“And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightaway Jesus spoke unto them, saying, be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is you, bid me come unto you on the water. And He said, come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O you of little faith, wherefore did you doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased." Mat 14:25-32.
Faith may be defined as unwavering loyalty to a person to whom one is united by promise, commitment, trust and honesty.
It is this unwavering loyalty that makes you trust in that person and everything that persons says even when there is no physical proof or assurance that the person will keep his word.
In the verses we just read above, we see our brother Peter manifesting the fruit of faith by stepping out of the boat, while the other disciples chose to remain in the boat. Before this incident, Jesus had been building up the fruit of faith within the disciples through His preaching of the word of God, manifesting the fruits of the Holy Spirit and demonstrating the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In other words, all the other disciples had what Peter had but they didn’t recognize the opportunity that God presented to them and therefore failed to manifest what they had inside of them.
Brother Peter manifested the fruit of faith; quite true. But that faith had to be tested in order to receive God’s approval. So God permitted a wind to come and buffet him. He was moved with fear by what he saw and began to doubt if he could continue walking on the sea which caused him to begin to sink.
True faith is tested faith.
Brother Peter failed this test of his faith. But there is good news! When faith fails, love takes over.
As a believer you cannot walk by sight and walk by faith at the same time. You should never allow what you see with your physical eyes to move you; rather be moved by what the word of God says concerning a situation.
In other words, believe only the report of the master Jesus.
Faith is in levels and what majority of Christians have today is hope, not faith.
Why is that?
The reason is because they dodge situations that God brings along to test their faith. They choose to remain in the boat (their comfort zones).
Whenever a believer manifests the fruit of faith, he is no more in charge; God takes over. But most of us prefer to be in charge.
What an error!!
THE FRUIT OF FAITH IN ACTION
When a child starts learning to walk, he will first of all attempt to stand up.
Once he successfully stands up, he will then take a step forward. At the first, second or third step, he may lose confidence and suddenly collapses to the ground. This child has manifested the fruit of faith at its lowest level.
The father then says to himself, “This son is indeed ready to start walking. I will now boost his faith (confidence) by giving him a hand whenever he is about to fall”.
So now, when next this child attempts to walk, the father stands with him, holds his hand and stabilizes him as he takes those shaky steps forward, thereby instilling confidence in him until he can now walk unassisted. This is God’s love taking over when our faith fails us.
If you are willing to take a step now to begin manifesting the fruit of faith, Jesus is here now to help you.
Now pray this prayer:
“Lord Jesus, thank you for this teaching. I depend totally on your fatherly love. I ask that you increase my faith and grant me the grace to begin to manifest the fruit of faith, so that your name will be glorified. Help me to overcome whenever my faith is tested. In Jesus most prevailing name I pray. Amen".
"And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, have mercy on us, O Lord, you son of David. And Jesus stood still, and called them and said, what will you that I shall do unto you? They say unto Him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him." Mat 20: 29-34.
This is one of my favourite bible stories because I admire the tenacity and sagacity of those two blind men. Though these two men were not spiritually blind as well, because they could see that this man Jesus whom they have never set their eyes on for the first time, had the power to restore their eyesight.
Now can you imagine Jesus asking them what they would like Him to do for them?
Does it mean that Jesus didn’t know that these men were blind?
I do not think so.
Jesus knew that they were blind; but true to God’s character, He wanted to test their faith.
These two blind men manifested the fruit of faith and also passed the test of their faith.
In other words, they succeeded where Brother Peter failed. That is why I said that faith is in levels. The test that these two blind men passed was a higher test compared to that of Brother Peter, yet they passed it.
In addition to this test, I can also see the multitudes; probably a hundred or more unkind voices shouting on them to keep silent, yet they shouted even the more, not allowing the multitude to intimidate them. Most Christians today would feel insulted if Jesus asked them the same question He asked these blind men, if they were in a similar condition.
Beloved, in what way is the Lord testing your faith today? Can He count on you to pass this test and receive His approval?
“Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto Him, saying, have mercy on me O Lord, You son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and besought Him, saying; send her away; for she cries after us. But He answered, and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped Him, saying, Lord Help me. But He answered and said, it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, o woman, great is your faith: be it unto you even as you will. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour” Mat 15: 21-28.
Beloved, I want you to catch a revelation from the above verses that will catapult you from where you are to where you ought to be.
