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Heb
11:6 But
without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to
God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him
What is faith?
Faith = Confidence, trust, reliance, ... If we have faith in God, it means that we believe that what He said in His Word, He will do it. Faith is knowing that the things you are hoping for, will come to pass. Faith is actually the proof that it will happen. In our modern day English, the word "faith" has been relegated to what the Bible termed "hope". When we say that we have faith in God, we actually mean that we are not sure, but all indications are that we can hope that He knows what He is doing and will try and do the best for us. It is a lot like the word "love". In the Bible times it meant much more than it means today. Today we hear songs of "baby, love me tonight" which actually means "baby, have sex with me tonight". It is not a long-term commitment any more, one in which we believe that the other party is always trying to do his or her best. So, the right translation for "faith" in the modern day English is actually more like "know". Having faith that everybody who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour will one day go to heaven, actually should say in the modern English version something like this: "I know that I will one day go to heaven" We are praying for our mother that the Lord will heal her of Alzheimer's disease. We know that He has heard us and is in the process of healing her. How do we know that? Because He said that whatever I ask in Jesus Name, He will give to me. There is no question of the modern day "faith" that He will do it. I "know" He will do it - because He said so. It is really a pity that we water down the meaning of words by saying stupid things like "I will present you the world on a silver platter". Because we say stupid things like this, it is hard for us to understand that God does not talk like this. If He says something, He means it. And there is nothing that can stop Him from doing what He promised - except our faith. He does not have a train to catch. He does not have to speak to His bank manager first. He will never say: "Sorry, but I forgot" or "Sorry, something distracted Me". The Benefits of Faith
In order to get something from God, we need faith that we will get it. It does not help to ask Him for something and then "hope for the best". We do not get anything by hoping, only by having faith. Jesus said: "Listen up! If you do not doubt, you will get what you are asking for!" It sometimes happens that in the natural realm, we battle to see a way out. When I had the night sweats, fever and weight loss, it is not always easy to know that God will heal me. We all have to die one day, but not of sickness - and not while you still have a son at home who has to go through university / college and a wife that will spend half of her lifetime without her husband! I am sorry for people who had loved ones taken away from them, but that will not happen to us! Why not? How can I be that arrogant? Because Jesus Himself said: "If you do not doubt, you will get what you are asking for". Ina and I have asked God to live together until He comes to fetch us - and that only after we had the privilege to play with and see our grand children grow up. What about if God does not want that? You must be joking! What on earth would God want to divorce Ina and I? What could have gone so badly wrong with His planning that He suddenly had to call me home? I am arrogant, because I know He loves me, Ina and our children and I know He will never break a promise - no, a covenant! By saying that we will get whatever we ask for if we have faith, He did not only make a mere promise, He covenanted with me! Listen, when God talks about moving a mountain, He was not talking about moving a stone or a rock, He was talking about a mountain! If we believe that He did not actually mean this, then that explains why we will never be able to move mountains. We will only be able to receive from God what have capacity for. If we can only believe that God will allow us into heaven by praying the sinners prayer, then unfortunately that is the only thing we will receive from Him. Everything else that we get from Him, will be "by accident". Let us look at an example. We cut ourselves and we pray for healing. After three weeks, the cut is healed. That was not God! God designed our bodies to heal itself. If we cut ourselves, we pray and the cut is gone when we open our eyes, that was God's divine intervention. We hide behind our unbelief by making up stories about why our prayers were not answered. Stories like "It was not God's will" and other similar lame excuses. The fact of the matter is, we did not get what we asked for because we did not have faith. It is like being an alcoholic - only after we have the guts to admit that we do not have faith, will we be able to say: "I do not accept it any longer that my prayers are not answered! I will now get the faith necessary to get my prayers answered!". Sometimes we have to overcome our flesh and shout out aloud: "I will not accept this condition anymore!" When I was in hospital and they could not get any bone marrow (it had dried up because of the Leukemia), the doctor called the lab to do yet another test to see if they could get any bone marrow. When the person arrived, Ina went down the stairs to the car, closed the window and then shouted on the top of her voice: "I do not accept this anymore!" When she got back to my bed, the doctor told us: "There is nothing wrong with this bone marrow". How do we obtain faith?
