JUDGE THE SPIRITS

As we are invited to minister and attend different churches we come across many different doctrines and traditions. Nowhere is this seen more than in the beliefs of running a service. Most churches had adopted the old tried and true format: three fast ones, a slow one, pass the plate, 15-20 minutes of a good sermon (where everyone feels good about themselves when they leave), and then off to their favorite cafeteria or restaurant for the noon day meal. Sometimes we run across churches where they sing for an hour or longer and you give your offering while the music “moves you,” no real preaching, then off for the noon day meal. I guess there can be a great combination in the elements of a service and the order seldom matters, but what does matter is whether or not the Holy Spirit is functioning and directing the services. I will be honest it has been some time since I have really seen a God ordained Holy Ghost move of God, where you know without a shadow of doubt that God has visited this service. Do you know how hard it is to bring a message from God to a crowd of people who expect a good sermon? Most Christians do not know how to react because they have been so programmed into a format for the service (as guided by leaflet service program) and would not even notice if the Holy Spirit began to move after the teaching. And if they did notice I am sure (I have seen it time and time again) He would be stifled and grieved, after all we must stay on track with the program. And then sometimes you can run across a church that has gone overboard in the opposite direction; everything is a move of the Holy Spirit, flags flying, people leaping and jumping around the church while wearing their favorite dance uniform, people dropping on the floors like flies, everyone speaking in tongues at the same time, no order just chaos in the service. When I am asked to teach in such a church I often think of the Church at Corinth, the Church where it was commonly reported some of the leaders and members were having sex (1 Corinthians 5:1) with their mother, the Church where every gift of the Spirit was in operation, but the same Church that Paul said of it, “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.” (1 Corinthians11:17) The Church at Corinth should be glad I am not God, because if I was I would have destroyed it and started again. We must always thank Him for His mercy and longsuffering. I always wondered (for years) why God would allow the sexual immorality, confusion, strife, division, and debauchery to continue at the Church at Corinth, but while listening to a cassette tape by Charles Haun I think God gave me the answer. Charles said for correction to come there has to be something moving if it is wrong, like at the Church at Corinth. God allowed Corinth to continue in her waywardness until Paul was ready to come and bring correction. God’s ways are not our ways we would cut it down, plow it under, and reseed, but not with God. Oh no God let the sin continue unabated and probably increased while Paul was being developed by God, strange how God operates. One thing I have learned; the longer I go with God the less of God I know. I like it that way, God is still a mystery to me.

