The Measure Part 3 - Kingdom Faith with Pastor Marci

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from St. Augustine, FL.

Now enjoy this message. Glory to God.

You know that's what we've been talking about is real Bible

believe in faith, Amen. What the Bible says faith is

Amen. You know, I, I was hearing some

things lately and I've just gotten discouraged because I

feel like as much as we've had the faith movement come in, I

feel like we've stepped away from what real Bible faith is

because I hear these statements like now being said, well, what

happens when it don't work? Faith works, period.

Faith works, period. It works, period.

And that's where we have to get back to that.

You know, we've we've made excuses of why we're not seeing

things take place. And the number one thing that we

have to do in a situation where we maybe say we've believed God

and we know we believed with all of our heart and something

didn't happen or something didn't change.

We can never go to faith didn't work.

We have to go to what did I not know about faith?

What do I not know about a situation?

Because God's word is final no matter what, Amen.

Hallelujah. So there's much to say about the

what ifs and the how comes, but it's not God's problem and it's

not God's fault. And we can never put the blame

on God. Amen.

Because true people of faith realize there was something I'm

missing. Or maybe I truly didn't believe

that when I thought I really did.

Amen. Because if you start making a

statement as if it doesn't work, then we will be people of

unbelief. Will be people of unbelief.

Period. We either believe what His word

says or we don't. There's no in between.

There's no halfway. It's all the way in.

It's all the way. Amen.

Hallelujah. So I'm choosing to believe what

His word says and that His word is the final say on the matter.

And if something did not turn out the way that I thought I was

believing, come on then I'm going to check myself.

I'm going to be true to what I, my heart is doing.

Amen. And I'm never going to put the

blame on God or that God couldn't.

No, there's something I don't know that I'm still in ignorance

of, Amen. I'm ignorant.

It's OK to say that because we are not all knowing and we don't

have all wisdom. Like God, we can tap into His

wisdom, but there are still things that He knows that we

don't. Amen.

And so you have to chalk it up to that, not that faith maybe

don't work. Or it didn't work, or it didn't

turn out the way that it should have worked.

So you make excuses of why then it don't work.

But you can still trust God, right?

So that's how people. But if you start going down that

road, then you'll start going down a road of doubt and

unbelief. I trust God no matter what, in

the good times, in the bad times and the impossible times.

Come on. I trust God no matter what.

It doesn't matter what my circumstance looks like.

I trust God and I stand upon His word, and it's the final say in

my life. We've got to get back to some

true biblical faith. You know, back in the day we

taught true biblical faith, but I've been hearing teachers today

making excuses of some things. Amen.

And I hate to say we got to get back to old school faith.

I mean, is it already old school?

The Word of Faith? When I taught faith and had to

live by it? Come on.

I mean, I'm telling you it hurt your feelings, it everything

within you. I remember sitting in Rhema and

hearing the aid they used to call it the AB CS of faith,

which is the foundations of faith.

And get in there and realize you don't have no more faith than a

man on the moon according to what the Bible says.

And then you sit up underneath another teaching and he says, if

you are not, if you are not in joy, you are not in faith.

Well, that'll hurt you. That'll hurt you.

These are the things that were being said to me.

And I'm like, what do you mean? If I'm not in joy?

I'm not Because faith rejoices no matter what.

Hey, man. So if you're in a place of

faith, then you can rejoice no matter what.

Well, you know when I first heard that it wasn't really a

joyful time in my life. Y'all heard my story, Some of it

last week I told Pastor Angie. I said I should have been put in

a mental institute after all I went through.

I said some other things too, but I won't tell you.

But anyway, according to how people Live Today and the weak

society that we have today. OK, so real biblical faith is

not weak. It's not weak.

It's not for the weak. It is not.

And to say that we are to live by it, we have to truly ask

ourselves with what am I doing when I'm encountering the

situations in life and does this look like biblical faith and

what the Bible tells me how I should be responding and acting

in this situation. That I'm walking through.

Amen. And he gives us everything we

need to be able to walk in faith.

Amen and to. Live this life of faith.

Amen. And so there is nothing new

under the sun and there is nothing that's different about

faith today than yesterday, because he's the same today,

right? Yesterday, today, and forever.

So if his bit if his definition of what faith was in the word of

God, it's the same definition of what it is today.

I don't care how watered down people try to make it right.

And so we have to look at what the Bible says concerning faith

and and we've been talking about that.

I just want to reiterate what faith we said how faith comes

true. Biblical faith comes from

hearing and hearing from the Word.

That's where true biblical faith comes from.

Not from your Instagram post, Not from whatever prophet so and

so said on Instagram. Not what grandma says, not what

the book of the author of the Word of Faith, whatever says it

is. No, it is what the Word says it

is. It's what the Word says it is,

and that's where we have to be. We have to get back to what the

Word says true biblical faith is.

I'm not living this life of faith on someone else's belief,

not living it on somebody else's belief.

I'm living it on the Word of God and what I believe.

Amen. Because this is where people get

in trouble. They start living their life

based upon what other people believe faith is instead of what

the Word of God says faith is, and build their life upon that.

And I'm seeing it happen in this day and in this hour that we're

living. And so we know that true

biblical faith can only come from the Word of God.

And we receive. We talked about this, we've been

talking about the measure of faith.

Every single one of us, the minute we believed in our heart

and confessed with our mouth that Jesus Christ is our Lord,

the seed of faith was deposited within our hearts.