In order for us to have faith, we need to hear the Word of God. Where do we hear the Word of God? By reading your Bible and talking to God. He can hear whatever you say. You can speak to Him any time of day. He does not have an unlisted telephone number or a secretary that you have to work through. You can go to Him directly. You cannot depend on other people to tell you what God wants to tell you. God does not have a shop steward or a whistleblower working in His kingdom. It is every man and every women for themselves. We need to speak to God directly and not go through any person who might want to keep us under control. Why do we need faith?
If we want God to approve of us, we will live by faith. This means that we will live by what His Word says and we will not get into a flat spin about what our circumstances are showing us, or change our doctrine just to suit our experiences. If my situation looks bad at work, at home, in our finances, health or any other place, I know that Jesus said that He came so that I might have life in abundance. Then I know I do not have to panic, and that the thing I am seeing will one day pass, it will go away. I also know that the word of God will never pass - it will always be valid and it will never return void, I.e. return without accomplishing that which it said. All I have to do is say the word, and the situation will be resolved. How do I know that? Because Jesus said that even if I speak to a mountain, it will move. Ina heard today about one of the towers of TBN that could not receive a signal. They prayed over it and the Lord moved whatever was in the way so that TBN could pick up its signal. We do not have the right to get upset about our circumstances. We do not have the right to doubt God or His Word. We need to stand on that Word, even when our lives depend on it. When I was so sick with cancer, I stuck the Word of God all over the walls - in our home and in my office. Now the place I worked for did not care for the Word of God and was offended if a manager sticks these things on their walls. But my life depended on it and I did not care what anybody said about it.
We need to live by what the Word of God tells us, and not by what our experiences tell us. We have other rules that we work with. The gravity law still exists, but it does not have to limit us from doing what God wants us to do. Jesus walked on water - and He said we would be able to do greater things than this. We need to learn how to live by faith. When people talk behind my back, that does not bother me in the least. If they judge me, that does not bother me either. I have decided to take up my right as a son of the Most High God and cursed every tongue that is turned against me in judgement. From now on, their tongues will only get them deeper and deeper into trouble. How do I know that? Because the Bible tells me so - IT IS WRITTEN!
Now why on earth would you want to be a child of Abraham? Well, in order for you to obtain all the promises that were given to Abraham. Look at Deuteronomy 28 to see the benefits you will receive from living by faith and not by sight. (This includes, off course, the right to go to heaven and be cleansed from all unrighteousness). Let us have a look at a couple of these advantages:
So you see, if you do not believe this is possible, then it will not happen for you. I believed it even when I went to work in an old car that was painted with a brush in order to keep the rust out. I still believed it when our car was later exchanged for two cars: a Mercedes Benz 560 SEL and a BMW 540, both 8 cylinder luxury German sedans. I believed it when I rowed on the river in an inflatable dingy, and I also believe it now that we have two boats that are seaworthy. When our children went out at night, we always knew that things would turn out well for them, even if they are discriminated against because they have white skins. We knew, even when they were mistreated by their employers that that situation would turn out for the better for them, because the fruit of our body was going to be blessed. When people talk behind my back, I feel sorry for them, because I know that a rough time is lying ahead of them. When I later see what happens to them, I feel so sorry for them that I wish I could go to them and give them a big hug. When my situation changed and I thought there was no longer room for me in the company, the Lord changed it around so that I can now assist other people in doing the right things - world-wide
