Stand Firm In The Faith

Tags

devil, distractions, faith, Father, Firm, help, Jesus, power, stand

Our faith is most precious because without it we cannot please God.  It is therefore of the utmost importance that we guard it with our entire being. There can be no breaks when it comes to guarding our faith.  We must be alert and on our guard at all times. 

The devil is constantly trying to get us to move out of faith because he knows that we cannot possess the land without faith.  The children of Israel didn’t possess the promise land when they could have because they had no faith.  Likewise, we cannot possess all that Christ died for us to have if we have no faith.  I Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  Make no mistake it’s the devil who is walking about seeking whom he may devour not people or things.  He will use whoever and whatever lends itself to him to come after your faith.  Guarding your faith may mean that you will have to separate yourself from people, places and things in order to stay stedfast and firm in your faith. David separated himself from his army and encourage himself in the Lord after the enemy had invaded Ziklag and captured their women and children. I Samuel 30:6, “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”  David had to remove himself from all the negative talk and space in order to hear from God.   Peter said “be sober, be vigilant.” About what you ask?  About knowing who we are, what we have, and what we can do in Christ.  For a person who knows who they are; what they have and what they can do in Christ cannot be devoured.

Faith is both offensive and defensive.  We use it to gain and to defend.  I Peter 5:9, says “whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”  Notice it says, “whom resist stedfast in the faith”.  While we are using faith to lay hold on the things of God, we are also using faith to resist the things of the devil.  Our faith rejects and resists the things of the devil and accepts and receives the things of God.  This is why the devil comes after our faith so hard.  He knows that if we stand firm in faith we will accomplish our goals, realize our dreams and fulfil our destinies.  We need only remember that our Father God has never failed or gone back on His word.  He has proven over and over again His faithfulness.  As we read and reflect on God’s faithfulness it strengthens our faith and empowers us to stand firm on His word.  You are not alone.  All who will to possess the things of God are faced with the same distractions and many are standing firm and possessing all.

The God Of Heaven Prospers Us

Tags

desire, Dreams, faith, Goals, hope, prosper, prosperity, The God of Heaven, victory

Nehemiah 2:20

“Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore, we His servants will arise and build; but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.”

I think when we think of God prospering us, we think of God being far off in heaven and only prospering us to be where He is one day.  However, Nehemiah said “the God of heaven He will prosper us” while embarking on something that was well beyond his qualifications and experience. Nehemiah was aware of God being present there with him to help him prosper in accomplishing the greatest thing he would ever do.

Paul said in Romans, 8:31 “…If God be for us, who can be against us”. Imagine that, God is for us not against us!  God is for and not against our dreams and goals. He is for and not against you starting that business, getting married, writing that book, or having that baby.   He is right there with you to see that you prosper in all these things or whatever you desire to do.   He is your heavenly cheerleader.  Hallelujah!  No one wants you to prosper more than God.  So much so that He Himself came to live in us to assure us of prosperity.   Now ask yourself, has God ever failed? Of course not.  Therefore, you cannot fail.  Paul goes on to say in Romans 8:32, “He who spared not His Son but delivered Him up for us all how shall He not with Him freely give us all things”.  My friend, “all things” includes prosperity.

Listen, regardless of what you have to face as you work towards your dream or desire, know that you are prospering and the devil is in a constant state of defeat.  Think about that, if you are prospering anyone or anything that opposes you is defeated.   Romans 8:37, “Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”  The key here is knowing that you are not alone.  That God is with you to prosper you.  You must persuade yourself of this very fact as Paul did.  Paul said “I am persuaded …”  Romans 8:38. It might take you some time to become fully persuaded but don’t stop, keep confessing what you want to see until you can say “I am fully persuaded that the God of Heaven prospers me.”

Leaps Of Faith

Tags

Action, faith, faith in action, gap, jump, Leap of faith, trusting God

The gap between where you are and where you want to be is filled with impossibility but don’t worry, because what’s impossible with man is possible with God.

When Paul was preaching at Lystra the scripture says there was a man there who had been impotent in his feet and crippled from his mother’s womb and who had never walked.  But after hearing Paul speak, Paul perceived that he had faith to be healed and said to him with a loud voice, stand upright on your feet and the man leaped and walked (Acts 14:6-10).  Now here was a man who went from never having walked to leaping and walking all in a matter of minutes because he had the faith to take a leap.

