Faith is Action

This is part  two of “Praying in Faith.”

A couple of weeks ago I posted on faith.  In that post, I said simple human faith is found in the phrase, “Seeing is believing.”  In other words, I’ll believe it when I see it.  I also said that REAL faith is found in the phrase, “Believing is seeing,” or I see it because I believe it.  But that’s not the whole concept. 

There’s another component that’s also very important, that’s embodied in this phrase, “Faith is action.”  So, what I want to post today, is part two, of that post:  Faith is Action.

Acts 14:7-10 (NKJV)
^14:7 And they were preaching the gospel there. ⁸ And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked. ⁹ This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰ said with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" And he leaped and walked.

Going Beyond Seeing is Believing

I want to start by refreshing your memory:

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)
^11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

I talked about this in the context of the woman with the issue of blood.  She’d been afflicted for twelve years.  She’d spent all her money on doctors.  She’d been hoping for a cure, thinking, “I will be cured when the symptoms disappear.”  This is how most of us are – We have to see it in order to believe it. 

Then the woman sought out Jesus and found Him in a multitude.  She KNEW that she would be healed, if she could just touch the hem of His garment and she took the action necessary to see that done.  Jesus then told her, “Your faith has made you well.”  Where was her faith found?  It was found in the action.  That action of faith was the thing that made the healing that she had been hoping for real.  Those things that are hoped for become real when we act as if they are.  That brings us to our text.

Here is a man in Lystra, who has been crippled for his entire life.  Paul comes across him as he’s preaching in that city.  Paul sees the man listening, sees that he has the faith to be healed and says to him, “Stand up straight on your feet!”  The man leaps to his feet and walks!

Let’s look at what happened here.  The man is sitting there; this is what he’s always done.  He’s been like this his whole life.  He hears the Gospel and he believes.  Now, this is where it gets interesting.  Paul tells him to stand up on his feet.  At this moment, from the man’s perspective, nothing has changed.  He hasn’t seen any change take place in his legs.  He hasn’t walked a step, yet.  He’s still the same as when he sat down, except that now he has faith, and in that faith, without seeing – He leaps up!  Suddenly, that healing becomes real.

All of us that are Christians have faith.  We have the faith to be healed – The problem is that we don’t act as if we are already healed.  There was no apparent evidence that the man was healed before he leaped up.  He just believed it and acted as if it was true, and it became real.  Faith is found in action.

The woman with the issue of blood is the same thing:

Mark 5:25-28 (NKJV)
^5:25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. ²⁸ For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."

For twelve years she suffered.  She went to doctors – The Bible says she suffered many things.  She wasn’t getting better, in fact she was getting worse, but she knew that if she could just touch Jesus’ clothes that she would be well.  She believed.  She had faith, and so having faith that this would heal her she did it:

Luke 8:44b (NKJV)
^8:44b And immediately her flow of blood stopped.

She wasn’t getting better as she got closer.  She wasn’t hoping that touching His clothes would heal her.  She believed, and took action in that belief:

Luke 8:48 (NKJV)
^8:48 And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

Faith is found in action:  Faith IS action

Contrasting Real Faith with Just Believing

I wonder how many of you really believe the promises that are written out for you in the Bible.  Promises like this:

Malachi 3:10 (NKJV)
^3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

God promises blessing when we bring our tithes.  How many of you are willing to put that into action?  The man from Lystra heard the promises in Paul’s preaching and had the faith to leap up, even though there was no visual evidence that anything would change.  Do you have that kind of faith when it comes to tithing?

What about this promise:

Mark 16:17-18 (NKJV)
^16:17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

God promises that when hands are laid on the sick they will recover.  How many believe that’s true?  So, who has the faith to lay hands on the sick?  Who has the faith to be well when hands are laid on you?  The man in Lystra and the woman with the issue of blood did.