Actually it means that we are free from the CURSE of the law. I must admit that I am sometimes afraid to tell people about this one. Some people think that if you are no longer under the law, you now have the right to be lawless. In actual fact, it now becomes much more serious. It is like when you lived in the house of your parents. They had rules and you needed to abide by them. Then you move into your own apartment and you no longer have these rules. You do not have to make your bed in the morning or eat at a certain time. You can leave all the rules and do whatever you like. It is only when the bills come in that you understand that you should not use too much mater or electricity, because it gets cut off if you do not pay. The same goes for the bond. The you meet someone and get married. You suddenly find out that suddenly, there are new rules. Then you have a baby and suddenly there are thousands of additional rules like when to feed the little one, even what you take with when you go on holiday. Fortunately they grow up and one day you find your car wrapped around a tree and you realise that now YOU have to set up additional rules. What now happens is that we are free from the curse of the law, but we are now under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If you cannot hear the Holy Spirit, then being without the law is like being lawless. We are free from the ten commandments, but not free from the leading of the Holy Spirit. Guess what? The Holy Spirit will also tell you that you are still to adhere by those laws of do not steal etc., because they are all wrapped into two commandments: Love your God and Love your neighbour. How to break down your faithOne of the easiest ways to break down your faith is to talk to other Christians. Most Christians today exchanged the Word of God for the Kay Sera Sera word - whatever will be, will be. "Yes, my brother died just after I prayed for him, so you see, he immediately got 100% healing because there are no sick people in heaven". Or "My father died when he was 35 years old because the Lord needed him". Or "I got sick so that God could be glorified" - heck, then why don't you go into Africa and get Bilharzia, Malaria and TB all in one go. Just think how much THAT will glorify God! Have you ever heard of Jesus sending anybody home just because the TIME for their healing is not yet come? He did not even have the "decency" to wait for the Monday before healing people and so not offend the preachers of that time - He went right ahead and healed those people on the spot, whether it offended the preachers or not! We have changed the Gospel of Jesus Christ into a watered down psychology with a few hallelujahs and amen's added, trying not to offend anybody. Be careful of people that want to remind you of mistakes other Christians made. They are just trying to get control over you so that they can control you for their own benefit. We need our own faith. We cannot ride on the back of something God told other people, especially not about us. We go on training courses, achieve our doctorate degrees and get so confused by all the junk of the world that you need to be born again after attending seven years at one of these seminaries. We are hearing more and more of ministers who do not believe in the fact that the Holy Spirit fathered Jesus, or believe that healing is not for today, even those who believe that you do not need to be born again and that your fate was decided before you were born. All this junk is taught in seminaries. You will never be able to find this junk in the Bible all by yourself - not even with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. All the divisions amongst the Christians comes from the pastors, preachers, teachers, fathers or whatever they call themselves who only see their little congregation as the chosen few going to heaven or having the latest revelations. Divisions between Christians hardly ever come from members of the congregations.
When things go wrong and you loose your temper, it is as if your salvation has been taken from you. You can feel the emptiness inside, as if you have just died. There is only one way to get that back: Ask for forgiveness and repent, I.e. turn away and think differently. Being in the flesh means that you take what you see, hear, feel, smell and taste and you let that dictate to you what the real facts are. In reality, the Word of God tells us what the real facts are and we just use our authority as believers to change things that are to things they should be.
While I was waiting on the Lord for healing of cancer, I could not watch TV. It was really strange, as I am not a person who thinks that TV has such a great influence on people. I do not think that fairies and witches on TV is sinful and neither do I think that the movies on TV are documentaries that we should use to learn life's lessons from. But while I was waiting for my healing, it was strange how the stories on TV broke down my faith - especially the stories where people were dying. The movies always seems to take these deaths and change them for good. A child is very sick and medicine has no cure for him. He suffers tremendously and eventually dies. Everybody is so moved by the movie that they are all grateful with the writer of the story that everything has eventually come to an end. The body parts of the little boy now "saves" many other children and so the world tries to make sense out of the tragedies that strike people because we have not capitalized on the promises of God. Do not get me wrong. I really feel for people who are sick beyond the miracles of modern medicine. I am personally still taking tablets for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. But that only makes me realize that I have still not reached the place in my walk with Christ that I am walking in the fullness of all His promises. This does not make His promises worthless, it is a mirror on my walk with Him. We should be walking differently if we want to be blessed differently. The saying goes: "You cannot get different results while doing the same actions". In other words, for things to change for us, we have to change the way we are doing things. When things go wrong in our lives, we should first look at our own lives before we try and place Jesus in the accuser's seat. Trials
