FAITH MAINTAINS A JOYOUS COUNTENANCE
How would you claim to have faith when you appear always moody? A heart
of faith shows itself through a brighten countenance. The story of Hannah would
serve us well on this point. Hannah had the challenge of bearing a child of her
own on time. Her mate Peninnah had severally wounded her mind through her
attacking attitude. But one day, Hannah decided to take the matter to God in
Shiloh. She prayed fervently after which she believed that her request was
granted. Let’s examine what the Bible says about Hannah, ‘’and she said let your maidservant finds favour in your sight. So, the
woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.’’ 1 SAMUEL
2:18.
Faith reflects in appearance. When you are not
anxious, troubled by circumstance, your face would always radiate it. Faith is
not hidden. It resonates in our actions and facial look. A troubled mind begat
a sad countenance and the foundation is faithlessness. Do not pretend smile,
but rather imbibe faith. Just tell your heart why it needs to depend on God
alone. See God as you only option; delete every alternative solution, and you
will be on your way to building a great faith in God.
FAITH IS SACRIFICE
‘’By faith Abel offered a more
excellent sacrifice than Kain, through which he obtained a witness that he was
more righteous , God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still
speaks.’’ (Heb. 11:4)
You cannot lay any claim to faith when you cannot pay sacrifice for any
of your desired blessing. I quite remember a friend in the Scripture Union then
who told me that those of our brethren then who spent so long a time praying
and fasting do not have faith. According to him, one day’s fast was enough for
him to get whatever he wanted from God. Such thinking belongs to the
spiritually lazy Christians. Jesus in MATHEW 17:21 told His disciples, ‘’However, this king does not go out except
by prayer and fasting.’’ The
question we need to ask from that scripture is why did Jesus recommend fasting
now when He had initially reviled His disciples for unbelief in verses 17, and
20? The simple answer is that faith is sacrifice.
Why would you subject yourself
to hunger for a course you do not believe in? Why should one embark on six days
fasting and prayers or one week marathon night vigil if one does not first
believe that God hears prayers and that He is alive? Some believers simply cannot
suffer their bodies because they are not sure of the benefits they could derive
from such exercise. Do you need to tell a good business man to take certain
risks and sacrifices to sustain his business empires? You don’t need to because
he is sure of the huge benefits derivable from such sacrifice and vice- versa.
For to prove your faith is a
necessity for sacrifice. Rev. Uma Ukpai, Nigeria, once states some steps to get
your needs met. He calls it the levels of prayer. He says if you pray your
needs and there is no answer, fast it; if that did not give the desired change,
he said cry your prayers, and so and so forth. The lesson there is that a
believer must show his faith through his sacrifice to have his need met. James
said that faith without work is dead (JAMES 2:19). Show your great faith by
your great sacrifice.
Since I became born again in
1996, I had never done three straight days fasting and prayers. I could do one
week as long as I broke the fast every 6pm. But a time came in my life very
recently that I had no food to eat for good three days. As a graduate, I was
earning a merger sum of N15, 000 as a Secondary School teacher. During those
three days, instead of becoming angry with God like I used to do sometimes, I
learnt a lesson. The lesson was that I could after all fast for three straight
days. Two days later, after I had recovered from the three days hunger strike,
I needed a breakthrough. I knew my case was beyond ordinary, so I embarked on
three days straight fast with water, though. Few days after the fast ended, I
got two job offers. It was a miracle. Praise Jesus!
You cannot lay claim to faith
when you have not made the needed sacrifice. Like Bishop Oyedepo always says,
what you don’t desire, you do not deserve. How could you say you desire what
you cannot pay any price for? Sacrifice does not complement faith; it is not a
necessity for faith, rather sacrifice is faith.
Your faith determines the
QUALITY of your financial commitment to God. Quality here does not depend
solely on size, but also on the level of inconvenience the offering causes us.
David said he would not give God what caused him nothing (2Sam. 24:24). ‘’Honour the Lord with your substance, and
the first fruit of all you increase.’’(Prov. 3:9).
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