I want to show you the difference between believing wholeheartedly and Faith:

Mark 4:36-38 (NKJV)
^4:36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. ³⁸ But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

So, here we have the disciples riding with Jesus across the sea.  A storm comes up.  The boat starts taking on water.  These men are experienced fisherman – They have seen storms before.  This is nothing new for them. 

They know Jesus.  They’ve seen the miracles and the power.  They know who He is.  They’ve followed Him.  They believe in Him, wholeheartedly.  They had to know that is wasn’t His destiny to drown in the sea.  So, why was there so much fear?  Jesus even asks them, “How is it that you have no faith?”  We know that they believe, but we don’t see the actions of faith.  If they had faith they wouldn’t have woken him up.

Now, I want to show you someone who has faith:

1 Samuel 14:6 (NKJV)
^14:6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few."

Here’s the story:  Israel is facing the Philistines, once again.  Only Jonathan and Saul have real weapons – swords and armor.  Jonathan believes the statement, “Nothing can restrain God from saving by many or saving by few.”  He believes that, wholeheartedly.  He speaks that to his armor bearer.  Remember, in my last post, “The Rabshakeh” I wrote that words have power.  The Rabshakeh used them to deceive, discourage and demoralize.  In this case, Jonathan uses them to incite faith in his armor bearer. 

Jonathan put that belief into action – Faith is action.  Right then, he went from believing to faith:

1 Samuel 14:15-16 (NKJV)
^14:15 And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling. ¹⁶ Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude, melting away; and they went here and there.

God moved.  Jonathan’s action of faith activated a move of God.  The man from Lystra was healed as he leaped.  The woman with the issue of blood was healed as she touched Jesus’ clothes.  The Philistines were defeated as Jonathan moved up.  God will move as YOU take an action of faith.

Most of us are like the disciples in the storm.  We believe – but in the storms of life we allow unbelief to creep in.  Not completely; we don’t stop believing in God:  We just forget that a move of God is activated by our own movement; the movement of our faith.

How to Put Faith into Action

So, how can you turn faith like Jonathan’s loose in your life?  Jesus tells us how to put faith into action in Mark 11:

Mark 11:22-23 (NKJV)
^11:22 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. ²³ For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

So, there it is – “Whoever says…”  Stop and listen to yourself sometime.  How many times do you speak in unbelief?  When we get healed we act as if it’s temporary.  “It doesn’t hurt right now… at this moment; I believe that it’ll be back later, though.    Stand up straight on your feet!  How many times have I heard that? – “I would if I could.”  Here I sit, in this wheelchair.

The point here is that you have to begin by changing the way that you think about faith.  You have to begin by speaking I faith.  We say things like “God WILL help us.”  “God WILL change our circumstances.”  That’s not speaking in faith, though.  It’s speaking in hope.  Faith says, “I’ll receive it right now.”

1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV)
^2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.

This is a really interesting scripture.  It doesn’t say by His stripes you WILL get healed.  It’s not future tense.  It says by His stripes you WERE healed.  This is Past Tense, as if it has already happened.  So, we are already healed – Why aren’t we living that?  Why aren’t we speaking that?  Faith is right now!  It’s already happened.  If we think and act like that then it will be so.  Jonathan says, “He can heal by many or by few.”  He didn’t say maybe He can.  He said nothing restrains Him.  There is no roadblock to a move of God if you have faith.  Often, we are the roadblock.

Begin to speak and think in faith.  The actions will follow.  God blesses when we give.  God heals when we lay hands.  It doesn’t matter what we see… It matters what we do!

Editor’s note:  I preached this sermon in my church, recently.  At the conclusion of the sermon, I stood up out of my wheelchair.”

Weiji 危機: Danger and Opportunity

The Chinese word translated in English as crisis is weiji 危機 (way gee).  The word is made up of two distinct characters wei (危 = danger) and ji (機 = opportunity).  So, in the minds of the ancient Chinese, all crises are made up of two components, danger and opportunity.  As we face a crisis, many times, our reaction to that crisis will determine whether we see catastrophe, which is the result of the danger, or victory, which is the result of opportunity.

