“Thus saith the Lord, because the Syrians have said, the Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am God.”
I want to focus on the mistaken idea that the Syrians had about the God of Israel. They thought that he was like their limited gods and that He could only save His people in the hills but not in the valleys. God sent “a man of God” to give the message to the king of Israel, Ahab, that because of their mistaken idea about God the “great multitude” of Syrians would be defeated. We need to be careful that we do not underestimate God as we know Him in Jesus. Our faith in Jesus demands that we know of His great power that is at work in our lives. After all, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Just because we cannot see what Jesus is doing in our lives at all times, does not mean that He is not at work in our lives. Our faith in the unseen hand of God will help us overcome. I want to share some ways that we need to be careful not to underestimate God. We should not underestimate the power of the faith that we have in God. Understand that this power is not caused by our faith, but by the power of God that is at work in our faith. The apostle John gave us a witness of this in 1 John 5:4-5: “For whosoever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. 5. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” We can do things by faith that we could never otherwise do. In Acts 3, Peter and John encountered a crippled beggar at the “beautiful gate” of the temple. The man wanted them to give him a little money, but Peter had more to give than a mere pittance. Peter answered him, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” The man did rise up and walk, much to the man’s own amazement and the amazement of the people who witnessed it. When he was questioned about the event, Peter replied: “And His name (Jesus) through faith in His name has made this man strong…” (Acts 3:15a) In other words Peter made it plain that it was not his own power that healed the man, but was the power of Jesus in whom Peter had faith. Do not underestimate the power of your faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus might not give you the gift of healing, but He will give you the power to do His will in your life. Do not underestimate the power of prayers of faith in your life. Tennyson wrote: “More things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of.” Great things happen in our lives and we might think that these great things occurred because of our own innate goodness. These things probably happened because someone, or some group of people, was praying for us. We do not need to forget that we can accomplish more for the Lord by prayer, than we can accomplish without prayer. The philosopher, William James, heard someone say that there are no real answers to prayer and that these answers were mere coincidence. James wrote: “It is interesting that these ‘coincidences’ happen more often when we pray than when we do not pray.” Even this sophisticated philosopher saw the power of prayer. Having been a recipient in recent years of the prayers people all over Georgia and beyond, I can attest to the fact of the power of prayer. Having seen God’s answers to my prayers, I can attest to the power of prayer. Do not underestimate the power of prayer in your life. Do not underestimate the power of God in any area of your life. .Bro. Joe
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|