If need be, there will come a time in our lies where we will have to trust in what God told us while all the circumstances will tell us differently. This is called faith. Faith is believing God rather than what people say. The professional world is very tough. We are evaluated based on our performance every day. We are evaluated regularly based on other people's perception of our performance and our salary is then adjusted to fit this evaluation. If we do not perform, we are out of here. This puts a lot of stress on our faith. After hearing that we did not perform according to expectations, did not sell enough, did not work fast enough, and then we still have to believe that we are the apple of God's eye! This is our faith being tested! Circumstances can even go as far as not giving us an increase when everybody else is receiving one, or we are retrenched while other people are getting a raise. This is not the time to give up. God is in control of the lives of His children, but then they have to trust Him. The only way the promises are going to work for us is if we believe them and act as if God is not a Liar. Our faith needs to be tested because it is much more valuable than gold. It needs to be tested so that we can be found full of praise, honour and glory when Jesus returns. Let's see what the Bible says about His children:
It does not matter what the circumstances say, God says that all we have to do is listen to Him and obey Him and the following will happen:
So, if we feel as if nothing is working in our favour anymore, our faith is being put to the test. All we have to do is take out all the messages God gave us through our walk with Him, write them down in HUGE letters and stick them up all over the place so that our minds can understand that God's Word has more authority in our lives than Satan's word or your flesh. Nothing that anybody has to say and nothing that circumstances has to say can replace God's Word. Everything going against God's Word is illegal and only temporary. We will come out on top. We will be the head and not the tail. We will be fired and they will be worse off while we will be better off. We will be retrenched so that God can give us a better deal. If Satan or circumstances can convince us to doubt God's Word because nothing is going according to God's Word, God's Word will not work for us because we will be like a float in the water that gets washed backwards and forwards and those people must not think they will get anything from God. The SewerWhen we look at the parable of the Sewer, we find four different situations:
Sometimes we think it is impossible for God to honour His Word. I found the following saying in a shop window:
How much more is this truth applicable to the God who created the heavens and the earth?
Faith as a Mustard Seed
Faith as small as a mustard seedFaith here is the total conviction of something. You are not wondering whether it is going to happen, you know it is. Jesus warned us to be careful of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The "spiritual" people who have the looks of godliness but is denying the power thereof. People who tell us that what Jesus said He did not mean, and what He meant He did not say. This is just their way of trying to tell us that we are too stupid to read the Bible and that we do not have the Spirit of God in us to explain to us what Jesus said. These people sow seeds of doubt in our midst and these seeds grow just like yeast filters through the whole bread until we cannot imagine why Jesus said what He said. Jesus said that nothing would be impossible for us, NOTHING. Its time we believed what Jesus said and take control of our lives. I am healed from the cancer that killed me because I told my body to get into line with God's Word in Jesus Name. The cancer I now have left in my body will also disappear in due course because I told it to do so.
What gives me the right? His Word does. I know I will live a long and happy life because He already said that. Now I am just waiting for the symptoms of the remaining cancer to disappear.
The reason they could not drive the demon outThe disciples could not drive out a demon. The father then brought him to Jesus who then drove him out. Now the disciples were concerned: Why could they not drive these demons out? The answer of Jesus was that they did not have faith. If they had the faith as small as a mustard seed, they would have been able to do it. Later on Jesus goes on to say that this type of faith only comes with prayer and fasting. Now either Jesus is lying, or He is talking the truth and we are missing the mark. Which one do you think it is? Not only did Jesus say that this is the deal, He said: "I tell you the truth". He used these same words when he told Peter that Peter would deny Him three times.
