When asked how he determined the will of God on any matter, Muller listed the following steps he believed were necessary:

1.     “I get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to any particular matter.”

2.     “I do not leave the result to feelings or simple impressions.  That can make one open to great delusions.”

3.     “I seek God’s will through, or in connection with, his Word.  If you look to the Spirit without the Word, you open yourself to delusion.”

4.     “I consider providential [God-controlled] circumstances.”

5.     “I ask God in prayer to reveal his will to me.”

6.     “I make sure I have a clear conscience before God and man.”

7.     “Every time I listened to men instead of God, I made serious mistakes.”

8.     “I act only when I am at peace, after much prayer, waiting on God with faith.”

When you give yourself to prayer, your faith rises.  And when you feed on God’s Word, your confidence in his power to lead and help you increases.  The more you read His Word, the more you will understand His Character.

George Muller got to the point that he knew he could trust God to provide his every need as long as he was in the center of God’s will. There is absolutely no safer place to be than right in the center of where God would have you to be.

Related posts:

1. Are You A Good Soldier For God?
2. A Good Story of God’s Grace

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

I can’t remember how many times I have read this verse over my lifetime, but this time I have seen something I have never seen in it before – the righteousness of God is revealed from “faith to faith.”

Hebrews 11 is known as the Faith Chapter of the Bible. Many people of the Old Testament are listed as having a faith that God was pleased with. If you have not already read this chapter, please take the time to read and absorb it.

Verse 6 of the same chapter says that “without faith it is impossible to please him…”

I have never thought of it in this way, but since faith pleases God it makes perfect sense that He will relate to His Children in this way. God is omniscient and omnipresent, so He can be everywhere, hear every prayer, and meet every need all at the same time.

He sees the big picture of how everything fits together and knows exactly who He wants to use for particular tasks. When He chooses YOU for something, it is because He knows you are capable of handling it and are the best person suited for the job.

When  God tells us to do something that is way out of our comfort zone, most of us tend to look at all our faults, flaws, and  shortcomings and tell Him that He must have picked the wrong person because we can’t imagine that we would ever be capable of doing something of such a great magnitude.

From my own experience, I have found that the times of my greatest growth are the ones where I have been the most out of my comfort zone. I know I can trust God with my life even if I don ‘t always know the direction He is taking me for a time.

So when you have completed one task of faith, He has another one for you to start. The next time you feel you are being stretched to the faith limit, remember that is how you grow as a Christian. Then remember that God wants to stretch and grow you so that you can be used for His Glory. When you think of it that way, faith doesn’t seem quite so hard.

It is a simple matter of believing that what God has said will come to pass. Try it and see how your life changes for the better.

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1. Faith: The foundation for real things!

How many of us as Christians can say we have a foundation in God that is strong enough to truly be unshakable no matter what might come our way – that our roots are so strong we might sway a bit but not bend to the point that we will be broken and uprooted?

We all have unexpected problems that come into our lives, heartaches and pain to deal with, and things we think are impossible or might never change no matter how hard it might be to live with them.

If you are in a place such as this in your life right now, don’t give up. If you have asked Jesus to come into your heart as your personal Savior, you have Him on your side in His role as intercessor to God on your behalf.

Instead of running away from God, run to Him.

Turn to the Word of God and read it as a person who is dying of thirst and must get water soon or they will perish. God will meet you exactly where you are at this moment. All you need to do is ask for His help. The Holy Spirit will give you understanding of the verses in the Bible and guide you on how to walk in obedience to them.

No, God probably won’t handle things in the same way you would, but He knows exactly what you need. Spend time every day reading the Bible, praying and asking Him to help you, thanking Him in advance for the answer you will receive.

God truly wants to make you a person who has an unshakable faith in Him.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living - practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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Isn’t this an accurate word picture of what faith means to many of us?  It’s easy to walk on the water if you know it is frozen underneath you and there is no chance of you falling in.

When Peter asked Jesus to let him get out of the boat and walk towards him, he was fine as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. The minute he took them off, he started to sink.

When Jesus asks you to step out on faith and do a particular thing, make sure you keep in mind that you might be in uncharted territory, but He never is. As far as He’s concerned, the ground is very solid and stable underneath you because He will guide you every step of the way even though you can’t see the road yourself.

Hebrews 11: 6 – But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

You can’t truly please God if you are too afraid to step out into the unknown, because He has plans for your life that you have never imagined. Don’t stay in the boat, play it safe, and miss what God wants to do.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

No related posts.

Faith is hard until you get close enough to God to start to discover His True Character.

Start on that awesome journey right now. You won’t regret it.

I received this in an email, but it sure is an awesome word picture of what Jesus did for us on the cross!

