MIRIAM EZEKA: "Get Up Daughters, The Glory Of The Lord Is Upon You!"

Jesus you deserve the Glory and the Honour, you are Alpha and the Omega, to Him that hath in his right hand seven stars and in whose mouth alone went a sharp twoedged sword: and a countenance as the sun that shineth in his strength...We bow before you....we join our voice with the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beast and the elders to say....worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing for ever and ever, Amen!


 I welcome you to another Wonderful session of 2015 Bloggers' Conference tagged: "WALKING INTO MY DIVINE INHERITANCE"

Thank you so much BMF our women's President for the revelation you have reveled to us today through God's word.

 And by the Grace of God upon my life that make me to be a "Voice" and not an echo, My treasured Leaders and Readers, Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you our next minister for today in the person of MIRIAM EZEKA our Women's Vice President....

• The devil bombards you with one crisis after another so that you will give up. You must learn to fight back.

As I was walking to my car from the grocery store recently, I was swept along by several strong gusts of wind. They caused traffic lights to sway, flags to ripple and pop, and drivers to take extra caution. Leaves, paper and other loose items in the wind's path were helplessly tossed about.

 Suddenly I realized how very much like faith that wind was. Driven by the potency of God's Word, the assurance of Christ's love and the power of the Holy Spirit, faith operate in much the same way. It sweeps past obstacles and hindrances, clearing debris such as fear, doubt and unbelief out of the way and taking authority over the circumstances and conditions that threaten to impede our promises.

Jesus observed that "'from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force'" (Matt. 11:12, NKJV).

The enemy of our soul fights tooth and nail the purposeful exercising of our faith and wages seemingly incessant warfare against us in an effort to wear us down. He strives to turn our focus away from the one who has given us the promises we're standing on and toward the weariness and fatigue we may be experiencing.

Though these are natural by products of battle, in the hands of the enemy they become instruments of propaganda with the singular assignment of making us believe that God is uncaring, unsympathetic and distant at a time we feel we need Him most.

The devil doesn't stop there, as he is not content with utilizing only the age-old strategy of bringing into question the character of God. He takes the attack to a deeper level, using the thorniness of our circumstances to undermine the Word of God to which we cling and make us believe that our conditions will never change, that our destinies will never be fulfilled, and that we wait in vain for God to work in our lives.

His goal is to make us give up entirely—and he will stop at nothing to bring us to the point of surrender. Consider his treatment of the patriarch Job, who held to his integrity in the face of excruciating testing.

Job refused to heap curses upon God, whom he knew to be his source of hope and strength. When the enemy realized his initial plan wasn't working—even though he had destroyed Job's cattle, his children, his relationships and the stability of his life—he stepped up his campaign and sought to touch Job directly.

Counting upon what he knew about human nature, Satan said to God: "'Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!'" (Job 2:4-5).

What a wicked—but exceptionally clever—strategy. In addition to stealing, killing and destroying the most important things and people in Job's life, the devil shrewdly depended upon the likelihood that by afflicting Job personally and directly, he could achieve the fiendish outcome he desired.

What better way to overcome believers in Christ than by bombarding us with crisis after crisis that leaves us in a state of physical, financial or emotional lack, or even loss? What better way to erode our faith in God—and consequently our confidence and assurance of victory—than to attempt to manipulate us into a state of mind-numbing weariness, crippling depression and humiliating disappointment?

Though Job did not relinquish his trust in God and never cursed Him, he did succumb to agonizing questions of the purpose of his own existence. The dire extremity of his circumstances caused him to curse not only the day he was born but also the fact that he had ever come to be alive.

Hear the cry of his spirit as he asks: "'Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?'" (Job 3:11).

Lay Hold of Your Faith

Considering the intense spiritual warfare that believers face, it is not surprising that we, like Job, are sometimes brought to the point of reasoning that it would have been better not to have been born at all than to have to deal with the pain we are confronted with. Nevertheless, I encourage you to take heart. Always be mindful of the force of the wind of faith.

David said, "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Ps. 27:13). David knew swords and shields get heavy and that warriors get weary in battle and sometimes even have to retreat to regroup. He was sensitive to the fact that if everything had been left up to him he would have buckled and collapsed under the pressures that had been heaped upon him, and consequently he rightfully attributed the veracity of his confidence to the benevolence and goodness of God.

Just like David, we must recognize the fact that the victories and successes we enjoy in our walk of faith are unquestionably due to God's faithfulness. We rest in the security of the knowledge that no matter what the devil says and does, our Lord will move in our lives and will answer our prayers—our faith will be honored and not rejected. Yes, weeping may last for a night, but by faith we believe joy is coming in the morning.

Hold your faith! It causes us to fight back when circumstances try to dictate that we give in, makes us say yes when everything and everyone around us is saying no.

The strength of Christ is made perfect in our weakness, and the biblical truths we learn through the trying and testing of our faith bring forth a bounty of spiritual fruit. Our discernment sharpens, our witness deepens and our ministry to others takes on a much greater anointing.

Instead of speaking defeat and being overcome by fear, we are able to speak victory and give vent to faith. In the very presence and face of weariness we find that our faith gives rise a strong fortitude that just utterly refuses to give up.

We put on "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Is. 61:3). Instead of being without hope, God is glorified.

The Bible tells us: "The Lord restored Job's losses. … Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before" (Job 42:10.) Thank God, the exercising of faith has its privileges.

My friend, what's standing in the way of your breakthrough? Renounce all fear, doubt and unbelief, and determine right now that you will allow yourself to be driven only by the wind of faith.

Unleash its prevailing power and watch obstacles, hindrances and obstructions be taken by storm. See the fortified city that represents the blocking of the manifestation of your promises? Release the prevailing power of your faith—and take it!

Joyce L. Rodgers is a national evangelist with the Church of God in Christ and author of Fatal Distractions, published by Charisma House.