Faith in His Name
Even the miracle of the paralysed man who lay at the gate of the temple and was healed in Jesus Name did not convince the people of that time that Jesus was the true Son of God. Even today no amount of wonders and miracles will convince people of Jesus Christ. It is a strange thing - you first have to have a soft and tender heart and seek God, then the Spirit will be able to convince you of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The Lord honours those who diligently seek Him, not the casual enquirers. So if you are waiting for a miracle so that you can believe in Jesus Christ, get ready for a long wait. Concentrate on having a tender heart before Him, then His Spirit will convince you. First believe, then you get the evidence. This is radically different from the way the world works. But I have good news - you better get used to it because all His things work the "wrong" way around. Look at more examples:
If we can but see the power behind the Name! If you are stopped in the name of the law, you better not go against the insignificant-looking person in front of you. That person's backing could be more than you bargained for! Just think about the faith that policeman must have in his backing when he or she stands in the middle of the road directing the traffic - from motor bikes to busses and trucks! We have the authority to use the Name of Jesus! If you have faith in the backing behind that Name, you will not be afraid to stop the devil from taking things from you.
Be not Weak in FaithRom 4:19,20 He (Abraham), being not weak in faith, considered not his own body... He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was also able to perform. Faith is EasyFaith is easy - If all appears to be going to plan It is easy to believe that God is merciful, patient and that we were healed by His stripes while everything is going according to plan. It is easy to believe that God is looking after us when we get a raise or a promotion. Faith is DifficultHowever, when things seem to get out of hand, it becomes much more of an issue. Do we still believe that Jesus loves us when people at work talk behind our back? Do you still believe that God called you to lead Israel out of Egypt when the king changes his mind for the ninth time or when you end up in front of the Red Sea like Moses did? Do we still believe that God will provide for our needs when we are retrenched or have no money to pay for food? If we say we have faith, that means nothing. Heathen say that too. But when people around us tell us that we have faith, that is when we might be passing some tests. How do we react in a crisis? How do we react when things go wrong? Things go wrong so that we may have the privilege of proving to ourselves that we have faith and so that we may practice patience. This enables us to see into our own heart and see the real me. If we fail, God is able and willing to forgive our unbelief. But use the situation to learn that God is a good God. Whatever He has promised, He is able to do. There is nothing that can interrupt His plan for us or keep Him too busy to give us attention. He does not have a plane to catch or a bonus that needs to be paid out first before He can help us. His is not reliant on the weather or the will of a man. He says what He means and means what He says. We do not have to read in between the lines or have a theology degree to understand Him. He has given us His Holy Spirit to assist, teach and comfort us. Faith is Being Fully PersuadedWhen we are fully persuaded about God's Word, we will take an umbrella with after we prayed for rain. But then we come up with excuses like: It could rain today or the day after tomorrow - we just cannot tell. But inside we are looking for a way out in case the rain does not come. We would rather get wet in the rain than take an umbrella an being made fun of. We are not really fully persuaded that the rain we asked for, will come immediately. The problem now is one of a self fulfilling prophesy: We have prayed once before and the rain did not come immediately, so now we seek an excuse why this happened. The most popular excuse is that the Lord's timing is not our timing. And so we battle from one unanswered prayer to the next. When a prayer does get answered, we are so surprised that all we can talk about is that prayer. We need to be fully persuaded. So what does this mean?
ExamplesLet us have a look at some examples:
Now I am no longer worried about the illness. I know that it will not kill me and I know that I will have a long and prosperous life although the doctors said that I had three months to live. When I got the verse that said: God has not chastised me unto death, I knew I was not going to die. So instead of planning for my funeral, I started planning for a new life, home loans, new cars etc. It is incredible what goes through your mind when you hear you have three months left. No more home loans, no more new cars, no more planning to play with your grand children, get rid of your debt as soon as you can. Sell your boats and other luxuries to pay all the outstanding loans, get your testament in order, what you want done with your body etc. But when God tells you that you will live, you learn new things like playing on the stock exchange, renovating your home, purchasing another home to assist your retirement plan etc. I am still using Gleevec for CML, but I know I will not die. Not because Gleevec is such a revolution in cancer treatment, but because God said so.
I worked at a petrochemical plant, designing parts of it in Johannesburg. The Lord told me I would work their for two years and then we would move down to Mossel Bay. After the first two years, my boss called me in to say that I had to stay another year. Our house that we rented was only for two years and the rent was getting more expensive by the month. We quickly shopped around for another home but could not find one. Eventually I had to go to the Lord and ask Him advise. He was not stressed at all, as He already told me that we would be in Johannesburg for only two years. Being fully persuaded no means that we will no longer search for another home to rent, we will start packing our bags for the move to Mossel Bay. The following day my boss called me in again and said that I had to pack my bags, I was required in Mossel Bay immediately.