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

I have been thinking about this verse for several weeks now. If I really believe that God is my light, salvation, and strength, then why do I live in a state of powerlessness some of the time as far as my Christian walk is concerned? Why do the majority of Christians seem to do this?

The words light and salvation are pretty much self-explanatory, but the word strength means a fortified place, fortress, rock, or defense.

If God is my strength, then He is the rock I can stand on and be surefooted in times of trouble; He is my fortress against attacks of the enemy against me; He is my strong defender who will fight victorious battles for me.

When I think of a fortified place, I think of a castle with extremely thick walls that is set on top of a hill where the enemy can be seen approaching from a long distance; the castle would be surrounded by a deep and wide moat that was filled with hungry crocodiles, along with all kinds of snares and traps that had been set for anyone trying to approach silently.

God does much more than this for His Children, but in order to live a life that He is pleased with, you must have faith. That requires making sure you live in obedience to Him regardless of what you see in the circumstances that surround you.

If the Lord is our fortified place, why should we be afraid of circumstances that surround us? God wants us to look to Him with tunnel vision and keep our eyes glued to Him.

There may be several different parts to this original post, because God is still dealing with me about walking in this truth. I don’t want my life to be powerless any longer. I want God to be able to use me mightily in His Kingdom Work.

I hope you want the same. Let’s step out on faith together and see what God has in store!

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living - Practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

No related posts.

************************************************************

Faith is the Christian’s strength; he who doubts not staggers not. Unbelief is the source of our chief weakness. As soon as we begin to distrust our feet begin to slide. Hence, Satan, knowing this, injects that cruel and wicked suspicion, “If – if thou be the Son of God.”

Notice the point of attack: it was our Lord’s sonship. Satan knows that if he can make any of us doubt our interest in the Father’s love, doubt our regeneration and adoption, then he will have us very much in his power. How can I pray, “Our Father which art in heaven,” if I do not know him to be my Father? If the dark suspicion crosses my mind that I am no child of his, I cannot say with the prodigal, “I will arise and go unto my Father,” for I do not know that I have a Father to go to.

Having a Father, I feel sure that he will pity my infirmities, that he will feel for my wants, redress my wrongs, protect me in the hour of danger, and succor me in the moment of peril; but if, if I have no Father in heaven, if I be not his child, then, miserable orphan! what shall I do – whither shall I flee?

Standing on a pinnacle as God’s child I shall stand there erect, though every wind should seek to whirl me from my foothold; but if he be not my Father, and I am upon a pinnacle, then my destruction is inevitable, and my ruin will be swift and total. “If thou be the Son of God.” Oh, dear friends, beware of unbelief…

From a sermon entitled “Temptations on the Pinnacle,” delivered May 6, 1866.    The Daily Spurgeon

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – Practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Related posts:

1. Faith: The foundation for real things!

When God tells you to do something it might not be easy, but if you trust Him He will give you everything you need to attain the victory. He will bring to pass what He has already promised to do.

Don’t ever let others talk you into giving up on something God has already promised the victory for. You can’t see through His eyes, so believe in faith that He will bring it to pass when the time is right. Turn a deaf ear to any criticism that might keep you from getting God’s Best.

THE FROG WHO WOULD NOT GIVE UP

Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition.  The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.

A big crowd gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.  The race began but no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as:

“Oh, WAY too difficult!!”
“They will NEVER make it to the top.”
“Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!”

The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one, except for those who, in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher.

The crowd continued to yell, “It is too difficult!!!  No one will make it!”

More tiny frogs got tired and gave up. But one continued higher and higher and higher.  He just wouldn’t give up!

At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!

All of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it.  A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal.

It turned out that the winner was deaf.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – Practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Related posts:

1. A Good Story of God’s Grace

In the Grip of Grace: Your Father Always Caught You. He Still Does. by Max Lucado

Once there were five sons who lived in a mountain castle with their father. The eldest was an obedient son, but his four younger brothers were rebellious. Their father had warned them of the river, but they had not listened. He had begged them to stay clear of the bank lets they be swept downstream, but the river’s lure was too strong.

Each day the four rebellious brothers ventured closer and closer until one son dared to reach in and feel the waters. “Hold my hand so I won’t fall in,” he said, and his brothers did. But when he touched the water, the current yanked him and the other three into the rapids and rolled them down the river.

Over the rocks they bounced, through the channels they roared, on the swells they rode. Their cries for help were lost in the rage of the river. Though they fought to gain their balance, they were powerless against the strength of the current. After hours of struggle, they surrendered to the pull of the river. The waters finally dumped them on the bank in a strange land, in a distant country, in a barren place.

Savage people dwelt in the land. It was not safe like their home.