Abraham took a leap of faith when he left out of his father’s country and went into a land that God would later show him.  Abraham stepped out with the knowledge that there was a gap between where he was and where he wanted to be.  This is why he needed faith.  Faith connects you from where you are to where you want to be.

Faith allows you to see the impossible as possible.  I believe the impotent man saw on the inside what Paul asked him to do.  He saw himself leaping and walking before he took one step.  Faith connected him from where he was to where he wanted to be.  Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now Faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].  Notice it says that faith is the title deed.  When you have the title to something it is confirmation that you own it.   It means that those dreams and visions you see inside are yours.   Why, because Faith is Christ in us and Christ is the living Word of God?  All things are and where created by and for the Word of God.  Dreams are bought into reality, and destinies are fulfilled by the Word of God.

The question is do you see yourself as having the faith of God in you or are you still trying to obtain it?  Romans 10:17 says, “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” The moment you hear the gospel and receive what you hear faith enters into you and gives you the ability to not only see the impossible but to do the impossible.  This impotent man moved from never had walked to walking because he heard the word of God.  Abraham left out of his father’s country to go to a land that God would later show him because he heard the word of God. Galatians 3:8 says, “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Abraham heard the word before he took that leap of faith and left out of his father’s country.

Every believer has the faith of God living in their hearts but at the same time you have a choice whether to use that faith or not.  You can stand where you are and look over at all the good things that God wants you to have in life or you can use your God given faith and take a leap.  It’s not hard, if God has given you a dream or desire you simply move in the direction of that dream by faith and leave the outcome to Christ to perform.  Maybe you have a dream of starting you own business but the thought of you doing it is impossible.  You might tell yourself “I don’t have the credentials; or no one in my family has ever own their own business before.” Looking at what you can or cannot do will keep you right where you are looking out at your dreams instead of living them.  Take your eyes off of yourself and rest them on Jesus.  Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  All things are accomplished in us through Christ it’s His ability that we must rest upon not our own.

Don’t allow yourself to be moved by what you see.    I Corinthian 4:6 says, “We walk by faith not by sight.”  The devil wants to deceive you into believing that nothing is happening, that your situation is not changing, that you’re further away from you destiny than ever before.  But the truth is that the world and everything in it is changing everyday whether we can see it or not.  Things are changing and you are moving in some direction.  You can determine the direction of that change by what you say and do.  It’s up to you to speak what you want to see.  Don’t speak what you see, speak the word and watch it come to pass.  It’s what God did in the beginning, He spoke what He wanted to see and He believed that what He said would come to pass.  We call it faith filled words.  The thing about speaking the word of God is that you don’t have to try and fill it with faith the word of God is faith.  The word of God is the faith filled words that we speak to see our dreams and destinies come to pass.

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.”  It will not make sense to the national mind so don’t expect it too.  But if you will trust God you can rest assure He will never let you fall.  He is holding your hand lifting you up over that gap of impossibility and bringing you to the fulfillment of your dreams.  So if God says it’s time to leap immerse yourself in the word of God and receive the faith you need to jump.

New Book – Faith To See, Speak And Live

Tags

Belief, believe, Deborah Chandler, faith, Faith to See, power, seeing, Speak And Live, Vision

Click here to order your copy on Amazon

Take The Challenge – Faith

Tags

believe, deborah chandler ministries, faith, fruits, fruits of the Spirit, take the challenge, Trust

Hey there!

I missed you guys last week and I’m glad to be back here on the blog! You all are greatly loved.

Well, we have two more weeks to go before we’re done with our challenge.  How have you been during? I pray that you’ve been allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your life. As I’ve mentioned before, the choice is ours whether to yield to leading of the Holy Spirit or to continue in our own efforts.  Fruits are produced by the vine but the branch has to give way for the fruit to come forth.  So let’s continue to yield to the Spirit of God within us.

