I was praying and meditating on the Word of God on December 7, 2023, early in the morning. Arising early and seeking God has worked well for me over the forty plus years of serving the Lord Jesus. Mark 1:35 states, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Notice Jesus went to a solitary place, away from anybody or anything that would hinder Him. I believe that was 3:00 a.m., from experiences I have had with the Lord over the years. Go to Heaven with me and find out. Dad Hagin was one to pray into the night, as he got used to that on his death bed before he was healed as a young boy.
While in prayer and meditation, the Lord Jesus said to me, “Fear, doubt, and unbelief come by thinking. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God.” The greatest need in the Christian life is the renewing of the mind with the Word of God. There are many things that take place under the umbrella of Christianity that are not even in the Bible, but they are readily accepted as Bible truths. This is because of an illiteracy of the Word of God in the church today. A renaissance from Biblical scripture to humanism started in 2006 and has gained great momentum ever since. It has allowed the devil to almost destroy all moral and spiritual values in the church and the United States of America. The greater truth is the words of Jesus in Luke 18:8, “…Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” It seems many do not live by faith anymore, but you and I will live and walk by faith and not by sight! We will not quit believing the Word of God or turn from Biblical truths! We will not compromise or quit!
Fear, doubt, and unbelief come by thinking. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God. I have had to overcome and cast down many fears, doubts, and unbelief over the years, and you can too! You do not have to live a defeated life and be sick, poor, and depressed. Jesus came to set you free from that. If you will fill your mind with the Bible, you will get rid of fear, doubt, and unbelief. You will live in success and victory in every area of your life!
My Journey
Growing up, my family was poor, compared to the normal standard of living. We had food because my daddy was a hard worker. I had patches on my shirt and pants then that I could probably sell for $1,000.00 today! Back then, if you had holes in your clothes and patches on them, it was a sign that you were poor. We lived in a cement block house that my daddy built, one room at a time, as he had the money. He made the cement blocks with an old-fashioned block-forming device that he borrowed from my granddaddy that would make two blocks at a time. He would mix the cement by hand in an old wooden box he made, put it in the metal block-forming device with a shovel, and let it set up. As soon as the blocks set up enough to not fall apart, he would take them out and make two more.
The first car my daddy had came from pieces of other cars found in the junkyard. He bought parts of different makes of cars that were good and put them all together, and it ran and drove well! He was an absolute genius, and I never saw anything he could not figure out or do. Us boys picked that up from him. I built a boat with my bare hands one time that I would put up against any store-bought boat today. All of us boys went to work at 12 years old. I made $.25 (cents) per hour then. At 16 years old, I got a job making $2.25 an hour. That was big money! As the old saying goes, it was “root hog or die!” That is good country talk for city folks. My brothers and I learned to drive in a 1959 Ford station wagon with no seats in it. Daddy used it to get spare parts from and told us boys that if we could get it running, we could drive it in the field. My brothers and I went to work on it, robbing parts from other junk cars. Finally, we were ready for the big reveal! We got daddy to come watch. My oldest brother put a five-gallon plastic bucket in it for a seat. He turned the key, and it fired up! He let off the clutch and took off across the field. We were hollering, and daddy was laughing and filled with pride at what his boys had done!
After a few moments, we heard my oldest brother hollering from inside the car. He kept going in big circles in the field, and we ran to see what was going on. The five-gallon bucket had turned over, and he was in a sitting position, hanging on to the steering wheel for dear life! I ran, managed to catch up with him, jumped in the passenger side door, and switched the key off. It sputtered to a stop. We laughed and laughed, and we knew we had us a way to learn to drive! Remember, we were just young, wild-eyed boys with a dream to drive.
We were kind of outcasts in normal society because of our financial status, and my daddy only had a sixth-grade education. We didn’t fit in with the crowd. I look back and see how it affected us as kids. My little brother and sister died young, and my other younger brother seemed to have lost his mind. Out of us five kids, my older brother and I somehow made it with determination and perseverance. I stumbled through life until I met Jesus Christ on my third escape from prison. I believe that came about because my daddy and momma got saved and became members of an Assembly of God church. They began to pray, seek God, and serve the Lord to the best of their ability. As all of us, they were not perfect, but somehow the Lord kept them over the years by His mercy and grace. The Lord is good, and His mercy endures forever! I praise and thank Him for that!
