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The Just Shall Live By faith
by Fenny West Discouraging times knock on every door just as the rain falls on every roof and the sun shines on all. Often those you have helped forget what you have done for them and throw it back at your face. In fact they may even threaten to kill you. What do you do? You may be facing a seemingly impossible and humiliating situation that wants to derail your faith. What are your options? Find out. He was not earning much- about 8500, but he was bold enough to go for a mortgage to buy his house. He had waited on God previously and had heard from Him to make a move in spite of his circumstances. It sounded foolish, but he obeyed the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The first bank he approached was the one he had been banking with for a long time. He thought they would be sympathetic, understanding and helpful but he was grilled with a million humiliating questions. They wanted to know every detail of his life down to his underpants. He abandoned them and left for another bank. God gave him favour with the bank manager here who did not ask many questions. Soon he saw a house which required survey; the bank paid the fees as he was not in a position to do so. It so happened that the negotiations fell through. And so it happened for another property after the initial surveying fees had been paid. Finally he found the third house and the survey was completed. The bank paid the fees once again. It was now time for him to pay the initial deposit. The man of God was not in a position to pay the deposit. Surprisingly, the bank loaned him 3000 to pay the deposit. The rest is history. He is now a property owner, has graduated as a pharmacist, completed a Masters degree and now a Pastor, basking in the summer of the Lord. The just shall live by faith. We need to seek the Lord with all our heart and take Him by His word. And we too will have our breakthroughs like this man of God. David was understandably greatly discouraged following the raid of Amalekites who not only plundered David and his men but also took away their wives and children. To make matters worse, his soldiers wanted to stone him. These men were renegades, outcasts of society that David had trained and transformed into a formidable fighting machine. Some of them were now generals in David's army. Depression hovered over David's head threatening to alight on him to knock him out. David had to encouraged himself in the Lord. He did so by running to the Lord's presence, inquiring of Him. In God's presence he was able to hear from God: 'Pursue them, overtake and recover all.' He also wrote Psalms which were songs to praise God. He prayed. He did not retaliate against his soldiers. He searched the scriptures David Destroys the Amalekites 1 David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, 2 and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way. 3 When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 5 David's two wives had been capturedAhinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. 7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." Abiathar brought it to him, 8 and David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?" "Pursue them," he answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue." 1Sam30:1-8 David also came across a helpless Egyptian but rather than take the offence out on him, he was generous to him, feeding and taking care of him. Eventually this man led them to where they able to pursue their enemies, overtake them and recover all. 11 They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat- 12 part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights. 13 David asked him, "To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?" He said, "I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. 14 We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag." 15 David asked him, "Can you lead me down to this raiding party?" He answered, "Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them." 16 He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. 17 David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. 18 David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. 20 He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, "This is David's plunder." 1Sam30:11-20 David's God is still the same. He does not.change. As we seek His face whole-heartedly we will receive similar breakthroughs like David 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jer 29:11-12 Copy it rightly www.inspiration4generations.com [email protected] Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |