A FRIEND

You Have A Friend In Jesus

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary.  His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak,  And to those who have no might He increases strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary,  And the young men shall utterly fall,  But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles,  They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:29-31

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

The poor and needy always have a friend in Jesus, whose understanding is unsearchable. Having lived as a man and was in all points tempted as they are, yet without sin they have some one who sympathize with their weaknesses, and understands all that  they are going through.  And being God the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, He has more than enough power to move and act on their behalf. He who walked the shores of the sea of Galilee is still the same healing and miracle working Jesus. God’s word is unchanging:

And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.   Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."  As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." testimony to them."  However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.Mark 1:39-45

Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more.  He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you. Isaiah 30:18-19

For those who come to Jesus Christ and touch Him by faith He is able to do for them exceedingly abundantly above all that they ask think or pray just like Jesus promised, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23). "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them (Mark 11:24). But for some people the whole process is a complete waste of time because they don't mix the word of God with faith and it doesn't profit them. God’s word is unchanging:

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.  For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.  For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,' " although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Hebrews 4:1-3

"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. "Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  "But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.  "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. "But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. Luke 8:11-15

Yes there are those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved or healed or delivered. Then there are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Then there are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But then there are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. Faith is our friend and unbelief is our enemy.

Unbelief if unchecked robs us of all the things that God has for us just like it robbed the children of Israel who were miraculously delivered from their Egyptian captors and spoils with the wealth and riches of Egypt from going into the promised land. Only Joshua and Caleb who  had a different spirit in them and has followed the LORD fully, did He bring into the land where they went, and their descendants  inherited it. God’s word is uchanging:

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13

Just because the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all flesh doesn't mean that everybody is saved or healed or delivered. And the number of deceived fools that we have in the world is proof of this!

There are two sides to this issue: the legal and the experiential. Legally, by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. Experientially, most people have not entered into the experience. In faith, we must appropriate in experience all that is already ours by legal right through our faith in Christ.  The same is true with salvation. Derek Prince in his book “BLESSING OR CURSE YOU CAN CHOOSE!” brings out the following truths:

In John 1:12—13 the apostle says, concerning those who have been born again through receiving Jesus, that God has given them “the right to become children of God.” The Greek word translated “right” is exousia, usually translated “authority.” That is what a person actually receives at the new birth: authority to become a child of God.

Authority is effective, however, only insofar as it is exercised. The potential of the new birth is unlimited, but the actual results depend on the exercise of the authority that goes with it. What a person will become through the new birth is determined by the extent to which he exercises his God-given authority.

There is a close parallel between the experience of believers entering into the blessings of God in the New Covenant and that of the Israelites entering into Canaan under the Old Covenant. In the first covenant, under a leader named Joshua, God brought His people into a promised land. In the second covenant, under a leader named Jesus (which is another form of Joshua), God brings His people into a land of promises. Just as the land of Canaan was the physical inheritance appointed for Israel, so the promises of God, offered through Jesus, are the spiritual inheritance appointed for Christians in this dispensation. The same principles that applied to Israelites then apply to Christians now.

In Joshua 1:2—3 God gave Joshua instructions on how the Israelites were to take possession of their inheritance:

“Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and this entire people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.”

There is precisely the same contrast of tenses here as in Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.. In verse 2, the Lord uses the continuing present: “I am giving”  summed up in Revelation 21:7: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things.”

To further strengthen and encourage us, God has also set before us the example of Abraham, who is called “the father of us all.” Through Abraham, God did not merely establish the measure of the blessing He has prepared for each of us, which is “in all things.” He also marked out ahead the path that leads to that blessing. The life of Abraham is both an example and a challenge in three main areas: his prompt obedience, his complete confidence in God’s word and his stead- fast endurance.

In Hebrews 11:8 the writer emphasizes Abraham’s prompt, unquestioning obedience: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

Abraham did not ask for any explanation of why he should go, or any description of the place he was going to. He simply did what God told him to do, promptly, without questioning. The same kind of obedience characterized his entire life: for instance, when God required him and all his household to be circumcised (Genesis 17:9—14, 23—27); and even when God asked him to offer up his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice (Genesis 22:1—14). At no time did Abraham ever hesitate in his obedience or question God concerning what he was asked to do.

In Romans 4:16—21 Paul points out that when God called Abraham “a father of many nations,” he had only one son by Hagar, a slave woman, while Sarah, his wife, had been barren for many years. Yet he reckoned God’s description of him as true from the moment it was spoken. Because he thus accepted God’s word without questioning, even against the evidence of his own senses, ultimately there came a physical fulfillment that was confirmed by his senses.

Actually, about 25 years passed from the time God first promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, until the birth of the son who was the promised heir. Through all those years he had nothing to hold onto but God’s promise. He must have faced endless temptations to discouragement. Yet he never gave up or abandoned his faith. Finally, the reward of his steadfastness is summed up in Hebrews 6:15: “And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.”

In Romans 4:11—12 Paul tells us that we are children of Abraham “if we walk in the steps of Abraham’s faith.” This is the scriptural requirement for entering into “the blessing of Abraham,” promised in Galatians 3:14. Like Abraham, we must accept God’s Word as the one sure, unchanging element in our experience. All the variable opinions of men, and all the fluctuating impressions of our senses, are just “grass that withers.” “But the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Our acceptance of God’s Word, however, must not be purely intellectual or theoretical. We must demonstrate it in our actions just as Abraham did: by prompt, unquestioning obedience and by steadfast endurance in the face of all discouragement. In this way, we shall find that God’s Word will ultimately be proved true in our experience. We shall come to know God’s blessing—just as Abraham did—”in all things.”

Satan will continually oppose us with mental and emotional pressures: doubts, fear, guilt, confusion and so on. He may also assail our bodies with various forms of physical infirmity. Against all this God has provided us with one supremely effective weapon: His Word. In Ephesians 6:17 Paul directs us: “Take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

This requires the interplay of the human and the divine. The sword is the sword of the Holy Spirit, but it is our responsibility to “take” it. If we take it, the Holy Spirit will wield it. But if we do not take it, the Holy Spirit has nothing to wield.

…Faith  …reckons God’s promises as effective from the moment they are apprehended. We do not wait for confirmation from the senses. By prompt, unquestioning obedience and patient endurance, we move from our legal rights in Christ into the full, experiential enjoyment of them. We meet all satanic opposition with “the sword of the Spirit”: the spoken Word of God.

EXTRACT FROM In The Time Of Trouble
http://walthope.tripod.com/trouble.htm
JESUS IS GOD  http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-1BH
DO IT  http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-27m
YOU MUST BELIEVE GOD http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-Fc
A HEALTH AND WEALTH CHRISTIAN  http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-24v
JESUS HEALS  http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-27K
SUPER VICTORY http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-29y
BETHEL TEMPLE   http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-29r
SOAKING http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-2a4
SOWING AND REAPING http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-2ba
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