Читать книгу The Battle of Faith - Samuel Joy Tandeka - Страница 3

Numerous Bible verses say that if we ask for anything in Jesus’ name, it shall be given unto us. This includes healing, marriage, children, restoration, and financial breakthrough, name it.

But the Big Question is what happens if you don’t get it exactly on that day? Does this make God a liar? Obviously no!

He hath made everything beautiful in his time. ( Ecclesiastes 3:11 KJV)

God makes everything beautiful in its own time, so what we should do is keep our faith in Him and trust that what he promised shall come to pass. Many of us tend to doubt the ability of God to heal us or even perform miracles for us a which he promises in his word because to us it looks like time is going by, yet our situations have not changed or maybe we can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. In such circumstances, for young or old, male or female, the urge to quit or give up always kicks in.

The Battle of Faith is for people in the world who are almost giving up on having their Faith in God on an account that a long time has elapsed yet what God promised them hasn’t come to pass. Some may even boldly say that they have done all the things people in the bible did to get their healing, miracles or breakthrough like tithing, fasting for 3,7,21,40 days or even dry fasting, reading the bible, preaching the gospel, sowing seeds, name it.

After doing many things that the word of God wants us to do and we don’t get our miracles or healing instantly, there is always a tendency of many questions coming in our minds, like, What haven’t I done?, Why does it have to be me?, plus many more others that come in our minds during this time. If we don’t purpose to have faith in God no matter what the situation may look like, we may end up complaining or backsliding, committing suicide, while others may conclude that there is no God at all.

Faith is often a battle which we keep fighting everyday of our lives. At times we feel like we are trusting and believing God to help us or do a miracle for us while other times we doubt him most especially when it seems like what God promised to do for us is taking long to come to pass. These many times cause us to weaver in our faith and the devil deceives us that we shall never be healed or helped by God.

And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. Matthew 11:22 (KJV)

Am sure most of us are familiar with John 11 which talks about Jesus resurrecting Lazarus his friend who had died and had been in the grave for four days already. Verses 1-5 describe the relationship that Jesus had with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. These verses emphasize that Jesus loved Lazarus (verse 5) and by human reasoning, the sisters expected Jesus to come immediately and heal him since he loved him, but they were wrong! They expected a miraculous healing while Jesus saw a resurrection. In fact, he emphasizes this in verse 4 by saying, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” So, in these trying moments like sickness, delay in getting married or having kids, losing a job, we need to see these situations the way Christ sees them. This will help us to keep believing and trusting God to take us through them since we are viewing them in Christ’s Lenses. You should also know that no matter what you are going through, Jesus loves you. Nothing is a surprise to God, he knows everything and we need to acknowledge that he is in control. In moments of pain, abuse or loss of dear ones, we usually question why God didn't come through for them yet we prayed. God is sovereign, at times we may not understand why he lets some things happen but we should trust that he has only good plans for our lives. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11.

Verses 6-10, tell us that Jesus stayed in the place where he was for more two days preaching the gospel, and in verse 11-14, he told his disciples that they should go see Lazarus because he was asleep. They didn’t quickly realize what he meant so he decided to plainly tell them in verse 14 that Lazarus was dead. This always gives me hope because no one had informed Jesus that Lazarus was dead, but he knew. God sees what you are going through. He sees the tears you cry at night, the pain you go through, the huge bills you have spent on medicine, the days you have fasted, prayed or even sowed seeds for your healing, job, to have kids, get married, get a breakthrough or deliverance and trust me, he is coming your way to meet you at your point of need. Don’t allow the devil to deceive you that God doesn’t see what you go through, our God is all knowing he sees everything, even what is going on in your Life and he is coming to your rescue. Don’t lose heart, Jesus is heading your way!

Verse 17 tells us that Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the grave for four days already. According to research, after four days, the internal organs of the body start to decompose, and the body starts swelling. I imagine that at this point, some of Lazarus’ internal organs had started decomposing and not forgetting the bad smell that was coming out of his grave, but that didn’t matter at this point because Jesus (the resurrection) had come. At times our situations are like that or even worse to the extent that our family members abandon or reject us, those we helped to reach somewhere in life forget us, or even the doctors tell you that there is no cure for your infection and it all looks like darkness is all around you but my brother/sister don’t be discouraged, what matters most is that Jesus has come to roll away that reproach from your life.

And the LORD said unto Joshua, this day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. Joshua 5:9 (KJV)

In verse 21, Martha told Jesus that all this wouldn’t have happened if he had come here earlier. She had revelation and faith in a healing Jesus, but she needed to now get a revelation of the Resurrecting Jesus. Some of these things we go through are intended for God to show us another dimension of his glory we had never experienced, so don’t worry, as believers we know that all things work for good, (Romans 8:28). The devil usually deceives us and makes us to ask God questions of why he didn’t show up, but I want you to know that our God is never late nor too early, he is ever on time. We should just ask for the grace and faith to know that he is in control. We should trust God beyond the expiry date or deadline.

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” John 11:24 (KJV)

I believe that is one of the most powerful scriptures in the bible; Jesus Christ is the resurrection and life. Are you sick, oppressed, barren, in debt, troubled, demon possessed, is your business collapsing or your marriage at a risk of divorce? always remember that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and life, he can restore your body just like he restored that of Naaman.

So, he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. 2Kings 5:14 (NIV)

Jesus Christ the Nazarene is able to restore your marriage, business, heal you heart, get you a spouse or even a child. There is nothing that is impossible with him, no matter how bad it is, he will fix it without struggling. He just wants us to trust him like the way kids trust their parents. I remember when I was still young, I knew my dad would buy me a plane if I asked him. I never at any one time asked him if he had enough money on his bank account, all that mattered to me was that since my dad was around, he could fix my problem without struggling. That’s what Jesus wants, he wants us to look to him for the smallest of things like the pair of shoes to wear on a certain day and the biggest things like whether to sign that multi million project deal or get married to that person.

In verse 35, Jesus wept. This shows how compassionate Jesus is; he also isn’t happy to see you suffering and crying that’s why he is going to come to your rescue very soon. It’s that love and compassion that led God to send his only begotten son Jesus Christ to die on the cross so as to restore us his people that had fallen from the glory of God back to his Glory and communion. And if God gave you his only son Jesus Christ, there is no good thing (healing, marriage, children, and deliverance) that he will withhold from you, Psalm 84:11. In the history of the world, it is only Jesus Christ that invites all people who are weary and heavy laden to bring their burdens and cast their cares unto him (Matthew 11:28, 1 Peter 5:7). You know what, all you need in order for you to find rest is to cast all your burdens to him because he will handle them. You don't need to carry the hatred, addiction, negativity or fears. All you have to do is to bring it to Jesus because he is the only one in the whole world that promises rest for all those that are weary and are heavy laden.

In verse 39, Jesus instructed them to take away the stone from the grave such that the glory of God would be revealed, but Martha tried to hold him back by telling him that Lazarus had already spent four days in the grave. Jesus Christ wants us to remove those things that hinder us from seeing his Glory if we want to see it; forgive that person, repent, stop cohabiting, be faithful to your spouse or children. Let’s remove any barrier that would hinder us from seeing the glory of God. This is our part and note that Jesus didn’t remove the stone, they had to remove it.

At last in verse 43-44, Jesus called out Lazarus and when he resurrected, Jesus instructed that they remove the clothes of the dead from him, loose him and let him go. This is my prayer for you all as you read this book, may God heal, restore and meet you at your point of need as I share with you the seven keys that can help you not to lose your faith and hope in God.

In this book, I share some keys that can help us keep our faith in God most especially during these seasons of life using my very own personal story. I will answer some of the questions that keep coming in our minds using scriptures and how I was able to get solutions to these questions that kept coming in my mind every time.