Category Archives: Faith

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If You Knew You Couldn’t Fail

Attempt Great Things For God

SYNOPSIS: What would you attempt for God if you knew that he was already where your steps of faith would lead you. How energetically would you press forward if you knew he was waiting there for you to arrive? What level of confidence would you have knowing that God had gone ahead of you and secured your victory even before the battle began? The truth is, when God calls you to step out, he has not only promised to be with you, he has promised to actually go before you, and while you may not see around the bend of faith, God is already there with your victory in hand.

If You Knew You Couldn't Fail - Ray Noah

Moments With God // Focus: Judges 4:14-15

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get ready! This is the day the Lord will give you victory over Sisera, for the Lord is marching ahead of you.” So Barak led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle. When Barak attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic.

What would you attempt for God if you knew the Lord was marching ahead of you? What grand thing would you pursue if you knew that he was already where your steps of faith would lead you, waiting for you to arrive? What level of confidence would you have knowing that God had gone ahead of you and secured your victory even before the battle began?

When God calls you to a step of faith, you are guaranteed his presence and his power, which means that you are invincible in the journey. Moreover, he has not only promised to be with you, but he has also promised to actually go before you, and while you may not see around the bend of faith, God is already there, waiting for you to take the victory lap for a victory that he won for you. How cool is that!

That is exactly what the prophetess Deborah is telling the reluctant general of the Israelite army, Barak. He is shivering in his boots knowing that his army is outmanned and outgunned by the Canaanite army of General Sisera. We are told in Judges 4:3, “Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.” 900 iron chariots to Israel’s none…no wonder, on a human level, Barak was not too excited about leading Israel into battle.

But this battle was not going to be fought only on a human level. No battle is. In the spiritual realm, God had already heard the cries of the Israelites and had determined to deliver them from their oppressors under the guidance of Deborah the Judge and Barak the General. In light of that, the fight was over before it even started. Barak couldn’t see that, but Deborah could. That is why she told him, “now get out there and fight, for God is already ahead of you and how guaranteed the victory. C’mon, go take your victory lap.” And that is exactly what Barak did, and a great deliverance for Israel was accomplished.

Perhaps you are a little uncertain about what’s next for you. Maybe you’re not too confident about your future. Maybe the circumstance you face is overwhelming, from a human perspective. You are outnumbered and outgunned. But where God is asking you to step out in faith, those odds do not matter one iota. God is on your side; he is with you, he is actually before you. He is already where he has called you to go, waiting for you to walk into a victory that he has secured for you. You cannot lose. So take heart.

Therefore, because of God’s exemplary record of faithful goodness in leading his people to victory, do not be afraid to trust an unknown tomorrow to a known God. So get ready! This is the day God will give you victory, for he is marching ahead of you. That is God’s promise to you!

In a verse similar to this, King David said to his son Solomon as he gave him the daunting task of building a temple in Jerusalem to the God of Israel,

Be strong and courageous and get to work. Don’t be frightened by the size of the task, for the Lord God is with you; he will not forsake you. He will see to it that everything is finished correctly. (1 Chron 28:20, LB)

Whatever is before you, if God is calling you to step out, then do it with confidence. God is already out there where you have been called to go. And he has guaranteed victory if you will go with him!

Take A Moment: Picture your greatest challenge. Once you have that in view, picture God already there waiting for you. Now get out there; go take a victory lap in a victory that God has won for you.

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Tying God’s Hands

Only You Can Surrender Your Willful Unbelief

SYNOPSIS: What is the one thing Jesus can’t do? Violate a person’s willful unbelief, that’s what. He will help a person’s humble admission of unbelief (“Lord, help my unbelief”), but he will not impose his Lordship on someone’s refusal to give him a chance. And that includes you! Only you can control your willful unbelief.

Moments With God // Mark 6:5-6

Jesus could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief.

This is one of the most amazing texts in the entire Bible. Jesus—the second person of the Trinity, the visible image of the invisible God; the one who existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation; the one through whom God created everything in heaven and on earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t see. Think of all those things Jesus created and controls, even when it doesn’t seem like things are under control: thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Yes, Jesus is the one by whom all creation is held together (Col 1:15-17). He is the one who had raised the dead, healed the sick, delivered the demonized, fed the five thousand, and walked on water. Astoundingly, this very Jesus could do no mighty works in his own town because of the unbelief of the people who knew him.

And even he—the one who had seen it all—was amazed by their unbelief. I would dare say it must take an awful lot to stump Jesus!

What is the one thing Jesus can’t do? Violate a person’s willful unbelief, that’s what. He will help a person’s humble admission of unbelief (“Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’” Mark 9:14-25), but he will not impose his Lordship on someone’s refusal to give him a chance.

