Today we want to examine what has been titled: The Blessing of Faith, and I want us to be attentive to every word the Lord will be sharing with us so that we are not left behind. The focus of our discussion today is perhaps the difference between peoples across the nations. The difference between the people whom we call leaders in faith and people who we know as followers in faith. And I want us to understand that what God has prepared for us is that we can shift our levels, that we can shift in our experience so that we can move to a new level. Enough of being at a particular spot. It is important that you understand that there is a plan of God for you that is beyond where you are right now, and for you to get to that point, you require what we are discussing today.

 

Listen To Podcast: THE BLESSING OF FAITH: DISCOVER THE LINK BETWEEN YOUR FAITH AND YOUR FULFILLMENT

 

Under that title, The Blessing of Faith, we want to examine how you can discover the link between your faith and your fulfillment. Discovering The Link Between Your Faith And Your Fulfillment. Now if we say that we are looking at the blessing of faith, we are indirectly looking at something that is going to exempt us from the course of fear. I am sure you know that when you are not walking in faith, the Bible says whatever that is not done in faith is sin. And now, Bible says God has not giving us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind. Now to show us that there is nothing about fear that is godly except the fear of God. So, when a man is walking in fear, he is no more walking in faith, what he or she will have at the long run is curse.

 

So, if you don't want to be cursed through your own unbelief, it is important you understand faith and the place of faith in securing your fulfillment in destiny. It is important you know that God has a great plan for you and I. However, if we will ever get there, faith is a necessity. And I want us to go to the book of Luke 1, and I will read verse 45. It says: "Blessed is she who believed." But we are expected to be a people who don't just believe, or who are not just a people who have believed, but a people who believe. The Bible says here "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”"

 

"Blessed is she who believed." Now you could change that "she" in case you are a man, to "he who believes." Blessed is the man, blessed is the woman, blessed is the young lady, blessed is the young man who believes. Now, for this statement, Elizabeth has inspired by the Lord was talking to Mary, that blessed is Mary who has believed what God has said unto her. And because she has believed, everything God said concerning her life will come to pass. So, whether you will fulfill your destiny is not just a matter of circumstance or maybe or maybe not. It is a matter of time. However, if you will ever experience what God has said He will do in your life, you must be a man or woman that believes.

 

Mary was spoken unto that at so and so time, something will happen or take place in her life that will affect her generation. Now she had not yet began to experience the symptoms of pregnancy, neither has she nursed any child before in her life. So, what was spoken concerning her is something she has never seen. You remember where the Bible says eyes have not seen it, ears have not heard it, it has not yet entered the hearts of men the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. Now it is possible that the plan of God for your life is unseen, it has never been witnessed before in your generation. It could look so big and bogus, however, if you can believe in the Lord and take every word that you have received from the Lord as the law, you will experience everything that the Lord has said concerning your life. It is not in doubt, it is certain, it is sure. Blessed is she who believes. Blessed is Gboyega Adedeji who believes for there will be a performance, a fulfillment of the things that God has said to him.

 

I am sure God have spoken to you. Now, if you believe what God has said, you will have it. Even though God has spoken to you, if you do not believe, you will not have it. It is not maybe or maybe not, it is not a function of probability or circumstance, it is a function of your faith. So, what determines your fulfillment in destiny is not because the economy is buoyant or not buoyant, it is not because there is more electricity or lack of it, it is simply because you are woman who believes, you are a man who believes. So your faith is that differentiating factor, that determinant in marking your difference in your generation. If your life will be rosy, if your life will be beautiful; if your life will be such that is enviable, it is not because you are handsome or tall, it is just because you believe. Your belief is your difference, and your belief is the secret for your success.

 

So, if you will become great; it is because you believe. Let us quickly look at the book of Romans 10:10. The Bible says "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." With your heart you believe, with your mouth you confess. And after you have confessed, you will experience salvation. However, if you will ever experience salvation; it is simply because you have first believed. It is because you have crossed the hurdle of the believe that you are able to get to the point of confession. There will be nothing to confess if there is nothing you have believed. So if you want to do a good job now, you will do a good job in believing, because this is the basis for your faith. It is the basis for your transformation and turn around. The growth, the increase, the new job, the new work, the husband that you desire, will come to you simply because you believe.

 

You see, when we are looking at salvation, while we understand that the Bible was talking about salvation from the bondage of sin, that also connotes every other kind of thing that you need to be salvaged from. Now, if there is anything that has been holding you down for so long and you need to get out of it into a new experience, you require salvation. Now two things are required: Your belief and your confession. You confession could be learned. People could teach you how to confess. However, you must come to a point in your life that you say "I must determine the things that I believe." While people could determine the things you confess, you must determine the things that you believe. It is important you settle the area of belief before you could ever treat the area of your confession.

