Faith and Action

"Friends helping to cross the stream"
by adamr - freedigitalphotos.net

In its simplest form, faith is believing.  Faith in God is believing God and his word. Faith in God ultimately originates with God.  Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2).  But I've noticed some confusion in the area of using or acting on our faith.  James says that faith without works is dead (James 2:20).  When we truly believe something in our heart (have faith), we act on that belief.  Faith is not a stand alone intellectual belief.  It is a heart belief that leads to action.

I came across an old devotional book I've had for many years, entitled "Come Away My Beloved"  by Frances J. Roberts, in which he shares his thoughts on faith and action:

"My promises are of no avail to you except as you apply and appropriate them by faith.  In your daily walk, you shall be victorious only to the degree that you trust Me.  I can help you only as you ask.   I shall meet you at every point where you put action alongside your prayers.  Only as you WALK shall the waters of adversity be parted before you.  Overburdened as the world is with trouble and sickness, I need those who have proved My sufficiency in everyday, personal experience to lead the suffering to the fountains of life.  I need those who have found Me as burden-bearer to help bring deliverance to the oppressed.

Never begrudge time given to chronic complainers, but recognize in each encounter the opportunity to speak a word that may lead to their liberation.  No case is too hard for Me.  Never be taken by surprise when I use you to change a pattern.  Do not judge a man by what he appears to be, but see him as what he CAN be if he give himself unreservedly to Me."

As we believe and stand on the word of God and see victory in our lives (obviously its a process - doesn't happen overnight), we are walking by faith and not by sight.  We're also able to see others through eyes of faith - we can see them as God sees them.  We can then bless them and be used by God to bring them to Him!

Biblical Prosperity

Prosperity has become a hot issue in the church today.  There is polarization happening on both sides, and I find it sad.  It seems that Christians equate prosperity with the balance in their bank account.  But I believe the real meaning of biblical prosperity has nothing to do with how much money you have or don't have.

The bible has lots to say about prosperity.  But I think it's best summed up like this:  prosperity is a heart belief in the grace of God through Jesus, no matter what your physical circumstances are.  That's why I can say that I am prosperous, even though my bank account may not be much.  I believe 2 Corinithians 9:8 which says that God is able to make all grace abound toward me, that I always have all sufficiency in all things to abound to every good work!  Prosperity means I can give where and when the Lord puts it on my heart, even if there isn't much money in my bank account.

While the bible is full of examples of men of God who were financially blessed (Abraham, Lot, David, Solomon to name a few), its also full of examples of men of God who didn't have much money (Jesus and the apostles).  But even Jesus and the apostles had the means to travel and preach the gospel.  They gave themselves fully to the work of the Lord and their needs were met, and they freely gave!  They were prosperous because they had an understanding that God makes us prosperous.  

An excellent illustration of biblical prosperity is Joseph.  Here is an excerpt from an article written by Andrew Wommack entitled "Lessons From Joseph":

God’s Word declares that Joseph was “a prosperous man.” This was at a time in his life when He was serving as a slave! His own brothers had sold him into slavery and told his father he was dead. No longer the wealthy, well-dressed, favorite son, Joseph found himself on an auction block in a foreign land, stripped of everything—including his clothes. His rich Egyptian master stood beside him with all of the extravagance that came with abundant wealth, but the Bible forever records Joseph as being the truly prosperous one. That’s awesome!

God views prosperity much differently than we do! Material things are not indicative of prosperity. True prosperity is knowing that God is with you. True prosperity is keeping His vision alive in your heart. True prosperity is not wealth itself but God’s favor, anointing, and power that work in your life to obtain it. Deuteronomy 8:18 says,

“Thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant.”

Joseph believed he was prosperous because he knew prosperity came from God, not man. He had an image on the inside that was not affected by circumstance, and it enabled Joseph to operate in faith. Instead of licking his wounds and complaining, Joseph served others and ministered wholeheartedly to their needs. As he diligently labored, God blessed the work of his hands.

If Joseph could do it, so can you. You have the same power dwelling on the inside of you that raised Jesus from the dead. Joseph didn’t have that. Begin to see yourself as God sees you, a prosperous person, regardless of your physical circumstances. Recognize and acknowledge the fact that God is with you, that you are anointed and highly favored. Serve others with all your heart as unto the Lord. Eliminate murmuring and complaining, and replace them with praise and thankfulness, knowing God will complete what He has begun in your life.

That article says it better than I ever could!  I know this is a hot topic, and I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Paul's Thorn in the Flesh - by Andrew Wommack

Cactus by ponsulak

"And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Cor. 12:7-10) 

This thorn in the flesh that Paul mentioned has been used and misused by Christians to justify submitting to nearly any problem that comes along. Satan has twisted this passage of Scripture to deceive many, many people into believing that God would not heal Paul, so how can they expect to be healed? Let us examine this closely and find out exactly what Paul's thorn in the flesh was. 

First of all, this "thorn" came because of the abundance of revelations Paul had received. Until a person has an abundance of revelations, similar to what Paul had, he is not going to have a "thorn." That would disqualify just about all of those who have been hiding behind Paul's thorn. 

