dickbraswell

Word for Today:  June 30

We are in a race.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners…  Heb 12:1-3

The Christian Walk is compared to an athletic race.  The crowds are present.  The course is before us.  We are running.  We must win.  We are pursuing the Gold.  Not the silver or the bronze. Second place will not do.  The success of our calling is at stake and nothing short of first place will do.  We must win!

There are obstacles and hindrances on the track.  There are many opportunities to fail and not finish our course.  To give in to fatigue or weariness or weakness will cause our opponent to get ahead.  It will make us lose the race.  But we must win!

Every Believer is in this race.  You will run or you will give up.  You will win or you will lose.  Every believer is on the track… and so is our opponent.

There is a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.  They are watching and they are cheering. They have gone before us and they are winners.  They know what is before us and they know that we can win.  They are in heaven’s grand stand and they are rooting for us.  They watch and they observe… Our victory is important to them.

We are to lay aside hindrances or weights that will keep us from doing our best.  The runners must strip off the outer garments and lighten their load so they can use all their energy in running the race.

We are to run and we are to run with patience.  (With Patience running alongside of us!)  Patience means we know we will win regardless of how the race appears because God is with us.

We are to look to Jesus as we run.  He is the goal and the finish line.  He is the victor’s circle.  We stay ahead and we win as long as we look to him.

We are to consider him (and what He endured) when we get tired and weary and are tempted to give up and quit.

But they that wait (look for, hope, expect) upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.  Isa 40:31

Resolve to win and refuse to lose

Word for Today:  June 29

Faith can be strengthened.

Our faith can be strengthened by remembering and by forgetting…. by remember­ing past victories and forgetting past failures.

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus…  Phil 3:13-14

Many times, my faith has been fortified just by sitting down, being still and listing the many victories God has given me in the past.  When I begin to remember the times God delivered me (and the ministry) through absolutely impossible situations, my faith increases and I am confident concerning the victory over any pressing problem.

When we consider the great things God has done for us and to us and through us, it becomes apparent just how faithful God is and how absolute His Word is. He honors His Word and He keeps His promises.  Our past victories will attest to this fact.

We must not allow satan to tempt us with discouragement and depression when he re­minds us of painful failures in the past.

Forget past failures and disappointments and remem­ber past victories.

This will build and strengthen faith.

And it will increase your confidence in God and His Word

Word for Today:  June 28

The Word declares:

for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it (faith) is the gift of God…  Eph 2:8.

Faith is a Gift.

Faith is a Gift from God given to you.  Faith is the ability to really believe God.  It is revelation.  It is in the heart.  It is in the innermost part of our being.  It is resolve.  It is dependence.  It is confidence.  It is relying on.  It is trusting.  It is seeing the invisible.  It is holding the intangible.  It is reaching out into nothing and holding on until nothing becomes something.  It is as­ur­ance.  It is a certainty.  It is REAL.

Faith is developed by hearing the Word.

Faith cometh (grows) by hearing and hearing by the Word of God…  Rom 10:17.

Faith is devel­oped by being around faith.  A “faith osmosis” happens by being in a Faith Church surrounded by Faith People. Like begets like.  Praise, worship, rejoicing, singing… engaging in True Worship, these will develop faith.

Faith is also developed by the anointed preaching of the Word of God.  Even by reading these words, your faith is being built up.  I believe you will be stronger after you read this than you were before you read it.

• Faith is developed by doing the Word.
• Faith is developed by saying the Word.
• Faith is developed by and through Love.
• Faith is developed by making right decisions.
• Faith is developed by remembering past victories.
• Faith is developed by “keeping the flesh under.” 1Co 9:27
• Faith is developed through intimacy with God.

What you do with your faith determines what your faith will do for you

Word for Today:  June 27

God wants us to have His Best.

Jesus died so that we could have God’s best… so that we could have Life and have it more abundantly.  God does not want us lacking in any good thing.  God wants us to have His best in everything, every day and in every way.

Do we want His best?  Can we come into agreement with another believer for God’s best to be ours?   Listen to what Jesus said:  

Again I say unto us, That if two of us shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. Mt 18:19

Let’s just agree with God and get this promise working.  Will you agree with me?  Will you agree with me NOW?   Remember, it is a lot easier to talk about how bad it is and how hard it is and how impossible it is than it is to confess with our mouth what God says regardless of what we see or feel.

God says things can be changed.  God says that things can get better.  God says that our circumstances can be overcome.  God says that our situations can be brought in line with His Word and in agreement with His Will.  God wants us to rearrange our vocabulary and change our thinking.  He wants us to get rid of all the negative stuff and begin to accentuate the positives.  God is a YES God.  The Word declares:

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen… 2Co 1:20

Today is your day of YES…

Word for Today:  June 26

God has made an awesome investment in you.

God has confidence in you.  God believes in you.  God’s Miracle Power is in you.  All of heaven’s power is in you.  You have the potential to change the world.  Nothing is too hard for God and God lives in YOU.

The Bible says that with God all things are possible.  Paul wrote that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…”  The Word declares that if

You can believe (have the God-kind of faith) all things are possible to him that believeth…  (Mark 9).

When you got saved, God made a Divine Deposit in you.  Your body became the Temple of the Holy Ghost.  You are no longer your own because you were “bought with a price…”

We are to glorify God with our bodies.  We are Born Again to release the Power of God into the earth.

People are becoming more and more aware of their need for God.  As politics fail, as economics fail, as education fails, as religion fails, our need for a viable and real and powerful connection with God is more and more apparent.

God is calling us to be channels of His Power in the earth.  We are the restraining force holding back all the relentless powers of darkness that are poised to overthrow every kingdom and nation.