We've all been given the measure of faith and it's up to each and

every one of us to determine what type of increase in our

faith wall we're going to receive.

Are we going to receive a 30 fold return?

Are we going to return us, receive a 60 fold return or are

we going to receive 100 fold return of the seed of the word

that been planted in our heart? It is up to each and every one

of us. We've all been given the measure

of faith and guess what? That measure of faith can

increase and it can grow. And it's up to us to say, I'm

going to, I'm going to get all that I can get.

Amen. It's up to us.

And the more faith that you want, guess what it's going to

require? The more word that's going to be

in your heart, the word more. Word that has to be in your

heart. The more word that has to be in

your heart. You know I I love people's books

and you know I love you know that people.

Have to start sometimes with little devotionals, but that

should never be, and I've said this, it should never replace

you personally reading the word of God for yourself cover to

cover. Amen.

Because even in devotionals and even in people's different

books, there's always going to be the thought process of the

person that's writing the book. You can't get away from it, OK,

period. And when you read little

devotionals and different things like that, it's always going to

be according to the way they believe in the word.

But the greatest thing you can do is learn how to discipline

yourself to be a disciple, a student of His Word, Amen, So

that then you can be assured that the Holy Spirit, who is the

great teacher who lives on the inside of you, can really teach

you the foundation of His Word, Amen.

Hallelujah. So our faith, true biblical

faith must be built upon this word.

And we've all been given the measure of faith, and it's up to

us if we want to see it increase.

And we said this, that faith is the currency of the Kingdom.

Faith is the exchange. Faith is the very thing that we

we had to have to be able to tap into heaven, Amen.

It's the very thing that we had to have to tap into heaven for

his Kingdom to come and show up in our life.

We had to exchange faith for that, Amen.

So the very way that we received from God our salvation is the

same way that we're going to receive every other promise from

God. We're going to have to hear the

Word, we're going to have to receive the Word, we're going to

have to believe the Word, and then we're going to have to act

upon the Word. And one way we act upon the Word

is we have to open up our mouth because the word would be in our

hearts and we'll release it from our mouth.

And that activates the exchange. OK, it activates the exchange so

every time. Anytime we see a promise in His

Word that belongs to us because we are supposed to walk by

faith, the righteous shall live by faith.

Amen. Then we are going to have to

believe it, speak it, and act upon it and whatever it is that

He gives us the direction to do in our lives, Amen.

For whatever it is that He we are to believe Him for, All

right? So we're going to have to act

upon it. We're going to have to speak it.

And I believe that we're in a season.

Where we're going to have to speak and declare His word more

than ever before, because the world has done a good job at

shutting up Christians and what they believe.

And therefore we are going to have to be more intentional to

speak forth the things that we believe and to declare the

things that God has said belongs to us, right?

He says that our business can prosper.

Then guess what? That should be a daily

confession in your life. You know, we've gotten away from

our confession because people say, oh, it's the blame it and

claim it group. So everybody quit claiming it.

Or blab it and grab it or whatever, I don't know.

Did I say it right? OK, So we're going to have to

increase our speaking in these this day that we're living, and

especially because of the pressure that is being put on

the church right now. All right, because of everything

that's going on in the world, I'm going to tell you it is

truly the church is being attacked.

I mean, and if you can't see that, then you are living in

another world, OK? And we are going to have to step

up in our confession and in the things that we believe God has

said that belong to us and being.

More purposeful to declare and decree some things, because

where the word of the King is, there's what.

Where the word of the King is, there's power.

And when we release His word, there is power backing it.

He will accomplish what His word was sent to do.

The Bible says Amen, There is power backing His word.

Come on. And we have to release it on

every occasion. More and more.

I just believe that we've gotten quiet.

And so This is why some things are at a standstill or a stall

in people's lives. But I guarantee you, if you

would just stir up your faith and get the scripture to stand

upon and start decreeing and declaring that this thing is

going to change and it has to change and it's going to change.

Come on. And I declare in Jesus name,

whatever it is, is going to change.

This is what you have to start doing so that we can start

seeing a breakthrough in some situations.

So we've all been given the measure of faith and we all are

to walk by this faith. We said that faith is according

to Scripture in Hebrews 11/1. Through through three.

Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction

and evidence of things not seen, right?

So we said this, that faith, when you break that out, is a

firm persuasion based on what you believe, what you accept as

truth, what you adhere to firmly, And it governs what you

think, what you say, and what you do.

Because if it's not governing what you think and what you say

and what you do, you are not in faith because that is the result

of you firmly believing it in your heart.

You're adhering to it. And you're letting that govern

your life by what you're thinking on, by what you're

saying, by what you're doing. Your actions will always fall in

line with what you believe. Your words will always fall in

alignment with what you believe you're thinking.

Your thought life will have to fall into alignment as you renew

your mind to what believe. So I'm not going to think faults

that are opposite of what His Word says, not going to think on

those thoughts that are opposite of what God's Word says.

I'm not going to think on cancer if He tells me by His stripes

I've been healed. I'm not going to think on blood

pressure come on controlling my life if he says by his stripes

I've been healed. And I'm doing what I know to do

even in the natural to be able to help that situation.

I'm listening and I'm yielding and I'm hearing what he says and

I'm not going to think on things because I'm firmly persuaded

that what God's Word says and it governs my life.

Amen. It is the substance of my life.

