Author name: Tom Stuart

Believe is an action verb

9 Comments / Growth & Development, Prayer /

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)
Did you know that in twenty of the world’s most primitive languages the word for believe is the same as the word for do? That is something Wycliffe Bible translators have discovered in years of working to translate the Bible into the native language of remote people groups. In other words, for those cultures, to believe something literally means to do something. Faith and action are inseparable. Truth be told, that is the way God intends it.
Genuine faith is expressed through action. This is a discovery that one readily makes when studying Hebrews 11 the great faith chapter of the Bible. A careful reading of the account of Abraham, the father of our faith, in verses 8 through 19 underscores this truth like none other.

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Making sense of prophetic timing

3 Comments / Growth & Development, Relationship with God /

The Lord isn’t slow to do what he promised, as some people think. 2 Peter 3:9 (God’s Word Translation)
The timing and means of prophetic pronouncements are often cloaked in mystery. And here is why. Prophecy lifts us into the realm of the Spirit which transcends time and space as we know it. Time for God is different than time for us. “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” (2 Peter 3:8) Past, present and future for us is simply “now” for God.

There are two things that are often stumbling blocks when it comes to processing personal prophecies and promises from the Lord. They have to do with the timing of their fulfillment and the means by which they ultimately come to pass. Because we are working from a limited understanding, our script of when and how God intends to do something often leaves us scratching our heads. Invariably God’s timing and way of doing something do not match ours. (Isaiah 55:9)

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Testing a message from God

4 Comments / Growth & Development, Relationship with God /

How does a person who really wants be directed by the Holy Spirit test whether or not it is God’s voice they are hearing? God speaks in myriads of ways. He speaks primarily through the Bible, but also through inner impressions (thoughts and visions), dreams, circumstances and through other people. The problem is that the voice of the devil and self also use those same means to deceive us.

Consider the fact that the Devil used scripture to try to deceive Jesus. In fact Paul in writing to the Galatians warned that even messages from angels needed to be tested for deception. (Galatians 1:8)

And our own hearts can deceive us. The prophet Jeremiah tells us that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (17:9) In other words, it is easy for us to deceive ourselves and to be deceived when we are not crucifying the flesh or keeping strong selfish desires in check.

The simplest approach to determining whether the guidance we are seeking is from God or not is based on an old principle from celestial navigation. You might call it the three point alignment principle. A sailor desiring to determine his location needed three fixed points such as stars, planets or the sun and moon. GPS guidance works on the same principle requiring three satellites to determine latitude and longitude and a fourth to obtain altitude.

So how do we test messages purporting to be from God?

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Blessed is he who misses the boat

5 Comments / Church History, Overcoming, Relationship with God /

One of the truly amazing things about Jesus’ nature is that He is the Redeemer. He takes lives that are on a path to destruction and rescues them. He takes things that are bad in our lives and makes something good out of them.

To be on the receiving end of His redemptive work in our lives is always so overwhelming because it is not something that can be earned. To undeserving recipients His redemption is the free gift of His abundant grace and the hallmark expression of His love and care.

Redemption comes in many forms from small daily doses to huge breakthrough turnarounds. I love redemption testimonies because they inspire faith and hope for good to yet be resurrected out of bad.

Many times redemption is disguised as disappointment. Opportunities may pass us by. Things we really wanted and looked forward to do not materialize. Or one of the hardest things of all, something we have been praying for and were even convinced was God’s will for us does not come to pass.

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The God Hunt

Growth & Development, Relationship with God /

Have you ever been thinking or talking about someone when out of the blue they called you or you just happened to run into them? What about being anxious about some important event when unexpectedly everything just fell into place and/or someone came along to help at just the right time?

A number of years ago a popular concept and practice in Christian circles was the idea of going on a God Hunt. It was introduced through the ministry of David & Karen Mains who had a nationally known radio ministry called Chapel of the Air. The idea of a God Hunt was the challenge to daily look for evidence of God working in our lives. The premise being that God is always at work but we often miss it because our eyes are not open and we are not sensitive to recognize His activity in our lives.

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