 

You see, you could go to conferences and they say "confess" or you go for church programs and they teach you confession. But when it comes to the matters of the heart, it is your responsibility. Now people could talk about it, but you will be the one to really determine the things you believe. Now you could gather five thousand people in a particular place and tell them the same thing. Some will believe, some will not believe. It is not the speaker that determines the beliefs of the people, it is the people that determines their own beliefs. You could ask everyone in the audience to repeat after you, now what they are repeating is what  you are saying. They don't have to believe. You are simply telling them something and you are asking them to repeat after you.

 

Now I want you to repeat after me: "Lord Jesus, I give my life unto you. I will no longer commit this and that." But does it mean you really believe what you are saying? Do you really have to believe to say it? Now the point is this: anybody can interrupt or influence your confession. But when it comes to your belief, it is determined by you. So you must settle it. That part of you that requires you. It is like when a man's salvation relies so much on him, on the things he or she believes. You see if all that can change your life is just your confession, anybody around you could just help you to confess and your life will change. But any confession outside your belief, it is effort in futility. That is why you must begin by believing, until you confess only the things you believe, you are not able to see visible or tangible results or events taking place in your life. So the change, the growth, the manifestation of God's grace that you desire requires your belief for them to materialize.

 

Now, if you have been hearing about the Holy Spirit, and you have never believed in the person of the Holy Spirit. Of course, if you see people speak in tongues, you could try to copy them, but you will never be able to experience the power of the Spirit until you believe. It is not in trying to copy people, it is understanding the basis for the experience. And if you must have an experience on this earth, the foundation for it as the Lord is showing us is your faith. The things you believe determines the experiences of your life. So you must settle your beliefs if you want to have a particular experience that you desire. It says "for with the heart, one believes." So you know that your beliefs is not just what you believe, you know what to do to believe. You must settle things in your heart. It is the heart condition, and then with your mouth you confess. But our focused today is not in the area of confession, but in the area of belief.

 

John 11:26-26. Now, because of the length of the Scripture, I will just talk about it. Lazarus, a very close person of Jesus Christ was sick and Jesus got to know. However, he tarried. Now when the man died, Jesus said to the disciples; "let us go and wake him up." Now, when He got there, He met the elder sister; Martha. Martha was like "if you had been here earlier, my brother would not have died" and all manner of complain. And Jesus said to her "don't worry, I am the resurrection and the life, if you believe, even though he is dead, he will rise up again." But I want us to read a particular verse, verse 25. "Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

 

So, you will understand that what will happen to Martha and her brother was so much tied to their beliefs. It was not just because Jesus loved them or Jesus did not love them, it was just because of their own belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is another place in that chapter that I want us to read; from verse 38 downward. The Bible says: "Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

 

"Did I not say to you if you believe you would see the glory of God", Jesus said. No wonder the Bible says "Blessed is she that believes for there shall be a performance of the things that have been said to her by her Lord." She does not believe everybody but she believes her Lord. And so, every word that her Lord says to her, comes to pass. Why? Because she has strong faith in her Lord. And Jesus had to remind her again; "Did I not say to you if you believe you would see the glory of God?" So over your marriage, over your business, over your ministry; over everything that concerns your life, if only you believe, you will see the glory of God. So we could conclude that the reason why many of us don't see the glory of God in our lives, in our businesses and ministries is because there are issues with our beliefs.

 

We don't have issues doubting or believing the government, we seems to believe in World Health Organization (WHO), we believe almost every other person except the Lord. And so, instead of us to settle down studying the word of God; we would rather study the news. We want to know what the WHO people are saying, how many people have died yesterday, we want to know what the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), or Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in United States (US) or any country is saying. We want to be kept abreast of facts, and yet, the more we keep abreast of facts, the more we distance ourselves from the truth. And so, instead of us believing in Him, we believe other things and we have not been seen the glory of God. When you don't see the glory of God, then you will see the shame of the world. You will see the horror of the world. You will see the calamity of the world.

 

"Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”" Then Bible says in verse 41: "Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me." Even though there is Coronavirus in the world today, Father I thank you because you have heard us. Over every disappointment, over every issue that has become a problematic situation across the nations of the earth; Father we thank you because you have heard us. And He says: "And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Everything comes to belief.

 

You see, Bible says Jesus could not do so much in some places, including the place He was born. Bible says the reason was because of their unbelief. A prophet is not without honor except from His own country. And the issue is nothing else other than belief. You see, your belief is what determines your experiences, not how pitiable you are, not by your cry, not by your begging. Your experience can be different from every other person's experiences by your own belief. When Jesus was done saying that, He called forth Lazarus, and he came forth. Why? Jesus believed. And what happened that day was so that more people could believe. Because of the numbers of believers could increase on the earth, then we could see more of God's glory across the nation.