Cold winds chilled the land. It was not warm like their home.

Rugged mountains marked the land. It was not inviting like their home.

Though they did not know where they were, of one fact they were sure: They were not intended for this place. For a long time the four young sons lay on the bank, stunned at their fall and not knowing were to turn. After some time they gathered their courage and reentered the waters, hoping to walk upstream. But the current was too strong. They attempted to walk along the river’s edge, but the terrain was too steep. They considered climbing the mountains, but the peaks were too high. Besides, they didn’t know the way.

Finally they built a fire and sat down. “We shouldn’t have disobeyed our father,” they admitted. “We are a long way from home.”

With the passage of time the sons learned to survive in the strange land. They found nuts for food and killed animals for skins. They determined not to forget their homeland nor abandon hopes of returning. Each day they set about the task of finding food and building shelter. Each evening they built a fire and told stories of their father and older brother. All four sons longed to see them again.

Then, one night, one brother failed to come to the fire. The others found him the next morning in the valley with the savages. He was building a hut of grass and mud. “I’ve grown tired of our talks,” he told them. “What good does it do to remember? Besides, this land isn’t so bad. I will build a great house and settle here.”
“But it isn’t home,” they objected.

“No, but it is if you don’t think of the real one.”

“But what of Father?”

“What of him? He isn’t here. He isn’t near. Am I to spend forever awaiting his arrival? I’m making new friends; I’m learning new ways. If he comes, he comes, but I’m not holding my breath.”

And so the other three left their hut-building brother and walked away. They continued to meet around the fire, speaking of home and dreaming of their return.

Some days later a second brother failed to appear at the campfire. The next morning his siblings found him on a hillside staring at the hut of his brother.

“How disgusting,” he told them as they approached. “Our brother is an utter failure. An insult to our family name. Can you imagine a more despicable deed? Building a hut and forgetting our father?”

“What he’s doing is wrong,” agreed the youngest, “but what we did was wrong as well. We disobeyed. We touched the river. We ignored our father’s warnings.”

“Well, we may have made a mistake or two, but compared t the sleaze in the hut, we are saints. Father will dismiss our sin and punish him.”

“Come,” urged his two brothers, “return to the fire with us.”

A Record of Wrongs

“No, I think I’ll keep an eye on our brother. Someone needs to keep a record of his wrongs to show Father.”
And so the two returned, leaving one brother building and the other judging.

The remaining two sons stayed near the fire, encouraging each other and speaking of home. Then one morning the youngest son awoke to find he was alone. He searched for his brother and found him near the river, stacking rocks.

“It’s no use,” the rock-stacking brother explained as he worked. “Father won’t come for me. I must go to him. I offended him. I insulted him. I failed him. There is only one option. I will build a path back up the river and walk into our father’s presence. Rock upon rock I will stack until I have enough rocks to travel upstream to the castle. When he sees how hard I have worked and how diligent I have been, he will have no choice but to open the door and let me into his house.”

The last brother did not now what to say. He returned to sit by the fire, alone. One morning he heard a familiar voice behind him. “Father has sent me to bring you home.”

The youngest lifted his eyes to see the face of his oldest brother. “You have come for us!” he shouted. For a long time the two embraced.

“And your brothers?” the eldest finally asked.

“One has made a home here. Another is watching him. The third is building a path up the river.”

And so Firstborn set out to find his siblings. He wen first to the thatched hut in the valley.

“Go away, stranger!” screamed the brother through the window. “You are not welcome here!”

“I have come to take you home.”

“You have not. You have come to take my mansion.”

“This is no mansion,” Firstborn countered. “This is a hut.”

“It is a mansion! The finest in the lowlands. I built it with my own hands. Now, go away. You cannot have my mansion.”

“Don’t you remember the house of your father?”

“I have no father.”

“You were born in a castle in a distant land where the air is warm and the fruit is plentiful. You disobeyed your father and ended up in this strange land. I have come to take you home.”
The brother peered through the window at Firstborn as if recognizing a face he’d remembered from a dream. But the pause was brief, for suddenly the savages in the house filled the window as well. “Go away, intruder!” they demanded. “This is not your home.”

“You are right,” responded the firstborn son, “but neither is it his.”

The eyes of the two brothers met again. Once more the hut-building brother felt a tug at his heart, but the savages had won his trust. “He just wants your mansion,” they cried. “Send him away!”
And so he did.

Firstborn sought the next brother. He didn’t have to walk far. On the hillside near the hut within eyesight of the savages, sat the fault-finding son. When he saw Firstborn approaching, he shouted, “How good that you are here to behold the sin of our brother! Are you aware that he turned his back on the castle? Are you aware that he never speaks of home? I knew you would come. I have kept careful account of his deeds. Punish him! I will applaud your anger. He deserves it! Deal with the sins of our brother.”