Many Christians go to services hoping the visiting “man of God” would call them out of the crowd, lay hands on them, and prophesy over them, well this my friend is wrong thinking. When I pastored in Germany we would have so called prophets and evangelists come from Africa to minister to our folks. Pastor Joseph and I had an agreement that we both would discuss and approve anybody that would represent God before the people at our church. This was always a sore spot with us. Most prophets and evangelists from Africa were nothing more than thieves and robbers fleecing the folks and I would not allow this to happen. Joseph and I would go round and round sometimes and almost every time I would surrender my position I would be shocked and dismayed at the level of piracy and robbery. Many times these so called prophets and evangelists from Africa would want to lay hands on me to bless and prophesy over me; well I did not know these guys from Adam. Do not allow people you do not know to lay hands on you and speak over your life. You do not know what spirit they are of. Oh they may act and seem holy, but you do not know unless you have observed them for some time. It is easy to be deceived here in this area. Paul gave Timothy some great advice in this area, “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.” (1Timothy 5:22) This command is frank and up front, “lay hands suddenly (without a time of observation) on no man.” We do not know what lurks in the heart of men nor do we know the motives of people who come forward for prayer, but God knows. This command is also true having someone laying hands on us. Only God knows the heart and He knows the spirit we are of. I have known people (who have been operating in churches for many years) to have counterfeit spirits and the smaller the church the more deceptive they are. We have found someone who takes the lead spiritually (again and again) in services usually is not operating in the Spirit, but operating in their own spirit and even worse in demonic spirits. Take heed and be not deceived my friend many Christians every Sunday in most Apostolic, Charismatic, or Pentecostal Churches are prophesied over and led astray by religious, ambitious, self-promoters led by their flesh and presumption. I have found out many of the so called prophets and evangelists from Africa and others from America are nothing more than just thieves and robbers. In 1 John we are given a warning to take heed to and help in knowing who is of the LORD and who is not of the LORD. John shares this great advice, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4:1-3) Now please do not say I would never be deceived, I am led by the LORD, well . . . I am telling you there are some very good counterfeit spirits out there and if you have never seen them in operation you will be deceived. I find those Christians who lay on the floor prostrate or bow down in so called worship are some of the greatest offenders. I remember a lady in a church in NJ who would bow down and whip her hair on the floor as big crocodile tears rolled down her face during the singing of songs, but later she was found out for the deception and adulterous affairs she was having. John’s admonition is crystal clear, “believe not every spirit, but try (test in the NKJV, judge in the Greek) whether they are of God because false prophets are gone out into the world.” But how do we do that? How do we try, test, or judge the spirits? Many Christians think they can do this through our emotions, oh no my friend our emotions are one of the most unstable forces in our lives. We must never be led by our emotions, in or out of God. Our emotions at best are deceitful and will only lead us out of the way God has for us to go. We listen to someone sing a song and say, how anointed and judge them as being a very spiritual person, but this is so far from the truth. I remember in the 70s through the 90s there was a favorite song of most churches, “Standing on Holy Ground” the music arrangement was good and the words powerful, but the writers and singers came out of the closet a few years after the song and proudly proclaimed their homosexuality and sadly the church played on. Most churches build their attendance around music; it moves people, it inspires them, it gets people on their feet, well that is not the direction God goes. God’s direction is down not up, God’s Spirit does not move us like music it draws them unto Himself and kills them. Music will never get us to God. The spirit of music is as dangerous as our emotions and it must be judged or we will be deceived. All you have to do is look at history and see how music was used to lead people astray from what was right and how it was used to deceive people. We must take heed and judge music and keep it in the context Jesus and the disciples did. I am sorry, I cannot see Jesus nor the disciples have an hour long praise and worship service like some churches do today. The Bibles records Jesus only once singing and then it was a hymn after the Jewish Passover meal as Jewish tradition dictates. Works is another area we must judge the spirits. Many Christians work and work for God, but never become the work of God, never allowing God to work in their lives. Yet on the outward they are hard workers for God. Anytime the pastor needs something they are there, but when God wants to reveal something in their character they get to work working so that they will not have to allow God to deal and judge in their lives. But how do we judge the spirits as John commanded us? Believe it or not that is easy. When I pastored in Germany we had an international church and as an American I could only bring an America understanding when dealing with relationship disputes in the church. I could not think like an African or an European, I was an American and could only bring an American understanding to the counseling session. After a while of not feeling like I was successful in counseling it finally hit me, I have to judge by the spirit, not the Holy Spirit as much as by the spirit of the two parties. I quickly found the one who took the low place, the one who came humbly, the one who was full of forgiveness was the one in the right. I learned this through observation at the counseling meeting, at church, and as I would meet them in the weeks to come. So too are we to observe people who say they are moving in God, we are to watch their lives, we are to watch their actions, and we are to watch the results of their words. Observation comes over time, that is why the Holy Spirit used the word “suddenly” is used in1 Timothy 5:22; do nothing suddenly in God, but observe over time to see if they be of God or not. Examine their character, notice their friends, judge them before men. See if their lives, “confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” match up with the word of God and their spirit bears witness with yours and the Holy Spirit. If not then, “every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:” Now this confession is not in word alone, but in deed and in the spiritual realm. You know if a prophet in the Old Testament said something and it did not come to pass they were stoned. Maybe we should go back to this I am sure there would be a lot less so called prophets running around the church deceiving people.