Okay, let’s talk about this week challenge.  This week we are going to challenge ourselves in the fruit of Faith.   The first thing that catches my eye is that faith is a fruit, which means faith is not something that we earn but it’s what’s produced in us by the Holy Spirit.  All of the fruits of the Spirit represent the life of Christ in us.  So faith is Christ is us.  Romans 1:17 says, “For there in is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”  In other words we live by Christ in us.  Not by our efforts, but by totally relying on His life in us.  Just hanging on the vine and allowing the fruit of faith to come forth.

Now, I know some of you might be thinking, “I thought I had to get faith.” No, as long as you think you have to get faith you’ll never use the faith that’s been given to you.  Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”  Notice the word cometh, that means it’s given not earned.  When Paul was writing this he was talking about salvation.  Paul was saying that when we hear the gospel faith enters in and all we have to do is use the faith that’s been given.  It’s not faith that we need it’s an understanding or revelation of what faith can do.   Jesus told His disciples in Mark 11:22, “…Have faith in God” or have the faith of God; i.e. the faith which God gives.  The faith that God gives is Jesus Christ.  It’s with His faith that we can speak to mountains and command them to be cast into the sea (Mk 11:23).  And let’s not forget what Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”  We live by the faith of Christ, His faith in us.

Therefore, all you need to do is use His faith, allow His faith to come forth in you.  Here’s a little something I like to do to help me when it comes to faith.  Whenever I’m reading a scripture where it says faith I say Christ.  This helps me to remember that faith is Christ in me and not something I have to obtain outside of Him.

Throughout this week let’s ask the Holy Spirit to give us a deeper revelation of what faith or Christ can do and let’s rest in Him to do it in our lives.  Faith is easy because faith is Christ in us.

As The Waters Of Noah

Tags

Covenant of Peace. Peace, faith, Getting pass failures, looking to Christ, Noah, Peace with God, Water

Isaiah 54:9-10

“For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”

Are you feeling that the reason you are not seeing the blessings of God manifest in your life is due to some failure on your part? If so, it’s time to change the way you think.

The scripture says “For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee or rebuke thee. “ This means that God is not angry with you neither is he withholding anything from you to punish you. Why would God go to His extreme (in the death of the cross) and give us His only begotten Son and then turn around and say, I’m not going to give you the basic necessities of life? Or I’m not going to give you the Job you need, the promotion you desire, or heal your body after crushing His Son at the cross? God would not do that. It was enough at Calvary. It was because He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities that we have the covenant of His peace which He says shall not be removed (Isa. 53:5).

Whenever we blame our failures for what we are not receiving from God, the devil has succeeded in his plan against us. His plan of course is to separate us from our source of power. Therefore, if he can in anyway cause you to focus on yourself and not Christ, he has succeeded in his plan.

God said “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee…” No matter what happens in life God’s kindness and favor shall not depart from us. This is right thinking which leads to right believing and right believing says God is a good God. Right believing is a good opinion of God. Therefore, don’t confuse your wait for denial rest in God’s covenant of peace with you and believe.

Enlarge Your Territory!

Tags

believe, Enlarge, faith, make room, Receive, Stretch out, Take in

Isaiah 54:2-3
“Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen they states; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left and they seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.”
I’ve often heard people pray for God to enlarge them in some way or other I’ve even prayed this prayer but as I read these scriptures it clearly tells us to enlarge the place of our tents which means  enlargement is up to us.  How far you want to go and how big you want to get is totally up to you.  If you enlarge your place God will fill it up.  The enlargement is your part the breaking forth is God’s part.
2 Kings 3:10-20 tells the account of Jehoshaphat, Jehroam and the king of Edom.  When they went out to battle against the king of Moab they found themselves in the wilderness with no water.  They went to Elisha for the word of the Lord and Elisha said to them “…Thus saith the Lord, make this valley full of ditches.  For thus saith the Lord, ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water that ye may drink, both ye and your cattle, and your beasts” (2 Kings 3:16-17).  They had to dig the ditches but God was the one who would fill them with water.  Peter had to launch out and let down his nets but God gave the draught (Luke 5:4).  It was totally up to Peter how many nets he wanted to use but the draught was already given.  The nets determined his capacity to receive.
You might be thinking “but if I do it won’t work.” God will never let you be ashamed.  Isaiah 54:4 says, “Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame…”  God is a good God and He will never, I said never let you be put to shame.  The devil wants you to believe that God is not good and that God will leave you hanging out on a limb but the devil is a liar.  God will never let you be ashamed.  God has already done His part now it’s up to you to do your part.  Enlarge and stretch out!  Make room to receive!

