Obedient Faith Transforms the Facts - Biblical Study

Facts and stats matter. Yet God is our determining factor. When God calls us to step out in faith, He can change the whole situation, regardless of what the facts say. The Holy Scriptures are full of examples of this. Today, I will give two Biblical examples of how facts and statistics matter, but are not the main thing. They are submitted to God by FAITH in obedience to Him... and BIBLICAL SUCCESS is the result!! Instead of simply submitting to the facts of what appears to be a hopeless situation... we need to submit those FACTS to the living God who is ABLE to heal, save, deliver, and do miracles!! We submit the facts to FAITH in CHRIST! 

But we must be discerning what the will of the Father God is. If we go off on our own, without God's leading, we will often meet with failure. God wants to save us from that... so we should stay prayerfully tuned to His Spirit. 

Ephesians 5:17

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Are YOU looking for Biblical success in Christ? Then read on!!

FACTS and stats are to be acknowledged, then to be submitted to our FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST our God and Saviour. We are to obey Jesus in faith regardless of what the facts and stats of the 5 senses tell us. Jesus even tells us to count the cost- gather the facts.

Luke 14: 28-33
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 

29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 

30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 

31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 

32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

FACTS: defined by dictionary.com: one definition given is "a truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true:"

FAITH: Hebrews 11:1 NKJV Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is belief in action:

A FACT is the natural, visible, evidence of something seen. (detected by the 5 senses).

FAITH in Christ, is the evidence of things NOT seen! (Living by the Holy Spirit's guidance/discernment.)

Facts are like building blocks... and faith in Christ is the power that builds those blocks into something useful and worthwhile.  

So here is one example from the Old Testament of Facts being submitted to Faith in God.

FACT: Midian was oppressing Israel and succeeding in destroying their harvests. They were countless in number. Judges 6:1-6.

FACT: Gideon was the LEAST important person in the WEAKEST clan of Manasseh, a Tribe of Israel. Yet God called Gideon by faith a MIGHTY man of VALOUR. God called Gideon to defeat the Midianites.

Judges 6:12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Judges 6:15

15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

FACT: The Midianite and the Amalakite armies were as numerous as the sand by the seashore, far outnumbering Gideon's army of only 300 men.

Judges 7:7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.”

Judges 7:12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

FAITH: Gideon obeyed the Lord and acted by faith. God went beyond the facts of the 5 senses, to use a mere 300 men to defeat the army of countless myriads. God took what looked like a failure (looking at the facts of the matter) and turned it into a SUCCESS BY FAITH!

Judges 7:20-21

20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”

21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.

Here is another example of FACTS bowing to FAITH in the LORD: The 5 loaves and 2 fish being multiplied by JESUS by FAITH!

Jesus took the facts and MULTIPLIED them!!

FACT: There were 5000 hungry men (plus women and children) but only 5 loaves and 2 fish. The hard fact was, that this is not enough food to go around and feed all these people in the wilderness.

FACT: They didn't have enough money to make up the difference, and buy enough bread to meet the need.

BUT then FAITH happens, and the FACTS bow down to Jesus:

FAITH: JESUS blessed the 5 loaves and 2 fish and broke them and distributed them endlessly... and ALL 5000 men plus the women children were completely SATISFIED.... and there were TWELVE BASKETS of leftover fragments!!

John 6:1-14

1 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.
2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.
3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.
5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”
6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,
9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”
10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”
13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
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So it is important to know all the facts, do your research. Notice that God DID care how many men Gideon had. And Jesus did take note of how many loaves and fish there were. The facts were gathered. Then the facts were submitted to God.

Then the Lord transforms these facts and stats into His own reality by faith.

So then, once you gather your facts, and you sense the Lord is calling you to act in faith, then it is even MORE important to PRAY in Jesus' Name, and ask the Lord's Holy Spirit to guide you in all truth. He will bring you SUCCESS if you submit the facts to Him, and walk by FAITH in the Spirit of GOD! Walk in obedience to Jesus, by living relationship to Him! Facts and stats are important, yet they must always bow the knee to Jesus Christ our God, and Saviour and King!! If you are following His Word and His Spirit, then He will multiply your resources, and turn something bleak looking, into a positive success that GLORIFIES JESUS and blesses you and others!! Note that this only works if you are LISTENING TO GOD, not to the flesh.

Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

We can choose to live only by the 5 senses of the flesh (including the natural facts) OR we can choose to live by the HOLY SPIRIT and watch Him transform our facts into FAITH in Christ and FAITH in His Word!

Submit the Facts to Obedient Faith in Christ!  OBEDIENT FAITH transforms the FACTS!  And God gets the glory in Jesus' Name for giving us the victory!

God bless you!

Pastor Curtis

Sun Nov 21 2021 4:07am EST.