Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Reading through the Bible from the very beginning, there is one consistent theme, God's great love and compassion towards us. He is unchangeable, and in this, we can have great confidence. It seems there is no greater motivation for faith than knowing this, God is absolutely for us. He wants us to succeed. It makes it easier to have confidence in fulfilling our purpose and destiny here on the Earth when we know that He has called us to succeed.

He loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die in our place giving us freely His life for our death. He did this knowing full well the horrible cost to Himself. Thank you, Lord! He loves us more than we can comprehend and has given us through this Covenant incredible benefits. Even in the Old Covenant, He admonished us not to forget His benefits.

Psalms 103:2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3. Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4. Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5. Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

Have we forgotten or have we just never believed in the first place. Regardless, in this day and age like no other, the body of Christ is being shaken. It's easy in a World full of chaos to get sidetracked and wander from the path God has placed us on. The World seems to be in a meltdown right now and all that is going on can seem overwhelming to us. In the midst of this, there is a choice we each have to make. We have to decide if God's love toward us is real. Mans definition of love is often times just lip service, but God's love is always manifested through action.

My question would be, how can we know God loves us if we aren't seeing the benefit of it in our lives. First of all the action has already taken place. Jesus finished the work He was sent to do. Regardless of where we've come from it takes faith to please God. There is absolutely no way around this. If we've never been taught His promises we can not have faith to walk in them, for faith always comes from knowing God's will. If we don't know His promises, we can not have a foundation on which to believe. We have to know the promises of God if we are going to walk in them by faith, don't we? Jesus said this very thing in John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Knowing God is for us a is a great part of being confident that He will manifest His blessing toward us. Knowing Him is knowing the truth for that is what He is. So many people think of God as the enemy instead of as their salvation and have a tendency to run from Him instead of too Him. He's the One with the answers, He's the One Who is an ever-present help in a time of need, and He's the One who has freely given us all things.

Many have been taught how He puts us through every evil thing in order to purify us. I'm here to say this, only the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse us and purify us. There's no use trying to earn it on our own, for it can not be done. I understand there is a process to walk in this sanctification, but the work has already been done. Our work is to have faith in Him. Righteousness will manifest itself in and through us as we believe Him.

Romans 4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something of which to boast, but not before God. 3. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness". 4. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,

You may be saying I've never really seen God's goodness manifest toward me. If that is your case, then know that first of all you have to look to Him.

Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,

If you are looking at all the bad things that are going on in your life then you are looking at the wrong things. You have to turn from the things you are looking at and start looking to the right things. Start by praising Him. Give Him something to work with. Faith is always grateful, faith always praises God. You can't be a grumbler and be in faith at the same time. God can't work on your behalf if you are grumbling and complaining all the time. Check yourself. Make the decision to be thankful even if circumstances seem to say you are failing, and you don't feel like you are ever going to succeed. You certainly won't if you won't look to the One who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus. You are not praising Him for all the bad stuff that is going on, you are praising Him for His protection, His deliverance, and His absolute faithfulness. He has never failed and He never will. If we want to walk in this victory then we have to walk with Him.

Faith is what pleases Him and praise is a catalyst that activates faith, you can see this over and over throughout the Word of God. This is not a formula but a way of life. Learn to trust Him and see His absolute faithfulness.

God inhabits the praises of His people. (Psalms 22:3.) Another way we could say this is God manifests Himself in the praises of His people. He is an active living God and wants to show Himself strong on our behalf.

Psalms 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

David had a revelation of God's great love for him. He was absolutely grounded in it. He wasn't afraid to turn to Him regardless of what was going on. He messed up many times yet in the midst of the messes, David would time after time turn back to Him and rest in His great love. No wonder God said He was a man after His own heart. Sometimes our actions have negative consequences, yet even in this we can and should turn to the One who has all the answers and will show us the way out. I've learned this in my own life, when I look to Him I will receive the answers I need to get out of any mess. It is almost never the way you would have chosen to get out, yet it is the way to safety that only He can give.

He's the One who can restore and show us the path to victory. I know He's done it for me and He will surely do it for you. Learn to trust Him totally and completely. Say this with me, God is for me who can be against me? As this mindset grows in you, you will begin to climb to higher heights than you thought possible. Let Him manifest His great love to you and see the deliverance of the Lord.

Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

Our faith should be anchored in His great love towards us. So many Christians have faith in their faith alone, as opposed to the One who is the author and finisher of our faith. The more you know Him the more you love Him. The more you love Him the more you trust Him. The more you trust Him the deeper your faith grows. It's all tied together. It becomes easier as you walk in this complete trust and confidence knowing He's for us and not against us. This is something that can be developed, we all have to grow in this. Don't be afraid of messing up as that only leads to the very things you're afraid of. You can be confident that even if you do mess up He will restore you and show you how to get back on track. This certainly takes a lot of the pressure off. His Word tells us that perfect love cast out all fear.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

As we trust Him and walk in perfect love we ourselves become perfected and won't be afraid of failure. I don't know about you, but this sounds like good news to me. My faith is not in my ability but in Him and Him alone. Do we have faith in our ability to have faith? We can make faith into a formula if we do this. Our faith is not in something but in Someone. Someone the Word declares cannot fail. We can take great joy in the fact that He will never fail us as well. After all, He is the One who will do what He said He would do.

Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? God can not lie and He absolutely cannot fail. This reality when received is life changing. We can rest in this. We should be confident but our confidence should be totally in Him. A humble spirit will keep you from failing. James said God gives more grace to the humble. (Ja. 4:) true humility is not self-effacement but putting our complete trust in Him. This allows Him to give you more grace than you already had, and we need all we can get. Grace is given to fulfill His will. This happens when we turn to Him and put our trust totally in Him. Our faith will not be in our own ability or anointing, our faith will be in Him, the One who anoints us. See the difference?

And I am saved! Thank You, Lord! I can now truthfully say, I see myself as a born again child of God!

Glory to God!!!! Amen.

I was raised Catholic and was born again at the age of 17. I received God's call into ministry at the age of 19 and began to prepare for ministry. I graduated from Rhema Bible Training Center in 1979. The Lord has called me to teach. My desire is to help all that are seeking the truth to come into a deeper understanding of what God has done for us through Christ Jesus. Olive Branch Ministries is an outgrowth of that desire. Please feel free to visit us for more free studies and resources to help you in your search for the truth.
Mark Baker
http://www.olivebranchministries.us