It is the foundation of my life. It is the what I have built my

life upon. It is the sure foundation or the

setting up under. That's what that word substance

means. Faith is what I live upon.

Faith is what I live upon. And true biblical faith comes

from the word of God. You know, I love.

I was kind of focusing on this today when I was studying and

meditating in Hebrews, you know, in Hebrews. 11 Let me just read

this because there's so much I could just continue to teach on

faith forever and ever and ever. But you know in Hebrews 11 when

you start reading that it says this now faith is the assurance.

This is another translation of things hoped for the.

Convictions of things not seen, for by it the men of old gained

approval by faith. We understand that the world's

were prepared by what the Word of God so that what is seen was

not made out of things which are visible.

And we talked about this faith is out of this world because

faith is unseen. It is not in this natural realm,

but it's built upon the Word. In Genesis 11 we said this is

that the earth was void, right and empty.

But then God spoke a word, let there be, and out of that word

became the visible. Out of the word became let there

be light. When He said let there be light,

His power was released. He spoke it and guess what

happened? He spoke the word and the Word

created the substance of what we can see.

So the Word of God is what is the substance of faith, the Word

of God and He created the world in any everything in it by His

Word. So I'm going to tell you

whatever we need to create in our lives is going to be upheld

and created by what we hear. Faith comes from hearing and

hearing from the word of God and the word will create what it is

that we are believing for. Hallelujah, glory to God and

look. And I was reading through

Hebrews, even in Hebrews chapter.

I have it here somewhere because I didn't know where I wanted to

go tonight in Hebrews chapter. I thought I put it on here.

Hebrews chapter 4. I believe it is no.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

Hebrews one. Hebrews 11 and three.

Listen to this God after He spoke long ago to the fathers in

the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last

days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of

all things, through whom also He made the world.

And He and His radiance of His glory and the exact

representation of His nature and upholds all things by what the

word of His power. He upholds everything by the

word of his power. His word has power to create

whatever it is that we will believe him for.

Hallelujah, glory to God and there's power backing it.

There's power backing it, supernatural power.

Our faith is out of this world. We are to get the supernatural

on this natural realm and create what it is that God says we can

have. Hallelujah, and it's all done by

faith. He says it's impossible to

please him without faith. Impossible to please him without

faith. Amen.

So we have to stir ourselves up to realizing that, listen,

things are not going to change. Because the bottom line is we're

just not really in faith. We are not firmly persuaded that

God can do what he says He can do with our marriages, with our

family, come on, with our finances, whatever it is.

We just are not firmly persuaded and that's the reality.

We are not living true biblical faith.

And there's got to be a a check because I'm going to tell you in

these last days and the way, why do you think he says in the last

days when I return, will I find what in the earth?

Will I find faith in the earth, true biblical faith in the

earth? Or is it the faith that man has

created that we just can run around and be all joyful and go

to a faith conference and say, oh, we were in faith, we

shouted, we rejoiced and we ran and yet get out and our lives

are not changed. Things are not different.

Come on. Our faith was not to be in the

run and in the dance and in the shout.

Our faith was to be in the Word of God and what the Word says.

I'm telling you, we got to shake ourselves, Hallelujah, because

we are just truly not firmly persuaded that what God says He

can do. That's just the bottom line.

You know, look at the life we talked about this last week.

Looking at the life of Abraham. He was the Father of faith and

the perfect example. We talked about this, and he was

willing at God's Word to sacrifice the Son that he had

believed God for. He was willing to sacrifice the

very thing that he had to believe for, right?

This was being required of him to test his faith to.

See, are you going to walk this out in the earth, Abraham?

So of course God had a provision for him because he saw that his

heart was willing and obedient to do whatever the Lord had told

him to do, even though he had believed God for the promised

son, right, for the promised son.

He, I mean, he was firmly persuaded.

And we know, and one when you read about Abraham, he was

firmly persuaded that God would just have to raise him from the

dead, even though he had never seen a resurrection and never

even had heard of a resurrection.

He was firmly persuaded. Well, God, God promised me, God

promised me that he would be the inheritance and he would be the

one, come on. So I believe God that he must

going to be able to raise him from the dead.

He had faith in God because, see, that's what real faith will

be, that you are firmly persuaded in who God is and who

God is. And who God is, that he is all

sufficient. Who God is?

I think we've forgotten who God really is.

Do we really believe who He really is?

He is all powerful. He is everything.

He can do anything. Come on, we got to stir

ourselves up, Hallelujah and knowing that God is able to do

and uphold all things by His Word.

Come on, he's still got the world.

We sing it. He has the whole world what he's

upholding. He's upholding this whole world

by his word. By his word, he's upholding it.

And no matter what goes on, he will have the final say.

He's going to have the final say.

Hallelujah, he's going to have the final say.

It doesn't matter what things look like.

Come on. Because we are not supposed to

live by sight. Faith does not live by sight.

Faith lives in the unseen meaning.

It don't seem like this is ever going to change.

It don't seem like the finances are going to be there.

It don't seem like, come on. But I don't walk by what I see

or what it seems. I walk by faith and what His

word says. Amen.

Hallelujah. Glory to God.

So we are to operate in a whole nother realm, and we've got to

get this as believers in this day, in this hour that we're

living in, I'm telling you, it's time for us to raise up in our

thinking, rise up in our walk with the Lord, because we are

not to live in this realm. Come on, we're right.