You know if we get deceived it is our fault. It is our duty, it is our responsibility, it is our reasonable service before God to be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove. Be not so fast to jump into the spiritual realm with someone, but wait upon the LORD for His direction and His leading. If you truly have a relationship with the LORD you will know between someone who is genuine and who is fake. The church is full of fake, false people who say they represent God, judge the spirits and be not deceived. Written by David Stahl

RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION

As I watch the political picture unfold in America I try so hard to keep my heart and words in check by the Holy Spirit, but I often fail miserably. I do love America after all I gave over 24 years of dedicated, honorable service to her in the U.S. Navy and would do it again if needed, but there must be a separation in my heart and thoughts if I am going to follow the LORD in what He wants for my life. It is hard for Karen also because she too served her country in the U.S. Navy. We both come from military families; service and love for country runs deep and is a part of our make-up and who we are. Now this is true, but it is also true if we place things of the earth (love of family, country, self, etc.) ahead of God and His word (in the end) we will suffer great loss along the way He has for us to go and will never finish what He has for us to do in this life. I will be honest inwardly I struggle in this area in letting go of this world and as the elections draw closer the more I struggle and I see this struggle play out in America. Oh how America has drifted from God! Oh how America has drifted from God’s word! Everything that plagues America is the direct result of her disobedience to God and His word and unless America confesses as a nation (from the President to the common man on main- street) of her waywardness and repents (goes in the opposite direction) of their ungodly life-styles America will be lost. Oh America God is not mocked, yes He is loving and longsuffering, but there is a time when God says enough is enough. “I will cut you down as a sickle threshes the wheat field and throw you into my fire of righteousness and your will be utterly consumed. Repent from your waywardness before it is too late. Yea I come quickly with My sickle in My hand to strike you down, repent before it is too late, turn before it is too late. Yea I come to smite you and to remove your candle stick from the face of the earth,” thus says the LORD. God tells us to have no other gods before Him and our lives are filled with gods that satisfy our fleshly, earthly desires. We go a whoring after pleasure and ease, building bigger barns (churches, ministries, and denominations) and statues to each other while turning our backs on the one true and living God. God tells us to defend the little ones, but we slaughter the unborn by the millions each year and we think God is not angry? Why do we think God turns His head to His word and truth to protect us? Oh my friend He does not. God’s wrath has been kindled against us since the early 70s when we told God we do not want Him in our lives, we want the right to choose over life or death and not him. America’s schools and universities no longer teach education, but have become bastions of ungodly liberalism that shake their fist at God and dare Him to show up. How can we expect anything less when in the 60’s we kicked God and His precious word out of our schools and told Him we need Him no more. Ungodly perversion covers our land: in the written media, on TV and movie screens, on the internet, and in every life-style. The Godly institution of marriage has been striped and voted out by our President and his government while endorsing: lesbianism, sodomites, and every type of ungodly (unspeakable and thinkable) relationship known to man. Our government dithers while religions from around the world desire to put to death America, her people, and our way of life. Businesses in America cheat the customer at best. America’s banking institutions lie and hoard money taking advantage of the little people. Many of our governmental law enforcement agencies are on the take and show no common sense and justice. Sadly our society has dissolved and we think God is not angry with us? America has drifted so far from the Godly principle and standards that once made this country great, but now our greatness is found only in her military might and we even see this dwindle as we watch the U.S. dollar slip away from the place God first established in America. And yet every Sunday we Christians gather together to sing two fast ones and a slow one, pass the plate, hear a good sermon (not a message from God), and blast out to lunch trying to beat the other religions and denominations to the cafeteria. Who are we fooling? The Church has Christian TV star preachers, pastors, and teachers that make millions of dollars and reign over huge empires. We have churches that fill 25,000 plus, yet America is drifting further and further away. Who are we trying to fool? God? Each other? I think not. America is following the pattern and way of Israel in the days of Samuel. The people looked around and saw everyone else had a king for a leader (a Prophet from God was not good enough) so they wanted one. My friend our wants will get us into great trouble. Please be careful with your wants. If God gives you an opportunity to pick something you want take heed and chose Godly. I tell my Christian friends who vote if you vote you better vote what the Bible supports.

