manager, and I’ll never forget our conversation. “Do you have a story board for your program?” he asked. I said, “No.” “Do you have a script?” I said, “I have a Bible—that’ll be my script.” He looked at me with a smile and replied, “You have no idea what you’re doing, do you?” To which I answered matter-of-factly, “Not a clue.” I was just walking by faith.
He told me I needed to prepay ten thousand dollars in order for them to guarantee us any airtime. We said our good-byes and I’m sure he thought he’d never see me again. But he underestimated my faith. I left the station and went straight to the one rich man we had in our church and shared with him the vision of our television broadcast. He said he could give me a portion of it, and then I went to the rest of the church that Sunday and cast the vision to the congregation. The rest of the money was received, and we had the amount we needed to start the broadcast.
I walked back in the studio on Monday morning with the check for ten thousand dollars. The station manager was shocked. “What’s this?”
I just smiled and said, “When do I start?”
“You’re serious ?” he said, shaking his head.
“As a heart attack.”
And the television ministry was launched. No equipment, no experience, no money. We had no idea what we were doing. We were willing to take risks, to take action, and we had faith in God.
I’m not saying any person should start their ministry or business exactly like we did; I’m simply saying that in every aspect of life—your career, your family life, your relationship with God—if you will walk by faith, God will show up and help you accomplish amazing things. He will walk beside you and do things you could never have asked or imagined, and you will be able to say, “God, you are so good!” But if you live the way the world suggests—play it safe, hold back, and never take any risks—you will never be out there on the water where Jesus is, and you will never feel God taking your hand and saying, “Come on, let’s make this thing happen!”
Faith takes risks by taking action.
Faith takes risks by taking action. If we are not acting on the Word of God in our lives, then our faith cannot work. Our faith is just vain words and empty wishes. James 2:14, 20 says, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? . . . But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” In other words, faith without a corresponding action is void of any life or power and cannot bring about the promises, the blessings, and the miracles of God in our lives.
Every time God sees us serving and helping in our churches: ushering, door greeting, praying, helping out with the nursery or the children’s church, He sees our actions and knows we love the house of God. Every time He sees us witness to our co-workers, love somebody in the name of Christ, feed the poor, or help the hurting people in our neighborhoods, He sees our action confirming our faith in His Word and His ways. Every time He sees us tithe and give a special offering, He sees we trust Him to be our provider. Every time we pray and lay hands on the sick, we believe He is our healer.
God responds to our faith and to our actions. Deuteronomy 16:15 says, “The Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.” It doesn’t say the Lord will bless our faith, or our wishes, or even in those areas we know He wants to bless us. It says He will bless the work of our hands, in anything that we will do . The woman with the sick daughter was relentlessly persistent in her pursuit of Jesus. The woman with the issue of blood crawled her way through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. The blind man refused to stay silent and cried out over and over to Jesus. Each person took a step of faith toward Jesus with a
He told me I needed to prepay ten thousand dollars in order for them to guarantee us any airtime. We said our good-byes and I’m sure he thought he’d never see me again. But he underestimated my faith. I left the station and went straight to the one rich man we had in our church and shared with him the vision of our television broadcast. He said he could give me a portion of it, and then I went to the rest of the church that Sunday and cast the vision to the congregation. The rest of the money was received, and we had the amount we needed to start the broadcast.
I walked back in the studio on Monday morning with the check for ten thousand dollars. The station manager was shocked. “What’s this?”
I just smiled and said, “When do I start?”
“You’re serious ?” he said, shaking his head.
“As a heart attack.”
And the television ministry was launched. No equipment, no experience, no money. We had no idea what we were doing. We were willing to take risks, to take action, and we had faith in God.
I’m not saying any person should start their ministry or business exactly like we did; I’m simply saying that in every aspect of life—your career, your family life, your relationship with God—if you will walk by faith, God will show up and help you accomplish amazing things. He will walk beside you and do things you could never have asked or imagined, and you will be able to say, “God, you are so good!” But if you live the way the world suggests—play it safe, hold back, and never take any risks—you will never be out there on the water where Jesus is, and you will never feel God taking your hand and saying, “Come on, let’s make this thing happen!”
Faith takes risks by taking action.
Faith takes risks by taking action. If we are not acting on the Word of God in our lives, then our faith cannot work. Our faith is just vain words and empty wishes. James 2:14, 20 says, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? . . . But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” In other words, faith without a corresponding action is void of any life or power and cannot bring about the promises, the blessings, and the miracles of God in our lives.
Every time God sees us serving and helping in our churches: ushering, door greeting, praying, helping out with the nursery or the children’s church, He sees our actions and knows we love the house of God. Every time He sees us witness to our co-workers, love somebody in the name of Christ, feed the poor, or help the hurting people in our neighborhoods, He sees our action confirming our faith in His Word and His ways. Every time He sees us tithe and give a special offering, He sees we trust Him to be our provider. Every time we pray and lay hands on the sick, we believe He is our healer.
God responds to our faith and to our actions. Deuteronomy 16:15 says, “The Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.” It doesn’t say the Lord will bless our faith, or our wishes, or even in those areas we know He wants to bless us. It says He will bless the work of our hands, in anything that we will do . The woman with the sick daughter was relentlessly persistent in her pursuit of Jesus. The woman with the issue of blood crawled her way through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. The blind man refused to stay silent and cried out over and over to Jesus. Each person took a step of faith toward Jesus with a
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