"From WEARY to WORTHY Faith!"
Pastor Albert Almore
Last week…
“For the Scriptures tell us, “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, and GOD COUNTED HIM AS RIGHTEOUS BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH.”
Romans 4:3 NLT
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MIDDLE?
“It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise.”
Hebrews 11:11 NLT
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MIDDLE?
The End goal to it all is Hebrews 11:39…
“All these people earned A GOOD REPUTATION BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH…”
Hebrews 11:39 NLT
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MIDDLE, because Genesis 11:30 tells us…
“But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children.”
Genesis 11:30 NLT
The end result to it all is found in Genesis 21:1-2…
“The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would.”
Genesis 21:1-2 NLT
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MIDDLE? Because right around the middle something happened.
“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.”
Genesis 16:1 NLT
“So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.”
Genesis 16:2 NLT
Right around the middle something happened…
THE HARDEST PART OF ANY RACE IS THE MIDDLE.
In the beginning, you’re running towards the promise. At the end, you can see the promise. But what about the middle. I want to preach a message today titled…
Today’s message title:
FROM WEARY TO WORTHY FAITH
As powerful as Abraham and Sarah were, they too were only human. They too had a hard time with the middle.
“Abraham, OUR FATHER OF FAITH, believed God, and the substance of his faith released God’s righteousness to him.”
Galatians 3:6 TPT
Abraham, FATHER FAITH, had his own battles with FATHER TIME.
Abraham believed God in chapter 15. Obviously by the time we get to chapter 16, something changed. The only detail that comes to mind that inflicted this change is…
TIME
I have learned something over the last few years....
📝 Often the greatest foe of FAITH isn’t fear, but TIME.
This was the case with the troubled father that approached Jesus on behalf of his tormented son. Mark 9:20 says...
“So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.”
Mark 9:20 NLT
“So He asked his father, “HOW LONG has this been happening to him?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.
Mark 9:21 NLT
On the surface this appears to be an awkward question in the moment but Jesus was on to something. Jesus knew the effect that time plays on ones faith while in the wait. Essentially Jesus was asking how much time has passed since the first time this happened up to now, because when something first happens our faith often rises to the occasion, but over the course of time our faith begins to wear down. The father answered Jesus in verse 21,
…And he said, “FROM CHILDHOOD.”
Mark 9:21 NLT
Can’t you hear the despair in his voice, "From childhood.” Can you hear the undertone of his pain in his words. "From childhood. The first time it happened it broke our hearts but we had faith. We had faith that we would be done with this by now.” Time is often the greatest foe to your faith. This father goes on to say in verse 22,
"And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. BUT IF YOU CAN do anything, have compassion on us and help us.””
Mark 9:22 NLT
That’s what time does. Time loves nothing more than to change our confession lives. Similar to us, I imagine this father’s confession life went from, "I KNOW YOU CAN to IF YOU CAN.” This broken-hearted father said, BUT IF YOU CAN do anything, have compassion on us and help us.
Jesus says in verse 23,
““WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘IF YOU CAN’?” Jesus asked. “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IF A PERSON BELIEVES.”
Mark 9:23 NLT
📝 Time is after your BELIEF.
“Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “LORD, I BELIEVE; HELP MY UNBELIEF!””
Mark 9:24 NLT
Substantially this father was saying, "I do believe, but so much time has passed. I do believe but Father time has been whispering two words to me…
“BY NOW”
By now, you should’ve been over this. By now, this should’ve been behind you. I do believe but father time has been telling me that by now too much time has passed and it’s NEVER going to happen.
Chiefly what this father was saying with tears in his eyes was, "Lord I believe, but Help my unbelief that has set in over the course of time.”
📝 Our eternal God, The Creator of time, isn’t INTIMIDATED by time.
Our eternal God, The creator of time, isn’t intimidated by time that He created.
“But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” 15) MY TIMES ARE IN YOUR HAND…”
Psalms 31:14-15 NKJV
“About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.’””
Isaiah 38:1 NLT
“When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, O Lord, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly.”
