THE SUBSTANCE OF FAITH (4)

PRAISE GOD

Yes I mean praise Him! You are wondering, for what? For that which He has done and heard He can do. Such was the case of blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10v46-52. His case was so bad that it had become his other name and eventually turned a beggar. There is someone glancing through these lines now, your case is so bad that all hope have been lost concerning it and you have been relegated to the office of a beggar. God says relax, I have taken care of that now. You just go ahead and praise Him now. Remember I told you earlier not to wait until you see or feel before you make a move. Jump up now and come on praise God. Mark 10v47 says;

“And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me”

Interestingly! If you look closely you will notice that the substances of faith manifested after hearing and not before, did you? Comparing this blind man and the woman with the issue of blood discussed earlier on. They took actions after hearing about Jesus. In fact the scripture above throws more light on who precisely this blind man heard about and was also expecting. There must have been other jesus taking that path but he didn't take action until the Jesus of Nazareth came by. I have good news for you; Jesus of Nazareth is passing by now so cry out to Him.

Now, one without vision is stalled and eventually stinks because only stagnant water stinks. In fact Proverbs says that people perish without it, Proverb 29v18. So you can imagine the situation of this man but Jesus came by for him just as He is coming by for you now. He didn't keep quite thinking that Jesus saw him, yes He saw him! But He is not permitted to move concerning your case until you append the signature of your faith substance which in this man's case is praise. This is to say that it doesn't matter how bad your case is you have something to give which takes us to the next substance of faith. When Jesus heard His praise He stood still. For you He will stand still today. Again just like the paralytic man Jesus stopped to attend to Bartimaeus on the line of praise. 

So how do I apply this substance of faith? It’s simple, praise Him even in the most inconvenient and bleak circumstance such as you are in now and He will stop to attend to you. Let me sound a note against any misinterpretation here, Jesus can see that you need help but because He is the word(raw material), He is not permitted to deliver your expectations until you have processed Him into any of the faith substances.

Finally He has promised that if He is lifted up He will draw men unto Him, John 12v32 in other words you can't lift God up and not have a raise.