Prayer and Faith

Prayer and Faith

“The dividing line hereafter will not be a Credal one—not “How much do you believe?” Nor even a Devotional one—”How much did you pray?” But a Practical one — “What did you do?” The Apostle James shows that our faith is evidenced by our works (Jas 2:14-20). It is not enough to say “Lord, Lord!” We must show the same spirit as our Master in love for our fellows, or we shall be rejected at the last.”
– F.B. Meyer

Prayer and Faith

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is the true prayer of all who believe. It is this prayer of faith which unites the heart of the one praying with heavenly realities. Prayers of the religious do not touch the heartbeat of heaven; their lives remain unaffected and unempowered unto the doing of His Will. Those who pray in faith, walk in faith. In the garden Jesus prayed to accomplish the full offering of Himself unto the will of the Father and He “was heard in that He feared” (Hebrews 5:7). It is through prayer that faith comes to us by the hearing of the Word. One cannot hear the Living Word without the corresponding works of faith.

“By faith Abraham… obeyed”
Hebrews 11:8

Brian Troxel

Oswald Chambers

His

“They were Yours, You gave them to Me…”
John 17:6

“A missionary is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: “You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). To say, “I am not my own,” is to have reached a high point in my spiritual stature. The true nature of that life in actual everyday confusion is evidenced by the deliberate giving up of myself to another Person through a sovereign decision, and that Person is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit interprets and explains the nature of Jesus to me to make me one with my Lord, not that I might simply become a trophy for His showcase. Our Lord never sent any of His disciples out on the basis of what He had done for them. It was not until after the resurrection, when the disciples had perceived through the power of the Holy Spirit who Jesus really was, that He said, “Go” (Matthew 28:19; also see Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8).

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). He was not saying that this person cannot be good and upright, but that he cannot be someone over whom Jesus can write the word Mine. Any one of the relationships our Lord mentions in this verse can compete with our relationship with Him. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself, but if that is the case, then, Jesus said, “[You] cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be entirely His.

Our Lord makes His disciple His very own possession, becoming responsible for him. “…you shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8). The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, “I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me. Be entirely His!”

  • Oswald Chambers

Paul Volk

Quote for Today

“We seek truths; God seeks to make us true. The difference is vast, and the kinds of men produced by each pursuit are vastly different”
– Paul Volk

“He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true…”
John 7:18

Make us true in spirit and in heart.
– Brian Troxel

Faith and Revelation

Faith and Revelation

“Then touched He their eyes, saying,
According to your faith be it unto you”
Matthew 9:29

The gift of sight to see the splendor of Him in His Word, to be able to sense the stirrings of His Love within, to be aware of the slumbering of the church in this hour, to grieve over the physical and spiritual malaise of others, to have the humility to receive His corrections, are all a result of His grace. Paul prayed for the Church at Ephesus:

“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that ye may know…”
Ephesians 1:18

Spiritual Vision is the result of His Grace granting us the ability to see the unseeable, to touch the untouchable and to walk above and beyond the resources of self. Faith is the faculty to see and understand heavenly truths and purposes.

“Through faith we understand…”
Hebrews 11:3

Faith is the matrix from which He reveals and illuminates Himself to His children. It brings us into His World to see with our eyes, and to do with our hands, His works. Faith is the dynamic of Christ living within.

In God’s purposes the Faith to see
is to bring us into the Faith to do.

Brian Troxel

Photo by: Julia Joppin

Albert Barnes

Quote for Today

“For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ,
not only to believe on him,
but also to suffer for his sake”
Philippians 1:29

“It is represented here as a privilege to be permitted to believe on Christ. It is so:

(1) It is an honor to a man to believe one who ought to be believed, to trust one who ought to be trusted, to love one who ought to be loved.

(2) It is a privilege to believe on Christ, because it is by such faith that our sins are forgiven; that we become reconciled to God, and have the hope of heaven”

“But also to suffer for his sake”

“Here it is represented as a privilege to suffer in the cause of the Redeemer – a declaration which may sound strange to the world. Yet this sentiment frequently occurs in the New Testament. Thus, it is said of the apostles Act 5:41, that “they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” Col 1:24. “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you” 1Pe 4:13. “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings” compare Jas 1:2; Mar 10:30; see the notes at Act 5:41. It is a privilege thus to suffer in the cause of Christ”

– Albert Barnes

Persecution Post – Nigeria

Persecution Post – Nigeria

Pray for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria! They are undergoing intense persecution and martyrdom. Remember those who are standing in the midst of genocide, rape and deprivation. Remember those who shine His Life at the peril of their own.

May the grace and the presence of God be their portion, may they know of His deliverance and Peace in the midst of the brutality of the ungodly. May His Love hold them and deliver them from fear knowing the heavenly prize which awaits all those who are faithful in such circumstances. May your comfort Lord fill them in the loss of family and friends, may their tears be felt by all those who call upon your name.

The Golden Rule of Prayer…
That we would pray for them AS
we would desire them to pray for us!

The Crisis in Nigeria (LINK)

Ben Watson Initiative (LINK)

Life for Christians in Nigeria
“Nearly all Christians in northeastern Nigeria have lost family members due to the violence perpetrated by the terrorist groups. Entire congregations have been displaced, and many pastors have been forced to leave the region. Being active in the church looks much different than it did 15 years ago. Today, it takes great courage and faith to openly worship and serve Christ. Thousands of Christians remain in camps designated for internally displaced people. With few schools able to operate because of the violence, families are concerned about their children’s education. Life is a constant struggle and, in some places, it’s even difficult to find food”
Voice of the Martyrs

May the Lord knit us more deeply by His Spirit to His people all over the world!