Not of this world. We're not supposed to live by

this realm and what we see. We are supposed to live out of

this world with our faith. Amen.

And I'm going to tell you the only way you're going to do that

is by the word. And being firmly persuaded in

who God is. And who God is and in your

relationship with the Lord, because I feel like many people

have gotten away from really discovering who God is because

you just love him, you just. Serve want to serve him.

It doesn't matter about anything else.

I just love him and I want to serve him.

I love him and I want to serve him.

So to love him is to love His word and get to know Him.

And when you know him, listen. When you know him, then you'll

trust him. When you know him, then you will

believe every word that comes out of his mouth.

You'll believe him because he is not a man that he should lie.

He is not like all of these other lion people.

I mean, come on. And they'll lie to you.

They lie right up in the church, straight to your face.

Even born again believers just lie straight to your face.

So what does that do to us? Put stuff in our psyche that God

must lie or that he can't be true to his promises, right?

No, God is not a man that he should lie.

And this is what we have to begin to start re resurfacing in

our relationship with him. You know what, Lord, I just love

you and I trust you and and and the promises that you said

belong to me. I thank you.

I trust you. I walk in faith and believe you

know God and and will do whatever you need me to do just

because I love you. It's not because of anything

else. It's not because of anything

else. It's not.

I don't have a relationship with you so I can get a.

Better a bigger. House and a better car and all

these things. No, I love you because of who

you are, because you are faithful and true.

But. If because of who you?

Are says that there are things that belong to me, then I want

you to navigate me in those areas because I want to receive

all that you said belongs to me. Hallelujah.

You know, so we need to get back to what is this thing really

about? What is this thing really about?

I'm going to tell you, you know, this life of faith is not for

weak people. It's not it's not for weak

people. True biblical faith is not for

weak people. I want to talk about the

characteristics of faith because I want you to see what the.

Word. Says that faith looks like we

know that, he said. Faith is a firm persuasion, a

confident expectation, something that I adhere to, that I allow

to govern my life, meaning my everyday walk with him.

This thing is not just about Sundays and Wednesdays to come

in here and have a good dance and have a good shout, have a

good worship. This, this thing is about you

receiving the engrafted word of God.

Which is able to save your soul? What is your soul?

Your mind and your will and emotions, it is able to get

placed within your hearing and within your heart so that you

can actually activate faith in what the word was spoken so that

you can walk it out in your everyday life.

And you can be an overcomer and, and, and, and you need to thank

God every day that you have the seed of His word in your heart

and every day saying thank you, Lord, that I have the mind of

Christ because I am not going to fall into, come on the thinking

of this world because it is insane.

Not going to do it, not going to believe a word I'm not going to.

I am seeing, I mean just the depravity of man right in things

and. And, and we have to be real

about what does true biblical faith look like.

Let me read you a couple of scriptures here.

Hebrews 10/23 says this. Let us hold fast the confession

of our hope or faith without wavering, for He who promised is

faithful. We have to be those that are

going to hold fast to the confession of our faith.

Because I'm going to tell you we are living in an hour where

people's faith is being shaken. People are thinking and

believing crazy, not in alignment with His word at all.

And we have to have discernment in these last days.

So He's telling us, listen, we're going to have to hold fast

the confession of our faith. We're going to have to hold fast

in what we believe. That means we're going to have

to have a grip on it because the enemies out there trying to get

us to loosen up our grip of what we believe and how we believe to

be able to lay down to all of these agendas that the world is

pushing. And, and what's sad is I'm

seeing so many believers getting caught up in it, so many

Christians getting caught up in, in all of these agendas and all

of these lies. All of these things that are

being pushed in our world and the number one reason why is

because they are illiterate of the word of God.

And you're and you're thinking, how can that be in the world

that we're living in, the nation that we're in with a church on

every corner, with, you know, all the availability of all

these things because people are not firmly persuaded and what

they believe, they're letting all of these other belief

systems mix in with what they think they believe.

Mixture. Oh, OK.

Well, I can see how. Yeah.

Yeah. They're giving in to all these

things because they don't want to be staunch on the just what

does the word say? I mean, I don't even see that in

the word. So I don't even know this crazy

thought that you're even thinking, Right.

Because it's not in the word. You're thinking wrong.

So we're going to have to hold fast the confession of our faith

without wavering. That means there's going to be

opportunity for you to waver. That's good.

Faith has a firm grip. It's not something that's weak.

No, when you are firmly persuaded, you have a firm grip

on that thing that you believe and you're not.

Nothing's going to be able to shake you off of it without

wavering, it says without wavering, without being tossed,

without come on, you got to hold on to it.

You know they talk about, you know Pastor Hagen would always

talk about a bulldog. When a bulldog latches on to

something, you have to beat that dog off of it, right?

A pit bull, you have to beat it off and you could literally

could probably beat it to death. I've never seen it happen and

it's still. Going to hold on, right?

And that's the firm grip we're talking about here.

Hold. Fast to your confession of

faith. Hold fast to the thing that you

believe without wavering. That means you're not going to

waver in the midst of what it is you're having to hold fast too.

And that's being firmly persuaded that nothing's going

to move me. It's not going to get me off of

what I believe. I don't care what is being said.

I don't care what is happening. I'm not going to be moved off of

what I know God has said. Look at Hebrews 10/20. 3/3/20.

Five in the. Amplified.

I want to read it, so let us seize.