Then, verse 7 says it came lest Paul should be exalted above measure. Traditionally, that has been interpreted to say the thorn was to keep Paul humble. Therefore, God had to be the author of it, because only God would want Paul to be humble. But there is a godly way of being exalted. First Peter 5:6 says, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." Those who submit (humble) themselves to God will be exalted by God. Paul was not speaking of exalting himself above measure through pride, but rather, the thorn came from Satan to keep Paul from being exalted by God in the eyes of the people. Many more people would have received what Paul preached if everything was always "rosy" for him. But there was this messenger of Satan who always buffeted Paul and scared away the faint-hearted from committing themselves to Jesus, whom Paul preached. 

God magnified, or exalted, Joshua in the sight of his people (Josh. 3:7). He continued to do that with the people He used on into the new covenant (Acts 5:13). So, we see that the exalting spoken of is not a negative kind but a godly kind. That just further strengthens the fact that the thorn was not God's doing. 

In verse 7, right after the thorn in the flesh is mentioned, there is a phrase set off by commas which says, "The messenger of Satan to buffet me." This is an explanation of what the thorn was. It was not a thing but rather a demonic messenger. The word used as "messenger" here is always translated as angel or messenger and refers to a created being. So, Paul's thorn was literally a demon sent from Satan to buffet him. The word "buffet" means to strike repeatedly as waves would buffet the shore. 

How did this demonic force continually strike Paul? Traditionally it has been taught that it was with sickness, and the thing that made many accept that is the use of the words "weakness" and "infirmity" in verses 9 and 10. Infirmity definitely does mean sickness and is used that way in 1 Timothy 5:23, but that is not the only meaning of the word. The number two definition is any lack or inadequacy. For instance, Romans 8:26 says, "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities." In this case, the context makes it clear that it is not speaking of sicknesses but rather not knowing what to pray for. Our finite minds are an infirmity, or an inadequacy. 

If we look at the context of Paul's thorn in the flesh, we find that infirmity does not mean sickness in 2 Corinthians 12:9 and 10. In 2 Corinthians 11:30, Paul uses the exact terminology of "glorying in infirmities" that is used just a few verses later in speaking about this thorn. In the eleventh chapter he had just finished listing what those infirmities were. In verses 23-29, he lists such things as imprisonment, stripes, shipwrecks, and stonings; none of these speak of sickness. Verse 27 mentions weakness and painfulness, which some have tried to make mean sickness, but it is just as possible he could have been weary and suffered painfulness from such things as being stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:19). All these things listed in 2 Corinthians 11 refer to persecutions as infirmities. So, in context, Paul's thorn was a demonic angel or messenger sent by Satan which continually stirred up persecution against him. This is also verified by three Old Testament references (Num. 33:55; Josh. 23:13 and Judg. 2:3), where people are spoken of as being "thorns in your sides" and "thorns in your eyes." 

Paul asked the Lord to remove persecution from him, not sickness, and the Lord told him His grace was sufficient. We are not redeemed from persecution, and Paul later stated that when he said in 2 Timothy 3:12, "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Most gladly, therefore, he gloried in persecutions, reproaches, necessities, and distresses that the power of Christ might rest upon him (2 Cor. 12:9). The word "glory" is an old English word which means to have dominion over or command. It is used in Exodus 8:9 where Moses told Pharaoh to glory over him, or command him, when to destroy the frogs. So when Paul spoke of glorying in these infirmities or persecutions, he was speaking of victory even in the midst of continual harassment. 

In Acts 14:19, Paul was stoned and left for dead, but God raised him up, and the next day he walked at least twenty miles into the next town and started preaching again. The Lord did not stop the persecution, but God's strength was certainly made perfect in Paul's weakness (verse 9). Can you imagine what those that stoned him must have thought? They could see Paul's humanity in the cuts and bruises, but they could also see the supernatural strength of God flowing through him. "For when I am weak, then am I strong" (verse 10). 

There are two other passages of Scripture that those who believe Paul's thorn in the flesh was sickness have tried to use to verify that. One is Galatians 4:13-15. Here Paul says that he preached the Gospel to these Galatians through an infirmity of the flesh, and in verse 15, he makes reference to these people being willing to poke out their own eyes and give them to him. From this, I have heard ministers preach that Paul's thorn was a rare, ancient disease which was characterized by runny, puffy eyes. But let us look at whom Paul was speaking to when he said this. He was writing to the people who lived in the region known as Galatia, which had as its major cities, Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium. The instance we mentioned earlier, where Paul was stoned and left for dead, happened in Lystra, a city of Galatia. The next day Paul walked to Derbe, another city of Galatia, and began preaching unto them. I'm sure he had runny, puffy eyes, along with multiple cuts and bruises, but they were not the result of some disease. They were the result of having just been stoned. He also says in verse 13 that his infirmity was "at the first," which leaves the impression it was only a temporary thing that he recovered from. 

The next scripture used to say Paul's thorn was bad eyes is also in Galatians, chapter 6, verse 11. It says, "Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand." People have said Paul's eyes were so bad that he had to write in large letters, and this is what he was making reference to. That is only a supposition and not a very good one at that. It is a lot more credible to believe that he was simply referring to the long letter he had written to the Galatians. 

The reason it is so important to realize that the thorn in the flesh was not something which Jesus died to redeem us from, such as sickness, is so that we won't submit ourselves to these things. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." We have to resist, or actively fight against, the devil and the things he brings, to see them flee. Satan has used traditional teaching about Paul's thorn to bring many Christians to a place of submitting to him. But, praise God, you shall know the truth and the truth, shall set you free.