Now part 4
I want to take a little bit of a different view on things today. I want to focus on Hebrews 11:1. In the King James version of the Bible it reads, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." And that phrase, "Now faith" is where I'm at right now. Because we have a now God. It drives me nuts when people talk about "waiting for a move of God." And, listen, you know I don't want to condemn anybody. Its just that if you're waiting on something... that's not faith. That's hope. You hope something will happen. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. The MANIFESTATION of things hoped for. And, I gotta tell you, the move of God that most people are waiting for happened over 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. God moved when He gave His life FOR us, and TO us. We don't need to keep waiting for a move of God. We need a revelation of Jesus, so that we can UNDERSTAND the move of God that already happened. So that we can enjoy Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. Let me say it this way: God moves every time YOU move in love. That's when the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) is made flesh. That's when love becomes charity--love in action. And that's when we truly live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. Look at Romans 1:17, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." See, we don't JUST walk by faith. We LIVE by faith. Because our faith is in God. Our faith is in love. God living in us. LOVE living in us. So that's how we live right now; we love right now. We let God love us and we love Him back by loving each other with the love that He has loved us with! I like Romans 1:17 even better in the NLT, "This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."" The move of God--that already happened--is that God made us right in His sight. When God looks at you He sees Jesus. And when God looks at Jesus He sees you. Because He lives in you, and you live in Him. Right now. Not on some glad morning after you do enough to be good enough. Right now. Now faith. Believing that what the Good News tells us is true... today. Not waiting for something (that has already happened) to happen, and robbing ourselves from experiencing and enjoying it... but receiving and releasing the gift of God that we've already been given! Experiencing the gift by sharing it. By giving it away. Because love IS giving. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. So don't wait until you earn something that can't be earned. You'll be waiting forever. Let the Holy Spirit lead and guide you into all truth. That truth that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. The truth that your heavenly Father loves you unconditionally. And then, once you know that you have something, give it away. You have it... right now. You can give it away... right now. You can walk by faith--by walking in love--and you can LIVE by faith. What you believe is what manifests in your life--either what the world tells you, or what God tells you. The world tells you what's wrong with you. God tells you what's right with you. God tells you, "I love you." So if I were you I'd go with that...!