And hold fast and retain without wavering the hope or faith we

cherish and confess, and our acknowledgement of it.

For he who promised is reliable, He is sure and faithful to his

own word. Come on, let us not get,

consider, and give attentive, continuous care to watching over

one of study how or studying how we should stir up and stimulate

and insight to love and helpful deeds and noble activities.

Not forsaking or neglecting the assembling of ourselves

togethers as believers, as is the habit of some, but

admonishing, warning, urging and encouraging one another, and all

the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.

So the only way that we are not going to be able to waver and

not lose grip is to be in the word.

But also so be in the House of the Lord with one another

assembling together. And he says all the more we

should be reminding people. And now we're living in a world

and in a society today, you know, that does not want to

assemble because of COVID. And it had started before that

actually. But anyway, you know, they don't

want to assemble it. They want to watch it online and

in their own. But I'm going to tell you, you

are not going to make it in this last day on your own.

You need the body, you need the church, you need one another.

We are connected to one another and that's what's going to help

stimulate us in times where we are having to hold fast.

There's going to be someone else connected to you that can what

help hold on to you as well. But if you get off by yourself,

you're out there for the wolves to come in, take you off and all

the craziness of the world, you're going to be right out

there for their disposal. Amen.

So faith holds fast says hold fast.

That does not sound like a weak person to me.

Faith holds fast holds fast. Hallelujah, it doesn't lose its

grip, but it stays firmly gripped upon the promise of God.

Amen, it says Second Corinthians 1/2 when he says this, for all

of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ, where it

says yes and Amen. Amen.

All of His promises are yes and Amen.

And I'm going to tell you that's what we have to stand on.

I believe God no matter what, no matter what.

I'm going to hold fast to my confession of faith and I'm

going to stay put. I'm going to stay with a firm

grip on the Word of God. Faith endures.

This is number 2. Faith endures.

Faith is not weak, say faith is not weak.

Faith endures. Faith endures.

Listen to what Hebrews 1035 and 36 says Therefore do not

castaway your confidence, which has great reward, for you have

need of endurance, so that your so that after you have done the

will of God, you may receive the promise.

So faith endures, OK, endurance. What does it mean?

The power of enduring a difficult situation.

So that means we're going to be in difficult situations, but

those that are firmly persuaded, those that have true biblical

faith are ones that can endure the situation.

They can endure the circumstance.

They can endure or outlast whatever it is that's going on

that the enemy is trying to get them off of.

They're going to be able to endure through it.

So you need to say my faith endures, my faith endures.

Listen to what it says. Also, the power of enduring a

difficult situation or the capacity of something that is

able to last and withstand the capacity we've all been given,

the measure of faith. We all have the capacity to

endure whatever the difficult situation is that we are

encountering. Amen.

Period. And with and and outlast it and

withstand and get the victory on the other end.

We can endure it and go through it and win.

Amen. Hebrews 12/1 and two says.

Therefore, since we have such a a great a cloud of witnesses

surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and sin

which easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the

race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the

Author and the what perfector of our faith.

Hallelujah. Who for the joy set before him

endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the

right hand of the throne of God. Hallelujah.

So He was able to endure the cross.

So this scripture is letting us know because He was able to

endure the cross, that means we can endure in the race that

we're running, period. And we can have joy in it

because faith rejoices even in the difficult situations.

Faith rejoices. I'm going to say it till it

hurts you like it hurt me. Faith rejoices.

Come on, even in the middle of the difficult situation, you

should still have joy. Come on.

What did James say? Count it all joy when you enter

into come on trials and tribulations and circumstances.

Because the person that is firmly persuaded, come on,

firmly persuaded in a position of faith that I'll be able to

endure this and come out on the other side.

So I might as well rejoice and be excited about the my test is

being proven. Come on, my faith, my faith is

being proven. Hallelujah.

No matter what the situation is, no matter how difficult it is,

what it looks like. I mean, y'all heard some of my

testimony. That was just a little snippet.

I mean just a little snippet and I was thinking this was really

the 1st 4 years of our marriage. I mean talk about God doing a

whammy on me. I mean, you know, I just wanted

to love the Lord and serve the Lord and and have a Great

American Christian life. You know, my husband go to

church, me go to church, raise my family in church, live in a a

nice house with a white picket fence where he worked a job nine

to five. And lo and behold, just because

I love the Lord and was going to church, he did this to me.

He turned my world upside down. And I'm going to tell you in the

midst of that tipsy topsy upside down.

It was not fun at all. You know, Pastor heard us me

telling about his little bike story.

Well, he reminded me, he said, yeah, Marcie, don't forget the

the the pedal flew off on me too.

Not just the wheel. The pedal.

The pedal. Broke off one day when he was

riding that bike to the cemetery and so.

But you know, y'all heard that I prayed in the Holy Ghost, and

I'm firmly persuaded that that's the only thing that delivered me

from my problems. Because when you don't know how

you ought to pray, you go pray in the Holy Ghost, and he's

going to deliver me out of my troubles.

And he did. It got us back to Florida and

then the troubles began again. Right and.

So we moved in with. His mom and he got a job and you

know, we were there for, you know, a little while, maybe 6 to

9 months. But praying in the Holy Ghost.

He still didn't know I prayed in the Holy Ghost and got us out of

that hell pit. And you know, I had not told him

still to to that day, you know, and so.