Now before we get all huffy about Jesus’ neighbors, do you think we sometimes do that with Jesus, too? Haven’t we seen his glory, tasted his goodness; been touched by his love and grace and power, yet we still question his right of Lordship over our lives? You might say, “but I don’t do that!” Yes, you do—so do I! How? We do that when we give in to doubt, worry, fear, depression, anger, or engage in any number of other self-medicating, self-destructive acts, like overspending, overeating, oversleeping, over-talking, over-sharing, over-indulging in sexually addictive behaviors, substance abuse…and the list goes on.

Why would we surrender to any of those harmful and deceptive things when we have seen and touched the power and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ? Truthfully, I don’t know why we would. Sometimes my own propensity to resist Christ’s loving Lordship amazes me.

Here’s what I do know: If we will take an honest look at where we are resisting Jesus’ right to rule over us—both passively and willfully—and come to him with a humble request that he help our unbelief, even that crack in the door will be enough for him to do his mighty works in our lives.

Otherwise, you will be tying God’s hands. And that will amaze even him—and not in a good way. So instead offer him your humble, simple faith, and Jesus will likewise be amazed—and I mean in the best way possible, just as we see in Luke 7:9,

Jesus was amazed. Turning to the crowd he said, “Never among all the Jews in Israel have I met someone with faith like this.”

Take A Moment: Offer this prayer sincere today: Jesus, there are still areas of my life where I resist your Lordship. Help my unbelief. I open the door of my heart to you and invite you to burst through it to accomplish your mighty works in me.

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Dependently Wealthy

Something Greater Than Our Independence

Synopsis: God provided manna for the Israelites to eat, but only a day at a time. They could only collect enough manna for that day, but they could not store it for tomorrow. Why did God do it that way? So that every twenty-four hours they would have to trust God to meet their need. That is where the verse came from, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deut 8:33) You see, God has made it so that we must come back to him daily because he is the source of all we need. That is why Jesus taught us to ask God for daily bread: to keep us ever mindful that our Father, himself, is the source of our life.

Moments With God // Proverbs 30:8-9

Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

Who doesn’t want to be independently wealthy? Anything that provides independence, especially here in America, is highly prized. That’s why our most treasured national document is the Declaration of Independence.

Yet there is something greater than our independence, and that is our utter dependence on God. When we live in the daily awareness of our absolute need for God, we are dependently wealthy—and there is nothing better. That is what this proverb is saying—a vital Christian life principle that was repackaged by Jesus most profoundly when he taught us in the Lord’s Prayer to pray,

Give us today our daily bread. (Matt 6:11)

Did you notice two times in just six words Jesus refers to “daily?” Apparently, that was significant to Jesus. Why daily?

It is the only time in the New Testament that this particular Greek word was used. In fact, this word baffled scholars for years because they couldn’t find a record of it in ancient Greek literature—sacred or secular. Then, between 1947-56 the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and the word “daily” was found in both business and religious documents. It referred to a daily shopping list of perishable items good only for that day.

That brings up an important point to what Jesus is saying: Even though God is our provider, his promise to provide is provisional. That means prayer is not a blank check. Jesus deliberately chose the word “daily” not because God likes to hear us beg but to teach us the importance of expressing our day-by-day dependence on God.

Now that is hard to relate to since for most of us, we have not just today’s food, we have tomorrow’s food and next week’s food in our freezer. And when we run out, we have Costco, which is not like a grocery store; it is the size of an international airport. Employees do not use box-cutters; they drive forklifts. Your shopping cart is the size of a Volkswagen. You do not get individual items; you pick up pallets of food. When you check out, it is akin to making a car payment. Then you haul it home and you must figure out where to put all that stuff.

In twenty-first-century America, daily bread is not much of a felt need. Even still, that daily bread comes from God and it can be taken away in a heartbeat, so we should never take God’s provision for granted. But even if daily bread is not our need, we probably have other more pressing needs: a difficult marriage, sour finances, an under-paying job, an impure addiction, or a life-and-death battle with cancer. And the pressing issue is if we will trust God and lean into him to meet our needs today. The need may not be for food, but our need for God’s provision of daily bread is still just as great.

Remember in the Old Testament when God provided manna for the Israelites to eat, but only a day at a time. They could only collect enough manna for that day, but they could not store it for tomorrow. Why did God do it that way? So that every twenty-four hours they would have to trust God to meet their need. That is where the verse came from, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deut 8:33)

What does that mean? God has made it so that we must come back to him daily because he is the source of all we need. That is why both this proverb and Jesus taught us to ask God for daily bread: to keep us ever mindful that our Father, himself, is the source of our life.

What is your manna? What drives you every twenty-four hours to say, “God, you are my source, and I am going to trust you for this. Today, I declare my dependence on you.” When you learn to lean into that truth every day, you have become dependently wealthy—and there is no better way to live!

Take A Moment: First, look up and memorize Philippians 4:19. And second, take five minutes to write out your own Declaration of Daily Dependence.