Faithfulness Toward God is a Lifestyle and It Bears Fruit

How many times have you been discouraged?

How many times have you made a decision to strengthen your relationship with Jesus only to find yourself discouraged and at the verge of giving up?

You get discouraged because it seems as though your prayers aren’t being answered or it seems like God doesn’t hear you or He doesn’t speak to you, right? But thankfully, the Word of God has the answers we need.

Hebrews 11:6 NKJV – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

I want you to pay attention to the part of the verse that says

He is a rewarder

As you can see it is clearly telling us that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him,

but the key is to: diligently seek Him.

Diligently means: purposefully, deliberately, carefully.

This is a process which becomes a lifestyle: Diligently seek God.

How many of you have planted something in your life? Maybe an apple or orange tree.

You didn’t put the seed in the ground one day and after two days you were drinking juice for breakfast from the oranges from that tree, right?

– No, it doesn’t happen like that, but eventually after a while you will be able to drink juice every morning from your oranges for a season. after that season passes, you’ll need to tend to that tree in order for it to give you fruit the following season and so on and so forth.

-The same principle applies in the kingdom of God. When you and I remain faithful to His word, eventually the seed of the word that was sown in our hearts will bear fruit. But it takes time. Look at this following verse:

Mark 4:26-29 NKJV – And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, [27] and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. [28] For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. [29] But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

  • There’s a process, we don’t know how it happens but it’s at work.

Last summer my 16-year-old teenage daughter planted some zucchini seeds. Every day she watered them and was careful that bugs didn’t get in to eat her seed. After some time the vines began to sprout, the flowers began to bloom, followed by the zucchini (fruit).

Every day my daughter took care of her crops and every day she would come, and she would tell me: “Mom, you should see how my zucchini grew from yesterday to today. It’s amazing how they grow from one day to the next.” When the zucchini was ready to be harvested, she would cut them and come home with the fruit from her seed. She cooked it, gave some to other families in the church and she rejoiced every time she saw how her seed produced fruit.

– How? We didn’t know how they grew; we didn’t know how the earth caused them to grow, but the fruit came in time and we enjoyed it to the fullest.

-This is how the seed of the Word works in us too.

Our heart is the ground in which the seed of the word is sown, the more we listen to the word, the more we water the seed, and we tend to it, the fruit will eventually come.

We tend to it or we take care of that seed sown in our hearts by avoiding corrupt words, doubt, unbelief and fear to enter our hearts or go out of our mouths. We must always speak the Word of God. Every season in our lives must be centered in the Word of God and His faithfulness.

So, everything in the Kingdom of God is seed, time and harvest. You must never give up on your faith just because the word doesn’t seem to be working. If you continue steadfast in your faith you WILL see the results. It’s a promise.

  1. Corinthians 3:6 NKJV – I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

You see? Here’s the process again. Seed, time and harvest.

God will bring the fruit of the seed sown in you. His Word is true.

Isaiah 55:11 NKJV So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Galatians 6:9 NKJV And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Now look at what these next verses are revealing to us:

Hebrews 4:14 NKJV Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Hebrews 4:15-16 NKJV For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Verse 15 is telling us that God understands our weaknesses, He knows what we’re going through, but He is also telling us that there’s a part we play in all this. We must hold fast to our confession, what confession? Our confession of faith, what we’re believing.

If we continue to walk by faith, we will continually see God’s faithfulness toward us because He has promised to fulfill His blessings to us. But there must be a commitment from our part to Him. We see that example in:

2 Timothy 1:12 NKJV – For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

If there’s no commitment from you toward God, then He won’t have anything to back you up with.

If there’s a commitment of faithfulness from you, God will back that up, support you, sustain you, and you’ll eventually see the fruit of that seed.

Therefore, refuse to give up. Refuse to allow the devil to control or dominate your God-given ability to walk on this earth as a child of God.

Don’t change your confession of faith no matter the circumstances, God is with you. He will help you. Fix your eyes on Him, the author and finisher of your faith. (Hebrews 12:2). You will see the fruit of your faith.