Brian Troxel

 

 

Spiritual Discernment – Fear of Man

Spiritual Discernment – Fear of Man

“The fear of man bringeth a snare…”
Proverbs 29:25

Discernment by its very nature demands objectivity. The effect of the workings of the cross in one’s walk will determine the measure of our discernment. Objectivity is the fruit of our dying to self. Wherever agendas, self-promotion and personal advantage are present, clear vision becomes impaired. Discernment is a very costly commodity within the heart of a believer. To see aright a heart must be right in the “fear of the Lord”. To fear God is to be free from the fear of man.

When there is fear and undue concern regarding the opinion of another the ability to see clearly is compromised. Fear of a single individual or submission to group-think causes people to remain in a clique, sect or cult. These are critical days. It is of vital importance that men and women become free to live and walk in the fear of the Lord. The true ministry of God will always lead His Own to fear God and walk accordingly.

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ”
Galatians 1:8-10

A desire to garner the acceptance of others, speaking the right things to maintain a relationship, or a semblance of conformity to the dictates of a group, are the shackles of religion. The power of truth brings freedom; a freedom to live, speak and walk in the liberty of His Spirit to please and honour Him alone. It is from this freedom that men and women are liberated to assess and evaluate the subtler issues of life. This is the only means by which the true unity of the Spirit can be known; each member discerning all things by their own witness through the Living Christ in whom they abide.

Religion ever exerts a pressure to conform to the directives of men; truth is the means by which we are transformed.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”
Romans 12:2

It is in the transforming work of God whereby His Own are freed from the blinding influences of sects and ingrown heresies. Discernment is a gift and developed by the power of the cross. Many in this hour will freely use the Name of Jesus to hold sway over the lives of others; some may even perform outward signs and wonders in His Name (Matthew 7:21-23). They may appear spiritual but, in the end, they serve themselves and their own ambitions. They create divisions in order to have the pre-eminence. They distinguish themselves and their followers from others through the subtly of influence and fear. God’s promise to those who allow the washing and the fire of the Word of God is the divine ability to discern between those who serve God and those who serve themselves.

“Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not”
Malachi 3:18 (read the context)

Those who serve God ever seek to minister unto others the pursuit of the “unity of the Spirit” through the development of each individual’s own walk in Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13).

Brian Troxel

Joseph Parker – God’s Ministers

Quote for Today

God’s Ministers

John the Baptist

“The ministry of Christ is not a profession: ministers are not professional gentlemen; ministers of the right kind are called from eternity, and cannot help uttering what is in them, and they are not always aware of the reach of their own meaning. They pass through periods of madness, wondering what, and what manner of time the Spirit of God within them doth signify when it tells them of coming blue skies and summers that shall encircle the globe, and songs that shall make the welkin ring with infinite joy. Do not bind the poor solitary man down as if he  had invented the message, and must grammatically interpret it and bind it within parsing bounds, nor judge him by his after conduct; he is an instrument; through him God sends sounds mysterious, messages beneficent, gospels that are saving. He is not a professional gentleman. If any young men are coming into the ministry as a profession, God hinder them, build up a great granite wall in the face of them and starve them until they begin to repent and pray. We are either in the Kingdom of God or we are not in it, we cannot climb into it by ways of our own making and processes of our own invention: and if we are in it men will know by a subtle, mysterious, magnetic music and power that we have something to say not to be found on the decaying and fading pages of earthly wisdom.”
– Joseph Parker (Sermons on the Gospel of John)

Quote for Today – Charles Spurgeon

Quote for Today

“Doubt discovers difficulties which it never solves; it creates hesitancy, despondency, despair. Its progress is the decay of comfort, the death of peace. “Believe!” is the word which speaks life into a man, but doubt nails down his coffin”
– Charles Spurgeon

Thought for Today – Change

Heard in Prayer Today

“Change is the revelation
of the power of God”
B. Troxel

The unfolding of Christ to His Own is revealed in the consistency of our seeing of Him. No one may see Him and remained unchanged. Grace is the agency from which we arise from the deadness of the Old Adam into the living wonder of Christ.

“As HE IS,
so are we in this world“
1 John 4:17

The impact of this powerful statement leaves one with no other alternative than to feel the Spirit of Christ yearning for it to be true in every respect concerning our lives in Him. Too much power is given by many who preach the gospel today to give us excuses and teachings which deny the ability of the Holy Spirit to make it true in us. Too many proclaim that the “old Adam” is of greater influence than the Living Christ within. The Power of Christ IS greater than the grave clothes of the natural man with its associated malignancy. Let us lay aside the unbelief of the “gospel” of men and lets us seek to see and yield our lives unto the ONE who is ABLE to raise us up in the “newness” of His eternal life!

“If we receive the witness of men,
the witness of God is greater…”
1 John 5:9

Change is the revelation of the living Christ within our hearts, where there is no on-going change faith has ceased to touch the resurrected ONE.

“And we all, with unveiled face,
beholding the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image
from one degree of glory to another…”
2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

Brian Troxel