.
From The
Pastor’s Desk
.
Bishop
Randy Barnett, Oklahoma
.
SHOUTIN’ THE
VICTORY!
I remember the day well that I received a
call from Tulsa, Oklahoma that my dear friend Rev. Bob Rhoades had been taken
to the hospital. It was a very serious matter. The Spirit of God compelled me
to drive from Oklahoma City go to him. I was taken aback the moment I entered
the hospital room because of all the hoses and tubes and machines and high-tech
gadgets assigned the task of keeping him alive. He did not look good.
We
exchanged warm greetings. I asked him how he was doing. Much to my surprise
words of life and power flowed out of him, out from his spirit. They were words
of great faith. He said, “Brother Randy, I’m shoutin’
the victory!”
It is
interesting to me how God places certain people in our lives to impact us for
His purposes. Bob was such a man to me. I know that day in that Tulsa hospital
room God taught me a profound lesson in faith, one that has served me well now
for almost a quarter century. I learned from Bob to not focus on the battle at
hand but rather look onward through the fray to the promised victory. He had
every reason to think that he would die. Things did not look good and the
doctor’s reports were negative and dire, but those were not the reports he
heard. He heard the report from the Lord that he would live and not die and he
would declare the works of the Lord. Within days he went home with his family.
Somewhere
along the line this great evangelist learned this powerful truth about faith.
He lived this truth day in and day out because he had learned to take God at
His word; he reminds me of the faith that Abraham demonstrated. God is always
well-pleased with anyone who demonstrates faith, but this level of ‘great
faith’ takes some work to achieve however. It comes as a result of much effort
and godly determination to defy the
obvious in favor of trusting God and taking Him at His word. Actually,
seldom does the truth of God’s word align with the obvious in life; that is why so few seem to really walk in this
high level of faith.
The truth
of the matter is each of us has been given the measure of faith. (Romans 12:3) God has not chosen some to walk at
a higher level than others; that would be showing preference of one over another
which is not in the character of our heavenly Father toward His children. So we
each start with the measure of faith
and from there it is up to us whether or not we ascend to the heights of ‘great
faith’ or we choose to muddle through life hardly differentiating ourselves
from unbelievers in this regard. The lessons of faith are learned one at a
time. With each challenge or battle we face, comes another opportunity to trust
God. Our trust in Him is a demonstration to the Lord that we believe in Him and
fully embrace what He has promised as truth. It is out of such small skirmishes
with the enemy (our enemies are our carnal nature and the devil and his demons)
that our faith increases to the point where we are shoutin’
the victory in spite of circumstances around us. Each victory reaffirms the
power of God at work in our life and moves us upward onto stronger levels of
confidence in the promises God has made to us.
The promise
God has made to you is that He will always lead you in triumph in Christ. (II Corinthians 2:14) That
is a sure word from Almighty God who has the ability and willingness to back it
up. That promise does not imply the absence of battles but it does however
promise you will always come out on top – if you just have faith. Now you can
see why Bob was always shoutin’ the victory!
Yesterday, Bob met Jesus face to face. He joined the ranks of the great men and
women of God in heaven and he is now running the streets of gold shoutin’ the victory. Job well done Bob, and thanks for the lesson in faith.
Randy Barnett Ministries / Covenant Global
Church
