One
morning, I woke up with this phrase in my heart: Be a professional believer!
I remember I heard it from Brother Copeland in one of his teaching
series. But when the Holy Spirit
put it back in my heart, I knew that He wanted me to learn something from the
statement by digging in the Word.
The
same morning I watched a semi-documentary film on TV about some professional
surfers. The film pictured how
those professional surfers live: what they do to be professional surfers, how
they train themselves and keep themselves fit physically and mentally to face
big waves, how they travel all around the world just for one goal – to conquer
great, sometimes deadly waves. The film also showed how they focused all their money,
efforts, thinking, and lifestyle to support their passion for surfing.
The
Holy Spirit sometimes has a unique way to teach me the wisdom of God.
By means of a carnal film and a carnal activity, Holy Spirit managed to
get the message across to me. When
I observed what those professional surfers did, or any professional would do to
succeed, are actually biblical principles that we will discuss in a moment.
Sometimes,
carnal people are more aggressive and more violent to achieve what they want in
life. Meanwhile, we – the
born-again believers, who have the burden-removing, yoke-destroying, creative
power of God within us – tend to give up too soon.
We lack perseverance in our faith. We
are prone to failure because we expect God to do the things that we should do.
We are easily frustrated because we try to carry out things that are
God’s portion.
Technically,
there is no such a thing as non-believers in this world. Man was created in the
image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26), and God is a believing Being.
Man cannot help himself but believes in something – Jesus, himself,
material wealth, a supernatural superior being (be it God, Satan, sun, moon, or
anything), even nothing.
The
difference between Christian believers and other believers lays on the One that
we believe in. We build our belief (or faith) on the infallible Living Word,
i.e. Jesus Christ. In Him there is
no room for failure, no room for mistake, no room for disappointment, no room
for anything but VICTORIOUS, ABUNDANT and ETERNAL LIFE (2 Cor. 1:20; John 3:15;
John 10:10).
Man reflects his
beliefs in his conduct and words, simply because God is the same way.
A Christian
believer, of course, believes Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.
As other kind of believers will do, a Christian believer will naturally
reflect his faith in Jesus Christ in daily conduct and conversation. Though it
may not be the case at all times, it should be.
When God believes something, He speaks it into existence by releasing His
faith in His words and He will get whatsoever He says (Mark 11:23).
A
Webster’s New World dictionary defines a professional
as:
a
person practicing a profession.
a
person who engages in some art, sport, etc. for money, esp. for his
livelihood, rather than as a hobby.
a
person who does something with great skill.
Notice
the underlined words. To be a professional requires great skill in doing what one
does. It involves constant
profession, i.e. confession on who one
is and what one does for a living. A
professional lives by what he does.
A
professional adopts a lifestyle that lines up with his profession/confession.
A professional football player thinks, talks, discusses football more
than anything else. He will watch
football games on TV or live more than music concerts.
He will adjust his daily activities around his football-training
schedule. He will also arrange his
leisure time or holidays in such a way that it will not be disturb the training
and competition schedule. He will
thoughtfully choose other activities that will not rob
his playing skill, but instead sharpen it.
This
is also true for us. Let’s take the above definitions and apply it to our study.
A professional believer:
practices
profession/confession of his faith more than profession/confession of his
doubts/fear/unbelief.
engages
in the Word of God for his livelihood, rather than as a religion.
is
a person who professes/confesses his faith with great skill.
Take
a successful world-class athlete, or a multi-billionaire businessman, or a
worldwide renowned entertainer for an example.
As different as their talent can be, they practically apply the same
principles to get to the top level in their respective field.
Their
success requires:
specific
inherited talent or gift to do what they want to do (e.g. good voice for
entertainer, a good analytical sense for a businessman, etc.),
strong
will, determination, quality decision, strong vision and perseverance to
reach the top position,
their
job to come first in their lives, even over their family and themselves,
sacrifices
of flesh in order to develop new habits that support their goals (e.g.
giving up smoking for athletes, giving up leisure time for businessmen,
keeping the smile even when you don’t feel like it to fans for
entertainers, etc.),
studying
the success and failure of legendary people in respective field,
willingness
to learn new techniques, or strategies, or equipment or methods that may
help improve their performance.
God
says that we are justified by His blood (Rom. 5:9).
As a just, God gives us guidance on how to live – the just shall live
by faith and not by sight (Rom. 1:17; 2 Cor. 5:7).
Since we have to live by faith, He tells us how to get it – faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17).
In
correlation with His Word: we can have what we say if we believe and don’t
doubt in our heart (Mark 11:23), God clarifies that when we believe and the
spirit of faith rise up within us, we will speak (2 Cor. 4:13).
Then He says that without faith we cannot please Him and that whatsoever
is not of faith is sin (Heb. 10:38; Rom. 4:23).
Jesus’
disciples asked Him a question: “What does God want us to do?” (John 6:28, New
Living Translation). Jesus
replied them: “This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has
sent” (John 6:29, New Living Translation).
