Speaking the Language of Faith

Early in October, at one instance, a storm that might inundate Metro Manila again was brewing in Northern Luzon. A super typhoon just ravaged Luzon not more than two weeks ago at the time and another typhoon was supposed to batter the island. We prayed on Give Us this Day and I begged the Father to spare these people who already have experienced the worst in their lives. As soon as we prayed, after the Give Us This Day program, PAGASA reported that the said typhoon did not hit Metro Manila and caused lesser damages in the Luzon area. That is what we can do when we speak the Father’s language of faith.

Remember when our Almighty Father was in a boat with His disciples. They were sailing very smoothly from Tiberias to the other side of Galilee. Perhaps, they were fellowshipping. They were probably singing songs and were very happy until in the middle of the sea, a strong storm blew and it made a toy out of the little boat they were in.

The disciples panicked, Jesus Christ was at the stern of the boat. He was sleeping. They were about to capsize because the boat was rocking to and fro. Big waves came and buffeted the small boat. They did not know what to do, they panicked. The disciples went to Jesus Christ and they told Him, “Lord, we are about to die and You are sleeping?” The Lord was very, very tired for preaching, all day; What did He say to them first? “Oh, men of little faith!” Then He rose up and said to the wind, “Stop!” And said to the storm, “stop!” And said to the waves, “Cease!” The storm and the wind and the waves stopped. The disciples looked at Him and said, “What kind of a man is this that even nature follows His Words?”

Matthew 8:26
“And He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.”

When you are with Lord God Almighty, have faith. That means do not panic. See, if they did not wake up the Lord, He was there and though the boat went down to the water, what would happen? Probably the greatest miracle they would ever see in their lives happened because all of them together with the Lord would be walking on water.

Have I tried walking on water? This ministry is walking on water everyday. Did we go down? Sometimes we go down a little bit, but we did not panic, because He is with us. The Father and the Son are with us. All of you have probably experienced the worst things in your lives. At the start, your life was smooth sailing, everything was just fine. Sunny days, nice, the wind is just blowing so nicely. The blue waters are for you to behold. Everything is fine and everything in life is nice. You have a life, sailing so smoothly.

All of a sudden, in the middle of your life, troubles, big storms and waves and the wind just blew upon your little boat which is your life. Did you panic? Is the Son with you? Is the Father with you? Do not panic, because if you go down He is going down with you. If He goes down to the bottom of the sea, if He is with you, don’t panic, because he owns the sea.

Daniel the prophet experienced that. Everybody was praising him. He was a governor in Babylon where Nebuchadnezzar was the King. He was a beloved administrator of Nebuchadnezzar until some envious and jealous people around the king set their eyes on Daniel and they laid a trap for him, so that one day they would see him die. They laid a very intricate trap for him using the king, so that one day they would get rid of him. What they saw is Daniel’s weakness in life. They thought it was a weakness, because Daniel did not forget to pray three times a day, open his windows, kneel in front of the window facing Jerusalem and prayed three times a day. They knew that Daniel will not compromise his faith. So, they devised a very subtle plan to trap Daniel, the way they see him serve his God. They went to the King and flattered the King. “King, why don’t you make a decree? When you put up a statue, an image of yourself, make a decree that from this moment, during the day, nobody should pray to any god but you and your image.”

They knew Daniel will not compromise, and so, that was the trap. Everyone that will not follow the decree of the King will be put to death. The King was flattered, because it was his image. That was how vain the king was. So, he made the decree, sealed it with his ring and sent the decree all over Babylon. He set up the image. Those times that Daniel was praying was also the time they put on a decree that nobody should pray to any other god, but the god that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then they saw Daniel opened the windows, knelt in front to face Jerusalem. He was praying to the God of Israel. So, they noted the time, and they gave it to the King. The King was very sad of course, because Daniel was his beloved administrator, but he cannot save him because he already sealed the law with his seal of approval. That means, in the law of the Medes and the Persians, any law can be broken but not the laws sealed with the King’s ring. So, what can he do?

