of it. Right: you've prompted me to share a story about me. It's not a story about answers to prayer--at least not my prayers. It's probably off-topic but this conversation looks finished, so I'll tell it anyway. About a year ago I began reading through the books of the NT with a friend and work colleague who lived and worked at the other end of the country to me. We had met at an annual work conference and she had witnessed to me whilst we were talking. This conversation led to us agreeing to read through the Bible together but separately--in tandem if you will. We were to read the same chapters by a set date and then e-mail each other our thoughts. This formula had worked well for Matthew and so we were about to start Mark. At this point, my friend asked me why I was using an AV, to which I replied that she was not the first person to witness to me. In my previous job, several years ago, another work colleague had persuaded me to both attend their church and begin reading the Bible. The church was AV-only and I had become a little accustomed to reading this version, hence I was keen to stick with it if I could. After I had explained this, my friend suggested I try to read Mark using the NIV, as I might find it easier to understand. She said she would try to get hold of a copy for me. A couple of days later I was doing a bird survey along a roadside verge when I found a copy of the Bible. It wasn't the whole lot, it was just a paperback NIV copy of the Gospel of Mark enclosed in it's own jacket. I was struck by this discovery, because whilst I was well used to finding slightly odd things on road verges--the kind of things you couldn't imagine throwing away while on a journey, like a pair of shoes or a cup and saucer--this seemed to be a spooky coincidence. Not only had I just found a Bible, but also a copy of the very book I was about to start reading in the version that my friend was keen for me to use. The story isn't quite as convenient as that, because the book was sodden wet and took almost a week to dry, by which time I had finished reading Mark in my AV. Nonetheless, to my friend this was an encouragement directly from God. To me, it was a very odd coincidence. To my old work colleague, had I told her the story, it would no doubt have been the work of Satan, trying to tempt me away from the truth of the AV. What to make of these things, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John81 Posted February 2, 2009 Members Share Posted February 2, 2009 That is where discernment comes in and one of the reasons it's so important to draw close to the Lord so when you take such matters to Him in prayer you will already be used to hearing His still small voice and recognize what He says to you. Were the copy of Mark placed there by God it would have been in usuable condition. The fact it was not in usable condition, especially during the time you were studying Mark, gives further indication this was a ploy of the enemy and God thwarted this by making the Bible unusable at that time; which should have served as a sign that book wasn't a gift from God. I would suggest this was a message to you and your friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alimantado Posted February 17, 2009 Members Share Posted February 17, 2009 John, I've just realised I never followed-up your post above, so I just want to say a belated thank you for the thoughtful response. Certainly something for me to think long and hard on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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