Then we get back to. Florida and we're still living

with his mom and you know, he got a job so we were getting

back on our feet and we moved. He actually, I think at that

time got back in the National Guard because he had gotten out,

you know, when we moved to Georgia.

And so he got back in the National Guard and we got into a

place in Stark, moved back to Stark, which I lived there for a

season of my life. And so we were living in Stark

in this house. We had just moved in.

And lo and behold, this is after we were going to the Baptist

Church with his mom, at living with her.

We were going to the Baptist Church.

And you know, he, we always served in church because that's

what you do. So we were serving and he was

going to work with the youth and do some stuff.

And then the elders started telling him, well, you know, you

can't talk like that with the teenagers.

You can't talk about the devil and you know, blah, blah, blah.

So he had a little run in with the elders.

Well, by thou, now my husband's discouraged because, you know,

he's thinking he's going. We left the cemetery and now the

Baptist Church kicked him out because they didn't want them

talking about the devil to the teenagers.

And so he's discouraged. He's down and out and.

We're. Moved into this place in Stark

and next thing I know we get a knock on the door and this guy

shows up and he said, Hey, I heard a pastor lives here and

and he said, well, I'm not a pastor yet, you know, and

everything. And he said, well, I'm a pastor

of an Assemblies of God church. So then I told him, I said, well

babe, I really think since you're so discouraged with this

Baptist stuff, I want to tell you I believe what these

Assembly of God people believe because I actually speak in

tongues. And.

So my confession is starting now, you know, And I said, and I

think we need to try this church out, you know, and so we went to

the church and the first thing the pastor talks about is being

filled with the Holy Ghost. This is in 1995.

And so, you know, my husband and this pastor connected and, and

met early in the morning on his way to to work every morning,

like at 5:00 AM in the morning. And he walked him through the

scriptures and showed him the revelation of being filled with

the Holy Ghost. And he got filled with the Holy

Ghost. Amen.

So I'm going to tell you, if you are not filled with the Holy

Ghost, you need the Holy Ghost because He will save your life

from the pit of hell. Seriously.

So I'm totally, totally, totally convinced that's what got us out

of that situation. And we got and we got into this

church and he got filled with the Holy Ghost and we started

serving there and things began to happen for our life because

we're actually filled with the Holy Ghost and are learning now

how to be led by the Spirit and not by sight.

Oh, well, we think we should go to this school because so and

so's going to this school. We didn't know.

We didn't know. He didn't know for sure, right,

Because he wasn't filled with the Holy Ghost.

He was just doing what he thought he should do in the

natural. But then you get you figure out,

oh, now we have to be led by the Spirit of God, and this is what

the Holy Spirit is for. But anyway, so those were still

difficult times of US navigating, you know, where we

were supposed to be. And you know, the 1st 12 years

of our marriage, we moved 22 times, all because God called

us. We didn't really know what we

were doing, didn't know what we were doing, but we did know His

word, and we did know that His word was the best for our life.

Because we sure didn't want what our lives were before, right?

And so we were learning how to get to know God through his.

Word. And letting him navigate us into

the places that we were supposed to be.

And because we were led and, and God brought that pastor to our

doorstep, straight to our door. Find out even though he's an

assembly, he's a God pastor. He graduated from Rhema Bible

Training College and he told my husband, he said, which is a

whole nother story that I do not have time to talk about even in

the midst of that learning process of being at that church

for from 95 to 98 we were there. So whole scenario situation, but

what was I saying? Rhema, Rhema, yes, he was a

Rhema graduate and so he taught, he said to my husband, he said

if you really believe you're called to the ministry, you need

to go to Rhema, you need to go to Rhema.

And we have 3 kids at this time, you know, just getting settled

back in with him having a job back in the guard and you know,

three years and now he's talking about wanting to pick up, sell

everything, pick up and go to Oklahoma.

I'm from Florida. Georgia's one thing, South

Carolina's one thing. It's still the South.

Y'all going out to the West to Oklahoma.

That's a whole nother ball game. But so that was a whole nother

challenge and we had no money. I mean, we're in.

Listen, guys, we are like 23. The first four years of our

marriage we're in. I mean, I'm 23 years old.

So by the time I go to Rhema, I'm like 28.

We're young, three kids, and I feel like I've already lived 9

lives. Because that is not even the

rest of the story. So.

But anyway, all of this was a journey of my life.

Of faith in God and being led by Him.

The best we knew how to be when we didn't know the ABC's of

faith and we didn't know spirit, soul and body and how to be

hearing from the Holy Spirit and how to yield to the Holy Spirit.

So what I'm saying is God can do it in you if we would just take

time to be students of his word. And that's the thing we did.

We just read his word every day. We prayed every day and in that,

that's how God was navigating our life, not knowing all along

that we really had true biblical faith and we really were being

LED sometimes by the Spirit, but there was a lot of mistakes

along the way. But I do know this.

He got us to Rhema and that changed our life forever.

Changed our life forever. But we had nothing.

We sold everything, packed up our three kids and moved out to

Rhema. No job thinking we had an

apartment that ended up being a sublease moved in to an

apartment that the owner or the apartment people didn't even

know that these other people that had leased it was

subleasing it to us. And so that was a whole debacle.

We show up in the middle of the night and have to, you know,

deal with that situation. The the very next day got all of

our money stolen out of my wallet because I left my wallet

and someone stole all of our cash that we owned it to our

name but they left our Rhema check.

