Have you ever received balloons or given them as a gift for a birthday, anniversary, graduation, or a promotion?    Well, one day I had a picture of balloons come to mind. Some were floating above me up close to the ceiling powered by the helium in them; some were floating around me more at arm’s reach; and some below me on the floor close to my feet.

The balloons floating above me were annoying for it seemed I couldn’t reach them to bring them to me. Those close to the floor were a bit of a nuisance too because they were not where they were supposed to be either. Only the balloons floating around me –where I could reach them – were really enjoyable and useful. At first this seemed just a crazy “picture-thought” triggered by some passing memory, but as I continued to think about the three positions of the balloons God gave me a lesson. The balloons represented the promises of God. Their position was a result of my faith level in believing those promises.

The balloons above me represented the promises of God that seemed out of reach. Since God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours, the only way to reach His Promises is by faith. (Isaiah 55:9) And the only way to have faith is by hearing and hearing the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) Though He has made provision for every need we will ever have, we can only make those provisions real for us when we know what they are, and act on them. So to me the balloons over head represented the promises of God not yet received. But do not be discouraged for His promises are reachable by faith; it only takes faith like a grain of a mustard seed to bring His promises to us or to move mountains away. (Matthew 13:31)

The balloons on the floor were there of course because they had lost the power of the helium in them. Many of us could give a testimony of times we thought we were “in faith” only to realize our faith had grown weak. This happens when we fail to keep our mind renewed to the Word of God as instructed in Romans 12:2. To keep the promises of God active and powerful in our lives we must be diligent to keep them before our eyes. If we become lax, the promises we once knew in our heart will only be in our head and we will just be quoting them by memory instead of speaking them by and with faith and power. Hebrews 4:2 tells us that the Gospel (Word of God) will not profit us anything if it is not mixed with faith. We must remember it is by FAITH that we hold God’s promises active and powerful in our life.

The balloons around me represented the promises of God that I hold dear in my heart and keep them active and powerful. These are the promises producing the “fruit of the Word” in my life. It is my faith-actions that bring the power of God’s promises to life: healing to my body, giving me courage and boldness to walk holy before God, bringing restoration in relationships, finances for prosperity, forgiving others, rejecting jealousy and bitterness, walking in love, and the list goes on and on. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that it is only by faith we can be pleasing to God.

Faith demands corresponding action. James 1:22 tell us to be “doers of the Word” and James 2:20 teaches that faith without works is dead. In other words we give the promises of God life and power by obeying His Word, not just by knowing His Word. It takes the combination of knowing, believing, and obeying the Word to make it possible to walk in agreement with God.  Just like the helium gives balloons “substance” to float; our faith is the substance of our hope to believe God’s promises.  (Hebrews 11:1)

My prayer for you this week is that you will continually renew your mind to the Word of God; being confident that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.