Today, I want to post on crisis and our response to it.  Let’s look at our text:

1 Samuel 13:1-7 (NKJV)
^13:1 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, ² Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent. ³ And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear!" ⁴ Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal. ⁵ Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. ⁷ And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

The Crisis

  

In order to begin we need to define the word crisis in English.  The word crisis according to Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary can be defined as a crucial turning point in an affair or in a series of events:  A critical moment, favorable or unfavorable.  In simple terms this is the moment when the outcome of a particular circumstance or a set of circumstances is dependent on the action that you take at the moment.

An example of a simple crisis might be that you are driving down a road at a high rate of speed.  You’re heading toward a fork in the road, where you must make a decision to turn either right or left.  Turning one way will take you to a beautiful resort hotel, and turning the other way will take you to an unpleasant swamp.  You have no idea which place is in which direction.  You must make a decision to turn either right or left.  When you have reached that point where you MUST take action and turn the wheel one way or the other you have reached a crisis.  The way you turn the wheel will determine the outcome of events that takes place after that time of crisis.

In our text we see the unfolding of a crisis in the lives of two men, Saul and Jonathan.  Both of them have reached a moment of crisis, where action must be taken.  In this situation they had very different responses to that crisis and because of their responses they had very different outcomes.

Saul has taken three thousand men, two thousand he kept with him and one thousand he sent with Jonathan.  Jonathan attacked a garrison of the Philistines.  This was a declaration of war.  It was as if Saul was saying to the Philistines that he was willing to make war on them; that he would no longer remain under rule by them.  The Philistines, for their part responded to this declaration by coming to Michmash prepared or all out war with Israel.

Look at their responses:

Thirty thousand chariots

Six thousand horsemen

And so many foot soldiers they couldn't be numbered

This mighty army, armed to the teeth was sent to face three thousand Israeli soldiers, none of which was prepared for war, especially to face an assault of this magnitude. 

1 Samuel 13:22 (NKJV)
^13:22 So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.

The Bible tells us that as a result the men of Israel were frightened and began to melt away, hiding in caves and trembling.  We see their reaction in verses six and seven of our text.  The number of men following Saul had deteriorated from two thousand men to about six hundred. 

So here is Saul’s moment of crisis.  The Philistines have gathered to face him with an army vastly larger than the force he commands.  His people have become frightened; they’ve begun to desert and hide themselves.  He’s left with about six hundred men to face all of these enemy troops and his response will determine the future of his kingdom and his rule of Israel.

This is an all out assault on the people of God.  The Philistines are holding nothing back; it’s an overwhelming assault by the forces of Hell.  The enemies of Israel represent the forces of Hell in the Bible.  These are the enemies of God.

Today, as God’s people we face an almost daily assault by the forces f Hell.  We’re in a position that’s not unlike that of the people of Israel.  We, as the church, are also facing an assault as we all face crises in our own lives.  What made Saul’s situation so dire is that the men of Israel began to desert and hide under the pressure of the confrontation.  They were unwilling to face the forces of Hell, individually in their own lives.  This is the pressure point that led to Saul’s response to the crisis.  Our individual responses to crises will affect and determine the response of the church.

That response will either bring the realization of the danger or the realization of the opportunity.  We will all face crises throughout our Christian walk because we will all face tribulation or spiritual persecution throughout our lives.

Acts 14:21-22 (NKJV)
^14:21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God."

So we must be prepared to endure tribulations and in enduring them be ready to respond to crises.

The problem for the people of Israel at this time is that they were under bondage to the Philistines.  The Philistines had rule over them.

1 Samuel 13:19 (NKJV)
^13:19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears."

So as a result the Israelis were unprepared for war.

1 Samuel 13:22 (NKJV)
^13:22 So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.

They didn't have weapons of warfare.  They couldn't have effectively fought even a force that didn't outnumber them, little less this overwhelming army that they faced.  This lack of preparation also influenced Saul’s response to this crisis.

