- Philippians 1:6

 

      I am sensing something glorious that is about to happen for those who have set their ear to hear the summons of heaven.  There is a call echoing out to the church to be positioned for an explosive advance that will thrust her forward into greater days ahead. While things around us are cascading into more and more chaos, there are divine things coming together within the community of faith that stands to redefine who we are and what we are capable of doing. 

      When we began this past year the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "I want you to heighten your awareness to living a life of faith."  I have always considered myself to be a person of faith, but throughout these past months, I am seeing something new and fresh that I have never realized before.  Faith comes in various degrees, and how we determine the level or degree of our faith is actually measured by our convictions.  The Greek word for faith is PISTIS.  It actually means a conviction of the truth.  Some of the things we hold in our conviction is more passive and domicile. They are fixed in us as permanent truths we hold dear to just like the air we breathe.  We are settled in what we believe, and while there may be things that come and try to shake our faith, we have a firm conviction that we are planted in what we know is truth and we will not be moved.

      This is the part of our faith that I like to think of as being a silent persuasion.  We live this faith each and every day.  We don't have to come out and announce it to everyone.  It is part of our walk.  The very core of our being is persuaded in what we know as truth, and we have embraced it as a lifestyle. 

      However, there is another degree of faith, which I like to think of as having within it spiritual thrusters to move us forward in our pursuit of the things of God.  This kind of faith is much more dynamic in its working, because it literally propels us forward to take hold of and seize the promises of God.  Jesus said, "Therefore, I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24).  The word "receive" is LAMBANO. It means to take hold of, to seize, to apprehend, to claim, to procure, and to take possession of.  This degree of faith has what I call thrusters that carry us out into the things that God has waiting for us.  So much of what Christ accomplished for us demands this degree of faith.  If all we do is live within the confines of our silent persuasion then much of what is our inheritance will remain locked away in the treasure house of redemption. All because there are things, even things that are our right to possess that demand more than being a casual inquirer.  They demand us being a diligent seeker!

      In the days ahead, I believe there is coming a new gust of wind that the Holy Spirit is about to blow over the church.  This wind is intended to lite up the thrusters of our faith!  It is what is going to propel us in these final days before the Lord returns.

      When Paul addressed the Hebrew Christians about this forward thrust, he said, "let us go on unto perfection" (Heb. 6:1).  The phrase, "let us go on" is all one word in the Greek.  It means to be borne forward, to drive forward, to strike forward, or to forge ahead."    The idea is like a rush or gust of wind that becomes like a driving force.  It is something impelling us with a promptness intended to further us along with speed.   This is exactly what happened on the Day of Pentecost.  A mighty wind blow in and caused the thrusters of faith to become ignited!  These thrusters propelled the church to advance the cause of Christ and to apprehend the promises of God!

      I am expected a fresh wind of heaven to blow upon us this next year.  The opportunity for us to be borne forward rests upon our willingness to pull on the anointing and to take our faith to another level.  I am holding fast that this powerful and significant thrust of faith is what will lift us up to the high places of our salvation, and what has seemingly been a restraining force against us will be broken.  Just like the sound barrier that is broken by the thrust of a jet, we are about to break through a spiritual barrier into the full manifestation of a glorious church!