In 1 Samuel we find the story of King Saul. Like many Christians he started out correct, but ended by taking his own life. “And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. 3And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. 7And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 8According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.” (1 Samuel 8:1-8) These eight verses truly reflect the moral decay of a nation. Samuel was old (no problem there) and his sons did not walk in his ways. The grass always looks greener on the other side, but when you get your head stuck in the fence you quickly acquire a taste again for the grass in the field God has put you in to flourish. Here like today in America they rejected God and His ways and later we will see God rejects them. Remember, God is to us what we are to Him. Notice when they rejected God they also rejected God’s man and the teaching God’s man shares. Oh do we see this in America today. So Samuel being obedient (the major key of our Christians walk with God), “And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. 11And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 16And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 19Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;” (1 Samuel 8:10-19) Here in these verses God is sharing what their lives will be under their decision. God always lets us make choices, but with our choices comes consequences, yes I know that is a dirty word, but I also know the word of God. “And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day." Here the LORD turned His back on them. You say Pastor Dave God would not do that, well . . . the word of God says so and I believe it. Still in all of this, “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;” Just like today in America with all of the crime, murder, death, and destruction America (as a nation) still chooses not to obey the voice of God. After all the Supreme Court has passed laws that directly contradict God’s laws, laws that allow man to stick their fist in God’s face and shake it in open rebellion as the people here did. Things got so bad with King Saul God said, “Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, 11It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.” (1 Samuel 15:10-11) Oh to God we would have some sleepless nights in prayer (me too) for our country, but if we spend 10 minutes a day asking for things from God or trying to get God to jump through the hoop for us we think we have done God a major favor. Just think the people knew well in advance what kind of King Saul was going to be. But in the end God had enough of King Saul. And all along the way of Saul’s troubled life his open disobedience to God caused greater and greater troubles for the people. The outcome of our actions and words usually impacts greater in the lives of others than our own. Finally, “Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.” (1 Samuel 31:4) Saul’s armourbearer was smarter than Saul. He knew even though Saul was over in great disobedience he was still God’s anointed and to touch his life would be a great mistake, greater than disobeying the king. Saul started out on the right track, but in the end took his own life and destroyed the nation. Saul’s sad story rings so true today in the lives of many leaders and people.

When will America learn the Bible is words from God almighty and it is always true. When will America learn, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34) The open rebellion of America to God and His words is ever before Him and man. Unless America’s leaders humble themselves, confess of their need for a holy God, and repent of their ungodly ways America is through, I am convinced her best days are behind her. President Obama, our leader, is running for reelection and I will prophesy he will be reelected as President of the United States unless America humbles herself, confesses of her need for a holy God, and repent of her ungodly ways. Now I wish no harm to come to President Obama or anyone in his administration I want salvation to come to them and America, but like Saul President Obama is anointed by God and has been raised up by God as a vessel of dishonor to punish America for her waywardness from God and His words. Righteousness exalts a nation! You cannot be a righteous leader and endorse unrighteousness, we are known by the fruit of our lives and lips. Take heed America: “I will cut you down as a sickle threshes the wheat field and throw you into my fire of righteousness and your will be utterly consumed. Repent from your waywardness before it is too late. Yea I come quickly with My sickle in My hand to strike you down, repent before it is too late, turn before it is too late. Yea I come to smite you and to remove your candle stick from the face of the earth,” thus says the LORD. Written by David Stahl

