Message from Pastor Shirley

Thank you for joining me.  I am elated that you took the time to visit my website.  I pray that after reading the following message you will be encouraged, motivated, and determined to strengthen your dedication and commitment to God. 

My message comes from Hebrews 11:1, KJV : ”Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

This is a familiar scripture and has been quoted numerous times by many.  But what does this scripture really mean?  

It means just what it says.  You hope for something that you do not have and believe that you will receive it.  WOW!  Sometimes this concept can be somewhat confusing and mind-boggling so further explanation is helpful. 

1.   You want something you do not have, in other words, you hope for it.

2.   You ask God for it and believe He will give it to you. 

3.   You walk in your evidence, i. e. you act as if you already have it. 

This is where most of us go wrong.  We do not act as if we already have the very thing we hope for.  We yet walk in doubt and defeat.  When I was explaining this concept to one of my members, she asked me, “How do you do that?  How do you act like you have something you don’t have?” 

Excellent question!  Allow me to explain.  Suppose you are praying, asking, and believing God for a new house.  What do you do next?  First, you stop asking God for the new house and start thanking Him for it daily.  You start preparing for your new home.  You stop frivolous spending and start saving for your down payment.  You start talking about your new home to your family and friends.  You mentally begin decorating your new living room, bedrooms, etc.  You drive through the new neighborhood in which you want to live.  You visualize yourself pulling into your new driveway, greeting your new neighbors, landscaping your new lawn, etc. 
 

Now you’re walking in your evidence! 

Now you’re banishing doubt!  

Now you are acting as if you have that which you are hoping for! 

Now you’re acting as if your situation has manifested!

Now you’re walking in victory! 

The devil listened to you thank God for your new home and your confident claims of victory.  Watch out, here he comes!  He tells you that you are crazy to believe in something you cannot see or confirm.  He tells you that you are telling a lie and acting a lie because you don’t have a new house.  He tells you that your friends and family will laugh when you don’t get a new house. 

DON’T FALL FOR HIS LIES.

DON’T FALL FOR HIS DECEIT.

DON’T ALLOW HIM TO KEEP YOU FROM RECEIVING YOUR BLESSING.  

You are doing just what the Bible told you to do.  You are doing exactly what your father in heaven did in Romans 4:17-21.

 17)”(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

 18) 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.

 19) 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:

 20) He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

 21) And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”

God, himself, called those things that were not as though they had already manifested.  He named Abraham the father of many nations even though his body was dead being well past the age to sire children and his wife had been barren for many years. 

We can learn so much from Abraham.  Being a man of faith, he didn’t look at his circumstances.  He didn’t doubt because his body was dead and his wife was barren.  I would imagine his friends and family had a laughing good time upon hearing that a senior citizen and barren woman would now bear a child and become the parents of many nations. He didn’t care what it looked like.  He just trusted in God.  He didn’t bother himself with how God was going to do what he said he was going to do.  He just believed. 

HALLELUJAH! 

·        We can do the same thing by believing wholeheartedly that the word of God is sure. 

·        We can do the same thing by choosing to focus on God’s promises rather than our circumstances. 

·        We can do the same thing by understanding that the appearance of today’s situation doesn’t have to equal the reality of tomorrow.    

It is your unwavering faith that activates the word of God much like warm water triggers the leavening agents in bread yeast causing the dough to rise.  You might wonder how you are supposed to believe that which you do not have.  The answer?  By simply believing in the word of God and understanding that it cannot go out and return until it has accomplished that which it was sent to do as evidenced by Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

To you my friend I say, believe it and receive it. 

Until next time,  
 

I remain,

Prayerfully in His Word,

Pastor Shirley