We had a check that was given to us our tuition for our first

year Rhema for 3050 something dollars.

They didn't steal the check but they stole all the cash.

So guess what? We had to walk by faith and

believe God the first day of arriving in Oklahoma.

But God? But God, Hallelujah.

No job, no money. And you know what we didn't do?

We did not call home. We didn't call a friend.

No, if God called us out here, then guess what?

By faith He is going to take care of us.

Now. He had to remind me of that

because I'm in mom mode. I got my kids to feed, you know.

So all of this is a life and a journey of faith in God.

This is believing God, walking by faith, and walking this thing

out that God is asking us. To do every day.

Where things don't look right, things aren't right, you have

nothing but this. And do you know this is what he

wants us to live on, period, Period.

We're to live by the Word of God, to live by faith, and when

we are in a place that we are walking out what He is asking

and requiring of us in situations that seem difficult

and contrary to what we can see, you can be assured your God is

going to come through for you. And He can do it again and again

and again and again and again and again, if you will only

believe that His Word is forever settled.

And I'm going to tell you that is an uncomfortable life to

live. And that is why most Christians

don't live a true biblical faith life.

Because it is uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable even today.

It's, it ain't easy, but it's easy in Him because our faith

has increased. Your faith should be increasing

because you've seen the faithfulness of God time and

time and time and time and time and time and time again.

Amen. Hallelujah.

So it was able my. Faith, our faith was able to

endure. I have to share these

testimonies with you because I'm going to tell you our faith can

endure in whatever situation you are in if you just do not quit.

If you don't quit, if you just stay in the Word and you stay

believing and you stay doing exactly what God is asking and

requiring of you, you can be assured that your faith will

endure the difficult situation in the midst of you holding fast

to the confession of your faith. Amen.

Hallelujah. Let's read a couple more and

then we'll be done. Highly.

If you have to go, you have to go.

But y'all are y'all are listening.

Good. So Hallelujah.

Glory to God, so faith that endures.

Hallelujah. Listen to.

James, I want to read it we quoted it James 1-2 and eight

consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter

various trials, knowing that the testing of.

Your faith produces what endurance?

Endurance. Your faith is being tested to

prove out your endurance with Him.

Do you know people have quit on God so many times?

They were not able to endure the difficult situation and they

bailed on God and said God couldn't do it, but really He

was testing where they were really at.

Do you really believe me in the midst of this situation?

Will you stay and hold fast to your confession of faith?

Will you believe that I can do the impossible?

We can sing about it all day long, but nobody wants to walk

it out anymore. And there's work that's being

done within your life as a believer when we allow our faith

to be tested right so that we can be those that will produce

endurance. It says let your endurance have

it's perfect result so that you would be perfect and complete,

lacking nothing. But many people quit.

And their endurance is not perfected.

And guess what, you going to go through it one more time.

Or. Another time.

And This is why we see cycles in people's lives as Christians.

This is why we see cycles because they will not let their

faith have that perfect work and endure through the difficult

times that this is difficult in my life and I really need to

deal with this issue that I am dealing with and I need to let

God do it. I need to let my faith work in

this situation, but. Because I won't endure the pain,

and because I won't endure the difficulty of having to deal

with myself. So we fake it and then guess

what? It comes back around and you're

dealing with the same thing the next year and the same thing the

next year because you're not firmly persuaded, you are not in

a firm position of faith in whatever it is that's going on,

period, Period. He wants to do some things

within people's lives and they resist.

I mean, don't you know that? I listen?

I didn't say this last week, but.

When we were in South Carolina one night, we only had one

vehicle. He was working and I

contemplated. I wanted to pick.

I wanted to get my kids up in the middle of the night and

leave while he was at work to see I was raised to leave.

We've all been there. I wanted to leave and I was in

this mode about, you know, he's at work and I'm supposed to pick

him up at a certain time. I ain't picking him up.

I'm done with this. I didn't ask for this.

God, I don't even know what you think you're doing.

So I said I'm going to let the kids get to sleep, I'm going to

put them in the van, and I'm going to drive myself right back

to Florida. And Oh well, for him.

I mean, I was taught divorce is no big deal.

Went through it many times. So I had a choice to make.

Am I going to continue the cycle or am I going to endure the pain

of the crucifixion of my will and the crucifixion of my flesh

and of what I want and what I wanted for my life?

Or am I going to submit to the plan of God, the purpose of God,

even though I had no understanding of what was

happening? And if I would have quit and I

would have bailed, that wouldn't be what we see today, I can

assure you of that. So everybody in their walk of

faith has decisions to make. Whether we going to submit our

will to what he wants to really do and go through the pain and

whatever it is the. Cost to be able to.

Walk. In the freedom of what God has

planned for our life before we were ever in our mother's womb

that in the midst of everything. I had no clue what I was doing

in my life, but God had a plan and I could have thwarted it and

wanted to multiple times and said it so much.

Told him if he didn't like it he could hit the road.

I wanted to divorce and he said don't you ever say that again in

our house and I had a real good learning to do there called

submission and biting my tongue. Right.

So all of these things are God doing works within our lives

that we can resist. And the bottom line is our faith

will not work and be perfected the way that he wants it to be.

And we'll have a false sense of faith or reality, false sense of

reality, when that is not true. Biblical faith.

