This blog entry is a prologue to the faith chapter message I will post for you, my readers this Tuesday!
To my mother for her efforts to reconcile my faith one summer night before the fire would die out although. – Thank You!
Dear Friends, For anybody that reads this blog post I pray that you allow the Holy Spirit to help guide your thoughts, your heart, your steps and cast away your hurt…
I have been working on this message for the better part of a year, at the beginning of my study I studied 10 biblical figures from the faith chapter which is located in the 11th chapter of Hebrews. After I took about three months of study time. I didn’t think anymore about it. That was until today. One year ago, I would study the faith chapter in depth as a way to beat discouragement and also stay connected with God…
Hast Thou Considered My Servant Anthony?
Just days ago, these words were given to me during a telephone call… One year ago I went through some tremendous battles and at the time I couldn’t understand why…. I also couldn’t reveal my confusion to a lot of people. God would reveal it to various people in time… It has been one year since my study in the book of Hebrews and I’m still encouraged by it today and here are some reasons why…..
When I began this study one year ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I just began studying and writing what I studied. My brain was on autopilot at the time. I was studying very thoroughly but I didn’t know the MAIN REASON behind it… However I understand the purpose for the study now. I understand everything I went through wasn’t a matter of feelings. It was a matter of faith. Allow me to explain, sometime back I didn’t handle a situation as best as I could… There were various people involved in the troubling situation. Now you don’t have to be a scientist to figure out that if God gives us faith, the enemy and the Devil can give us feelings…
If we don’t handle a situation the godly way, the devil can have a heyday with our feelings…. I have been there.. We have all been there whether we know it or not… After all we are just flesh and blood and even Jesus said the flesh of man can become very weak. A few weeks ago, I went to write this message in it’s entirety. However I came across a minor problem, writer’s block; So I reviewed my notes on the faith chapter. Wonderful and terrific stories of triumph and trusting God in even the most tumultuous times of the faith displayed by Samson, Gideon, Moses, Joshua, David, Queen Esther, Elijah, Daniel, Paul and yes even Jesus himself….
The more I reviewed my notes from the past the more I would see what the Lord was trying to get me ready for. He wanted me to add to my faith. How would he know if my faith was worth anything if it wasn’t tried…. Sure there were times that I became confused and discouraged and yes there were even enough tears to fill up small ponds. I was going to the Potter’s house and I didn’t know it until later….
There is one reason, I couldn’t get the message written down in full a year ago, the reason is because I didn’t have the kind of spiritual eyesight that I do today. 
As I recently spent various times in study God would reveal to me how he wanted the message written. God most certainly would use the real life events, trials and tribulations of such men of God that I would crawl out of any discouragement, and I would flip discouragement on it’s ear and become determined to walk with God. Like Enoch. So rather than receive the message in full it came a bit a time. God was revealing it to me one puzzle piece at a time….
Don’t Get Discouraged because of the Devil. Get Determined because of God…
Those words above have given me much strength… and no I didn’t have to read a self help book, I read THE BOOK and the essence
or heart of why a book that is beyond 1,500 years still has all answers to every single question that any man, woman, boy or girl may have in this life. The reason why these same people can’t seem to find the answers they seek is because they first need to open the book and stop allowing such a precious book to sit on the shelf just to collect dust…
Dare to be Different. Dare to Be A Daniel…
Even though the summer brought varying degrees of troubles and battles. The past summer also brought wonderful victories…. I recall one day while studying the word my father came out to complain to me. He wanted to fight me while I was in the middle of my Bible study… He thought I had become brainwashed…. So as I was sitting studying the word, he came over to complain, spouting off at the mouth without a horse bit. Anyway to make a long story short as he was continuing to blaspheme and realizing that telling him to Stop speaking like that wasn’t working. I rose up from my little white lawn chair and I told him, to “STOP SPEAKING LIKE THE DEVIL. I REFUSE TO LISTEN TO YOU BLASPHEME THE NAME OF GOD ANY FURTHER..” His response to me was a face of bewilderment and shock. He didn’t know what to say to me after that so, he got the keys to truck and drove away…. I know I certainly put a smile on God that day why because I stood firm in my faith and I just like Daniel my faith shut the mouth of a roaring lion. He hasn’t talked to me in a year and that’s just fine by me, because I would rather hear What thus Saith the Lord has to say to me rather than What saith Man. It’s a no contest…
Don’t be a JONAH, BE A JOHN the (beloved)
We all know the story of Jonah, but on the off chance that you don’t, allow me to summarize the story in a paragraph. Jonah the prophet was charged and commanded by God to go to the city of Nineveh. Jonah refused to obey God’s command because he disliked the people of the city very much. Jonah thought he could run from God, so he got on board a shipping to what we now call modern day Spain. Even though Jonah ran God caught up with him and sent a storm after him. The men with him on the boat threw him overboard into the water where Jonah was swallowed up a whale. He lived in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights for his disobedience. However God showed Jonah a lot of mercy because after Jonah confessed to God that he mad
e a mistake the giant whale spit him out on dry land. Once Jonah finally got to Nineveh, he still grumbled about God not destroying the city for their sin. Unlike Jonah , John the beloved had his eyes solely focused on Calvary when Jesus was giving his life to redeem mankind. John had his eyes focused on Jesus no matter what.
In this life as believers we will have trials, we will have tribulations but as long as we keep our eyes focused on Jesus. He came help us overcome the world by faith.