What Good Thing?

Tags

believe, faith, Good, law, Receive, Rich Young Ruler, Righteous, works

Matt. 19:16

“And, behold, one came and said unto Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”

If it were possible for us to do one good thing to have eternal life we would never have it.  That is the point that Jesus was making to the rich young ruler.   All of our doing will never give us life because we could never do it all.  We would miss it in some point or other and if we offend in one point we are guilty of breaking the whole law.

If you’re trying to do good to get eternal life you’ll never obtain it but if you receive it as a gift you’ll have it.  Galatians 3:9 says, “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”  It is to those that believe that they have been justified by the works of Christ that receive the blessings of Abraham.  Notice verse 10 “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”  In other words, as long as you are trying to obtain the blessings of God through your works or through your efforts of attempting to do some good thing you are still under the curse.  It it to those that believe that they have been made righteous by the works of Christ that receive the blessings.

The only good thing you can do is receive what Jesus Christ has done for you.  When you do He comes in unto you and then and only then will all of the blessings of God be made manifest in your life.

If you are not seeing the blessings of God manifested in your life ask yourself am I receiving what Jesus has done or am I still trying to do some good thing?  Galatians 3:11 says “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for, The just shall live by faith.”

By Faith You Can Forgive!

Tags

faith, Forgive, Forgiveness, Hinder, Jesus forgave, love, Torment

Luke 17:6

“And the Lord said.  If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”

After Jesus gave the parable of the rich man and Larzaus, He said to his disciples, “It is impossible but that offences will come; but woe unto him, through whom thy come!” (Luke 17:1).

Throughout our lives here on planted earth there will be someone that will offend us or that we may offend but through faith we are able to forgive.

When we hold unforgiveness in our hearts it can affect our physical bodies and cause all kinds of ailments.  I know of three sisters that had been fighting amongst themselves for a period of time and because of there bitterness and anger towards one another each sister suffered terrible illness, two of them had cancer.  This was not God’s plan for them, they are all believers.  You can come to a point when you are offended  where you don’t even remember what it was that offended you all you remember is the bitterness and hurt that you’ve been carrying in your heart.  The enemy loves it when we don’t forgive one another because it’s an open door for him to hinder us in our lives.

However, the Bible teaches us that  we are to forgive one another even as Christ has forgiven us (Col 3:13).  I know you might be saying “but you don’t know what they’ve done to me.”  Listen, if you are a believer you have Jesus’ divine faith in you to forgive those who have offended you.  You can forgive them by faith.  Jesus said “if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed ye might say unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”

By faith by the faith of Jesus Christ in you, you can say I forgive those who have offended me and have every trace of bitterness be plucked up by the root out of you and be planted in the sea where it can no longer torment and hinder you life.

Faith That Delivers

Tags

danger, deliver, deliverance, faith, help, hurt, injury, Jesus, pain

Daniel 6:23

“Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den.  So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.”

Faith is an impenetrable shield that keeps us from all hurt, harm and danger.  

When Daniel was faced with the lion’s den he armed himself with only one weapon, his faith in God.  Daniel’s faith was all he needed to sustain no injuries from the lion’s mouth. However, Daniel did have to go into the lion’s dens.

God never promised that we wouldn’t have to go into lion’s dens or fiery furnaces, but what He did promised is that He will deliver us out of them all. Psalms 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”   As long as we are in this world we will be faced with things that are design by the enemy to cause us hurt, injury and death. But we need not fear because Jesus has overcome the world and His victory is our victory (John 16:33).

Our faith covers us just as the glory of God covered Adam and Eve in the garden.  So we can rest and not shake just as Daniel did.  When Daniel heard the decree of the king he went into his house opened his bedroom windows and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he always did. (Daniel 6:10)  All Daniel did was believed in God and His faith was all he needed.

All we need is our faith in Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God to shut the mouth of lions, quench the fiery furnace, and open prison doors.  Faith is Christ in us.