Firstborn spoke softly, “We need to deal with your sins first.”

“My sins?”

“Yes, you disobeyed Father.”

The son smirked and slapped at the air. “My sins are nothing. There is a sinner,” he claimed, pointing to the hut. “Let me tell you of the savages who stay there…”

“I’d rather you tell me about yourself.”

“Don’t worry about me. Let me show you who needs help,” He said, running toward the hut. ‘Come, we’ll peek in the windows. He never sees me. Let’s go together.” The son was at the hut before he noticed that Firstborn hadn’t followed him.

Next, the eldest son walked to the river. There he found the last brother, knee-deep in the water, stacking rocks.

“Father has sent me to take you home.”

The brother never looked up. “I can’t talk now. I must work.”

“Father knows you have fallen. But he will forgive you…”

“He may,” the brother interrupted, struggling to keep his balance against the current, “but I have to get to the castle first. I must build a pathway up the river. First I will show him that I am worthy. Then I will ask for his mercy.”
“He has already given his mercy. I will carry you up the river. You will never be able to build a pathway. The river is too long. The task is too great for your hands. Father sent me to carry you home. I am stronger.”

For the first time the rock-stacking brother looked up. “How dare you speak with such irreverence! My father will not simply forgive. I have sinned. I have sinned greatly! He told us to avoid the river, and we disobeyed. I am a great sinner. I need much work.”

Much Work or Much Grace

“No, my brother, you don’t need much work. You need much grace. The distance between you and your father’s house is too great. You haven’t enough strength nor the stones to build the road. That is why our father sent me. He wants me to carry you home.”

“Are you saying I can’t do it? Are you saying I’m not strong enough? Look at my work. Look at my rocks. Already I can walk five steps!”

But you have five million to go!”

The younger brother looked at the Firstborn with anger. “I know who you are. You are the voice of evil. You are trying to seduce me from my holy work. Get behind me, you serpent!” her hurled at Firstborn the rock he was about to place in the river.

“Heretic!” screamed the path-builder. “Leave this land. You can’t stop me! I will build this walkway and stand before my father, and he will forgive me. I will win his favor. I will earn his mercy.”

Firstborn shook his head. ‘Favor won is no favor. Mercy earned is no mercy. I implore you, let me carry you up the river.”

The response was another rock. So Firstborn turned and left.

The youngest brother was waiting near the fire when Firstborn returned.

The other didn’t come?”

“No. One chose to indulge, the other to judge, and the third to work. None of them chose our father.”

“So they will remain here?”

The eldest brother nodded slowly. “For now.”

“And we will return to Father?” asked the brother.

“Yes.”

“Will he forgive me?”

“Would he have sent me if he wouldn’t?”

And so the younger brother climbed on the back of the Firstborn and began the journey home.

(I found this on the blog Heart of Wisdom – a site for homeschoolers with a lot of good info)

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – Practical ways to learn to live a victorious Chrisitan life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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2. A Story – Mr. McCutcheon’s Visit
3. A Touching Story – The Tablecloth

When you decide to do weight lifting, you either use your own equipment or go to the gym. Then you decide on a plan of action that coincides with your desired effect. Lastly, you must be disciplined enough not to let other things distract you from your goal. If you don’t do these things, you probably won’t attain the lean, toned, and muscled body that you started out to achieve.

Hebrews 11: 1 -  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

If you do your weight lifting exercises correctly and diligently, it won’t be long before it is noticeable that your plan is working; you can see it with your own eyes.

True faith works in the same way as exercise because it helps you to become a person with whom God is pleased. The difference between the two is you can’t always see the results of faith immediately. It is something you do on a daily basis that is between you and God. He wants you to learn to know Him so well that you have no doubts that what He has told you will come to pass. You just believe Him – PERIOD.

In the Greek substance means a setting under (support), figuratively concrete essence; confidence.

Faith gives reality or real substance to things hoped for. It is a basis, or foundation, for support. It is the real thing.

God desires your obedience, but He wants something even more – your ability to believe you can receive from Him BEFORE you have seen it. You can’t just order God to do whatever you want, but when He tells you something, He wants you to know His Character so well that you have no doubt that whatever He told you will come to pass. Then when it does, you are not surprised because you have been waiting for it to happen, you just didn’t know exactly when it would happen.

God loves you much more than you could ever imagine. Trust Him with everything going on in your life right now – He wants to meet your every need.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – Practical ways to learn to have faith and live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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1. Dwell on truth and the things of God.
2. Things you will never be sorry for…
3. Do you enjoy the little things?