Callistus Ike
CONSIDER NOT, CONSIDER!
We are all faced with various degree of challenges in life. Sometimes, they are so overwhelming that we may not know how to tackle them yet God has promised to see us through.
You and I are not going to be the first to have challenges and certainly we are not going to be the last.
Whenever we are faced with challenges and trials of our faith, there are few attitudenal dispositions that God expects that we anchor our faith on.
Consider Not
Romans 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
As it is written:
How do we bring the mountains down? We insist on what God has said concerning us.
In Psalms 27:5, God promised to help and shield us. He will never leave nor forsake us. He is a very present help in times of need. Psalm 46:1.
Abraham is a classical example on how to handle tough times with absolute faith in God.
God promised that he will be a father of many nations yet at about a hundred years old, he was still expecting the promised seed.
Romans 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Their case was so naturally hopeless yet he made the decision to believe what God told him above the realities of nature staring at him. In the midst of hopelessness, he chose to be hopeful!
Beyond logic and natural realities there’s a place called Faith in God! Heb. 11:6.
According to that which was spoken!
It’s rhema that gives birth to a faith rest life . Every genuine faith life is always a product of what God has spoken and until you open the book, (the bible) and stay in an atmosphere where the word is richly shared, your faith may not produce your required miracle.
Luke 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Some things are written about you there, you’ve got to open the book and search them out.
Isaiah 34:16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
Whatever you search out from the word of God, will never lack it’s material equivalent if you insist.
Romans 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:
Being not weak in faith:
Faith is God’s power in us with which God activates our miracles. God works mostly where faith is in place. Faith is a gift that God placed in the born again spirit of every believe (Gal.5:22) which can be activated mostly when we are constantly exposed to the word of His grace. (Rom. 10:17) If we don’t ACT on our Faith, it’s not going to produce any result. James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
He considered not his own body now dead:
Faith is a radical lifestyle! A life of faith is not subject to the natural rules of life. It’s a higher dimension of living. It’s a life that believes that spiritual realities borne out of faith in the living word of God are superior to the natural realities of life. Faith is a fighter for the will and purposes of God to be established here on earth. Faith may seem foolish to the carnal man but it’s the power and the wisdom of God. It’s simply not possible to walk with God if your realities are only the things you can see, feel touch and taste. Please note that just as there are physical realities which you are used to, there are spiritual realities which are superior to your natural experiences in life!
1 Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
The word of God (John 6:63) is the parent force that rules this natural life in all its entirety.
Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
He considered Not:
In our walk of faith, their are things God doesn’t expect us to consider if we are going to walk successfully with Him. When life encroaches on us with it’s challenges, what do we consider?
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.
The disciples of Jesus faced a similar challenge when the waves and storms threatened to capsize their boat. When they finally woke Jesus up and He calmed the storm, He asked them one simple question: Where is your faith? (Luke 8:25).
None of us are immuned to the vagaries of life, but God expects each and every one of us to stand up in faith and insist on the supremacy of His word over the affairs of our lives. That’s what faith is all about.
Romans 4:19 Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.” Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up. (Message Bible)
This is quite clear, isn’t it?
Abraham’s body was dead at a hundred years old, Sarah’s womb was equally dead. Two hopeless situations but when we factors God in through faith, He alone can cause life to come out of two dead situations.
I’ve heard women complain saying that it’s over for them since menopause has set in. I’ve always asked them: Is it Menopause or Menostop? If it’s meno-pause, whatever is paused can be unpaused. Since doctors say it’s meno-pause and not Meno-stop, God has the ability to unpause whatever that man or nature has paused. So why fidget about what God can do? The question is: Do you believe that with God nothing is impossible?
The English dictionary defines unpause as:
To resume the normal functioning of electronic equipment or a software program in a ‘pause’ state.
After changing the settings, unpause the game to keep playing.
God can and will change anything that seems insurmountable in your life in Jesus name! That mountain intimidating you and your family will become a plain ground in Jesus name. I see God leveling that mountain now! He can and will unpause anything that the devil and his agents has paused in your life, family, business and career in Jesus Precious Name! I command a flow of God’s grace towards you now in Jesus name!
Romans 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.
AMP:No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God
Abraham refused to acknowledge that his case was hopeless. We need to learn to be dogged in our faith walk. He equally refused to remove his faith from the word of God and start judging life by his circumstances. The devil presented him with ample opportunities to doubt God over the years but he simply chose to believe God. Was that easy on him? Of course not! How did he overcome?
He stayed on the path of thanksgiving to God even when it doesn’t make sense.
He refused to consider the negative circumstances surrounding him rather he preferred to focus and preoccupy himself with God and His promises.
Consider
To walk in faith and victory, there are things to consider and things not to consider! We’ve already looked at things not to consider but what are we suppose to consider?
Hebrews 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.
We are to Consider Jesus who is the word of God made flesh. Our focus must be on Jesus and Him alone. The message bible calls Him the centerpiece of everything that we believe.
Hebrews 3:1 So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe.
When we consider Jesus in the magnificence that the word reveals Him, we will come to the conclusion that in our lives, nothing is really Impossible with God. ‘ For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil’.(1 John 3:8)
Colossians 1:16 For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels – everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.
Colossians 1:17 He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.
Colossians 1:18 And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
Colossians 1:19 So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.
Colossians 1:20 Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe – people and things, animals and atoms – get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross. (Message)
Awesome!
Finally, we need to remind ourselves who we are in Christ!
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Consider Jesus, that’s where power and grace for victory flows from!
Again I say; Consider Jesus!
Maranatha!
