Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Faith: Part 3
Abraham is a great man of faith and a wonderful example of faith at work.
From the time God revealed HIMSELF to Abraham, Genesis 12, to the end of his life on this earth, Abraham chose to believe God. Even when the situation was impossible, Abraham chose to believe God. So much of faith has to do with recognizing it is God when HE speaks and choosing to believe what God says even over the things that our senses tell us.
Impossible situation ... God told Abraham HE would make his seed "as the dust of the earth" if a man can number the dust of the earth. Gen 13:16 ... But at that time, Abraham didn't have any children by Sarah. She was barren. And they were both very old, in their 90's.
This is an impossible situation for man ... but it is not an impossible situation for the God who created heaven and earth and all things. And when God speaks something, we can know that thing is going to be done.
Genesis 15 ... After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6And he (Abraham) believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Faith is believing that which is not seen by natural eyes.
But when God speaks it to us, we can safely believe that which God has spoken will happen.
===========
Today God speaks to us through scripture, through dreams, through thoughts brought by the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 46 ... I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
Several years ago, while I was living with my mother, God gave me a dream. The next time my mother fell it would be the end for her. From that point on, I watched her carefully when she got into the car or when she moved about. For I knew if she fell again it would end her life. This is what God showed me.
When my mother was 97 she fell in her bedroom in the night. I was awakened by a strange pounding noise. I went into her room and she was on the floor, beating against the wall. I knew this ended her life. She was taken to hospital and they operated on her hip which was broken. She lived 2 more months but to me she died when she fell that second time. I even went to funeral home after she fell and arranged for her funeral while she was in hospital. To me she was dead for that is what God showed me in the dream and that is what would happen.
Faith in God sees this way.
===========
Genesis 17 ... And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
We today, who are the children of the promise, the children of faith, are that seed of Abraham. Through all generations since the time God promised this to Abraham, there has been a line of God, seed of God, children of the promise. Today we, who believe, are that seed of Abraham, seed of the promise of God to Abraham. Heb. 11:40 ... they without us should not be made perfect. Through us, that promise made to Abraham is fulfilled for we are that promised seed.
Romans 9 ... For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Genesis 17 ... And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. 17Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
22And HE left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
Now God is about to reveal to Sarah what HE is about to do.
Genesis 18 ... And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, 3And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: 4Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: 5And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. 6And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. 7And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. 8And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
Notice Abraham gave the best he had to God ... fine meal ... tender and good meat ...
9And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
By this, these men reveal they are not natural men. How did they know the name of Abraham's wife? But from the beginning verse, it certainly appears that Abraham recognized that these men were not natural men.
Genesis 18 ... 10And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.
And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. 11Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
13And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
14Is any thing too hard for the LORD?
At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
15Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And HE said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
Sarah laughed ... she didn't see how such a thing could be possible ... But after God said to her, "is anything too hard for the LORD", Sarah believed God. We know she believed because of that which is written about her in Hebrews 11 ... Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
Genesis 21 ... And the LORD visited Sarah as HE had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as HE had spoken. 2For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
============
When God shows us something, that is what will happen.
Several years ago, I had a dream: The earth slipped on it's axis. People were terrified. The politicians and religious leaders were meeting to see what could be done about the event. A TV newscaster was trying to tell what had happened and he was so frightened he couldn't continue the TV report.
In another dream: There was an established piece of land. All of a sudden, one entire piece broke and slid away. Then another went, then another, then another, then another ... And I heard these words, "It will be alright through January but in February it will break loose."
These dreams will happen.
============
A common error concerning faith ...
Our faith must be based on that which God has told us by HIS Spirit. Our faith must not be in what we want to happen.
Pam Padgett told me a story about a man where she once worked. An accident happened to his son. The man reported they were all believing for God to heal his son. The son died. Their faith was based on that which they wanted to have happen for if God had told them their son would be healed, he would be healed.
When such as thing as this happens it can destroy so much and shake the people involved even more than the death for this strikes at the foundation of God HIMSELF and if we lose that we lose everything.
Our faith must be in that which God says about the issue. So many people put faith in what they want to have happen and often they look for a scripture to justify what they want. When they do this their faith ends up being in their desire. But it seems their faith is in God.
Unless it is the Spirit of God who reveals the end of the situation, then we are on very shaky ground.
I have a friend who has ALS. This is a disease where there is no hope according to doctors. Certainly I prayed for him. I had an open vision about him and I believe what God showed me is that this man will die before the rest of us. In the open vision, he was on a golf course totally whole. He was going ahead of us but he was so excited and jumping up and down. He was signaling with his hands and arms to us telling us to come on ... everything was wonderful.
A mutual friend said to me, "Don't you think this is showing David is going to be healed by God?" I replied: "David is dying. But he is alright in death."
I would like to see David healed by God. But the only thing I can afford to believe or report is that which I believe God showed me.
Our faith must be in God, in that which God reveals about the matter at hand ...
Another situation: I have had several dreams about a woman where I played bridge. I cared very much about her well being. But God has given me one dream after another showing me she is getting worse, not better. In one dream, she was like a dwarf and very fat. She could hardly walk. In the most recent dream, she had heard something I said, a Bible teaching. And she threw up her hands in disgust and turned her back toward me and walked away. This is what I must believe about her because I believe God is showing me this. If I believed what I wanted to believe I would deceive myself. It is very foolish to deceive yourself by what you want. Our faith must be in what God tells us and not in our own wishes.
==============
So we focus on that which God tells us through scriptures, through dreams, through thoughts sent by HIS Spirit. We can believe that for it is truth and it will happen. And after we hear what God has to say, we believe and we act according to that which we have heard from God.
This is faith in God.