KINGDOM BIBLE STUDY | WEEK OF JOY DAY 3 | WEDNESDAY 12TH JULY 2023

 KINGDOM BIBLE STUDY | WEEK OF JOY DAY 3 | WEDNESDAY 12TH JULY 2023

OPENING PRAYER

Shekinah greetings to you. Can we pray as we start this Bible study this morning? Just tell God how already you are to receive the word of God. Just tell him Lord I am ready to receive your word. Talk to me. Thank you for the night. Thank you for this great day. You have given unto me by your grace. Bless this day and let your name be glorified forever and evermore in Jesus name we have prayed and we say amen and amen.

REMINDER

We are talking about joy and I told you that your joy level is connected to your faith level.

I told you that little faith worries (Mathew 6:13). Little faith is fearful (Matthew 8:26). Little faith struggles to believe. (Matthew 16:8)

WEAK FAITH

Today, let me proceed and now we will talk about weak faith.

Romans 4:19, “…and being not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead when he was about 100 years old. Neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb.”

Considered not …

Abraham did not consider his body dead when he was in 100 years old.

 

WHAT IS THE CHARACTERISTIC OF WEAK FAITH?

Weak faith walk by sight.

The Bible says that we walk by faith not by sight. Your faith and your sight are two different things. The sight refers to what you see. What your physical eyes see. Faith refers to what your spiritual eyes see.

So, we don't walk by what we see physically but we walk by what we see in the spirit.

Your sight is the enemy of your faith.

STUDY CASE 1 | JACOB

Remember Jacob the man of God.

He had a problem in his life and the problem of Jacob was he was a man of weak faith.

His children came with the cloth of Joseph with the blood on it. When Jacob saw the cloth, his faith crumbled and he concluded that Joseph was torn into pieces which actually was a lie, a deception. For believing the lie of his sons, Jacob mourned for Joseph for twenty good years.

Reason being because the devil knows that we believe naturally what we behold.

But I always have some questions to ask Jacob.

Seriously. Can't you remember the dreams of your son ? That he was a star called to shine brighter than the stars of others? Unfortunately, he forgot the dream that his own son had. And he believed in what the devil showed him.

I want you to know this … Don't allow what the devil is showing you to rob you of your joy…

We walk by faith not by sight.

For 20 years, Jacob was a very unhappy man. So his problem was weak faith.

STUDY CASE 2 | PETER

Peter was walking on the water as long as his eyes were on Jesus. And he was excited when he was walking on the water. But finally what happened is the devil showed him the wind.

And the Bible say it was boisterous and then it started sinking because of what he saw.

I want somebody to know whatever the devil is showing you today, it is a lie.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FACT AND THE TRUTH

You must draw a line between the fact and the truth.

The fact is what you see. The truth is what God says.

It was a fact that the cloth was Joseph’s. But it was not the truth about Joseph.

So Jacob should draw the line between the cloth of Joseph and Joseph himself.

The devil is a liar.

I always remember a lady who called me 1 day and while she was pregnant some years ago, she told me that she saw see blood. She panicked because according to her, that blood was miscarriage.

And I told her, “You saw blood. Don't call it miscarriage. It is different. Blood and miscarriage are two different things.”

Do you see how the devil can play with your mind? That was a mind game.

That lady was so worried that I told her, “You know what? Your baby is alive. Go in peace.”

She went and as I have said, the baby was there.

But the devil wanted her to believe in what she saw.

So weak people or people with weak faith are people who walk by what they see.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. (Romans 10:17)

STUDY CASE 3 | ABRAHAM

It is amazing to see here that Abraham being not weak in faith considered not his body now dead.

What is to consider?

To consider means to give attention to. To consider means to respect. To consider means to give importance to. That is the meaning of to consider.

Because of his faith, Abraham did not give importance to what he saw. The importance was in what God said not in what he could see.

Yes, practically the body was dead. Yes, practically Sarah could not conceive, but the bible says … “being not weak in faith…”

What he saw did not weaken his faith.

My questions to you today are … What do you consider? Who do you consider? Who do you give importance to? Is it a doctor? Or is it God? Is it what that man said? Or is it what God says? Who do you give importance to? It depends on you at the end of the day. Praise be the living God.

