Never Give in to False Symptoms
When Jonah was in the belly of the whale,
he said, They that observe lying vanities forsake
their own mercy. (Jonah 2:8). Lying vanities
are false symptoms, and they will weaken
your faith if you allow them to.
Jonah was in an awful situation; yet he said,
I will sacrifice unto thee God with the
voice of thanksgiving (Jonah 2:9). He was
thanking the Lord for delivering him from the
stench and darkness of the whale’s stomach
even before God had delivered him, and God
honored Jonah’s faith. And the LORD spake
unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon
the dry land (Jonah 1:10).
If you have any false symptoms after receiving
prayer, use your faith and continue to thank
the Lord for your miracle until you are completely
well; but some of you never do that.
You may think you’re waiting on God when
you say, “I will praise God if He ever delivers
me”; but you will be waiting for a long time
with that attitude. You have to believe that
your miracle will take place and thank
God for it before you see results.
If you had gone to the Lord for
salvation with that same attitude,
you never would have been
saved. You can’t say, “Oh,
Lord, if you will save me, I
will believe you!” Salvation
doesn’t work that way. You
can’t receive true salvation
and then believe; you have
to believe the Lord can wash
away your sins before He will
do it.
Use Your Faith
Some people will talk about their faith, sing
about it and even testify about it; but that is as
much as they do with it. You have to use your
faith if you want it to work for you. James
said, For as the body without the spirit is
dead, so faith without works is dead also
(James 2:26). God is a God of faith, so you
reach Him through faith; and you can do that
any hour of the day or night. God is always
within reach.
People bring so much sorrow and heartache
upon themselves by doubting God, not using
their faith and waiting to see before they will
believe. When Jesus was going to raise Lazarus
from the dead, He said to Lazarus’ sister
Martha, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou
wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the
glory of God (John 11:40)? You must decide
that you will believe what the Lord has said
no matter how far-fetched it might seem. If the
Lord said it, it will be done.
You must believe.
Jesus had told the disciples about His crucifixion
and resurrection to come. And he
began to teach them the disciples, that
the Son of man must suffer many things,
and be rejected of the elders, and of the
chief priests, and scribes, and be killed,
and after three days rise again
(Mark 8:31). But they soon
forgot everything He had
told them.
If the disciples had actually
believed to see, they
would have had peace
even when Jesus was
being crucified because
they would have known
that He would rise again.
Then they would have
gone throughout Jerusalem
while Christ’s body was in
the sepulcher and spread
the good news about Him
being resurrected on the third
day. They also would have been at the tomb
when Jesus came forth, but those things did
not happen because they didn’t live by faith
and believe to see.
You too have to believe to see, or you will
not receive from the Lord. He may have performed
a miracle for you many times, but
you missed it because you didn’t use your
faith and believe to see.
March 2021 Vol. 66, No. 3 The Power of the Holy Ghost (USPS 516-050) is p ublished monthly by Grace Cathedral®, 2690 State Road, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44223 Periodicals postage paid at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and at additional mailing offices POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Power of the Holy Ghost, P.O. Box 1790, Akron, Ohio USA, 44309-1790
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