The enemies of Daniel who were jealous and envious of him were happy to see Daniel go to the lion’s den like a lamb. The prison house before was not like our prison house today. When they put you in, you have other individuals there. They look like lions but they will not eat you. But this one is real. It is a cave, full of hungry lions that did not eat for three months. Just the smell of you would make the lions go crazy.

They put Daniel there and they closed the door! If I were Daniel, even if I were the Son of God, I would probably feel some fear. Probably, I would panic a little bit. But Daniel was uncompromising and he let them do their bidding. They threw him into the den with five hungry lions. You are given five minutes and you’re dead. You’re a nice lunch, you’re a nice dinner.

The lions probably after that, will say, thank you, you’re done, everything is clean, nothing is left of you. After five minutes, the king said, open the door to the lion’s den. And he called out to Daniel. Probably, the King had faith in Daniel’s God, because he still called him, Daniel, are you still alive? Daniel answered, “Oh yes, O King, I’m still alive. The angels of God were sent and they closed the mouth of your lions.”

What happened is that God sent angels to trick the lions’ eyes, because when Daniel came into the lion’s den, they thought he was the mother lion. So, they all came before him and they did not hurt Daniel. They did not touch him. He said, “The angel of God was sent to shut the mouth of your lions. I am still alive, oh King.” In the midst of your problem, in the midst of your life’s storm, in the midst of your trouble, do not panic, because when the Father is with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you! He will be with you!

That story can be read in Daniel 6:10-22.

In the midst of danger, when you serve the Father faithfully, do not panic, because He is there to save you in any circumstances, in any situation you find yourself in. Your trust to your Father should not diminish, like Daniel’s.

This also happened to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were thrown into the fiery furnace which was heated seven times as it was wont to be heated. Because, they were also beloved by Nebuchadnezzar, they were given the chance. You do not have to bow down before my image. “You just say, we were walking and I let you free.” What did the three say? The three said, this is what I like about it, “Know ye, oh, king, our God is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace. Our God is able to deliver us from death.” But this is what I like about what they said, “But in case, our God does not deliver us, in case our God will not save us, we will follow Him still. We will not compromise. We will offer our lives in obedience to His Will.” Daniel chapter 3.

You know, that message is very nice. There are people who follow Him but they have already decreed upon themselves what they wanted to follow about the Lord. Like for example, if you pray, you are sick and the Father did not heal you. What will you do? Are you dependent on the outcome of your prayer and say, “Now, I will leave Him because He did not heal me.” Are you good to the Father only when He heals you? When I pray to Him and ask for something, I would say, “Father, whether You give me this that I ask You or not, my heart is fixed and my mind is made up, I will love You, I will follow You.”

I like the spirit of these three young Hebrew children, because they did not put any condition in their service to the Almighty Father. They did not say, “The Father will save us, surely the Father will save us, He will not let us go and be eaten by fire. Oh, king, He will save us.” They did not say that. They said, “Surely our God can save us but in case He will not save us and we die in the fiery furnace, do you think we will change our mind in serving Him? We will let you know, oh king, we will not.” That is what I like about it. That is what our Kingdom spirit should be. When you ask for a blessing, and the Lord will did not give you the blessing, before you pray, you tell the Lord, “Father, whether You give me these blessings I am asking You or not, my heart is fixed, my mind is made up, I will follow You, I will serve You.”

I asked for an airplane, and if what He gave me was a paper plane, that’s okay with me. Then He gave me a toy plane that can be flown by battery, that is okay with me.

Whether my God will save me or not, my heart is fixed. That was why the king was very mad. His love for them was turned into anger and rage and he let the fiery furnace be heated seven times as it was wont to be heated. So they threw them there. And after a while, the king had really faith in God.

The three were really good. They were clean in and out. They served the Father. They did not compromise. The king called out to them, “ Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, are you still alive?” Then they opened the furnace. The king said, I saw four. He called his counsellors, did we not condemn three males inside? I see four. And the fourth is like the Son of God.