Isaiah 38:2-3 NLT
“Then this message came to Isaiah from the Lord: “Go back to Hezekiah and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I WILL ADD FIFTEEN YEARS TO YOUR LIFE,”
Isaiah 38:4-5 NLT
You can’t add, what you don’t have. You can’t add, what you don’t control. God was able to add 15 years to Hezekiah’s life, because God had time in His hands, in His control to be able to add it!
Our eternal God, The creator of time, isn’t intimidated by time, THEREFORE NEITHER AM I!
“But WHEN THE FULLNESS OF THE TIME HAD COME, GOD SENT FORTH His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,”
Galatians 4:4 NKJV
When it’s time, nothing IN TIME, or OUTSIDE of time can stop God from sending forth what’s rightfully yours!
So let’s learn how to handle the middle, so the middle doesn’t handle us!
📝 SEE it.
“Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.”
Joshua 6:1 NKJV
“And the Lord said to Joshua: “SEE! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.”
Joshua 6:2 NKJV
“WHERE THERE IS NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PERISH…”
Proverbs 29:18 KJV
📝 HEAR it.
“So then FAITH COMES BY HEARING, and HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD.”
Romans 10:17 NKJV
📝 SPEAK it.
“(as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, AND CALLETH THINGS WHICH BE NOT AS THOUGH THEY WERE.”
Romans 4:17 KJV
“And God said, LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE, AFTER OUR LIKENESS…
Genesis 1:26 KJV
“Death and life ARE IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE...”
Proverbs 18:21 KJV
“FOR SHE SAID, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.””
Mark 5:28 NKJV
WHAT ARE YOU SAYING ABOUT YOUR SITUATION? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING ABOUT YOUR MIDDLE?
📝 HOLD ON to it.
Let us HOLD ON to the confession of our hope without wavering, FOR HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL.
Hebrews 10:23 HCSB
The moment that you begin to see it. The moment that you begin to hear it. The moment that you begin to speak it. The moment that you begin to hold on, this is when you begin to make the journey from WEARY to WORTHY faith!
“THIS I RECALL TO MY MIND, Therefore I have hope.”
Lamentations 3:21 NKJV
This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. This isn’t my first battle. This isn’t my first storm. JESUS, WILL YOU MEET ME HERE AGAIN!
I may be in the middle, but I’m not alone. Christ is with me, the hope of glory. From eternity to time, He’s always been the man in the middle, the man in between what we got, versus what we deserved.
Listen closely again to the arrangement that was made in Genesis 3:15…
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and BETWEEN your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.””
Genesis 3:15 NIV
In other words, My Son is going to step in the way of what mankind deserves, and is going to take their place! The only reason I’m still here, with breath in my body, clothed in my right mind, with the peace of God, and Joy from His spirit, is because Jesus stepped in between what I got versus what I deserved. It’s no coincidence that John 19:18 says,
“There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and JESUS IN THE MIDDLE.”
John 19:18 NIV
After Jesus was crucified, John 20:19 says,
The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared IN THE MIDDLE of the group. He greeted them….
John 20:19 CEB
For there is one God and one mediator BETWEEN God and mankind, THE MAN Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 2:5 NIV
I’m in the middle but I’m not alone. I’m in the middle but He’s with me, loving me, holding me, encouraging me, keeping me, as I make the journey from WEARY to WORTHY faith!
“All these people earned A GOOD REPUTATION BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH…”
Hebrews 11:39 NLT
“Abraham, OUR FATHER OF FAITH, believed God, and the substance of his faith released God’s righteousness to him.”
Galatians 3:6 TPT
In spite of what happened between Abraham & Hagar, GOD STILL RECOGNIZED ABRAHAM AS THE FATHER OF FAITH.
📝 I’m not defined by who they say I am. I’m defined by who GOD SAYS I AM. I’m not defined by what I did. I’m defined by what CHRIST HAS DONE. I’m not defined by my situation. I’m defined by MY GOD.
WHAT’S YOUR, “BY NOW?”
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