Month: March 2009

Will He Come Through?

On By josephbarlowIn Encouragement, Teaching1 Comment
Hello Friends,
Are you ready to walk by faith?

God loves it when His children live by faith. But that often can leave us in an uncomfortable position where our natural eyes don’t see what our heart sees. That can be tense. But if we go with what’s in our heart rather than what’s in our mind then we are choosing to walk by faith. This, my friend, is very pleasing to God.

Hebrews 11:6
 And without faith
it is impossible to please God… 
Romans 14:23
  …everything that does not come from faith
is sin. 
When God has spoken to  your heart and you believed what He said, then faith has come into you. From then on you make the decision to believe it or not.
Romans 10:17
  So then faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. 
So make a decision to believe and stand in faith because it will be richly rewarded.
Hebrews 10:35
  So do not throw away your confidence;
it will be richly rewarded. 
My friend, I’ve seen God come through over and over again. Sometimes at the last minute, but God is faithful, your faith will bring that answer in for a landing right there for you. Don’t give up. Wait for the Lord to fulfill the promise.
When that tension comes, your mind will have a natural tendency to try to make up a “safe” way for you to get what you need. Abraham did this with his wife’s maid and ended up giving birth to Ishmael. Ishmael was man’s answer, but Isaac was God’s answer; and Ishmael has never been a blessing.
Be patient my friend, wait on the Lord.
He will make a way for you.
God bless
Joe
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Take It By Faith!!!

On By josephbarlowIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
The following is a short testimony/article I wrote for a healing magazine that our church publishes called “Revive”:
So, when I was in High School, I had a thing called pharyngeal measles. It resulted in a loud hacking cough. It wasn’t contagious (as far as I know) so I continued in school coughing loudly and often. This illness was the kind that was more inconvenient than anything else. I had to go to the doctor’s office everyday to get a shot in the back end. Embarrassing, I know, but the only good thing about it was that the doctor’s of-fice was right next door to my house, so I didn’t have to go far.
One day a friend invited me to attend a three day retreat called TEC: Teens Encounter Christ. I accepted the invitation with eagerness. I was already born again and filled with the Spirit, and was looking for opportunities to increase my faith and draw closer to the Lord.
On the third day of this retreat they took each group of teens into the chapel for some more intimate prayer time. Each student was invited to pray in turn, and really just pour out their hearts to the Lord. Well, I did.
As I spoke to the Lord, I thanked Him for the wonderful weekend retreat and all that He was doing in my life. Then I said, “Lord, your word says that if I ask I will receive. So, I’m asking you to heal my body from this disease, and I believe I receive it right now.” After my group came out of the chapel, I felt I needed to testify to the larger group. So I stood up before them, and told them how I had asked the Lord to heal me, and that I had been healed. Now, I was still coughing; they all heard me. But I knew in my heart that I had asked and received. The coughing continued for the next three days, but then I was healed. Completely healed. This sickness had been going on for months. I was so happy to be healed. 
But I had to take it by faith!
God bless you friends,
Joe
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