Jesus Christ referred to this woman’s daughter as a dog. Yet this woman did not feel insulted but agreed with Him. Jesus Christ by calling this woman’s daughter a dog automatically called the woman a dog. Yet she swallowed it hook, line and sinker.
The disciples were not willing to help her to appeal to the master; instead they asked Jesus to send her away. Yet she persisted.
Now let me share a few revelations from this woman’s story.
Faith does not see insults, defeat or impossibilities; rather the fruit of faith when manifested makes a believer a spiritual giant.
It makes you undefeatable, unstoppable and a leveler of mountains. The amount of insults, reproaches and persecution you can bear as a believer shows your level of faith.
Jesus was insulted, abused, reproached, mocked, derided and even blasphemed, yet He did not do what most of us would have done today.
The Pharisees said that Jesus was possessed by a demon called Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24).
Do you know who Beelzebub is?
Beelzebub means “the Lord of the files”.
He is half man and half horse in appearance and one of the powers of darkness.
Beelzebub is the most aggressive demon directly responsible to Satan and he is in charge of witchcraft (Black witchcraft), sorcery, necromancy etc.
He is the one that collects all the annual blood sacrifices offered to Satan.
He attacks people using mosquitoes, flies, and all kinds of destructive insects, and he usually feeds on blood.
Now you can imagine the kind of blasphemy and insult which the Pharisees poured on Jesus Christ, yet He endured it all.
Manifesting the fruit of faith makes you extraordinary, extraterrestrial and extra-powerful. But insults are your promotion letter.
So if you want to move to the next level, be ready to receive insults (Jas 1:12).
“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when He saw that He prevailed not against him, He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with Him. And He said, let me go, for the day breaks. And he said, I will not let you go, except you bless me. And He said unto him, what is your name?
And he said, Jacob.
And He said, your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince have you power with God and with men and have prevailed. And Jacob asked Him, and said; tell me, I pray you, your name. And He said, wherefore is it that you do ask after my name? And He blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” Gen 32:24-30.
One revelational truth I want to share with you here is that God wants you to wrestle with Him.
Apostle Paul calls this the good fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12).
This fight or wrestling is carried out through prayer that has faith as its very foundation.
You may have noticed me using the phrase “In the prevailing name of Jesus” in certain parts of this book.
The reason for that is because God is a Prevailer. But God is willing to allow you to prevail over Him in the good fight of faith, only on one condition: that you persevere and wrestle with Him as long as He is prepared to wrestle with you.
The fruit of faith when manifested gives a believer the courage, endurance and strength to wrestle with God and win Him. Now, have you asked yourself why God put Jacob’s thigh out of joint?
The knowledge of the reason can only come through revelation.
The reason for this action was to give Jacob, his descendants (the Israelites) and those who would become the modern Israelites (believers) a reminder or a memorial to remind them of the foundational truth that wrestling or fighting with God through the prayer of faith can be painful, uncomfortable and time consuming, but nevertheless God desires it.
God wants every believer to wrestle with Him in order to bring about the fulfillment of their individual destinies, in order to be blessed and in order to receive anything at all that He has promised in His word.
We see the Canaanitish woman wrestling with God in faith; and while this wrestling was going on, the disciples stood by watching as spectators, instead of joining in the fight to assist the woman in gaining a quicker victory.
This woman not only wrestled in faith, she also wrestled in love, by wrestling to save her daughter’s life and secure her deliverance.
This is the power of intercession. If you as a believer do not pray in faith, you are not wrestling with God, but a spectator just like the disciples.
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force”. Mat 11:12.
Beloved, I want to ask you this question, who are the violent?
The violent are people (soldiers) who take part in wars; killing, destroying and burning or blowing up things.
One fundamental truth every believer and unbeliever alike should know is that the kingdom of God is a military kingdom and you are called to be a soldier.
The very first step an unbeliever needs to take in order to be part of this military kingdom is to shed all the bloody civilian way of life through the humbling act of repentance.
It is hard for an unbeliever to own up that he has sinned against God, believe you me.
The world today is full of bloody civilians who claim to be born again, chosen, called and what not. But are not ready to fight the wars of the kingdom.
God is still looking for people He will turn into generals such as Elijah, Joshua, Moses and others (John 4:23).
Are you up for the challenge, or are you a coward?
Mind you, no coward will be allowed into heaven as Revelation 2:8 tells us.
So make a stand now!
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