We
can see that God never asks of us anything complicated or impossible to do –
just believe and have faith in Jesus Christ.
If we can just do this one thing [believe] perfectly, we will certainly
be able to do the things Jesus did and even greater works, just as He promised
(John 14:12).
Jesus
is the Word of God that was made flesh (John 1:1,14).
If we simply need to believe Jesus, that means we simply have to believe
the Word of God. God says the
worlds were framed by the Word of God (Heb. 11:3) and that all things were made
by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3).
So, in other words, if we just believe the Word of God (i.e. Jesus
Himself) then we can easily take His Word and speak all blessings into existence
(2 Cor. 4:13). Just like our
heavenly Father did when He created the world.
Awesome!
First
thing first: to become a
Christian believer you must believe and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and
your Savior (Rom. 10:9-10). In
short, you must be born-again (John 3:7).
When you are, then you will have the burden-removing, yoke-destroying
power of God dwell in you (Isa. 11:2). You
will have all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3).
You will be seated with Jesus far above all principality, power, and
ruler of the world; and all things are put under Jesus’ [our] feet (Eph.
1:20-23). You are translated out of
the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of Jesus (Col. 1:13).
You are a new creature [with
a divine nature] without past life and were given all things that pertain unto
life and godliness (2 Cor. 5:17; 2 Ptr. 1:3-4).
Having all the great things inherited to us when we are born-again, all
we need to do is to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil.
2:12-13).
Second,
you need to have a
vision because without a vision you’re going to perish (Hos. 4:6;
Prov. 29:18). In our case, a vision
is more than a dream / imagination; it is a revealed knowledge [rhema] of
God’s will. When you read God’s
promise and you can perceive it, then you will conceive and receive the promise.
Third,
present your body
to God as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1).
Your flesh always wages war against your spirit, therefore you must
mortify the deeds of your flesh (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5-9).
When you set apart yourself from the world and touch not the unclean, you
can be used by God as His vessel of honor (2 Cor. 6:17; 2 Tim. 2:21).
Say NO all the time to your fleshly desire and lust.
It’s going to hurt but it’s worth it.
Fourth,
renew your mind
so that you can think the way He thinks (Eph. 4:23; Rom. 12:2; Phil.
2:5). You cannot anymore afford
thinking the defeated thoughts. You
are supposed to cast down all imaginations and every thing that exalts itself
against your knowledge of God and bring every thought into captivity to Jesus
Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). Notice that
you have to take every thought – not some or certain thoughts – into
captivity to Jesus. This shows us
that Jesus wants to be the Lord over your mind.
He
then tells us specifically what to think: “Be careful for thing; but in every
thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made
known unto God. And the peace of
God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus….whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if
there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:6-8).
Fifth,
renewing your mind cannot be separated from studying the Word of God.
When you seek His wisdom as you seek silver and hidden treasures, then
you will find it (Prov. 2:3-4; Matt. 7:7).
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy
getting get understanding” (Prov. 4:7). The
Word of God is wisdom (Prov. 3:19). If
it is the principal thing, that means without wisdom we cannot renew our mind.
Sixth,
to successfully live by
faith means to be doers of the Word (Js. 1:22-25). Faith without works is dead, but when we act on our faith
then our faith is made perfect (Js. 2:17-22).
Joshua 1:8 in essence says that we can only succeed and prosper if we do
according to the Word.
Seventh,
in the Bible we can find a lot of recommendations to follow the footstep of God’s servants (Heb. 13:7; Phil.
3:17, 4:9; I Cor. 4:16, 11:1). Furthermore, I John 2:6 says, “Those who say
they live in God should live their lives as Christ did (New
Living Translation). This is
quite natural in life – we need to have a role model. Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy that despite of his young age
Timothy might be “an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in
charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (I Tim. 4:12).
Eighth,
when you decided to walk like Jesus, I can assure you that the devil will not
roll over and play dead. The devil
will ‘shower’ you with temptations and trials.
You will never succeed unless you persevere
in your faith (Col. 1:23). “Patient
endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God’s will.
Then you will receive all that he has promised” (Heb. 10:36, New
Living Translation). God has no
pleasure in anyone who turns away from their faith (Heb. 10:38).
Last
but not least is to
control your tongue.
Remember that a professional practices a profession/confession. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is
passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
profession” (Heb. 4:14). “Let
us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful
that promised;)” (Heb. 10:23).
“…with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10).
“For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt
be condemned” (Matt. 12:37). If
we apply it in other areas: by our mouth confession we are made successful,
healthy, prosperous, delivered, protected, etc.
The choice is definitely ours. Our
determined confession of faith will bring possession of God’s promises.
God says that we shall have whatsoever we say (Mark 11:23). Glory! Hallelujah!
All Scriptures quoted are taken from King James Version, unless otherwise noted.