The Father was with them in the midst of the fiery furnace, fellowshiping with them. There is no danger when God the Father is with you. In any circumstances, in any conditions of life, do not worry, do not fear, because when He is with you, He will not leave you.

When you are serving the Almighty Father, there is nothing to worry. That is why He said in Matthew 6: 25 – 34, “Do not worry.” Do not worry what you eat or what you drink. It is not your work that will make you age faster. There are many things in the cosmetics world today that is costing people billions, what is that? Anti-aging products. You know, while you were young, you just took for granted your face in the mirror. Every time you woke up, you’re blooming. But later on, when you saw your face on the mirror you would wonder and say, is that me? That is not me. That’s an older person with many wrinkles, receding hair. Is that me? Then you begin to think and hold back the hand of Father Time. If there is something that you cannot hold back, that is the hand of the Father Time. Every year you have your birthday. And you will be one year older every year, whether you like it or not. Within one day, your luscious looks are all gone away and you will see a wax-like figure melting in front of you. The gravity is just falling on your, jaws, on your neck, on your eyes. Then you begin to see a cosmetician. Can you give me an anti-aging cream to put on my face? Filipinos love Chin Chan Chu. Put that every night, 1, 2, 3. This is number 1, number 2 and number 3. Then you knock on their door, because I used to have visitation for the Kingdom members. All of a sudden they would open their door, I see the members with white faces. What are you doing? You look like a ghost to me.

Do not misunderstand me when I say, do not worry, because one member came to me one day. I think she is a member of Los Angeles Kingdom Light Congregation. One month after I preached that message, she came to me and said, “ Pastor, what’s happening to me?” I said, “Why?” I have so much bills to pay, I have no food, I do not know how to pay my bills, my car bills, my house bills, my everything.” I said, “why?” She said, “because I followed your message, do not worry.” Did you hear me say do not worry? She said, “yes!” I did not say, “do not work.” I said, “do not worry.” And she stopped working. It’s your fault! I said do not worry. When you are working do not worry. When you have bills to pay, do not worry. But just do your job everyday, whatever you can do everyday, do not worry.

Worry is like this, the problem has not yet arrived, you have anticipated it already. The problem is coming next month, you are anticipating it now. You cannot sleep because of that problem that will be coming next month. Let it come first, do not worry about that. I will tell you and I will ask you, “If you worry about your problem, will it be solved? If you can solve your bills by worrying, then worry all your life.

Will the rice come because I worried? You sat at your home, sulking and worrying, you did not know what to do. The rice did not come. The bread did not come. The problem was not solved. What will you do? Do not worry. If you have no rice, smile, as if you have rice. Because if I pout and I worry, the rice would not come. If I smile, the rice would not come. I better smile.

Have faith. What is faith? Faith is trusting in something that you do not know would come to you but the Father knows and you are holding the Father’s hand. Do you know the Father is good? Do you know that He knows what is coming next month? Do you know that He knows what is coming tomorrow? Next day. Next week. Next year. Next three years. Next five years. Why are you worrying? He knows everything. He knows you are His son. You are His daughter. Why worry?

You know, in the Kingdom ministry, that is one thing I told our leaders and administrators. If there is one thing you should not do, that is to worry. Do your job excellently but minus the worry. Let the Father worry for us, because this is His work. This is not ours. I started worrying one time. I took my calculator and looked at the bills I am paying and the other bills that were coming. My head went crazy. I just cannot take it. It was too much. So, what I did was throw away my computer. I threw away my calculator. I just lost all the report. Father, this is Your work, You worry about it. I work excellently from day to day whatever You want me to do, but the worrying part is Yours, not mine. That’s why, every time they ask and see me, “Pastor, You are getting younger everyday.” Every year when I celebrate my birthday, people would come to me and say, you are getting younger. You know that when they say that to you, you are really getting older.

But, I know what they mean. You do not look your age, because you age faster, but your looks do not follow your age. Because I do not worry. So I am only 38 now, but I look like I am 18. Some of you guys here, you are only 25 years old, but look at you, you look like 70 years old.