Dream To Reality
Coming up, we were embarrassed to be outcasts and poor. We kids had big dreams to get out of poverty and have better lives. I know that daddy and momma getting saved was the catalyst that started me on my journey out of the mess my life was in. There were times that I fell so far down that I was going to commit suicide because it seemed hopeless. There were times that I slept in the ditches and alleyways and ate out of trash cans. Hopelessness and despair are awful, terrible, and hellish states of mind to be in. I have been there with absolutely no hope, and Jesus Christ saved me from certain death! I didn’t know it then, but I look back and see it now.
I have so many stories of Jesus rescuing me! One time, I was on the run in Dallas, TX. I had no money, no food, and nowhere to live. My momma found out where I was and begged me to come home. She gathered up the money and bought me a plane ticket home to Georgia. She arranged for me to pick it up at the airport counter with a special code word, as I had no I.D. or anything as I was on the run. I had no way to get to the airport and didn’t even know where it was. I saw planes in the night sky, and it looked like they were landing and taking off a great distance away. I took off walking in that direction, staggering along cold and hungry. I walked and walked, running out of energy. Finally, I saw a motel that was open and had this urge to go in and ask for directions. I asked the lady behind the desk which way it was to the airport. She said it was about 20 miles away. She then asked how I was going to get there. I told her that I was walking, and she said, “Son, you will never make it walking.” A man standing by the counter overheard our conversation and added, “Son, you are headed towards the wrong airport anyway. Come on, I will drive you to where you need to go.”
I was grateful and very relieved! As we drove along, he could tell that I was worn out, tired, and kind of dirty. He asked me how much money I had. I told him I didn’t have any. Then he asked when was the last time I ate. I told him I didn’t remember. He said he had to hurry to get me to the airport, or I would miss my flight. He reached into his pocket, took out some money, and put it in my hand. He told me to buy some food when I got to the airport. I thanked him and told him how much I appreciated his kindness. He got me to the airport and told me how to get to the counter to get my ticket, and I made it back home to momma. I know the Lord answered my momma’s prayers, and the Lord worked out everything to get me back home, even though I didn’t deserve it! Over the years, the devil almost killed me many times, but I know the Lord had His hand upon me. The trouble was, many times I was helping the devil kill me by listening to him. The Lord Jesus Christ had a dream for me, just like I had as a kid, and His dreams always come to pass! He has a dream for you too! He has great plans for you, and you will fulfill your divine destiny just like I will!
Fear, doubt, and unbelief come by thinking. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God! You must change the way you are thinking in order to receive all the Lord has for you, just like I did. Today, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, I enjoy success, blessings, and prosperity, and I am still climbing that ladder of success daily! My true success is in personally knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, who is my Lord and Savior. One time, He told me that He wanted to give me the desires of my heart, not just meet my needs! I wouldn’t take a billion dollars for all the past experiences I went through to get to where I am today, but you probably couldn’t pay me a billion dollars to go through them again! That does not mean that I have arrived, but I am pressing towards the mark of His calling.
If you think defeat or failure, it will never improve or it will never get any better for me, that is what you will have. Those thoughts come from your mind, and many times they are inspired by the devil. It is your thinking that keeps you down and holds you back. I command you to stop listening to the devil, in the name of Jesus Christ! Arise and pull yourself up by the miraculous Word of God, and believe for big, great, and mighty things to happen in your life! It fills the Lord with joy for you to do so. Declare boldly that you are healed, successful, and prosperous! Leave the junkyard behind and get into His plan divine, like I did! Quit making excuses for why you can’t have it and go after it with all your might and faith! It will come to pass! Quit wallowing in self-pity and the poor old me attitude and go out and believe God and make it happen! I could have stayed where I was until I died, broke, busted, and disgusted, but I didn’t, and you aren’t either! Shut up whimpering, crying, and complaining, and believe the Word of God! He didn’t lie to you, and He is alive to cause it to come to pass!
Say these verses out loud, over and over, until you are filled with faith and act upon them. Continue to say them daily, many times over and over, as you act upon them, and your dream will come to pass by faith!
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. (Mark 11:23)
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)
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. (Psalms 37:4-5)