What God says about Borders and Boundaries

For the most part, Christians have asked me questions about what is happening on the border between Mexico and the United States; my perspective is this. We, as believers and Christians must see what the Word of God says, not what secular media or people with certain ideas think. In social networks it is very common for people to give their opinions – and – everyone has an opinion, but we must base ourselves on what the Word of God says. For this reason I clarify that this message is for Word of Faith Ministries’ Faith Partners; for people who connect with us and already know that we are a teaching Ministry. This is not for outsiders to comment on or share their opinion upon. If you disagree, then this message is simply not for you. This message is exclusively for the people, Partners of our Ministry, who are Christian believers, who believe in the Word of God and the Bible. If you do not believe in the Bible then this is not for you. Don’t waste your time writing comments expressing your disagreement, especially if they are socialist, communist, or democratic propaganda; nothing of that interests us. We are interested in nothing more than what the Word of God says.
Let’s go to the book of Acts.
Acts 17:24-26 (NKJV)
24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one [a]blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings…
Note that it says boundaries, there we see that the idea of ​​borders does not come from man, it comes from God. Now let’s us go to the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 32:8 (NKJV)
8 When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations,
When He separated the sons of Adam,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the [a]children of Israel.
Again, notice that it uses the (boundaries) term. The word limits comes from the Hebrew gebûlâh which means Bound (Hebrew) gebûlâh
region, border, boundary, territory, coast, border, territory, or limited territory.
Deuteronomy 32:8 Expanded Bible (EXB) 8 God Most High gave ·the nations their lands [L each nation its inheritance], dividing up the ·human race [L sons of man]. He set up borders for the people
·and even numbered the Israelites[a] [L according to the number of the sons/T children of Israel].
Note that it says (borders for the people). Therefore, those organizations promoting Nations Without Borders, and similar organizations are anti-Biblical. This socialism mentality is infiltrating into the United States and other nations, wanting to become and establish a globalist government.
If you have a house and have a fence, you have a border. Your own house has borders, you are limiting a place. Where you have the living room, where the kitchen is, where the bedrooms are. All this means (a border), a territory or a limited space. If you have a house and have a wall or fence, you are limiting your territory. God knew that nations were going to have different cultures, different ways of thinking, that’s why the idea of ​​borders comes from God, not from men.
So, wanting to come and go as is happening now at our borders, is as if I wanted to enter your house by force because I’m having problems in my house and I want to go into yours, wanting to
invade and say ” I have problems in my home you have to take me in.”
We believe in helping, the Bible talks about helping people, helping is Biblical, what is not Biblical is wanting to invade by force. God established the nations of the world and there are so many verses that speak of this, an example is in Joshua chapter 1.
Joshua 1:3-4 (NKJV)
3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.
So, here God is setting limits. People from any other country cannnot come in this manner; destroy a border like the one that was destroyed between Guatemala and Mexico. That tells us that there is no respect of the people toward others and to a nation’s border (limits). Mexico must and has the right to enforce and execute its laws and cannot have people walking around through the country as if nothing is happening. It is as I explained, take your home for example. If people from your town, from your own country want to invade your boundaries (your house), just two or three families come to your home, I don’t believe you would like that. It is not correct and it is not Biblical, is not the right way.
The Bible says in James 4:6 (NKJV)
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
These people need to walk in humility in these situations, they cannot demand that another country fix their lives, they cannot demand that the United States fix their issues because there are problems in their home country. In this case the people must put a demand on their own governments.
I assure you that there are many Christians in that caravan, but these people must learn the Word of God and learn what the Bible says and apply that Word in their own personal lives. What this socialism is wanting to do is to develop a globalist government, and all this is preparing the way for the antichrist. Globalism wants to take us to a single government, a one-world order, just one.
Many of the people who come in the caravan, truly believe that what they’re doing is correct but it is not the right way. They do not know much about this, but they are being financed by pure socialist groups, and in part by the democratic party. And I go back to the same thing. What does the Word of God say? We need to get into the Word of God to know what it says about this. There are verses that speak about this. In the book of Numbers, He uses the same word “boundaries” and uses the word “borders”. Numbers 21: 13-15; Numbers 22:36, Numbers 34, the book of Numbers is tremendous and there are so many verses from which to draw on what the Bible says about this subject. This is for believers, this is for people who know the Bible, people who understand the Bible and believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God.
Many of the groups that are organizing this do not believe in the Bible. Let’s go to the book of Numbers.
Numbers 34:2-3 (NKJV)
2 “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries. 3 Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea;
The words boundaries and borders are the same word in the Hebrew. Then, each nation has the right to protect its borders, as the Nation seems fit. Mexico must protect its borders, and I say this as a Mexican from the state of Sonora. Mexico must protect its borders and the people must respect those borders. It does not matter if it is a fence made of cyclonic mesh, or if it is a wall or a wire fence, it should be respected. We cannot come and run over it.
Even we as Hispanics, or Mexicans in any nation, cannot just go and demand rights to another country. As Mexicans, we cannot go as a mob to England or France, Venezuela, or Argentina, In Central and South America, we do not have the right to go and demand things out of these countries. It is wrong, it is wrong from the Biblical point of view and that is the point of view that matters the most and foremost.
Numbers 34:2-3 (EXB)
2 “Give this command to the ·people [L sons/T children] of Israel: ‘You will soon enter Canaan and ·it will be yours. These shall be the borders [L …this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its borders/boundaries]: 3 On the south you will get part of the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Zin near the border of Edom. On the east side your southern border will start at the south end of the ·Dead [L Salt] Sea,
6 “‘Your western border will be the ·Mediterranean [L Great] Sea.
7 “‘Your northern border will begin at the ·Mediterranean [L Great] Sea and ·go [L mark/draw a line] to Mount Hor.
9 Then the border will go to Ziphron, and it will end at Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.
10 “‘Your eastern border will begin at Hazar Enan and ·go [L mark/draw a line] to Shepham. 11 From Shepham the border will go ·east of [L down to] Ain to Riblah and ·along [L go down to] the hills east of ·Lake [T the Sea of] ·Galilee [L Kinnereth]. 12 Then the border will go down along the Jordan River and end at the ·Dead [L Salt] Sea.
“‘These are the borders around your country.’”
In The New King James Version says
12 the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.’ ”
Again, borders or boundaries, limited territory is what the Hebrew word means, it’s as clear as water. This message is for you if you are a believer, a born again Christian, and a disciple, because you can be a Christian but there are many ignorant Christians when it comes to the scriptures who do not understand or do not know or never have been taught this. I am talking to the disciples and no one else, secular or democrat party opinions do not interest us, much less if they are communist or socialist ideas. Do not waste your time writing comments, they will be deleted.
Grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen!
Pastor Ignacio Hughes