STAY IN THE BOAT

The longer I walk with the LORD the more I see at times my inability to follow God in some areas. Yes to my shame and horror at times I see my shortcomings and even sin and oh how I want to correct them. Now believe it or not this is what God wants to see in our lives. God wants us to see those areas where we have missed it, God wants His precious Holy Spirit to be able to convict us (conviction what a wondrous work of God in our lives) of our sin and our sins. Did you know we have a nature that is contrary to God’s nature what the Scriptures calls our sin nature (verse) and then we have our sins; our immoral, ungodly, and even unethical acts of our flesh (verse). These two areas of humanity are what keep us in a state of fallen mankind before a Holy God. Now it is true Jesus died for our sin and for our sins, but that does not mean we will live in victory over our sin and sins just because Jesus died for them more is needed. Now here seems to be the root problem in our Christian walk with the LORD we must engage at the level of understanding we are in God. In my earlier years of walking with the LORD I went after a deeper teaching from teachers like Charles Haun and others and passed over the milk of the word. Now many years later I see chewing on meat and bones (as I did) as a babe left me today missing some things I needed, after all babies born from a man and woman must suckle at the bottle before they can grow and endure harder foods. The lack I speak of is not of foundational or spiritual principles, but just some areas (I see within myself) of lack in me I see. Now I fully understand why God did it this way, He took me to the School of the Spirit and gave me a crash course. I thank God for shining His all seeing light on me and exposing these areas and I know in time and as I open up to His word of correction I will acquire these things I have missed. Order in God establishes correct function and usefulness. We plainly see this truth in the word of God. Never forget the words in the Scriptures were not just hap-hazarderly written down by the hand of man, as spoken to the heart of man by God, but were particularly arranged and placed for context and spiritual meaning. To say anything else is a pure denial of God Almighty Himself. And in us too is an order and a pattern we must follow to be useful and complete in God.

Now this thought is at the heart of what I would like to talk about in this article. As we have discussed in previous articles truth is progressive and as we walk with the LORD we are to grow from glory (level) to glory (level). In God there is always progression sin to saint, seed to fruit, child to adult no matter what and in all things God has built in us and in all He has created progression. And for those things that do not progress as planned by God they seem to fall by the wayside, except for people. In our spiritual growth and development there is a progression we too must follow: first faith, second trust, and then third rest and if we get this out of order or mess them up we too can fall by the wayside like the mighty oak who puts most of its energy into developing a strong bark, but spends little time in developing a strong root system and when a great wind comes the mighty oak is easily toppled. And why, no tap root, no foundational support, no peripheral nutrient or water gathering capability. The end result will be (as long as no storms comes) all is well, but if we serve God long enough the storms will blow our way God will see to it. When great storms arrive the mighty oak is unable to stand the test of the wind and its strength (its heavy bark) only adds to its quick demise. We Christians today are like the mighty oak tree at times, we spend a lot of our time in developing the outward appearance of our commitment with the LORD while neglecting the inward work of the heart, soul, and spirit and when our test comes we (like the mighty oak tree) quickly stumble (at sin, offense, and the like) and fall out of the way.