So, it is you to know who you give your importance to.

People of weak faith will never have joy. Do you know why?

 

Because everything around us will at any point in time cause us to crumble in our faith : Everything we can see. The news we can hear. Inflation is coming. Taxation is going high. Social media, TikTok. Facebook etc.

STRONG FAITH

But there is another level of faith which is strong faith.

In Romans 4:20, the Bible says, “Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. But was strong in faith. Giving glory to God.” 

I pray that you will have that strong faith like Abraham who was strong in faith.

WHAT IS STRONG FAITH ABOUT?

1- The strong faith is the faith that stands on the promise of God.

It is the faith that stands on the promise of God.

It is the faith that believes that God says so it shall be so.

I pray for you to have that kind of faith in Jesus name.

2- The strong faith is the faith that gives glory to God even when nothing allows to

The bible says, “Though his body was dead and Sarah's body was dead, he did not consider that but gave glory to God.”

Are you seeing that? Despite all that was happening in their bodies, he gave glory to God.

There are people who give glory to God for what is happening. There are people who give glory to God for what is not happening.

How can you give glory to God for what is not happening?

In fact, it is easy to say, “Father, thank you for what you have given to me. Thank you for what I have. Thank you Jesus because of what they did”.

But can you come to a place where you say, “Father, thank you for what I did not see. Or, thank you for what you say.”

Now come on. Can you come to a place where you give thanks to God not for what you see but for what God says?

That is the strong faith that Abraham was operating in.

He was giving glory to God for the Word, for the Promise.

Lord, I give you glory for what you promised me. Though I don't see, though it is not happening, but I give you glory.

Come on and give the Lord praise this morning hallelujah. In Jesus precious name.

GREAT FAITH

Another faith level of faith? That's great faith.

We find the Great faith in Mathew chapter 8:10, “He marveled and said to them that followed verily I say unto you I have not found so great faith. No not in Israel.” 

Jesus says, “I've not found…”. What does it mean? It means that God is looking for those with great faith.

What Is Great Faith?

A perseverant faith. A determined faith. A no-giving-up faith. An until-you-bless-me faith. That is the kind of faith God is looking.

 

IT TAKES FAITH TO HAVE JOY.

It takes faith to have joy. And joy is a sign of faith.

In Matthew 1528, then Jesus answered and said unto her, “O woman, great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt and her daughter was many whole.”

Joy is a proof that you fully trust God.

THE 3 COMPONENTS OF FAITH

The 3 components of faith are : trust, hope and confidence.

Component One | Trust

The component number one of faith is trust.

Faith is a package and in the package called faith you have trust. You can't have faith and don't trust.

There are people who have trust issue. They don't trust God. That's why I want to ask you a question this morning : Do you trust God?

Imagine a father in the swimming pool reaching out to the three years old child standing at the edge and the father is telling the son to jump. Because he trusts the father, the baby will jump.

If you don't trust God you don't believe in God and You don't have faith.

What is trust?

Trust is a firm reliance on the integrity, ability or character of God to keep his Word and to do what He promised he will do. That is trust.

Trust is knowing that God is a is a God is the God of integrity. He can't lie. He can't lie to me.

 

Do you trust God?

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU TRUST GOD? 

1^st SIGN | PEACE

The Bible say in Isaiah 26:3, “You keep in perfect peace those whose mind are stayed on thee because they trust in thee.”

Are you getting what I'm talking about? So you will know that you trust when you are at peace.

That peacelessness that you are having is a proof that you don't trust God.

Those who trust God rest in him knowing that God is able.

Do you know that not trusting God is an insult to God? When you don't trust God, it's like you are telling him, “You are not reliable. You are not true.”

2^nd SIGN | JOY

When you trust God, I don't see which devil can take away your joy.

I trust God. And no matter what is happening around me, it does not matter in my life.

May you receive the grace to trust God.

COMPONENT NUMBER 2 | HOPE

The second component of faith is hope. If you have faith, you will check it by your hope level.

That is what we call the joy of hope.

In Ecclesiastes 9:4, the Bible says, “For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.”

Friend, there is hope for the living. There is hope because God is alive.

In Job 19:25, Job says, “I know my redeemer liveth”. 