Lift Your Head Up

Although there are “crushers” in life, there are also “lifters”. In Psalm 3: 1-3, the Psalmist says that in spite of his distressing situation, he does not despair or begins to become depressed, because his trust is in the Lord, who raises his head.

When we are depressed, it seems that everything around us collapses. We lose strength; our heads, hands and hearts begin to lower. Even our eyes and our voices are low. We become weary because we are looking at our problems instead of the Lord.

Whatever it is that causes us to despair, the Lord encourages us with his Word to raise our heads and our hands and look at Him. We find one of those many examples in Genesis 13:14, when God tells Abraham, when he had been defrauded by his nephew Lot, to “lift” his eyes and looked around him in all directions, because he would give him as his inheritance all the lands as far as his gaze could reach. In Psalm 24: 7, the psalmist says: “Lift up, doors, your lintels, and stand up, old doors, which the King of Glory will enter.” In Timothy 2: 8. The Apostle Paul encourages the people to pray “raising holy hands.”

It is good that we remember those instructions today. When people disappoint us, God wants us instead of becoming discouraged and depressed, to choose to raise our heads and eyes and look around at all the possibilities, not problems, trusting that He leads us to a better situation. Because He has it for us. We may be tempted to say: I am good for nothing! Instead of moving in a new direction like Abraham did, But the Lord constantly exhorts us to lift our eyes and our heads to inventory our blessings and stretch abundantly.

No matter how many circumstances you had in your life up to this time, you only have two options. One is to surrender and leave everything; the other is to keep going. If you decide to continue, you only have two options. One is to live constantly depressed and bitter; the other is to live hopeful and joyful. Choosing to live with hope and joy does not mean that you will never again find yourself in disappointing and discouraging situations; it means that you have decided not to let it get you down. Instead you will raise your eyes, hands, head and heart and look not at your problems but at the Lord. Who has promised you will see abundance and victory.

THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD

In this New Year we must dedicate, consecrate, consult, and put the Lord first in everything.
Give thanks for the gift of life and eternal life that we can have in Him. That all the things we have as health, family, work, friendships even the smallest things are results that our Father loves us and that we are important to Him.
The word says in Proverbs 16: 3: “Commit your plans to the Lord and your thoughts and works will be affirmed.” Other versions say: “Put your acts in the hands of the Lord and your plans will be realized”. This tells us that we must take it into account.

Clearly the Word tells us in Proverbs 3: 5-8. That we trust in God that means we trust in Him, that we walk in Faith, that we act in His Word, that we do not lean on our intelligence because He sees beyond, his plans are much more prosperous and wise. Jeremiah 29:11 “…plans for peace and well-being” ! And it says “… in order to give you a future and a hope”: Our year is assured in God!

Going back to Proverbs 3: 6: “Recognize him in all your ways…” He says in all your ways, all the decisions, and projects, plans, questions, everything we should leave to Him.
Also in the same chapter verse 7 says: Do not be wise in your own opinion, that we respect it and turn away from evil.

What is to turn away from evil? It is to turn away from everything that goes against the Word of God, anything that distract us, in life, everything that wants to stop the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, then in verse 8 tells us the result: Because it will be medicine to your body and refreshment for your bones”.

Proverbs 3: 9: “Honor the Lord with your wealth And with the first fruits of all your crops (income)” as we have delivered our year into his hands, let all we do be for the benefit of the kingdom.
Glory to God for this year.

The Lord said in Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah),
Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. (which means that the poor do not have to be poor in any area not only economic) … He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy), (He speaks of restoring destroyed lives broken hearts … Broken by circumstances, betrayals, lawsuits, marital separations, broken relationships with children, problems at work or just having no God in their lives, our Lord came to restore the spiritual separation we had with Him).
Therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.

In Luke 4:19: to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly].” Glory to God our Lord who brought us the gifts of just mere life but his Spirit within us, we are not alone.
We can be supplied with his Grace and his power through Faith.
Jeremiah 31: 3 “…I have loved you with an everlasting love;
May we dedicate this year entirely to the Lord. Blessings!

What Thoughts Are Controlling Our Minds?

—Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 
Words spoken by the Apostle Paul to the Philippians, which continue to be full of wisdom, true, and still active for the Body of Christ today.    Our mind is the battleground where the Devil comes against us. Here is where he brings thoughts contrary to the Word of God. Thoughts, which later drive us to speak against what God says about us.  
Each word that comes out of our mouth was first a thought. In other words, our thoughts can become words if we give those thoughts enough attention, be it for our benefit or detriment.  
Philippians 4:8 says: 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if any praise, think on these things.

The latter part of this verse indicates that we can control our thoughts. Notice it says, “think on these things,” you decide!

Let us look at one more scripture,

2 Corinthians 10:5
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Once again, the final part of this verse says: “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Which are those thoughts that have to be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ?
–Each thought that is not in line with the Word of God
–Each thought that wants to bring discouragement
–Each thought that drives us away from the Word of Truth
–Each thought that drives us to doubt the Word of God

Who is Christ?
–The Word, John 1:1, John 1:14
Therefore, you can bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (The Word)

How can we bring thoughts into captivity to Christ?
–Speaking what the Word says about those thoughts
**You cannot cast down thoughts with other thoughts. In other words, wrongful thoughts must be cast down by speaking (The Word).

Let’s do an exercise. Begin counting the numbers from 1-10 in your head. When you get to number 10, speak your name out loud. What happened to the numbers you were counting in your head? They stopped, right? Why? Because a spoken word interrupted that “thought.” It is the same way when bad thoughts come to us, when we speak The Word, those thoughts will be cancelled, “brought to the obedience of Christ,” The Word.

Now there is no reason for the Devil to gain ground over us. On the contrary, we now take control over our thoughts and we decide what to think.

–Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely…

Pastor Nuvia Hughes