How to have a life of faith to conquer?
I had to overcome many obstacles in my mind, for example the one that told me that each church in Bogotá only had an average membership of three hundred people. If I had been guided by the circumstances, everything would have been frustrating. But I believed God, and the Holy Spirit put a desire in my heart to work hard to conquer crowds I had never dreamed of before.
(Ps. Cesar Castellanos)
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1. Faith is the substance of what is hoped for: The substance of faith can be compared to the case of a woman who conceives a child in her womb: that creature is a miracle.
We all need moments of intimacy with God in order to enter that dimension of faith. Who needs faith? Those who yearn for change. If you long for a change in your life, you must gain faith. Within us there is a spiritual nature that is eternal, that remains forever. We can only nurture that nature through faith. For that reason, everyone who longs for the miracle of multiplication must enter into the dimension of faith, because without faith it is impossible to please God.
2. My daughter Johanna's faith: One day I heard my daughter Johanna sharing in Singapore about her personal experience of how she managed to apply the principles of faith in her emotional area and how God supported her. What she said caught my attention so much that I would like to tell you too. These were her words:
In order to visualize the home I longed for," (a wonderful home, a home based on the foundation of God's Word) I was greatly helped by the example of my parents' relationship as a couple. If only married couples and their children knew how important it is for parents to demonstrate with actions, what they confess with words. All my life I witnessed the love, respect, dedication and integrity with which my parents built their home. Seeds of that nature were sown in me and they have borne fruit.
One of the things I did to reproduce that miracle in my own life was a specific prayer to the Lord, regarding eight different areas: spiritual, ministerial, emotional, intellectual, cultural, physical, family, and financial.
From each of them I took three main characteristics, and so I made a clear and concise prototype of what I expected of God as to the person I wanted to marry. For example, in the spiritual area, one of the characteristics that I highlighted was that this person had to be a man who loved the Vision and who was walking in the purpose of God. Today, the husband God has given me loves the Vision and walks in God’s purpose. Emotionally, I asked the Lord a man with completely healed emotions, and so is he.
In the same way, you should dream of what you wish to have. Something I have learned from my parents is that dreams are the language of the Holy Spirit, but this language cannot be spoken without using words of faith. Since before I got married, I have brought a book that I call "the book of dreams". In it I described and detailed the house I wanted to have, the civil ceremony, the wedding dress I longed to wear, and many more details. And I want to tell you that God has brought everything I noted in my dream book into my life. Do you know why? Because faith works.
Nowadays Johanna and Eliemerson are the pastors of the church in Florida. They have an exemplary home and they have been able to influence hundreds of families.
For you to conceive the miracle, there will always be two transcendental aspects. One is the Word, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The other one is the Holy Spirit. I have two examples of this.
3. Creation: When God created heaven and earth, the Holy Spirit moved on the face of the waters. God spoke and said: "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:2,3). Notice that the Holy Spirit and the Word were at work, but the Holy Spirit could not change the circumstances (disorder and emptiness) until the Word of God was activated.
4. Mary's example: The virgin Mary received a word from God through an angel who visited her and said: "Hail, blessed, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28).
The angel then declared that she would conceive and give birth to a child. Maria asked him how could that be if she didn't know a man. The angel answered her: "The shadow of the Most High will cover you, and the power of the Almighty will come upon you; by the Holy Spirit ye shall conceive and bear a son" (Luke 1:35).
Notice that at that moment the Word and the Holy Spirit were working together.
The promise can come through God's Word: The Bible contains many promises waiting to be believed by us. That is why it is so important that we take the time to read and study the scriptures. As we do so, our faith will increase to the point of appropriating every word of God. On the other hand, the word says:
He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
(Isaiah 50:4 NIV)
You can read the Bible, but that does not mean you are hearing God's voice. The secret of studying God’s Word is that along with the reading, you should discern and listen to the voice of God. When you do, you will find direction for your life.
If you do not hear what God tells you, you won't know what to do. The divine voice is only heard when someone is in the presence of God: in prayer and in intimacy with Him. As long as you study the Bible, God can use a verse to speak to your heart. In that way, you will hear His voice. It is then when the door is open for the miracle to happen.
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6. The importance of communion with the Holy Spirit: It was impossible for Mary to become pregnant without having been intimate with a man. The Holy Spirit came over her, transformed the circumstances and performed the miracle. Today you will conceive the miracle of becoming a servant of God and you will conceive the size of your ministry. In the same way a woman says how many children she wants to have when she marries, you will conceive the size of your ministry.
There is no greater blessing than to be called to serve God. There is no life more delightful than the Christian life. Some people think that the wicked ones enjoy life, but what they experience is not life, but death. Abundant life can only be enjoyed by a Christian. Therefore Jesus said:
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
(John 10:10 NIV)
The Lord gives you the privilege of enjoying everything: health, family, provision, spiritual peace, etc. He provides harmony in all areas. You should pray the following prayer: "Lord, make me your servant, a transformer of lives, a worker of hope. I pledge through my words to unleash life in people." God will do the miracle in you. Make a list of the miracles you want to conquer, and God will help you conquer them.
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