I have been many times afoot, with the soles worn out of my shoes, but I knew God would promote me if I’d be faithful. It wasn’t that God withheld from me, but the devil was going to see if I really believed what I claimed I believed.
At every turn of the road, the devil will stick up his head. He’s going to see if you really believe. He’s going to put you to the test.
The same things could happen now that happened in the case of Job. The devil came up accusing Job. “Yeah, no wonder he serves You,” the devil said to God. “Just look, everything’s nice. All of his children are well. He’s got big crops. He’s got money. He’s wealthy. Just take down the hedge and let me get to him. You’ll see!”
Well, Satan has the right to get to people here, because he’s the god of this world. A lot of your transactions—especially when it comes to finances—are in this world, where Satan is god, and he’ll really stick up his head.
But if you’ll do what the Word says, you’re not going to be afraid. I know. I know from experience. I can understand how Peter could lie down and sleep soundly when they were planning to kill him the next day.
He was sleeping so deeply an angel had to smite him on the side to wake him up, and Peter didn’t realize he was really awake until he got outside the prison (Acts 12:6-11).
But I understand that. The Lord has enabled me to lie down and sleep under the most adverse circumstances when nothing seemed to be going right. But I knew that godliness is profitable. I knew that if I would be faithful—if I would not be weary in well doing—in DUE SEASON I’d reap. I wanted to be there when the due season came!
Yes, it would have been easy to become weary. It would have been easy to quit. Absolutely.
That would have been the easy way out: Just quit. Just give up. My flesh wanted to quit. My mind wanted to quit. But something on the inside of me—that Word and that Spirit—challenged me to press on.
Be a man or woman of the Word and of the Spirit!
Promotion will come, sooner or later. It’s coming. Be not weary in well doing, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not. Promotion day’s coming. You’re about to be promoted, glory to God.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
Rev. Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, a son of the late Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.
Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.
In August of 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God's Word. Two years later, he preached his first sermon as pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas.
In 1937, Rev. Hagin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began ministering in Pentecostal churches. During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.
During the next 14 years, Jesus appeared to Rev. Hagin eight times in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio—on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin, is also heard on the program.
In 1968, Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith magazine, which now has a monthly circulation of more than 250,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Rev. Hagin Jr., and several other authors worldwide. Faith Library Publications also has produced more than 9 million audio teaching tapes and CDs.
Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include RHEMA Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Hagin; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; RHEMA Alumni Association; RHEMA Ministerial Association International; RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center; and a prison ministry.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA and in 1976 moved the school and ministry offices to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where they remain. To date, RHEMA Bible Training Center USA has 23,000 alumni, and RHEMA Bible Training Centers have opened in 13 other nations: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. Together, the 14 schools have more than 28,000 graduates worldwide.
RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by Rev. Hagin Jr., began holding services in October of 1985 on the RHEMA campus in Broken Arrow and has since grown to become a thriving congregation with more than 8,000 members.
Rev. Hagin's daughter and son-in-law, Pat Harrison and the late Doyle "Buddy" Harrison, founded Harrison House Publishers in 1975 and Faith Christian Fellowship International Church in 1977. Both organizations are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Until shortly before his death in September 2003, Rev. Hagin continued to travel and teach throughout the United States and into Canada conducting All Faiths' Crusades and other special meetings.