After moving down to Mossel Bay, another person who wanted my position talked against me behind my back, so much so that I had to put a stop to it. I condemned his mouth in Jesus Name. (This is the heritage of God's children)
After I did this, I stopped worrying about what he said to who, as I knew that if what he said was aimed against me, that God would make that work against him. After an investigation by the top brass, I was appointed to the full-time staff while his letter stated that his mouth cost him his job. Now when the Lord tells you that He is going to do something, stop worrying about it and wait expectantly for it, knowing that it will happen. Never, Ever Look BackIf you look back at all the times your prayers were not answered or where other people failed, you are not fit for the kingdom of heaven.
You need to decide that you will rather be called a fool for trusting God that being called a fool for NOT trusting in God. Other tricks the devil uses are:
Anything that can cause you to loose your faith in the Word of God, you need to deal with RIGHT AWAY! Do I Have Enough Faith?
Let us have a look at Peter: Peter must have been a very impulsive man. Picture this: The ship is in the middle of the sea and the ship is being washed to and fro by the huge waves and the wind. Anybody in his right mind would be afraid of that water. Now Peter sees Jesus walking on the water. Without thinking, he asks Jesus if he could come to Him. Jesus says Yes and the rest is history. Have you ever been exited about something and made an impulsive decision? Then afterwards you wonder whether that was such a good idea? I went to a BMW dealership and looked around at all the wonderful motorcycles.
This is exactly what happened with Peter: After getting out of the boat, his head took over from his heart and he started sinking. The difference was that in his case Jesus told him that he could walk and his heart just accepted that. Here is the most important lesson that you will EVER learn: Your faith is in your heart and not in your head. Our hearts will tell us: "Get out and walk on the water" while our heads will say "What in the hell have you just done?" Now let me tell you something: If we hear from God and our heart leaps with joy, that is faith! We are not allowed to let our heads interfere with the Word of the Living God - it can cancel God's command! This is living by faith and not by sight. We cannot satisfy God if we do not walk by faith. So we do not need more faith - that little spark in our hearts is more faith than we will ever need. All we have to do is NOT to allow our thoughts to interfere with God's Word. This is a war in which we have to fight all the thoughts that are trying to elevate themselves above God's Word. We have to submit those thoughts under God's Word and not allow that Word to get us under. When my body was riddled with cancer, I had enough faith to get healing from God - there was a spark in my heart and that was enough. But my mind was getting the better of me and I had to cry out with tears in the shower one day; "Lord, help me in my unbelief!" Ina brought me my diary in which I talk to God and He answers me. She read about all the things that God dealt with us in the last couple of months and the tears of joy returned and I knew that God had not given up on me yet. However, I was still waiting for that Word from God which came a couple of weeks later: Psa 118:17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
Our faith, that spark in your heart, is
more than you will ever need. We will not allow our brain to cancel that
spark. That spark says that God's Word will come true in our lives. We
speak it out aloud until our brain believes us. We speak things into
being! Mat 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief:
for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard
seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place;
and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
We hear God's Word or we read God's Word. Our hearts leap with joy and we accept His Word. Now all we have to do is Not Allow our heads to interfere! Having a thought of doubt is NOTHING. We just get it right out of our head and carry on. Our faith (or the lack thereof) is not measured by the amount of times we have doubtful thoughts - our faith is in our hearts and is measured by that excitement God's Word brings despite what we think or see around us! If we have too many thoughts of doubt, we just ask God to assist us in our unbelief and we carry on. We NEVER listen to our brains when God says something else - that is when unbelief starts, i.e. when we believe those thoughts instead of God's Words. Having the thoughts means nothing! It does not cancel our belief or faith! We do not deny the reality, we only deny the authority it has over our lives. IT IS WRITTEN!
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