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"FAITH WORKS" is the medium through which we will deliver the monthly messages from Anointed Word Ministries, Inc. We believe these messages will be an inspiration and an encouragement to you. Therefore, passing the URL for this ministry page on to others is greatly appreciated and encouraged. Also, adding this page to your "hot list" would be a good source for some monthly edification. Thank you very much

THIS MONTH'S TOPIC:

"I Believe God..." Acts 27:25

Your success with God will be determined 100 percent by what you believe concerning His Word. In the Kingdom of God, believing is everything!! It is at the seat of our existence. It is in effect who and what we are. The bible does not provide denominational tags as we on earth have such a tendency to do. Instead we are called and are classified as believers. We are called as such primarily because we have chosen to believe the Word of God as opposed to something or someone else. This is extremely significant! Actually, biblical unbelief can be defined as believing anything else other than what is indicated in scripture. When one says he is a "believer" (at least in the context of Christianity) it is more than casual phraseology used to identify a religious affiliation. It means we have denounced, rejected and totally abandoned all other opinions about certain issues. We have chosen in its place the bible in at least one particular area, i.e. salvation by faith, yet to include other areas.

With this in mind, what do we mean when we say: "I believe God..."? In many religious circles, the phrase "I believe God..." is in effect nothing more than a cliche'. This becomes all too evident when the tests and trials associated with actual bible faith exposes a person's "believing" as nothing more than blatant unbelief. On the other hand, when a person actually believes God, any tests associated with his believing do nothing more than expose the depths of an individual's unwavering faith. He or she has the testimony of Abraham as mentioned in Romans 4:20 which says: "he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith giving glory to God". If I believe God, then he will be glorified as a result of my believing (I Corinthians 1:25-31).

In the book of Acts there is a wonderful example of "believing God" demonstrated in the life of Paul the Apostle. The chapter begins with Paul being escorted by Roman soldiers along with other "criminals" to Rome. As they traveled, Paul spoke boldly to the Centurion and the master and owner of the ship saying: "Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and the ship, but also of our lives." Despite this witness, obviously from within Paul's spirit, the scripture says that "...the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul". Now it is here that I believe Paul began praying in earnest for the safety of the crew and himself. I have heard that because Paul "had to be in Rome" that God would not have allowed Paul to be killed in this storm. I do not agree with this. Satan would have loved to have destroyed Paul to limit his future ministry activities. But I believe it was Paul's prayers of faith that made the difference. Paul was no fool. He was not ignorant of Satan's devices.

One outrageous and many times devastating mistake Christians make is that we assume too much when it comes to God and the Bible. We erroneously think that because we are Christians God will just "take care of us". It is this type of thinking that Satan really enjoys seeing in the life of a believer. The Word of God tells us what to do since we have become believers. If we do not do what the Bible says, whether out of ignorance or just blatant rebellion, then there is no way for God to move on our behalf. As a matter of truth, God is under no obligation whatsoever to bless our disobedience. It is presumptuous for us to think so. There is a very much used scripture in Hosea 4:6 that says: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee...". Now I realize that this is the Old Testament and God was speaking to the children of Israel by the prophet Hosea. But this scripture does reveal something about the character of God and His attitude toward our ignorance. You will never believe God beyond your knowledge of the Holy Scriptures.

I believe that most people will agree that the Apostle Paul was very knowledgeable in scriptural matters and matters concerning the Devil. Furthermore, what would be the point of God's system of prayer if God's will would be done anyway. I could refute this point further with many, many more examples but this is not the topic of this particular message. Being a person of prayer and intercession, I am fully aware of the necessity of approaching the Father to avert disaster and calamity. In such praying, believing is everything!! It is the medium through which all successful prayers are conveyed.