In Colossians 1:27, Paul says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”

May your joy of hope come alive in you in Jesus name. Receive the fresh baptism of hope this morning. You are alive. Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice because you are alive.

COMPONENT NUMBER 3 | CONFIDENCE

Faith comes together with confidence.

1 John 5:14, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us”

We see confidence in David. Before confronting Goliath, he asked, “Who is that Philistine who is defying the army of God… “ (1 Samuel 17:26)

We see confidence in Shadrac, Meshac and Abednego… “The God we serve is able to deliver us and will deliver us. Even if he doesn’t, we will not bow…” (Daniel 3:17)

Friend, if you want to have a continuous life of joy, work on your faith.

In 1 Peter 1:8, it is written, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory”

Have you seen that? believing and rejoicing. There is a relationship between joy and faith.

Peter talks about Believing … Rejoice … Joy Unspeakable

You can't have joy if you don't have faith. The reason why many believers are not joyful is because they still struggle with their faith.

I pray that from now on, you will build your faith. I pray that your faith will move from little to weak, strong and great faith.

HOW DO YOU GROW YOUR FAITH?

Number one | Tune your ears to the voice of God.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.

Tune into the voice of God. Hear God. Hear teachings. Hear the word of God. Permanently listen to the word, to preachings, teachings and of men of faith.

That is how faith grows.

Number two | Thirst for God.

Nothing grows without a thirst.

In John 7:37, Jesus says, “If any man thirst, let him come to me. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”

Number three | Tame your mind

It is your responsibility to tame your mind by silencing voices inside you.

In 2 Corinthians 10:4, the Bible talks about bringing our thoughts captive to the obedience in God.

Number four | Train yourself.

What I say by training yourself is exercising your faith.

Faith without works is null and void. Your faith without works is dead.

When I say train yourself I mean exercise the muscles of your faith. Nothing grows on its own. It grows as you train yourself.

Train yourself by trusting God little by little, one day at a time. Trust God for your finances. Trust God for not borrowing. By doing so, little by little, your faith will grow.

That is how I came out of borrowing. I said to myself, “I will trust God”. It was little by little and then the muscles of my faith grew

Train yourself everyday. Train yourself to not allow what you see affect you.

Of course you need also to have a trainer who will train you in the School Of Faith.

Number five | Talk

And again to grow your faith, talk the word. Your faith grows by talking.

Your talk carries power. Nothing grows if you don't talk. Don't talk problem. Talk promise. Talk the Word of God.

In 2 Corinthians 4:13, Paul says, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;”

If you really believe you will say it and you will talk.

So, you understand that joy comes as a result of your faith. The more you talk faith, the more joy will be your daily bread.

MY TESTIMONY

All my days are joyful days. God is in heaven is my witness. All those who work with me everyday can tell. I live a joyful life. Where nobody stresses me and nothing stresses me at all at all.

But it takes faith. To be joyful. And it's your responsibility to build your faith. In Jesus name.

CLOSING PRAYERS

Can we pray this morning and say

l Father, I come before you and I pray strengthen my faith.

l Lord, I want to walk by faith not by sight.

l I want to have my eyes on you not my eyes on the surroundings.

l I want to have my eyes on you not on the happenings.

l I want to have my eyes on you and my ears on you not on what people's people say not on people's opinion.

l Lord, this morning I'm saying I'm I trust you and I pray you give me the grace to grow my trust in you.

l Lord, let my faith grow.

l The Bible say believing and rejoicing. I pray that it will be my experience. Believing and rejoicing. Believing and rejoicing. Believing and rejoicing. Believing and rejoicing. Believing and rejoicing. Lord I pray that everyday will be Christmas for me.

l It is possible. But help me to grow my faith, help me to talk my faith, help me to tame my spirit, help me oh God, to thirst for your Word and hunger for you everyday of my life.

l This I pray believing and trusting in God in Jesus name we all say amen and amen.

 

FINAL WORDS

Well God bless you! Have a blessed day ahead in Jesus name. I love you all. So shall it be amen.

Let's it meet on Sunday. God has a Word for you that will turn your life around. In the name of the Lord we have prayed and we say amen and amen.

Pastor TD Kasuku