Let Patience Have Her Perfect Work
God has put some things in my spirit to share before I continue on from my last testimony, and I am going to obey Him. It has been real interesting to see the order in which God has directed me to put these testimonies on the internet, and as He brings them up in my spirit to write, that is exactly what I am doing. Praise God!
In Hebrews 10:35-36 it says, "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." James 1:2-4 continues on with saying, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
Over the years, I have had to change my will to God's will, and believe what God's Word says. It has not been a real easy thing to do, but as I have humbled myself, God has granted me the grace to receive that engrafted word, which is able to save my soul. And the Lord said I had need of patience and to let her (patience) have her perfect work. That word patience is continuance. Continuing to believe the gospel under all kinds of evil that is set against you.
When I first got in this walk, God would do one miracle after another for me just to get me to believe Him. But the day came when He said, "Okay, now you are going to mix faith with this gospel and trust in it, rely on it and adhere to it until you see the manifestation of what you are believing for." My soul despised this. I wanted 'easy and instant' Christianity. But I could not find that in the Bible. I could find where it said to fight the good fight of faith, that we would wrestle with powers, principalities, rulers of the darkness, etc., not to be weary in well doing, that many were the afflictions of the righteous, that the trial of your faith would be tried as fire, and so forth. I could also see that salvation is a process and that word salvation meant deliverance from every hindering influence. Religious spirits speaking out of people's mouths had deceived me about this walk with God (plus I could not read fifth grade, but I finally learned how!!). They always made it sound so easy and that no effort had to be put forth. And also, if you had pressure, you were going in the wrong direction. How wrong they were! I have learned that when you are walking in the Spirit, you will have pressure because you are walking against the powers of darkness, and those powers are what you are fighting to overcome. Jesus said that in the world we would have tribulation (pressure), but to be of good cheer, for He had overcome the world.
At one time I assumed that if God spoke something to you -- bingo -- it would take place right as He spoke it. But I saw with Abraham that God gave him a promise and it took Sarah and him twenty-five years to get their faith perfected to the place they could obtain that promise. (In Galatians 3:8, God preached the gospel to Abraham). It says in Hebrews 6:15 that after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. My heart also had to come to the place to see that it was not God holding back anything from me - it was doubt and unbelief in my soul and also powers, principalities and wicked spirits (Ephesians 6) that were set against me to hinder me and to try and stop me.
Over the past 13 years, God has been leading me to overcome the Jezebel spirit, and this has been one major overcoming in my life. Remember, with every promise there is a will of God, and overcoming this spirit has been part of God's will for my life in order to receive some promises He has made to me. As I have stated before, this is one of the most wicked spirits and it has hindered me many times (only because of my lack of perfect faith), but it cannot stop me from receiving His promises. I just keep fighting and praying until my faith is perfected and then watch them manifest in front of me. (When I continue on with my next testimony on coming out of the apartment, you will see what I experienced there). The thing I have had to keep my heart on is that all of these spirits have been judged and Jesus overcame them when He was raised from the dead. And the victory that overcomes them is my faith.
God will always deal with our hearts when He puts us in these situations. And anything in our hearts that is not the gospel opposes the will of God. The foundation that the apostle and prophet ministry has laid in my heart is what has dealt with all those lies and false concepts about walking with God. An Apostle is what God has set first in the church - if it is a church. Otherwise it is nothing but a religious gathering teaching you lies, instead of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, which is the power (ability) of God unto salvation to those that believe. The gospel will perform everything in your life that you will ever need - lies will only give you false hope and produce nothing.
I have observed Doyle's life and how he has fought for everything he has ever received from the Lord -- fighting in prayer day and night, constantly overcoming the powers of darkness. About ten or eleven years ago I remember asking him, "Is that all you do is overcome?" I was serious. I had never heard of anyone having to overcome anything in this walk with God. And then when I read that the victory that overcomes the world is your faith, I thought it would be a one time overcoming. The Lord spoke to me and told me I did not even like to hear the word 'overcome.' And He was right. It would offend me to hear it. It was total unbelief. But the day came when I started 'overcoming' in my own life, and those overcomings started producing results. And that was encouraging.
I read where we were not to think it strange concerning the 'fiery' trial which was to try (prove) us, but to rejoice, because we were partakers of Christ's sufferings. And the only sufferings that counted were when you were tempted not to believe this gospel when all kinds of wickedness was set against you. All of this was part of the Christian walk - so in the beginning it was a real eye opener, to say the least. But what this gospel has produced in my life thus far, has been far above anything I could think or ask. The rewards that God has for a person that will obey Him far outweigh the 'fiery trials and sufferings' we will go through. He even promises us 'heaven on earth' and that is what I am going to see. There is a verse in Romans 8:18 that the Lord has ministered to me on numerous occasions, and that is, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory (honour) which shall be revealed in us." And in I Peter 4:12-13 where He talks about the 'fiery trials and sufferings', He goes on to say, "...that, when his glory (honour) shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." Praise God.
There is nothing in this world that even comes close to walking in the Spirit of God, because Jesus always gives you the victory in every situation He leads you in. In the world you hear 'win some and lose some', and the fact is you win none and lose all, and who needs that. Right? One thing you will have to do in this walk is lay down your life and pick up the life of Jesus. And laying down your life is where the struggle begins, but God's grace is always sufficient. (And faith is what accesses that grace and thanksgiving causes that grace to abound!) So be encouraged, and let patience have her perfect work, because the work that He has begun in us, He is well able to finish.
See you next time - and remember, BELIEVE THIS GOSPEL.
