when it comes to the fight of life, how you see God will affect your faith and how you receive from Him. Your perception of God will determine the quality of your relationship with Him and this affects everything else — the way you share God’s love with those around you, your relationship with your husband or wife, the way you respond to hardships at work…
How You See Determines How You’ll Receive
There was a young man in our church who was having a tough time with his business partner. He finally gave up his share of the business to his partner. As a result, he was without a job for a while. During that time, I had been preaching a series of messages on how our heavenly Father takes care of everything, and how all we need to do is trust Him.
The young man applied this message to his work life and prayed for a better job. He saw God as a powerful and loving Father, and simply left the matter in God’s hands. It wasn’t long before he was offered a great job. He was given the role of business manager for an engineering company in the oil and gas industry, even though he didn’t have an engineering background and was only 25 years old!
This new role basically is to run the company’s local subsidiary with another manager. He works from home and his hours are flexible. He also gets along well with the sales development manager and he says the salary is “pretty good”. Not bad for someone who needed a new job! When you see God as a giving and gracious Father, it becomes easy to receive what you need from Him, whether it is a new job, healing or a financial breakthrough.
Now, some of you may say, “Pastor Prince, we can’t always expect God to deliver us from our troubles because He may use difficult circumstances to teach us important lessons.”
Listen to me, if you are drowning and you call out to God to save you, God is not going to take the opportunity to give you a 10-lesson swimming course. He is not going to say, “Okay, step one: Kick. Now, progress to step two: Move your hands. Step three: Breathe… ”Anyone who does that is cruel!
No, God would not do that! He will save you straightaway! He will grab you and bring you to shore. Remember when Peter decided he wanted to walk out on the water to meet Jesus? When he began to doubt and sink, he cried, “ Lord, save me!” Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him. (Matthew 14:30–31) He didn’t use the opportunity to give Peter a 10-point faith course! He saved Peter immediately.
Faith Works Best When You Know God’s Love For You
Beloved, in your time of need, receiving from God becomes easy if you will see Him as a gracious Father who responds immediately to your cries. You will then expect a miracle from a God of mercy, not some painful, lengthy lesson from a God of judgment.
Don’t get me wrong, God does teach us, but He doesn’t teach us with accidents, tragedies or sicknesses.
So how does God teach us? He uses His Word to discipline or train us. If there is an area of your life that needs to be corrected, God will speak to your heart about it, perhaps through a sermon or even through your spouse! You may not like what you hear, but you need to know that He is doing it for your benefit because you are His son or daughter and He loves you. (Hebrews 12:5–11)
I want to challenge you: What kind of God do you really see? Do you still see an angry God who likes to point out your mistakes and knock you on your head? Or do you see a gracious, giving Father?
chapter 2
The Reason You Can Receive
chapter 2
The Reason You Can Receive
Two Pictures Of Christ That Demonstrate How Much God Loves You
L et me show you two pictures of Christ in the Old Testament that demonstrate how gracious God is to His people, in spite of all their complaints. When you see Him as He really is — a gracious, giving Father — it will put so much faith in your heart to receive from Him that if it’s a miracle you need, it’s a miracle
How You See Determines How You’ll Receive
There was a young man in our church who was having a tough time with his business partner. He finally gave up his share of the business to his partner. As a result, he was without a job for a while. During that time, I had been preaching a series of messages on how our heavenly Father takes care of everything, and how all we need to do is trust Him.
The young man applied this message to his work life and prayed for a better job. He saw God as a powerful and loving Father, and simply left the matter in God’s hands. It wasn’t long before he was offered a great job. He was given the role of business manager for an engineering company in the oil and gas industry, even though he didn’t have an engineering background and was only 25 years old!
This new role basically is to run the company’s local subsidiary with another manager. He works from home and his hours are flexible. He also gets along well with the sales development manager and he says the salary is “pretty good”. Not bad for someone who needed a new job! When you see God as a giving and gracious Father, it becomes easy to receive what you need from Him, whether it is a new job, healing or a financial breakthrough.
Now, some of you may say, “Pastor Prince, we can’t always expect God to deliver us from our troubles because He may use difficult circumstances to teach us important lessons.”
Listen to me, if you are drowning and you call out to God to save you, God is not going to take the opportunity to give you a 10-lesson swimming course. He is not going to say, “Okay, step one: Kick. Now, progress to step two: Move your hands. Step three: Breathe… ”Anyone who does that is cruel!
No, God would not do that! He will save you straightaway! He will grab you and bring you to shore. Remember when Peter decided he wanted to walk out on the water to meet Jesus? When he began to doubt and sink, he cried, “ Lord, save me!” Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him. (Matthew 14:30–31) He didn’t use the opportunity to give Peter a 10-point faith course! He saved Peter immediately.
Faith Works Best When You Know God’s Love For You
Beloved, in your time of need, receiving from God becomes easy if you will see Him as a gracious Father who responds immediately to your cries. You will then expect a miracle from a God of mercy, not some painful, lengthy lesson from a God of judgment.
Don’t get me wrong, God does teach us, but He doesn’t teach us with accidents, tragedies or sicknesses.
So how does God teach us? He uses His Word to discipline or train us. If there is an area of your life that needs to be corrected, God will speak to your heart about it, perhaps through a sermon or even through your spouse! You may not like what you hear, but you need to know that He is doing it for your benefit because you are His son or daughter and He loves you. (Hebrews 12:5–11)
I want to challenge you: What kind of God do you really see? Do you still see an angry God who likes to point out your mistakes and knock you on your head? Or do you see a gracious, giving Father?
chapter 2
The Reason You Can Receive
chapter 2
The Reason You Can Receive
Two Pictures Of Christ That Demonstrate How Much God Loves You
L et me show you two pictures of Christ in the Old Testament that demonstrate how gracious God is to His people, in spite of all their complaints. When you see Him as He really is — a gracious, giving Father — it will put so much faith in your heart to receive from Him that if it’s a miracle you need, it’s a miracle
Similar Books
