The bible says in Gen 5:24 that "Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with him]." Talk about a walk of faith! The bible says that Enoch had been in a relationship with God for 300 years and the next thing you know, God interrupted their usual routine and invited Enoch into a new dimension. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews recounted this story in Heb 11:5 and stated "By faith Enoch was translated..." The Greek word for translated is actually a combination of two Greek words. The first word is "meta", which denotes "a change of place or position". The other word is "tithemi", which means "to place".
There is a wonderful revelation here. When God calls us to walk by faith, He plans to change our position or to put us in another place. Sometimes our walk with Christ can become mundane and there will come a time when God will call us to follow Him in a new and different way. The walk of faith is a challenge and there will be times when God brings about a shift in that walk because He wants to take us to a new place in our faith or change or position in the Spirit.
I used to be a soldier in the U.S. Army, in fact, both me and my wife were in the army. We are both committed Christians (she actually helped me to find the Lord). We were stationed together at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii for about four years. My wife had been saying to me that she felt that the Lord was telling her that we should stay in Hawaii. To be honest, I was hearing none of that! I had my own plan and I didn't want anything to interfere with that plan. One day while worshipping God at the altar at our church, I heard the voice of God just as plainly as if He were standing next to me (Exodus 33:11). The Lord said "stay here and help the Bishop"!
This statement was a jolt to my system. Didn't God know that it was very expensive to live in Hawaii? Didn't He remember the plan that I spoke to Him so much about? Didn't He know that the average single-family home price was $625,000? What about the $9 gallons of milk, the $5 loaves of bread, and the $4 gas? God was inviting me (and my wife) to the walk of faith; the questions was, would we follow.
Once we said "yes" to God, He put a series of things in motion that would test our faith, stretch it, and cause it to increase. The Lord gave us a miracle house that we saw built from the ground up on the island of Oahu. We have seen God make our money stretch in the early days when we only had one household income with a mortgage of $25000/month. We have a surplus of money every month now and we have never missed a mortgage payment nor have we ever skipped the giving of our tithes and offerings.
When it comes to ministry, my wife and I have had continued growth and success. We both teach the word of God and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. We grow closer to the Lord each day and closer to one another. We are on our way to more fruitful ministry in the future and look forward to the Lord using us in powerful apostolic and prophetic ministry as well as becoming financial stewards that the Lord can use to bless the nations.
We, as Christians, are called to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). This means that when God tells us to do something for Him, that is not the time to look at our physical surroundings, our bank accounts, or our [perceived] shortcomings. I have said all this to report that I have put in my two week notice at my old job and I officially have no job as of Monday, June 2nd, 2008. If there is one thing that I am sure of, it is that God is a provider. I look forward to blogging about the good report that God has opened a new door for me. Although we may never be taken away by God like Enoch or go off to heaven in whirlwind like Elijah (2 Kings 2:9-11) we can experience what it is like to be "translated" by God when we walk with Him by faith!
There is a wonderful revelation here. When God calls us to walk by faith, He plans to change our position or to put us in another place. Sometimes our walk with Christ can become mundane and there will come a time when God will call us to follow Him in a new and different way. The walk of faith is a challenge and there will be times when God brings about a shift in that walk because He wants to take us to a new place in our faith or change or position in the Spirit.
I used to be a soldier in the U.S. Army, in fact, both me and my wife were in the army. We are both committed Christians (she actually helped me to find the Lord). We were stationed together at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii for about four years. My wife had been saying to me that she felt that the Lord was telling her that we should stay in Hawaii. To be honest, I was hearing none of that! I had my own plan and I didn't want anything to interfere with that plan. One day while worshipping God at the altar at our church, I heard the voice of God just as plainly as if He were standing next to me (Exodus 33:11). The Lord said "stay here and help the Bishop"!
This statement was a jolt to my system. Didn't God know that it was very expensive to live in Hawaii? Didn't He remember the plan that I spoke to Him so much about? Didn't He know that the average single-family home price was $625,000? What about the $9 gallons of milk, the $5 loaves of bread, and the $4 gas? God was inviting me (and my wife) to the walk of faith; the questions was, would we follow.
Once we said "yes" to God, He put a series of things in motion that would test our faith, stretch it, and cause it to increase. The Lord gave us a miracle house that we saw built from the ground up on the island of Oahu. We have seen God make our money stretch in the early days when we only had one household income with a mortgage of $25000/month. We have a surplus of money every month now and we have never missed a mortgage payment nor have we ever skipped the giving of our tithes and offerings.
When it comes to ministry, my wife and I have had continued growth and success. We both teach the word of God and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. We grow closer to the Lord each day and closer to one another. We are on our way to more fruitful ministry in the future and look forward to the Lord using us in powerful apostolic and prophetic ministry as well as becoming financial stewards that the Lord can use to bless the nations.
We, as Christians, are called to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). This means that when God tells us to do something for Him, that is not the time to look at our physical surroundings, our bank accounts, or our [perceived] shortcomings. I have said all this to report that I have put in my two week notice at my old job and I officially have no job as of Monday, June 2nd, 2008. If there is one thing that I am sure of, it is that God is a provider. I look forward to blogging about the good report that God has opened a new door for me. Although we may never be taken away by God like Enoch or go off to heaven in whirlwind like Elijah (2 Kings 2:9-11) we can experience what it is like to be "translated" by God when we walk with Him by faith!
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