 

Let us go to John 6:27-29. Bible says: "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” ²⁸ Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." "This is the work of God", is that not interesting? Many of us identify ourselves as workers in the Household of God. We identify ourselves to be ministers of God, servants of God. And they were asking' "How shall we do the works of God?" And Jesus said "this is the work of God, believing in Him whom He has sent."

 

So, your responsibility is to be a believer in Christ Jesus. So the more you believe, or everything you do to believe in Christ is considered by God to be work. So every time you are sacrificing, you are learning, you are doing anything, towards believing in Christ, you are said to be a worker, one who serves the living God. Because, the more you believe, the more you are able to replicate on the earth.

 

Let me just jump ahead of myself to a particular place in John, Jesus made a statement, and I want us to see it in John 14:12 He said "most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me" because this is why you must believe in Him, this is why every time you are doing everything to believe in Jesus, you are working. See the reason, it says; "he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also and greater works than this he will do because I go to the father."

 

The reason why you could do so much to believe in Him, is because if only you could believe in Him, you will do more than He did. The works He did you will do and greater works you will do, why? because you believe. The basis for your working, your authority, is in your believe in Him. I don't know if you understand that? So when you are working, see what you are doing, you are believing. And when you are believing in Christ Jesus, God sees you to be working because God knows that your exploit on the earth, is tied to your believe in Jesus.

 

In the book of Daniel 11:32b. It says; "But the people who do know their God, they shall be strong and they will carry out great exploit." So their exploit is tied to their knowledge of God. You see, you cannot know God and doubt God. The reason why we doubt God, the reason why we are double minded as a people across the nations is because we don't know Him. The more we know Him the more we believe in Him. Now if you can believe in Him you are a strong person, and if we as a people can believe in Him we are a strong people, and our strength is not for showmanship, or for boasting it is for works, we are strong that we may do greater works, we are strong that we may do the things He did. And so if there are so many things to be done in world, on the earth and  in our churches, so many things that needs to be done  in our communities, so many things to be done yet undone, it is simply because we have so many people who don't really believe in Him.

 

Let's see a place in John 20:30-31. The Bible says; "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."

 

"These are written that you may believe" because your believe is what produce your work or your works, and apostle John went further to say; "In believing you may live." So you are not just working in faith, you are living on and by faith. So the less faith you have, the less works you do. The less faith you have, the less life you live. Jesus said in John 10:10 It says "the thief comes but to steal to kill and to destroy but I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance", and how can they get the life? Believing in Him. These things are written that they may believe and believing they may have life. So, if you are lacking in life it shows that you are lacking in your believe in Him. If only you can believe Him more you can have more life and you can do more works.

 

So your authority, your growth in the kingdom is to the degree of your faith in Him. If only you can go deeper in knowing Him, you will go deeper in believing in Him, and you will go deeper in commanding more.  So if you are lacking in grace, maybe you are also lacking in the depth of your faith in Him. Because grace and faith they work together. You cannot enjoy grace outside of faith because grace is through faith. So you are lacking in faith, you will lack grace, not that the grace is not made abundantly available, but because you lack in the means or the instruments of obtaining the grace. If grace must come to you, you require faith to access it. And if you don't have faith, you cannot draw grace, if you don't have faith in Christ Jesus, if you don't have faith in God, you cannot draw the grace of the Lord Jesus to your life and your life will be showing a life lacking in grace.

 

Jesus replied apostle Paul, He said "My grace is sufficient for you." For this matter I beseech the Lord three times that He may take it away from me, But God said "My grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in your weakness." And so what do we need grace for? We need grace to do this work. This work of ministry requires grace and you cannot have grace without faith, because you need faith to obtain grace, you need faith to know that there is a grace for the race. If you get to a point where you are clueless, you are physically weak and empty how will you ever know that you can come out of it triumphantly? Is it not through faith that you now have grace in that difficulty and you are able to say it is not by works lest I should boast I was saved by grace through faith.

 

 I know there is God in heaven who is able to help me right now, when the three Hebrew brothers were about to be destroyed they said they will still not bow. Why? They had faith in God and so they were able to draw grace. So when three people were thrown into the lake of fire or the furnace of fire and four people were found in the fire, the fourth person they found with them was grace. Grace came to them simply because they had faith. So through the faith they were able to draw the grace of God and they were able to move in the fire without been hurt.   Daniel was thrown into the lion's den and through his faith in the living God, he was able to draw grace that exempted him from destruction in the lions then.

 

If we will ever command great result in our generation, through the grace of God that is manifested in our ministries, in our lives, it is going to be because of the depth of our faith in our God. Those who know their God shall be strong and they shall carry out great exploit. So if we don't know our God we will be weak and we will do nothing. We will be making noise, empty barrel that makes the loudest noise. We won't be able to command enough result. So if we must produce result, we must believe in our God, and the question is: How can we believe in God when we don't know our God?