Now in this account of Paul's journey, in Acts 27:20 the scripture says: "And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away". You must realize how desperate their situation was. The sun and stars, then and even today, are essential to successful navigation on the open sea. It is my observation that these seasoned veterans of the oceans had resigned themselves to the mercy of the storm. They were afraid, and justifiably so. Now just a few verses earlier these same individuals were confident of a safe journey (Acts 27:12-14). Paul, on the other hand, was trusting Someone else. His hope was not natural but supernatural in origin. He believed in Someone greater than the "tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon". According to Acts 27:21-25, he believed God. So, despite the initial report of good traveling weather, in Acts 27:10 Paul trusted the unseen (II Corinthians 4:18). When in the midst of circumstances to the contrary, Paul believed what God said instead of what the weather was saying.

Now where did Paul get such an unwavering faith? Can you and I have such determined faith? He received it from the Word and prayer and yes we can and should have such a firm belief in our God. Paul was not attempting to be positive in the middle of a storm. He actually believed "...God, that it shall be even as it was told..." him (Acts 27:25). Once you believe what the Word of God says, you are not moved, good weather or bad. He was not attempting to be strong in himself, "...he was strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10). You can have all the faith you want by going to the Word of God. Believing God is not a feeling, an emotion or some state of euphoria. It is a state of being. It transcends merely knowing from an intellectual standpoint that God will do something according to His Word. You are permeated with a definite assurance and certainty that all is well. You are so dense and thick with this conviction that you can not be moved. This "believing" is larger than any storm. You are kept by the strength of your believing. This was Paul's glorious condition during this storm. It is what kept him and those that traveled with him alive: "...and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee" (Acts 27:24).

So we can see from this wonderful example gleaned from the life of Paul the Apostle that to "believe God" is more than being comforted until the storm is over. It is not a struggle like many would have you to believe. It is a posture of faith. It is a stance of unwavering assurance. It is a position of un-daunting confidence in the Almighty God. This is believing. You are not fighting anyone. You just believe and that is all there is to the matter.

Can you have this strength? Can you operate on such a level in our contemporary society? Will the Lord honor you in such the same way as He honored the Apostle Paul in Scripture? YES! YES! YES! AND ONE THOUSAND TIMES YES!!!.

I am reminded of what is said in Romans 4:18-21 concerning Abraham. "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform." Abraham did more than just say a few confessions, he was consumed with his believing. He did not confess that he was the father of many nation to believe, he confessed that he was the father of many nations because he did believe. There is a difference. Paul says in second Corinthians 4:13: "...I believed, therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;". I confess the Word of God because I believe the Word of God. I believe the Word of God, because I have heard the Word of God. The faith that I have from the Word of God has come through hearing the Word of God.

No one wakes up just believing God. But, I can get all the bible faith and believing I want and more from the Bible. This has now become my mission in life, to believe more of God's Word. To get me in the Word and the Word in me. Jesus says in St. John 15:7 that "if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you". I do not need a Greek lexicon to understand that. God is very serious about us believing Him. Jesus even told the disciples in St. John 11:15 before leaving to raise Lazarus from the dead that He was "glad for [their] sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe;" Even in St. John 20:30-31 the scripture says: "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name".

My encouragement to you my friend is this. Stop struggling with believing. Go to the Word of God and develop your believing in areas that are weak and undernourished. There is so much in the Word to believe. Do as Paul tells Timothy in I Timothy 4:15: "...give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all". How else will you believe. Surely not during a crisis. Paul believed God before the storm, during the storm, and after the storm. He did not change. He was not moved. He did not waver. He just believed. This man was full of the type of persuasion that only comes from knowing the Word of God.

Our conclusion is this. Believing God is more than a cliche'. It is who and what I am in relationship to God and His Word. I can get all the faith I want from God's Word if I would diligently apply myself to such a life. Circumstances have little to do with my believing. If life is a test then with the Word of God it is an "open book" test. I believe because the Word has come into my life. Circumstances and tests only expose where I am in my faith because I know and believe that the trying of my faith worketh patience. So, I let patience have her perfect work that I may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:3-5). Furthermore, believing should not be a struggle. Believing is the end result of a process of faith which is governed and orchestrated by the Word of God. Psalms 112:1,7 is a good conclusion to this message: "...the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments...shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord". "I believe God" is the fully persuaded cry of a heart that is "fixed trusting in the Lord".