As you face crises are you prepared for the battle that will ensue if you stand and fight, or are you so unprepared for battle that your only recourse is to withdraw.  These men who deserted weren't cowards, they knew that they were unprepared to fight and face certain death.  So their response to the crises that they faced was to desert their positions, but what if they had been prepared for battle, would their response be different.  I believe that preparation for crisis will help us to respond in a manner that will bring victory rather than defeat.  We can prepare for spiritual battles and crises in our lives with the proper equipment.

Ephesians 6:14-18 (NKJV)
^6:14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--

Our Weapons:

     Truth – Jesus Christ ther way the truth and the Life

     Righteousness – We are made righteous through Christ

     Preparation of the Gospel – That we are ready with the Gospel.  This is what got Jesus through the      assault on him by Satan in Luke 4 – “It is written;” He knew the scriptures.

    Faith – Small faith can move mountains

    Salvation – our minds are renewed in the will of God

    Prayer – What you ask in my name will be given

This is our weaponry; this is what we’re given to fight battles with.  Are you pared to fight or are you allowing yourself to be ruled over by the forces of hell?  Not having the liberty of the Gospel at hand is bondage, isn’t it?  Not having the weapons of our warfare at hand, not being prepared to repel the enemy is bondage to that enemy.

During he cold war, people called Ronald Reagan a warmonger because he refused to negotiate with the enemy on the Strategic Defense Initiative.  This was a system of satellites that would destroy incoming missiles.  He always said that peace came through might.  He called America’s nuclear weapons “the Peace Keepers.”  SDI and an aresenal of nuclear missiles meant that we had the weapons to protect ourselves from our enemies aggression.  We were prepared to meet that enemy in battle.

The real problem is that a lack of preparedness will force you into a response that will be fraught with danger because you’re not able to seize the opportunity.

In 1967, the enemies of Israel attacked.  Israel is a small nation surrounded by enemies on all sides.  Those enemies are larger countries with much larger population, but Israel was prepared for war.  They knew that their enemies wanted to destroy them and they responded and not only defeated their enemies but increased the land of Israel.

They seized opportunity out of crisis because they were prepared.  Our response to crisis will be made out of whether or not each of us is prepared for all out war.  If we’re prepared for war we can see the realization of the opportunity presented by the crisis.  If we are unprepared we will see the danger realized.

Two Responses

In our story Israel is faced with a real crisis, and there are two leaders during this time, Saul and Jonathan.  We see here two different responses to the same crisis.  Let’s examine each of them

Saul’s Response

1 Samuel 13:8-12 (NKJV)
^13:8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. ⁹ So Saul said, "Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me." And he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. ¹¹ And Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, ¹² then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering."

Saul’s men had scattered, he was facing an enormous army with a small force, and the men were beginning to desert and scatter.  We can see the outline of his response in his explanation to Samuel in verses 11 and 12:

“And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, ¹² then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.’”

First he tells Samuel, “I saw the people scattering from me.”  He’s thinking that it’s up to him, that he has to do something to keep it all together; that he had to do it on his own. I can see his thought process here, “I’ve got to do something to keep these people from leaving, it’s all up to me.”  This is not a response of faith this is panic.  So, what he does he do?  He takes it upon himself to offer the burnt offering, but he should have waited for Samuel.

Who does Samuel represent?  He represents God, he’s the man of God.  So Saul is not waiting on God’s plans or purposes.  Samuel told him to wait  seven days at Gilgal and I will come and make the offering.  Look at this verse:

1 Samuel 10:8 (NKJV)
^10:8 You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do."

Samuel told him, “I will make the burnt offerings,” but what else did he tell him?  “I will show you what you should do.”  In other words God has already given him a plan.  God already had a purpose for what was taking place. “I will come and show you what to do to end this crisis according to the will of God.”  So, Saul isn’t looking for God’s counsel, either.  He’s thinking, “Samuel’s late. God’s not here when I need him, so I’ve got to suck it up and do what I think has to be done.” 

