·
It
is a misconception within believers to think that faith is something that we
muster up, grind our teeth to keep alive, and throw scriptures at, while we
claim and frame what we want from the Lord. As with anything that pertains to
our Christian walk, if it comes from us, our flesh, it proves to be frail, full
of holes and bound to fail.
·
The
faith that we must walk by is the faith OF God, and not our own.
Let us look at the next two scriptures from the original Greek language
Mark 11:22
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in (Have the “God kind” of faith, or “the faith OF GOD”.) God.
q
(God, is in the genitive Greek case that defines
ownership; therefore it is “God’s possession of His faith.)
Gal 2:20 I
am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith, of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me. (ONCE AGAIN WE FIND THE GREEK CASE OF
POSSESSION.)
(Greek: The life which I now live in the flesh, I live
in faith, this being the faith which dwells in the Son of God.
John 3:27 John answered and said, A
man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Rhema word of God.
(Greek: So then faith gets its life from hearing,
but the type of hearing, which describes faith, must be exclusively one which
comes through the rhema word of God.
Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The rhema word is
nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the rhema word of faith,
which we preach;
q
q Every rhema word represents an itemized description of God’s measure of
faith, as He has tailored it for every situation in which He speaks the rhema word into. It is
therefore an account of what the Lord can accomplish within a particular
circumstance.
·
God’s
rhema word is God’s faith. Our job is to believe God’s rhema word of faith.
Belief is most of the time more than a mental assent to simply acknowledge that
we believe. It is daily step-by-step obedient response to believe and execute
all that God’s rhema word requires from us to make it come to pass.
·
We
hear and receive what the voice of the Spirit speaks to us. That is God’s faith. Our daily work is to keep the word of God
alive in our heart, and do all that the word requires from us. That is what it means to believe.
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
20 For the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
·
Verses
seventeen and twenty of Romans one tells us that the righteousness of God, are
the mighty deeds of an invisible God who dwells in the heavens, made visible
for us upon the earth.
Romans 3:22 Even the
righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe: for there is no difference:
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith
1 Thessalonians 1:3
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
2 Thessalonians 1:11
Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you
worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and
the work of faith with
power:
·
Paul in the two scriptures in Thessalonians tells us that faith
is work. Part of the work entails
that as we walk in the faith of God.
Faith is work, because the results are not immediate and requires our
continued perseverance to bring what is promised to pass.
·
The scriptures below from Matthew confirm what we just said. We
shall receive in the future However, Jesus never gives to us as time frame of
when we shall obtain. He simply tells
us that in the future we shall obtain. This keeps us working by faith, as we
patiently wait not in passivity but in the sphere of a constant activity and
implicit obedience to the voice of God.
Matthew 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 ( FUTURE TENSE) and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Matthew 21:21 Jesus answered and
said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye
shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say
unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done (FUTURE TENSE)
·
Secondly, if we are to place our belief in God and His word, we
must know who it is in whom we believe. If we have a firm grasp on some of the
attributes that reveal to us how great God is, it makes our belief in God and
His word all the surer and the results of our faith more effective.
Mark 10:27 And Jesus looking upon
them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all
things are possible.
·
Greek paraphrase: God
is capable and able, and mighty and strong to successfully accomplish His will
in every affair in heaven and upon the earth.
Luke 18:27 And he said, The things
which are impossible with men are possible with God.
·
Greek paraphrase: In
all those things that people find impossible to accomplish because they have no
power, God is able and capable, and strong and mighty to accomplish.
Mark 9:23 Jesus said
unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
·
If you have the ability to believe for something, without
allowing for a chronic pattern of doubt to set in, that very thing that you
believe for becomes transformed into something, mighty and strong and powerful
and capable to obtain what you are seeking for.
Matthew
21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask
in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
·
As you
are praying to God, no matter how many are the things,
whatsoever they are, or how great, and difficult, and much
they are, if you request them with and attitude of belief which allows
for no doubt to set in, you shall receive in the future.
Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto
you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou
cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that
those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
·
If you
believe without doubting that the content of what you speak comes
to pass at the moment that you speak it, as many are the things, whatsoever
they are, or how great, and difficult, and much they are that make up that content, it will come into
existence for you.
·
It is
important to remember however, that faith that obtains in asking and speaking
can only come from what the Father has given to us out of heaven. This is what it means to pray in THE NAME OF
JESUS. Look we me at a scripture about answered prayer.
John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my
(RHEMA) words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and
it shall be done unto you.
·
We see that answered prayer is conditional to praying to what the
Spirit has first placed within our heats.
Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall
be impossible.
Greek: (The English is incorrect) Every
rhema word has the resident dunamis power to carry it to its successful
accomplishment.
1 Cor 13:2 And though I have the gift
of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have
all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing.
·
If I have all faith (which gives no space for doubt) insomuch that I
can remove mountains by altering situations and circumstances from moment to
moment by that faith….
·
Mountains, most of the time are not removed in one moment’s
notice. Our work of faith, as we flow
with God’s faith, found in His rhema word, is able and capable to remove
mountain after mountain and gradually change our situations and circumstances
until we obtain.
·
One
of the greatest hindrances that we have to walking faith is our mind. In the gospel of John chapter four, we find
that the Spirit of God flows within us as a river. That river is the flow of
God’s rhema words, which contains the step-by-step pattern of God’s faith.
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of
the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall
give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
·
Our
minds must be renewed. To renew our
minds is more than a meditation of scriptures.
Our minds must be delivered from bondage, and purified from sin so that
they can be stilled from the noise, and the constant scheming and planning
found within them. The flow of God’s
river of rhema words is transported through the still small voice of the
Lord. A strong, scheming and wandering
mind will effectively drown out the small still voice of the Lord.
·
A mind that is impure and sinful is an open
and legal door for the enemy to attack through his interjection of powerful and
deceptive thoughts into our minds, which are contrary and disruptive to the
will of God in our spirits.
Romans 7: 25 I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve (I am a bond-slave to) the law of
God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
·
Romans seven
and twenty five tells us that our minds were created to be a slave of the law
of God. As we have learned, the law of
God, is the “law of faith” found in Romans three and twenty seven. The
law of God is the voice of God within us, which contains His faith. When we
obey His word, His righteous deeds released to equip His particular word. The
law of faith tells us that at every instance that we operate by faith, which is
God’s rhema word, God’s righteous deeds are released to meet and equip His
rhema word.
·
The mind
must delivered, healed, purified, and submitted to God’s Spirit so that it can
receive the understanding of God’s voice, which we call revelation, and
transmit it to our will which will carry our physical bodies along to obey
God’s voice.
·
The mind
therefore must be delivered from two forms of doubting which will paralyze our walk by the law of
God. Let us study these two forms in
more detail.
1 Corinthians 4:7
For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if
thou hadst not received it?
1 Corinthians 14:29
Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
Jude 1:22 And of some have
compassion, making a difference.
·
The three
verses above containing the three highlighted words, “differ”, “judge”,
and “difference” all come from one word in the Greek text.
·
Furthermore,
if we now look below to Matthew twenty-one and twenty one, Mark eleven and
twenty three, and Romans four twenty below, and the words “doubt” and “staggered
not” we find that they likewise are exactly the same Greek word as with
differ, judge, and difference! The doubting that Jesus speaks about then has
something to do with placing a difference, making a distinction, or judging in
between things.
Mat 21:20 And when the disciples saw
it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
21 Jesus answered and said
unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is
done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou
removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,
believing, ye shall receive.
·
As you
are praying to God, no matter how many are the things,
whatsoever they are, or how great, and difficult, and much
they are, if you request them
with and attitude of belief that does not create a distinction or a difference
that causes you to vacillate between
the impossibilities of physical circumstance versus what miracles God says He
can perform through them, you shall receive in the future.
Mark 11:21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold,
the fig tree
which thou cursedst is
withered away.
