2 Words in 1

Leaving and Going Ahead – a Teaching on FAITH

“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you,” Genesis 12:1.

God told the patriarch Abraham to leave his native land of Ur and to go to the place where he was being led. Abraham didn’t know where he was going, but he trusted God in spite of this. How many of us would venture out from our own city or home, and go to a place unknown?

We live in a world where we want to know the next step ahead. We want to be assured that if we leave one job that another one is lined up already. But God doesn’t usually work this way. He wants to see our faith in the process. He wants to know if we will trust him in spite of not knowing where the road will lead ahead.

We are told in Hebrews that faith is not knowing what lies ahead, but trusting and hoping in Him, in spite of this:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” Hebrews 11:1.

These things of faith apply to all areas of our life and the application of not seeing the road ahead applies to the manifold issues that we all face. The issues of faith apply to personal prophecies, and waiting upon God for his timing. The issues of faith apply to waiting for a future mate. The issues of faith apply to our children, and family members, and wondering when and if they will come to know God.

We are told that without faith it is impossible to please God, for we must first believe that he exists.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him,” Hebrews 11:6.

I remember looking back when I lost my job as a teacher and how it felt. I had a family to support and they depended upon me for their provision. I didn’t know what was ahead, and yet I knew that somehow, some way, He would take care of us. I didn’t see the city ahead; I wasn’t promised anything in terms of the world’s goods and services, but I knew that He knew.

Each of us is traveling from the land of Ur, and yet many of us don’t know what city we are going to.

” for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE.

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them,” Hebrews 11:10-16.

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Many seek sensationalism, rather than ME!

First published February 6, 2013.

“A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed,” Matthew 16:5.

“In these times, many are looking for a sign. Many are looking to the heavens; some are searching other prophecies, but the only way to really know about the assurance of these things is to seek Me. For you will find Me when you seek Me.

For many are seeking the catastrophic signs. Many are seeking sensationalism rather than Me. For I would give you a sign, and it is the sign that I gave unto Jonah. The sign that I would give you is that you must seek repentance. For a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.

For you would look to the heavens. You would seek after the stars. Do they give you the signs that you are seeking after? They would tell you that a great eclipse will happen on such a date. So, you get out your mathematical equations, and from these signs you determine what day I will return.

Oh foolish generation! Oh generation prone to sensationalism!

For have I not said that that that day would come as the lightning across the sky? So… put away your books. Put away your scientific equations. For I will come when you least expect it. Or if you would rather go away and sit in a cave and study then do that.

But most assuredly this country, this nation, will face its darkest hour during a time that is quickly approaching. You can scoff; you can moan; you can pretend that it won’t happen.
For you see, even some of your most beloved prophets say that wonderful things are ahead.

They would entice you with promising words of sunshine. They would get out their verses and say, ‘That a loving God would surely not bring devastation and judgment upon a land.’ They would proclaim that these things come from the lips of a false prophet.

Then seek Me, says the Lord, and if you are truly able to hear my still small voice then perhaps you will know the truth.

During the time when I first walked upon this earth I had a forerunner. During that time he spoke of repentance. He said that he was not worthy even to untie the sandals of the one that was to come. Well, I have other forerunners in this hour, and they don’t mix the words that I speak with the false hopes of a deluded generation.

So, put away those things that would keep you from hearing my voice. Put away those teachings that say that I AM not coming back for you. It is not a dispensation. My word clearly says what generation I will return. Who is the wise man and scholar of this generation? I have not chosen the most learned among you.

But rather, I choose to speak to those who come to me with a clean heart and have the ears to hear what I would have to say. ”

 

~ Stephen Hanson

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Stephen Hanson of In His Truth Ministries came to the Lord is a special way in 1975 and has been prophesying regularly since. In these end-time birthing pangs we are to be reminded that judgment must first begin with the household of God. Will we be prepared and ready?