May 7, 2024 | Articles
“I will trust, and not be afraid.” Isaiah 12:2
No matter how dear your friends are, they can fail. No matter how much money you have, you can go broke. No matter how diligently you exercise, you can get sick. Your biggest dream can die. Life is as uncertain as the clouds in the sky. It’s as capricious as the waves of the ocean.
How sad and fearful it is then to be in this ever-changing world without a changeless God! I am so thankful that we have a God with whom there is no variation nor shadow of turning. He doesn’t have shifting moods or bad days.
Our God is the Rock of Ages, and as unchanging as eternity! He is as He has always been and will always be! Forever, He is enthroned in the highest, and forever His Word is established in the heavens. Hallelujah!!!
I remember so well one of the most difficult times in our ministry. The cream of the crop, our potential, very capable and talented leaders in whom we had invested so much in time, in prayer, in teaching, preparing them for a great harvest of souls, walked out on us one Sunday morning. Twenty-nine people gone! Years of our life gone with them! Fear gripped us, paralysed us, the enemy of our soul roared like a lion lying to us that it was over for us and for the church. We might as well pack our bags and go home!
David found himself in a similar situation when he cried out in,
Psalm 56:2-3 “Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me,” but then he quickly realized where his help and encouragement came from: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.”
We sought the Lord, we prayed, we cried, we worked, we encouraged ourselves in the Lord and in the power of His might. He heard our cry and answered our prayer! I believe that prayer is the most powerful force God has given His children.
Today, we have a great revival church with many loyal and anointed leaders. Nothing and no one can stop the church of the living God! Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His promises cannot fail, His presence cannot dim, His power cannot diminish. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory to put our complete trust in our changeless God.
Mar 28, 2024 | Articles
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews
11:1)
Many times man wants to see before believing.That is not the way it should be for us
Christians. Faith is believing in what God has promised before even seeing it come to
pass. Faith is to do what God has asked us to do without the certainty of knowing how it is
going to be. Faith is asking for healing and believing before seeing the results that God
has done. Faith is also accepting God’s “no”. Faith is to ask for a job and then thank God
for the job before ever getting it. Yes, faith is the substance of the things that we hope for,
before we ever see them. It is the unseen evidence.
Faith in God is to trust Him even when God answers differently than what we asked or
hoped for. In Hebrews chapter eleven, what we like to call the chapter of faith, we read that
many Christians suffered for their faith. Many were killed for their faith. Many were tortured
for their faith. And yet, they did not deny God and His power. Why? Because their eyes
were not on things on this earth but on heavenly things, on that destination with Jesus that
is called eternal life.
The Word of God in Philippians 4:6 says:
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known to God.”
I remember a time in my life when me and my husband had a great financial need. One
day while praying, I had a vision where God showed me a huge hand that seemed to
come down out of the sky and in this gigantic hand was a check with the amount of money
we needed written on it. I believed that God had heard my prayer and that one day we
would receive a check with that amount of money. It did not happen the next day. Not even
the next month, or the next year. But years later, when we were wondering when God
would answer this prayer, the answer came in a most unexpected way. God had shown
me and I had believed. In His time it came to pass.
We must have faith in God for our needs and after we have presented our requests to
God, we must thank God for His answer, whatever the answer that He gives us. This is to
have faith in God. This is believing in the unseen evidence of God’s answer. This is faith.
Kathleen Pio Arcidiacono