22 And Jesus answering saith
unto them, Have faith in God.
23
For
verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou
removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those
things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
·
If you can
believe without creating a distinction or a difference that causes you to
hesitate between the impossibilities of physical circumstance versus what
miracles God says He can perform through them; the content of what you
speak no matter as many are the things, whatsoever
they are, or how great, and difficult, and much they are that make up that content, it will come into
existence for you
24 Therefore I say unto you,
What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and
ye shall have them.
John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask
in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
·
No matter
how many are the things, whatsoever they are, or
how great, and difficult, and much they are, if requested in accordance to my rhema word Jesus will perform for
you. This is one way that Jesus becomes
glorified.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me,
but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth
fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name,
he may give it you.
·
No matter
how many are the things, whatsoever they are, or
how great, and difficult, and much they are, if requested in accordance to Jesus rhema word you will most
definitely get in the future. This is
one way we bear fruit or the Lord.
·
The
second type of doubting has to do with calculating, computing, and trying to
figure out things in our minds before they happen. Much of this type of
doubting comes when we find ourselves without the material provisions, such as
food and money, and we feel urged to step out on water and obey God. We find
ourselves calculating and trying to figure out how we are going to make it all
happen. Let’s look at a few scriptures
below. We shall notice that this type of reasoning and doubting had to do with
lack of bread.
Matthew 16:7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
Matthew 16:8 Which when
Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no
bread?
Mark 8:16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.
Mark 8:17 And when Jesus knew it,
he saith unto them, Why reason
ye because ye have no bread? perceive
ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?
·
Our minds
must be likewise delivered from logic, attempting to figure out and
predetermining our obedience to God. If
we do so, we will walk by faith and see miracles in our lives
·
Let us look
at two important principles of faith.
2 Cor 4:18 While we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
q
We contemplate and put our attention from moment to moment on what we
cannot see with the physical eyes. For what is seen with our physical eyes have
a short-lived and seasonal effect. What
is seen in the Spirit however has an impact that lasts forever.
2 Corinthians 5:7
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
·
Greek: We
conduct our lives by faith and absolutely never by what appears.
“As” Thou Hast Believed
Matthew 8:13 And Jesus said
unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant
was healed in the selfsame hour.
Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus
answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her
daughter was made whole from that very hour.
·
The
word “as” has a powerful connotation in New Testament scriptures. It is defined by some of the following terms;
As, like, even as, just
like, in the same manner, and a carbon copy of.
·
In Matthew eight and thirteen, Jesus in fact
tells the centurion, that in the very specific thing that he has targeted his
belief for, that very targeted thing he will receive. When we ask in Jesus’
Name, our request must be very specifically targeted to what we want. From the
rhema word that Jesus grants us in His name, we find ourselves with a host of
things that we can request from the Lord within the sphere of the rhema
word. Any specific point that we target
our request for, believing, which is void of the two types of doubting taught
above, we will receive as a specific carbon copy or reduplication of what we
requested. The specific thing that we ask for believing is the specific thing
that we receive.
Matthew 9:29 Then touched he
their eyes, saying, According
to your faith be it
unto you.( LET
IT BECOME OR BE CREATED FOR YOU)
The Authority of Faith
· A very important quality of God’s faith, is that resident within it lies God’s authority to cause circumstances and situations to submit to the faith itself, change them and line them up to God’s rhema word. Let us analyze three scriptures below.
Matthew 8:13 And Jesus said
unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed
in the selfsame hour.
·
The so be it done unto thee” is
in the Greek imperative mood or the mood of command. The faith of the centurion has God’s inherent authority to
command circumstances to change and line up in accordance to what the centurion
specifically targeted for in his request.
·
Matthew 9:29 Then touched he
their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
·
Likewise we
find the same situation with the faith of the blind men.
·
The “be
it unto you” is in the Greek imperative mood. In reality what Jesus tells them is that
their faith commanded the circumstances that kept them blind to change and line
up into God’s normalcy for vision.