Why is it that atrocities such as those that are presently happening in parts of our world are not happening here in America?  Because we are called to be the platform from which God will release His Power into the earth and throughout the earth.  With all our shortfalls and shortcomings, this nation is still the One Nation on this planet that God has sovereignly raised up to launch His Power into the Human Race.

God Bless America

Word for Today:  June 25

Have you ever been in a place where you honestly confessed that you did not know what to do?

The first temptation is the temptation to try to fix it ourselves.  Plans.  Procedures.  Steps to take.  People to see.  We want to “fix things.”  We want to “fix” people.

Instead of throwing our cares and worries and tribulations on Jesus, we think we can fix it ourselves.  We try.  And it does not work.  We try something else, and it does not work either.  We reason.  We consider the problem.  We analyze it, examine it, look at it from every angle and try again.  Another failure.

Finally, we remember God.  And seek God.  And ask God.  Turn to God and confess that without His intervention, all our human and natural efforts will not produce any answers or solve any problems.

O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. 2Chron 20:12

The King’s army was outnumbered (2Chron 20). He was defenseless against such overwhelming odds.  He had no escape route…. Nowhere to run.  Nowhere to hide.  Nowhere to seek refuge.  He was in line for defeat.  Humiliation.  And death.

He had exhausted all his resources.  Nothing he had and nothing he could do would be able to deliver him and his nation from total disaster and defeat.  He finally confessed: “I don’t know what to do.  But my eyes are on You, Lord….”

There are some attempts at victory that you need to “give up.”  Because they are your plans, your ideas, your efforts and they are done in your strength.

I remember praying one time:  “Lord, I don’t know what to do.  I’ve tried everything I know to try.  I don’t have any resources left.  I give up.”   In my fit of self-pity and false humility, God responded to my heart:  “Good!  Now that you are through with it, I can do something about it!”

And He did.

Giving up on your efforts does not mean giving in to the devil.  It simply means changing your “trying” into “trusting” and then leaving it all to God.

Word for Today:  June 25

Word for Today:  June 24

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  1Co 2:9

This verse is not necessarily limited to mean only those awesome things awaiting the Believer in Heaven.

God has prepared unimaginable “things” in the present for those who love Him.  Do you love Him?  Then those “things” are for you and they are for you today.  Right now.

So, praise God for “the things” God has prepared for you.  Refuse to doubt.  Believe with all your heart.  Hold on to your confession of faith.  Get your mind renewed by the Word of God.  Talk right.  Say the Word.  Confess the Word.  Talk the Word.  Act out your faith.  Live as if you are walking in these unimaginable blessings….

Stay in an atmosphere of Praise.  Thank God.  Praise God.  Give God glory.  Worship God.  Pray in the Spirit.  Praise and thank Him in and regardless of all situations and circumstances. Honor Him.  Trust Him.  Esteem Him.  Glorify Him.

And you will see these “things” begin to happen.

Word for Today:  June 23

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. Psa 150:6 

Praise God for the answer before your answer comes.  Your sight and your feelings are subordinate to the Word of God.  As far as God is concerned, you already have what you believed for.  He has already given you all things that pertain to life and godliness…

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  2Pe 1:3

What situation or circumstance would you like to see changed more than everything else?  What one thing have you been believing for over everything else?  What is the greatest desire of your heart at this very moment?  What drives you and is the focus of your passion?  What is that one thing?  The One Thing that is presently the heart of your praying?   That One Thing that rises above all other situations you would like to see happen?

What if God visibly walked right into your presence now… at this moment… and with loving grace and mercy actually presented you with that One Thing you have so longed for?   Here it is.  What you have prayed and believed for.  This is it.  It is yours.  You now have in fact what you have believed for in faith.

What would your response be?  Would it be “ho hum…”  “Well, so what?”  Would you turn away and be passive and unappreciative?   Would you be thankless and ungrateful?  Just what would you do?  How would you act?  What would your reaction be if you actually got that One Thing that had been the focus of your believing for many years?  Would you shout?  Would you praise God?  Would you leap for joy?  Would you run around the room?  Would you whoop and holler and dance and rejoice?  Is that what you would do?  I believe you would be uninhibited and unashamed to praise God and rejoice… demonstratively.

Act like you have it before you get it.

Word for Today:  June 22

God told the prophet to dig ditches before the rain came.

He acted out His faith.  And the waters came and filled every ditch in a time of drought.

God told the poor starving widow woman to borrow pots before she had any oil to put in them.  She acted out her faith went out and borrowed pots (not a few) and God filled every one of them with lifesaving oil and saved her life and the life of her son.

Jesus acted out His faith by becoming a suffering, dying servant and God brought Him forth as King of kings and Lord of lords.  If we only acted as if we really believed, people could and would “see” our faith.

Faith with no action is invisible.  Unknown and unnoticed.  And unproductive.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.  Mr 2:5 

We have a choice.  We can believe what we feel or we can believe what the Word says.  When we act out what the Word says instead of what we feel, we become like the Word and unlike the world.

Acting out faith produces visible results.  Remember Mark 11:23 and 24?

23  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

 24  That is why I tell you, as to whatever you pray and make request for, if you believe that you have received it it shall be yours. (Weymouth NT  Trans)

Acting out faith is acting as if the answer we are believing for has already come.

Most are still hoping and praying and wishing and seeking and weeping and repenting and begging and pleading… when the real need is to act as if what we are believing for has already become ours.

Our body may tell us it is not here.  Our circumstances may tell us it is not here.  Doubters and unbelievers around us may tell us it is not here.  Our budget may say it is not here.  The devil will say it’s not here…. BUT Believe what the Word says and

You will get what the Word promises