This week while meditating on the things that are going on around the world, the Lord dropped a thought in my spirit that I believe needs to be highlighted and will encourage you.

It is the following.

It is true that what we are seeing taking place in the world at this present moment is a sign of the last days, for the Bible says that there will be earthquakes in divers places, (Mathew 24:7) and that the sea and the waves will roar, (Luke 21:25). But the Bible also says in Acts 2:17  “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh”. Notice that God himself is saying, in the last days there will be a mighty outpouring of His Holy Spirit.

The Bible says in Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God”. Faith comes as we hear and hear the word of God, but in order for that faith to be of profit to us we have to act on the word that we hear. Verse 17 of James 2 says ”Even so faith if it has no works (action and application) is dead, being alone”.

Smith Wigglesworth said, “Inactivity of faith is a robber, which steals blessings. Increase comes by action, by using (acting on) what we have and what we know. Your life must be one of going from faith to faith. He went on to say, what we hear and learn will have greater impact in our lives when we apply it and act upon it”.

A year ago after a season of waiting, praying and preparation Gospel of Power Church officially began. With great anticipation we held our first service on Sunday March 7th 2010 not knowing exactly what to expect. However we were full of faith and confidence in our God and in what He had instructed us to do. The Lord was gracious as He blessed us with a powerful service and an attendance of 28 people.

Since our beginning we have seen the Lord continue to give a steady increase to our church spiritually and numerically for which we are so thankful. Throughout this first year, testimonies of changed lives and mindsets have continually been voiced, which confirms to us that God’s word is working in people’s lives. The message of Faith and the Gospel has been our theme throughout this year and is of no coincidence, given that this church started out by faith and will continue by faith, in God and in His word.

There is a saying in the world that goes like this ”What you do not know won’t hurt you”, for the believers, however, that statement could not be further from the truth. For us faith people, the statement should be “What you do not know will hurt you”. Let me explain what I mean by this, using the Bible as the final authority for this thought. Hosea 4:6 says the following “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”. The word destroyed in the Hebrew means: to be cut off from, to perish, etc. God is saying through His word, what will bring destruction and separate us from the source of our blessing is lack of knowledge. Knowledge is the word of God. God’s word, reveals to us His will and purpose for our lives.

One day while studying to preach a message on the prodigal son, the Lord gave me the following statement,

“A decision without action is just a good intention”.

This word of the Lord came as I read verse 17 of Luke    Chapter 15, where it says that the prodigal son, while he was in the pig pen,  came to himself and said “How many hired servants of my Father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger”. In the following verse, comes the DECISION, he says “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you. And am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of your hired servants”. This is where the prodigal son makes the decision that he will leave the place where he finds himself and go back to the better place that God had for him. Notice that he could have made that decision and just stayed right there, expecting some miracle to translate him to the fathers house. That decision needed to be followed by action, or else it was just a good intention.