Throw away your worries. Do whatever you can do with all your might everyday. Work hard. Work will not hurt you. Work will make you look young. It is not work that will make you look older. It is worry. That’s why the Father said, “Do not worry what you eat, what you drink, what you put above your head, what clothes you put on around your body, do not worry about that. Look at the birds up in the air, they do not work, but the Father feeds them all.”

Do you know one scientist who went into one of those mountains in North Carolina? This is a place where all the birds sleep at night around that region. There are about one million of them on that mountain. He went there at night and he inspected one bird after another until dawn. He started that night; he finished 5 o’clock in the morning, inspecting all of those birds.

Not one bird was skinny. Not one bird was sickly. They are all eating everyday. If you count the sacks of rice, these one million birds are eating, it would amount to three million sacks of rice a day, but not one of those birds was using Chin Chan Chu (or any anti-aging cream). No wrinkles. But they were all healthy. They were not underweight. They were all healthy to fly in the morning. Nothing to worry, They just slept at night. They go out. They do not work. They do not pay their taxes. They are all fed by the Father Almighty. Mind you, that is just one part of the mountain of that region in the United States of America but what about all over the world? How many birds are there all over the world? What about the animals? They are also sustained by the Almighty Father.

What you have to do is just solidify your faith in Him. Whenever you have a problem too heavy for you to bear, do not bear it, you will go crazy. Give it to the Father and He will worry for all of these. The Father will give you more faith to believe in Him. This is how we are trained in the Kingdom Ministry. We have more faith, because He knows the direction where we are going. He knows, for He is the Captain of the boat.

Have you heard of the story of the girl who was sleeping in her cabin in the ship, when the boat was about to sink? All the life boats were thrown out. All the crew lined up the passengers towards the life boat, because they were ready to abandon ship, but for the last time that they inspected all the rooms and cabins in the ship, they found one girl sleeping soundly. They woke her up and told her to go out. The girl just stretched out her arms and told them, “There is nothing to worry about.” The crew asked her, “Why don’t you worry? We are sinking!” The girl answered, “My Father is the captain of the boat!” The girl had so much faith in her father.

In the same vein, the Almighty Father wants you to have the child-like faith today. When the storm comes blowing and the Father is with you, do not push the panic button and try to run in every direction. The first thing you’ll do is go to your room, kneel down and pray to the Almighty Father. Make a decree. If you have too many debts and bills to pay and your boat is almost sinking, just go to the Father in prayer. I’ll teach you what faith is. Faith is power. What did He say? If you have faith as big as that of a grain of the mustard seed, command this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea. It shall follow thy word if you do not doubt. (Mat 21:21)

You notice when you go down to this street going to that city, you will pass by many, many banks there. And you are aware that all the money are deposited in the banks. When you do not have money, you just pray and say, I pray I will transfer the money from those banks to my house. Money is very light. The mountain is heavier. One sack of rice is lighter than one big mountain. Do you believe that? So, why worry? Just pray. Literally, probably the Father will not transfer those dapple bags of money right into your lap. Probably He will not do that, but He will create some circumstances where money will come to you in overflowing capacity.

In Egypt, they say that there was a Muslim Sultan who was ruling over a certain region in Egypt. And then there was a portion there inhabited by the followers of Jesus Christ. And he told them, “I heard in your Bible, it says, ‘You can move mountain by your faith.’” He said, “You better pray tonight this mountain will move, because if not, I will behead you all tomorrow.” So those followers of Jesus Christ raised up their prayers that night. Literally, the mountain moved. The big mountain began moving toward the city. Just imagine if Mount Apo would keep moving toward the city, it will crash the city’s population. That was what happened in a city in Egypt. This mountain began to move toward the city, so, the Sultan ran to all the followers of Jesus Christ and told them to pray that the mountain will stop. It is said that this Sultan left his Muslim faith and he joined them because he saw that miracle happen literally.