Matthew 15:28
Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
·
Great is
your faith. Your faith has commanded
the future circumstances to line up and submit to and finally give to you what
you desire.
Faith In The Perfect Tense
Gal 5:25 If
we live in ( Instrumental (By)) in the
Spirit, let us also walk
(Greek word which
is defined as “marching in the footsteps of a soldier”) in (Instrumental (By))
the Spirit.
Greek paraphrase) (It is a
given that we should be living our lives not in the present day world system,
but in the domain, influence, and sovereignty of the world of the Holy Spirit. Because
we are being continually affected and influenced by the Spirit, in that
influence and effect we must march in step as soldiers so that the Spirit’s
influence can go on, deepen, intensify, and continue interrupted.
Matthew 9:22 But Jesus turned
him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy
faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made
whole from that hour.
·
Hath made
thee whole is in the
Greek perfect tense. The faith of the
women completely healed her with the results that her healing is secure from
now, the future, and until the time of her natural death, unless she sins and
opens up a door to the enemy
Mark 5:34 And he said unto her,
Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
·
Here Jesus tells the woman “Thy faith has
cured you now and forevermore.” The faith itself accomplished it with a
completed and everlasting result. Jesus
then tells the woman; “Immediately go into a continual and enduring state of
shalom peace brought about by being whole and sound from your plague.
Mark 10:52 And Jesus said unto him,
Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus
in the way.
Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman,
Thy faith hath saved
thee; go in peace.
Jesus
Intuitive Knowledge of Our Faith.
Matthew 9:2 And, behold, they brought
to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said
unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
Matthew 9:22 But Jesus turned
him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort;
thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he
said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
·
The three
instances “seeing” and “saw” is a Greek word that can be interchanged between physical
seeing and intuitive knowledge.
God communicates Himself to us in our spirits by intuitive knowledge.
There are two types of knowledge. There
is the acquired knowledge that we progressively use to learn by studying
and researching. The other knowledge,
which is intuitive, tells us immediately that a dress is blue. God speaks to us in this way. We intuitively
know, and step out and obey.
·
As I just
stated, the physical seeing described comes from exactly the same
Greek word for the intuitive seeing or the intuitive knowledge of the
Lord Jesus. Jesus must intuitively
know a level of faith in us that will prompt Him to act to act on our
behalf and grant to us what we want. Until He intuitively knows a faith
level in us that does not doubt the mountains and circumstances in our lives
will at best be only partially altered.
Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto
the Lord, Increase our faith.
6 And the Lord said, If ye
had faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up
by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father,) full of grace and truth.
Heb 11:1 ¶ Now faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
·
Mustard seed
faith is three-dimensional faith. A grain of mustard is three-dimensional. In
Hebrews eleven and one we are told that faith must have substance. In John one and fourteen we are told that
the Word of God must become flesh.
·
In all of
these instances we see that faith must become a reality to us. More than that, faith must become our
ONLY reality. The reality of faith, and the rhema word of God must
become OUR ONLY REALITY.
It is what must become three dimensional to us. Our circumstances must all become
two-dimensional and our UNREALITY.
·
Let us look
at a few excerpts from the book of Hebrews.
·
Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds
were framed (equipped) by the rhema word
of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do
appear.
Greek: The worlds were framed by the rhema word
of God, so that the things
that we presently
see with our eyes were
made out of things that cannot be seen by the eye. In other words, God always creates what is physically evident to us,
out of things which are
physically invisible, through the rhema word. This is the title deed of the rhema word.
q
The word “framed” is the
same word used for the mending of the fishing nets by the apostle Peter. It is also defined as the full equipping
towards the successful carrying out of a mission. The “framing” of the United States armed forces in the
Persian Gulf Crisis tells us that they were furnished with the quality and
quantity of armaments, food, gear, and clothing that were needed to furnish
them a total victory.
Hebews 11:7 By faith Noah,
being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark
to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became
heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
·
Being divinely instructed and admonished concerning
the things that he could not see with human
the human eyes
·
“The things yet not seen” what was what well
known to Noah, or what had a three dimensional substance to him. The physical world acquired no
reality or became simply two-dimensional.