 

In conclusion lets go to Romans 10 again and read a few verses there.  Romans 10:14-17. It says; "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?" Can we now see, if we pause there, the point is that they call on Him, the challenge is that they have not believed in Him. Soo you see that there is always this opposition against salvation. A people in need of deliverance or salvation, cannot call on Him simply because they have not believed in Him. So if that middle wall of believe can be broken, the people will call on Him, and when they will call on Him He will hear from heaven and He will heal their land He will deliver them.

 

"How can they call on Him, in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher." Just like what Jesus said that you will know the truth and the truth will set you free, usually for the people to know the truth, certain people must take on the responsibility to preach the truth. If everybody is preaching falsehood, even though we are so busy on YouTube, on Facebook live, little will be done in our society. Why? Falsehood does not have the capacity to deliver people from bondage. What falsehood does is to perpetuate the bondage of people. Now let me give us an example of falsehood.

 

Falsehood is like a drug that promises to cure you of malaria, but it gives you another disease. Falsehood is like that promise of a better life with an inherent adverse effect. That is why you must not settle down with falsehood, you must seek the truth and as preacher of God's word, you must not just be busy talking you must find the truth yourself and you must speak the truth, understanding that speaking the truth is the only means of helping people to be built up in faith and if their faith can be built up in God, then we become a strong people and there will be more works carried out in our generation.

 

Jesus said to a people "depart from Me you are workers of iniquity, workers of lawlessness, I don't know you." But they will say "in your name we cast out demons." Jesus will say to them; "in my name you were casting out demons in your name but you are preaching falsehood, even you yourself you were following falsehood, you were leading people in error and you were led in error." And that is why there is a challenge before us today, the blessing that hangs on our destinies is only accessible by faith. If we must access the blessing that God has in stock for us, blessing ahead of us, we must work into it by faith which comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

 

We must build the people of God up in the truth allowing them to access the inheritances that God has for them via the truth. Don't just get yourself busy speaking, speak the truth speak in season, speak when it is not even the season. Speak in the morning, speak in the noon, speak in the evening, speak every time, discharge the righteous judgment of God across the nations, and by so doing the faith of the people are built up in the truth. And then what happens? Believers across the nations becomes trees of righteousness and God is glorified. There is a place I want us to conclude with in John 10:22-30. I titled that area in my note "The Anomaly Of Faithless Discipleship." Discipleship is expected to rest on the foundation of faith but when the disciples are faithless, then it becomes an anomaly.

 

John 10:22-30. The Bible says:

 

"Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. ²³ And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. ²⁴ Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. ²⁶ But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. ²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and My Father are one.”

 

Jesus said I have said so much to you but you do not believe, the works that I do, they bear witness of me, He then said My sheep hear My voice and then they follow me. Now If Jesus was talking to a people and they don't believe in Him, it shows they were a faithless people who wanted to be in discipleship. It does not work. Because discipleship is following and you can't follow those that you don't have faith in, to follow you require faith and so you must settle the matter of faith if you want to follow, if you must follow Jesus everywhere it is because you believe every word of Jesus, not some.

 

You can't believe some of the things that Jesus is saying and you want to successfully follow Him, and so if you want to make a difference in your generation, then you must be a person who does not claim to be a disciple but a disciple indeed; one that follows in faith and there is a promise, it says; "I give them eternal life." Another word for that is "everlasting life." I give them a life that is endless, a life of authority, a life that is above circumstances, they don't go about living a beggarly life, they don't go about being defeated and cheated, they are not a people of trial by error, they are led by the Holy Spirit, they work in authority, they command great exploit on the earth, they are difference makers, they are the salt of the earth, they are the light of the world, they are the city that is set upon the hill that shall not be hidden, there is a promise!

 

Following Christ is not a followership in ambiguity unto mediocrity. You have followed, you know whom you believe, and you know there is something ahead of you. Even Jesus the Bible says; "for the joy that was set ahead of Him, He endured, He denied and now God has placed Him at His own right hand far above principalities and powers." When Jesus is speaking to you, you must never forget who He is, He is the one that sits at the right hand of the Father, and the least He can pull you to is to be at the same place He is. It is better to follow God than to follow men who don’t know their own end. It is better to follow the one who says a thing, and that is it. There is a song of the great singer, Wale Adenuga. A portion of it says "…you are the God who says a thing and that is it…."

 

God is the One who speaks and His words cannot be changed or turned. You don't have to panel beat, you don't have to adjust, you don't have to dilute or to mix the word of God. The word of God is settled in heaven, the word of God is Yes and Amen. It is able to settle you, and so you must believe God. In believing Him you have life, a life that is beyond now, a life bigger than COVID-19 period, a life that is beyond now unto eternity, a life of authority.

Amen!

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Gboyega ADEDEJI!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!