GENUINE FAITH

1 Peter 1:7  (Message) "Pure gold put in fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proven genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display of evidence of His victory."

So many times in the past, yes, think about all the times, when trials and tribulations come, and the first thing you think of is why does this keep happening to me. Over and over, this goes on.  A lot of people actually look for things to happen, expect to get sick, expect to fail, expect, expect, expect. Why would you do this? Where is your faith that the Lord will take care of you?

Yes, faithful people get sick, and bad things happen to faithful people. People whose faith is strong just react differently to circumstances.  They walk in healing, they walk in prosperity and they walk in their blessings. They believe the Lord for everything. Because they suffer, their faith grows strong as they continue to lean on the Lord and trust Him to complete their healing, to come through with finances and know the Lord has everything in control.  This is genuine faith.  Faith that keeps rising up when things are going down.  Faith that keeps encouraging others while the enemy is on their doorstep.  Faith that keeps them singing worship songs to God and knowing His presence is with them. Genuine faith.  The kind of faith that the Lord rewards over and over.

This kind of faith, this genuine faith of His children, this faith is where the Lord can shine through the darkness of what the enemy has brought to them, and show His faithfulness to them.  God loves it when His children trust Him, believe in Him, and seek His face in the valleys of their walk.  There is not much to do when you are on the mountain with the Lord, everything is great and there are no problems. But it is in the valleys of our walk with the Lord when He proves Himself over and over again. That His Word is true, that He never leaves or forsakes us, that His love and grace is more than enough.

Gold, when put in the fire, refines itself to the purest value, and is truly worth a fortune.  But gold is not what the Lord is after, remember, it all belongs to Him.  He is looking at a more valuable commodity from us and that is the pure, geniune faith of His children.  When we truly trust our God, we are walking in complete faith, we are in step with what the Lord wants for His children, all of what He has to offer to them. See, if you don't have faith in the little things, how will you have faith that He will give unto you the finest that Heaven has to offer.  You can believe that God sent His son to die for your sins but have no faith that He can heal your disease, that He can lift you from the bondage you are in and put you safely in His care. O, ye of little faith.  Let your heart and mind come together.  Read the Word, let it sink into your spirit, let the Holy Spirit guide you, give you comfort from your day, rest in the Lord and learn of His faithfulness and desires for you. God so wants you to trust Him, for you to give yourself completely into His care.

My Lord, these have been a number of nights just on faith. I know the message is so important for Your children to truly have a heavenly life here on earth.  Genuine faith in God will produce a true peace in your life and you will find God's presence everywhere on earth, as He will be with you.

My God, how I love you.  You have proven Yourself to me over and over. I KNOW You love me, I KNOW You take care of every point of my life, all my days are numbered by You and You know exactly what I will need in each one of them, and I KNOW You will take care of me through it all. My faith, my Lord, is genuine, I have no doubts of who and what I am in You, nor do I have any doubts of WHO YOU ARE and WHAT YOU WILL DO FOR ME.  I love You, in the valleys or on the mountain tops, I know You are keeping me in Yourself, I know You love me, I love Your presence, and I am victorious in You.  You have given me the victory over unbelief. I am Yours.

This night, I worship You in beauty and truth, I give You all my worship, all my love, this 22nd day of January, 2011.