If you need a miracle like that in the times of your need, the Father will provide the miracle. Don’t worry. In the times of famine, do not worry. In the times of economic downturn or crisis, do not worry because when you ask the Father, He will grant your petition. All you have to do is just pray.

When you pray to Him, talk to Him like you talk to your father. Do not talk to Him in repeated prayers. For example, when I talk to my father in the flesh, he is rich, I want money. Will I go to Him and say, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Why do you talk to Him like that? I will say, “Father, please give me money, I need this.” Why don’t you talk to Him straight and say, “Father, I have debts to pay, please provide for me a way that I can pay this.” Why do you have to memorize? If my child begins talking to me in memorization, I will get a psychiatrist and let the child be examined in the head. That is why many prayers are not answered because many are talking like that to God. If you talk to Him, talk to Him like He is your Father and He is really our Father. Talk to Him by faith. And He will demonstrate to you how powerful He is when you have faith in Him.

In the time of our crises and the times that the storms are around us, just remember that the Father knew that judgment will fall in Noah’s days. Noah did not worry. The Father called Noah and then revealed to him His plan. He said, “Noah, I have given a hundred and twenty years for men to repent. The hundred and twenty years will be the days of man, Those are the days left for them to repent. You will build an ark.” And He revealed unto him the building of the ark, the measurement of the ark and how to build it. Noah began building the ark for one hundred and twenty years. But the people went about their own casual ways and they did not know what was coming after that. A hundred and twenty years was such a long time but it will come to an end. After 120 years, the ark was finished. The door was opened, all the animals came in, followed by the family of Noah. Then the door was closed. The rain began to fall.

In Manila, the rain poured for six hours and inundated the whole of Manila. In Noah’s day, after 40 days and 40 nights of continuous rain, all the mountain tops were covered with water, and no one beheld Noah’s ark floating above the water. They were the only ones that were saved.

There are pockets of judgment that are happening today. If you happen to be in those places and you are a Kingdom citizen, do not panic. Just call unto the Father. If there is a possibility that the Father will transfer you bodily from Los Angeles to Davao City, He will do it. If you are endangered and you are about to drown in the flood, call unto Him and He will pick you up and send His angels to pick you up and transfer you right here.

Children of the Almighty Father, this language that we are talking is the language of the Father. The Father does not speak in English, does not speak in Hebrew, does not speak in Filipino. He speaks in the language of faith. That is the Kingdom language that the Father understands, as He said in Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him because those that come to Him must believe that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” When you come to Him, believe by faith. What does believing by faith mean? You compress the future, the present and the past. There is no past tense and future tense with God. It’s all present tense with Him. That is why when we talk faith and we talk His language, we do not see the future and we do not see the past, we only see the present.

When I talk five years from now, that five years from now is present with the Father right now. When you talk faith, you call on the things that did not exist as though they exist already. Talk by faith right now. You do not have money in your pocket right now, but you should talk as though you have money. Let the five years compress now. Let me explain, see your face, you are sad, because you don’t have money, but what if you have 1 million dollars in your pocket now, what will be your attitude? You will be happy. Okay, let’s talk faith. Even if you do not have 1 million now, change your attitude as though you already have the one million dollars in your pocket.. And you will have it. Being exceedingly happy is the evidence that you will have it.

When my jet plane did not arrive yet, I always looked at the airport and I was happy to see my plane, but it was not there. Sometimes I called my assistant and said, let’s go to the airport, you see my executive jet? It is there, don’t you see it? That was one year ago. Now you go there, there is a physical existence of the evidence of my faith.

Faith works on your thoughts. Your thoughts when they come out, become words. When your words come out, they will produce the physical existence of what you say. That is why when you say something; do not say it negatively because it will come back to you. What you sow is what you reap. When you say ‘this is very hard’, you are planting something out of your words. Your words are powerful. They are seeds. Is it hard to construct a 50-thousand seating capacity Grand Cathedral? When you go to the Kingdom’s 18-hectare land property, do you see it? I see it. It’s there. I am talking faith now. That is the language of the Almighty Father.