I am amazed when I study the Scriptures and read of all the different messages it contains and the longer I walk with the LORD the more He can open up different shoots of truth from these messages. The Bible is full of different messages and depending on our level of spiritual development and our desire we chose the message we want to believe. Did you know the number one message of Jesus’ ministry was sin? But, most Christians camp out all of their lives around the message of love and grace (and this is okay it is a wonderful message), but there is more God wants of us. God wants us to grow up (which means pushing forward from the elementary principles of salvation, Hebrews 6:1-2)) so that we can take on the authority and accountability of God in our lives and do the things He wants us to do. And for this to happen, my friend, there must be a correct understanding of spiritual principles, desire, and commitment to God. It is our commitment that carries us in God and the first sign of commitment to God is reading His ownership manual, the Bible. In Matthew 18 we find an amazing story of Jesus teaching the disciples some basic truths, now most people focus on Peter walking on the water, but that was not Jesus’ focus and nor should it be ours. Matthew (an eye witness) shares, “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”(Matthew 14:25-31) I wonder why Peter wanted to walk on the water? He had to know he would have had to walk on the water like Jesus in order to reach Jesus. How long was Peter with Jesus and he still did not know what Jesus looked like? Lord if it be you do a miracle so I will believe, but we know this was not true of Peter. Time and time again (often like us) Peter boasted of His love and faith in Jesus, but when the rubber hits the road Peter failed even in the face of Jesus praying for him, “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 33And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. 34And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.” (Luke 22:31-34) Oh no my friend Peter had another motive here. And when did Peter doubt? When he left the safety of the boat or when he began to sink? I would say when he left the place of safety and security (the boat) he had no faith in what Jesus had provided for him and the other disciples. This story is not about faith building (even though many preachers and teachers spin it they know it will fill seats and offering plates better than other messages), but this story is about Jesus showing Peter how foolish it is to leave the place of protection and security God has provided. Yes Peter walked on the water (big deal), but in the end Jesus had to save him from his ignorance and presumption and where did they all end up, in the boat. Why do we think Jesus has to do some parlor trick miracle for us to believe He is who He says He is nor should He have to break the physical laws of nature to get us to believe. His word should be enough for us to believe, but no we today in the church want to see miracles and yet we do not believe. Remember, miracles are for non-believers, Believers are to walk by faith (remember this point we will look at this again) not by sight. Now I know I have heard many sermons from well-meaning preachers and teachers (maybe some not so well-meaning) who missed the truth of this story because they had some agenda or point they wanted to stress. When we make our approach to word of God it must never be from our prospective, but from God’s. When was the last time you heard “thus says the LORD?” No the most we hear today is a good sermon with some moral message that kind of goes along with the Bible, but if you really examine the words of the preacher or teacher they go against what the word of God says and does not represent truth. A good sermon will do not for us. What we need to hear is a message from God that does not puff us up, but lays us low and brings us down where God is.

The spiritual principle is found in Romans, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) To get a good handle on this truth it is best to read this verse in the Greek, “So then faith cometh by hearing a word from God.” (Romans 10:17 (Greek)) Faith comes (we get faith) by hearing not my experience, miracles, or even wisdom. When God speaks to us and we hear Him we receive faith. Why do we think we can build up or save our faith for a rainy day? Faith is not ours it is God’s and when we need faith to believe or do something God wants done He speaks to us and give us all of the faith we will ever need. Everything we get from God comes by way of Him speaking and us hearing, even salvation. Faith is the beginning order of the three and if we get faith wrong the other two (trust and rest) will be lost to us. Many say David give me an example of faith , “Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16) Real faith fears not death.

We use to sing a song in church (it has been years since I heard this song) called “Trust and Obey.” Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey. People ask me to give them an example of trust so I give these verses from Job, “Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand? 15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. 16He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him. 17Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears. 18Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.” (Job 13:14-18) What better than our life to put against God’s faithfulness? Trust is a deeper work of God in our life and will require a stronger and tougher dealing of God in our lives for us to possess it. Remember nothing is free in God even our salvation was not free it cost Jesus His life. Everything we get from God will cost us something and trust is no different.

Lastly rest. Rest is the spiritual place God desires to take us all to in Him. The Children of Israel never entered into the land God promised them because they never entered into this place of rest in God. I am not so sure God was talking about a certain geographical land, but a spiritual place of rest we can learn of Him. Did you know the word “rest” has 275 occurrences in the Scriptures (KJV) and the very first reference in the New Testament is Jesus speaking of Himself, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Jesus says He can give us rest if we take his yoke upon us and learn of Him. So the yoke of the Lord is not for working but for learning. And what are we to learn of Christ, “for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Rest in God leaves us safely in the boat were God put us. Written by David Stahl