Biblical faith was put in your life to be able to help you

overcome everything, everything within your life, every dynamic,

every situation, anything that you are walking through and how

you are walking and the way it. Works is you reading the word

and seeing. Oh, I don't have to actually

live in a life of insecurity and rejection.

Oh, I don't have to actually live a life of fear.

Oh, I don't have to actually live a life addicted to

something. Oh, I don't have to actually

live a life where I can't have a happy marriage.

And so therefore I'm going to let God do his perfect work

within me, and I'm going to do it.

All by faith. I had to do it by faith, period.

And what did He say? He said this, that you would be

tested, though by fire may be found, result in praise and

glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And though you have not seen Him, you love Him.

And though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you

greatly rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of glory,

attaining as the outcome of your faith and the salvation of your

souls. Amen.

Hallelujah. We better end.

Let me just read off what these other ones are and we'll talk

about them next Wednesday. Faith contends.

True biblical faith contends. I'm telling you, faith is not

weak. Faith contends.

Faith fights. Come on.

Faith stands firm. You see what true biblical faith

looks like. It is not an easy thing.

It is not a weak thing to actually be in a life of faith.

These are the postures and characteristics of faith.

So that means whatever he's saying, faith looks like I'm

going to be in those positions and actually demonstrate that

I'm going to have to stand. When I've done all the stand,

I'm going to stand. I don't care that I've stood for

the last 15 years of believing God for a family member.

I don't care that I've stood for the last whatever believing for

breakthrough in my finances. I don't care when you've done

all to stand. You stand firm on what you

believe so that you can begin to see the reality of it.

But when you what did he says I have no fat pleasure in those

that shrink back from their faith.

Hebrew says that too. I don't have any pleasure in

people that shrink back. And what happens when you get in

a difficult situation as well? What do you want to do?

You want to shrink back? You want to pull back?

Oh, no, God, I can't go there. No, you can't touch that one

thing. You want to pull back.

Instead of just pressing on in and saying, come on, let's do

this thing by faith, I'm going to whip it once and for all.

I'm going to overcome it once and for all.

I'm going to walk through this situation once and for all.

The way that you said I can walk through it.

Faith continues. Faith continues.

Because where He is faithful, we can be faithful and we can

continue in whatever it is that He is requiring and asking of

us. Faith is firmly established.

That means we are immovable. Faith is firmly established.

My life is built upon. The Rock.

It's built upon the rock and it cannot be moved.

When the winds and the waves come come on, and the rain, all

of it comes, guess what's not moving?

Not me, because I'm built upon the rock.

So faith can continue on and be faithful.

Whatever it is that He is requiring and asking of us, we

can be firmly established and built upon the Word of God.

Faith considers Him always faithful.

Always faithful because, he says even when we are faithless, He

is faithful. He's faithful.

No matter what, he's faithful. Guess what else faith overcomes

and has the victory. You know what else we've already

said? This faith will rejoice in the

midst of trials and tribulations.

Faith will rest. When you are truly, firmly

persuaded your faith in your faith, there will be rest within

your soul. Faith rest.

There will be rest. You will be at peace.

You will be at rest. You know what?

I'm not worried about it. Not a single day.

Because my God. My God, come on.

Faith only believes. Faith doesn't doubt.

Faith is unwavering. Come on, faith.

Will do what the impossible says cannot be done.

Hallelujah. Things may look impossible, but

I'm going to tell. You, if you are firmly persuaded

in your heart and you begin to speak to that thing, whatever it

is, the impossible situation can turn around.

I'm telling you it can turn around this.

Is a true look at what faith looks like.

Straight from the word of God, nothing else.

Straight from the Word and we have.

To I want to read this last scripture which it says we have

to ask ourselves 2nd Corinthians 13 five test yourselves to see

if you are in faith. We have to not this fairy tale

of what you think you're in if you don't have all of these

attributes of faith working in your life, if you're not

standing firm, if you're not holding fast your confession, if

you're not believing God, if you're not rejoicing, come on.

If you're wavering, if you're in fear, all these things, if

you're not enduring in the. Situation that seems difficult.

You can know that you're not firmly persuaded.

That's just the bottom line. You're not firmly persuaded,

you're not in a real position of faith.

So he tells us we are to test ourselves to see if we're in

faith. Examine yourself.

Or do you not recognize this about yourself, that Christ?

Jesus is in you. Amen.

And unless indeed you fail the test, Hallelujah.

Test yourself to see. Are there these doubts?

Are you wavering? Are you walking by what you see?

Are you walking by sight? All of these.

Things we can ask ourselves and we can say, you know what?

I'm, I'm pretty much, I got that one, that one and that one.

But you know what? You're right.

I'm not firmly persuaded. I need to do this.

I need to stand firm, whatever, because it's very clear what he

says faith looks like. And it's not our opinion or what

we think. It's what His Word says faith

looks like, what its attributes are, its characteristics.

Amen according to the Word of God.

Amen. Hallelujah.

Do you believe God? Do you have faith?

Come on, do you have faith? Hallelujah, glory to God.

Well, then you can rejoice and be glad in that, that you have

the faith of God. You have the God kind of faith,

Hallelujah. And you know what that means?

Nothing is impossible for those who believe nothing, no matter

what it is, no matter what's going on, nothing is impossible

because I have the God kind of faith.

I'm going to exercise that faith.

I'm going to do that faith. I'm going to walk in that faith,

and I'm going to see the promises of God in my life.

Hallelujah, Thank you so much for listening to this message.

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