1 Samuel 13:12-14 (NKJV)
^13:12 then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering." ¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."

The Kingdom is taken from Saul.  His response to the crisis resulted in the danger being fully realized.  He’s lost the kingdom, he’s lost it all and that was hwhat he was afraid would happen if he didn’t act on his own anyway, wasn’t it.  That’s what drove him to make the decisions he did.  “I can’t fight without the men, so I have to act to keep it all together.  It was the action that he took to keep the kingdom together that cost him the kingdom. 

Contrast this with Jonathan’s response:

Jonathan’s Response

1 Samuel 14:6-12 (NKJV)
^14:6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few." ⁷ So his armorbearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart." ⁸ Then Jonathan said, "Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them. ⁹ If they say thus to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they say thus, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up. For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us." ¹¹ So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, "Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden." ¹² Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, "Come up to us, and we will show you something." Jonathan said to his armorbearer, "Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel."

Jonathan is facing the same crisis.  He’s hopelessly outnumbered; his men are just as unprepared.  In fact, as we saw, only Jonathan and Saul had any weapons.  But look at his response in verses 8-11:

1 Samuel 14:8-11 (NKJV)
^14:8 Then Jonathan said, "Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them. ⁹ If they say thus to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they say thus, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up. For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us." ¹¹ So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, "Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden."

The first thing he does is look for the will of God.  “What’s God trying to do in all this?  What’s God’s purpose.”  It’s an attitude of faith that God can use to bring His plan to fruition. 

Before he did anything he looked for God’s counsel.  “Let’s show ourselves to the Philistines and how they respond will be a sign from God as to what we should do.”  They’re standing on the promise that God has answered and will deliver them according to his word.  He knows that God can deliver despite the circumstances, if he will act according to God’s will.  In his response Jonathan sees the opportunity part of the crisis fully realized as the Philistines’ great army is destroyed not by Jonathan’s action but by God’s action.

Facing Crises in our Lives

When a church is facing a crisis, like trying to increase the presence of the church in the community by doing new and different things to reach people.  There is an opportunity to move forward and to cause the church to grow.  There are also risks.  There will be more pressure placed on us as individuals.  There will be more assaults from Hell on us as individuals; financial pressures, health pressures, marriage pressures to name just a few.  The devil will assault both the church and the individuals that make up the church.  There are two possible responses to crisis.  As in the scenario of our illustration, we can 1) put on the brakes and stop all forward momentum, or 2) we can press on turning either to the right or the left.  Turning either in panic or in faith. We can either wind up in a stinking pit of despair or in the will of God.

James 4:7 (NKJV)
^4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

This is the appropriate response to crisis.  Submit yourself to the will of God, like Jonathan as he faced the garrison of the Philistines.  “God I know you have a purpose in this, and I’m looking for your purpose and will.”  That’s Jonathan’s response.  That’s the response that wills ee opportunity realized. 

What happens if we see the danger realized?  We lose dominion, we become like Israel hiding in our holes.  We miss out on the promise of God.  There’s no deliverance, there’s no fruitfulness.  Fear doesn’t win battles, so the church struggles to stay together, forget about moving forward.

What happens, though, if the opportunity is realized?  1) We continue to gain power and dominion over the spirits that rule our city and 2) Opportunity will result in more visitors, growth in the church and revival.

Much of how the church responds is dependent on the response of the individuals who make up the church’s response to individual crises.  After all, the overall assault on the church will be made up of smaller assaults on individuals in the church. 

How are you going to react?  Like Saul, in panic, or like Jonathan in faith?  Are you prepared for battle or dominated by the enemy? 

We need to react like Jonathan.  Look for God’s will.  Look for what God is trying to do.  Desire to be a part of what God’s doing.  Be the fuse that ignites deliverance.  God can deliver by many or by few.  Either way it is by individuals responding to individual crises in faith that ignites the movement of God.  Jonathan’s action brought about God’s deliverance.  Our actions will bring about God’s promise.