Victory Life KY by Pastor Gary Toney

October 22, 2020 Persistent Faith

Hebrews 12, Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross...

Looking unto Jesus, keeping our eyes fixed on Him.
Think about this, not only was Jesus completing His assignment, He was fulfilling the prophetic, as well as establishing God’s will in the earth. But also, as the first born, showing us what a life in Him looks like.

Maybe the big question is, who is He to you?

Seriously, is Jesus our Lord, our Master, our teacher, the First Born, then what’s He telling us when he says, follow Me? Keep our eyes fixed on Him.

Isaiah says, “Keep your mind stayed in Him.”

Romans 8:6,NLT- So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Romans 12:2,NLT- “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Here’s the thing, the more I stayed focused on Jesus, the more I’m learning that this life of faith has to be developed just like a human life.

Luke 18:6-8,MSG- Then the Master said, Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for His chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t He stick up for them? I assure you, He will. He will not drag His feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when He returns?

We have to adopt a completely new way of thinking in order for us to appropriate the things God has already done for us.

A real life of faith isn’t trying to get God to do something, but actually enforcing a reality God has already created.

This is why Ephesians teaches us to pray, Lord, open the eyes of my spirit so I can comprehend what you’ve already done for us.

There has to be transformation in our soul for us to experience faith.

A revelation we’ve got to embrace is the reality that our born again spirit is made just like Jesus, but until our soul aligns with our spirit, our human nature will continue to control our life.

As a matter of fact, the NT teaches us that God has already given us everything necessary for a dynamic spiritual life.

A life only acceptable through faith. So we must understand this reality, God designed us to live by faith.

Hebrews 11:1,AMP- Now faith is the assurance, title deed, the confirmation of things hoped for (things divinely guaranteed), the evidence of things not seen, the conviction of their reality. Faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.

The degree of success in our faith is in direct proportion to our conviction of what God says.

This kind of faith, this unwavering trust and enduring confidence in God is the bridge to spiritual living.

Here’s something every believer needs to be aware of, we can have faith, and doubt can still affect us. Matter of fact, one of our biggest struggles is assuming knowledge and information are faith.

Matthew 14:31,NKJV- “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

God is looking for believers that will stand right in the face of pandemic and uncertainty, without being discouraged, fearful, and especially angry and bitter, but unwaveringly confident in Jesus. In other words, stand in faith.

Our enemy loves keeping Christians distracted thinking, “I’ve got faith, so why isn’t it working?” When in reality it is!!

Even though God designed us to live a certain way, until we stop resorting to our human reasoning to determine the realities of His word, our faith will remain undeveloped, and doubt will continually manipulate our thinking, effecting our faith.

Remember, faith is the assurance, the conviction of things divinely guaranteed.

Matthew 8:7-10,NKJV- “And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.
For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. ”
When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

Keep in mind, we’re designed to live by faith, but it will not happen on accident. Remember, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. It’s so easy to drift. (Peter on water)

You see, vision drift is real thing, and our enemy is a master of distraction. I honestly believe this is why Jesus asked, when I return, will I really find persistent faith on the earth?

Hebrews 2:1,MSG- It’s crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift off.

Listen to Isaiah instructions, “Keep your mind stayed in Him.” To the degree that what God says becomes more of a reality than anything in this natural world.

What Isaiah, Paul, and the Lord are emphasizing is that God’s word is spiritual seed, so we’ve got to stay with it long enough to let the fruit of His word produce in our physical lives.

A real life of faith isn’t trying to get God to do something, but actually discovering and enforcing a reality God has already created.

This is why Ephesians teaches us to pray, Lord, open the eyes of our spirit so we can comprehend what you’ve already done for us.

Remember, faith perceives as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.

Faith is simply an outward expression of an established conviction in our heart. It’s right perspective. It's all in how you see something.

My prayer is that this talk reminds us to live with the perspective that we're just one step of faith away from that victory, promotion, breakthrough.

Remember, Hebrews tells us that faith is actually spiritual substance. It’s divinely imparted access into God’s world. Allowing us the opportunity to become all God has already told us we can be.

The prophet Isaiah said, Wrap your mind around this. I am GOD, and from the very beginning telling you what the ending will be. Assuring you, I’m with you. Assuring you I’ll do exactly what I set out to do. I’ve said it, and I’ll most certainly do it.

Real faith simply chooses to accept that when God tells us something, we accept Him at His word.

Remember what God said in Jeremiah; "I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

Here's the thing, if we're going to discover all God has for us, then we can't let challenging situations, difficulties or disappointments distract us.

Why not expect God to actually be God?

Think about this, you could be one revelation away from your greatest breakthrough.

So let this talk encourage you, more importantly, let God's promises inspire your faith.

Here’s the deal, at the end of the day, God designed us to live by faith. Unfortunately, actually living by it is one of the most overlooked spiritual realities God gave His creation.

I can't help but wonder if this is what Jesus was referring to when He said, "When I return will I really find faith in the earth?"

Now when it comes to faith I believe Jesus gave us the most direct and practical instructions concerning how humans are to exercise faith.

Mark 11:23,NIV- “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”

Now in light of what Jesus has told us, let me say this; faith isn't magic. And it's definitely not some confession formula for getting things from God.

But without a doubt, according to Jesus Himself, speaking Divinely inspired words over your situation is exactly what He was instructing us in His faith lesson in Mark.

Once again, it's not some magic confession formula, but make no mistake about it, speaking God inspired words of faith over your situation will absolutely change the course of your life in the here-and-now.

Jesus's instructions in Mark's gospel were in response to the disciples seeing what happened after Jesus spoke to a tree.

And when they questioned Him about the tree, He gave this command; "Have faith in God"

His lesson for them then, and for us today is that we would know how to exercise our God ordained authority as heirs in the spiritual world, impacting our natural world.

Here’s the thing, the more I stayed focused on Jesus, the more I’m learning that this life of faith has to be developed just like a human life.

Luke 18:6-8,MSG- Then the Master said, Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for His chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t He stick up for them? I assure you, He will. He will not drag His feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when He returns?

A real life of faith isn’t trying to get God to do something, but actually enforcing a reality God has already created.

There has to be transformation in our soul for us to experience faith.

...more

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