8 By faith Abraham, when he
was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an
inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
·
He was
called was in the
present tense.
·
He
obeyed- Greek: “a military submission to hearing”
·
He
went out; As we go
out with the word of God.
·
Not knowing ‘Having
nothing in the physical realm which was set and standing before him so that he
could grasp and follow. He had no
acquaintance with what God had called him to do.
27 By faith he forsook Egypt,
not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as
seeing him who is
invisible.
Mat 13:31 Another parable put he
forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard
seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
·
In Matthew
thirteen and thirty-one we see the parable of the kingdom of God, which a man
took. The word for “took” is the Greek
word “receive”. To receive, as we will
study in the next section is, to obtain something for ourselves, posses it, and
make it into an integral and real part of our life. The word of God must become
our substance and our reality just like the three dimensionality of a grain of
mustard. Once that our faith operates like this and our physical world holds no
reality over the voice of God we sow the revelation of the three dimensional
word into the outer world bringing forth the kingdom and producing miracles.
Luke 13:19 It is like a grain of
mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and
waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.
·
We see a
very similar parable in Luke thirteen and nineteen. The man received the word
of God and made it into an integral part of His life, by making it into THE
REALITY of his life. Out of the three dimensionality of this word he then cast
out into the garden of the physical world creating the miraculous kingdom of
God.
Receiving
1 Corinthians 4:7
For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou
didst not receive ? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou
glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
·
Receiving in
the Bible is not a mental recognition or a temporary belief that what we ask
God, He automatically gives to us without the work of faith involved. To
receive, is to obtain something for ourselves, posses it, and make it into an
integral and real part of our life. First Corinthians four and seven tells us
that everything that we desire from God, by faith must be obtained, possessed,
and incorporated, into our hearts before we see it becoming a reality for us in
our external word.
Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you,
What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
·
Through this
I tell you that as many things, whatsoever they are, or as great as, as far as,
how much, how many they are, while in praying to God, you request, believing
that you have obtained them, possessed them, and made it your very own at the
moment of your asking, shall become a reality in the future for you
Matthew 21:22 And all things,
whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive
·
How
many are the things, whatsoever they are, or how
great, and difficult, and much they are, requested from God without
doubt, you shall obtain, posses, and make it into an integral and real part of
our life in the future.
Matthew 25:1 Then shall the
kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took
their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Matthew 25:3 They that were
foolish took their
lamps, and took no
oil with them:
Matthew 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels
with their lamps.
An Excerpt of Faith From the Book of
Romans
Romans 4:12 And the father
of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk(Greek: march as a soldier ) in the steps ( footprints) of that
faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
q We are commanded to march (in Romans four and twelve,) as soldiers whose duty is to keep in line with the footprints made by the type of faith that our father Abraham had. If we do so, God will make us spiritual fathers and mothers of the multitude of things that pertain to His kingdom. The reason why we are spiritual fathers and mothers of so little is because we do not allow God to strip us down to the point where we hope and live out of His rhema word alone.
Mat 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every rhema word
that proceedeth out (from
moment to moment) of the mouth of God.
Romans 4:17 ¶ (As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who
quickeneth the dead (corpses),
and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
q Greek translation and also my own paraphrase; Abraham once and for all, (aorist tense) believed God. Who is the God whom he believed in?
q Abraham believed in the God whose nature is to continuously give life to the dead i.e. (Greek; Circumstances which are so dead that they are corpse like).
q He is also the God who continuously calls the things which are not, as if they are. (The word “as” is a very interesting word. It means in the same manner as, or having the same content).
q This tells us that the nature of our God is to call forth the things, which are still not physically in existence as having the same reality and essence of things, which are in existence. This is one of the facets of faith!
q
Think of it; Abraham’s faith in
God was so great, that out of corpse like circumstances, and out of things,
which in reality do not exist, God made Abraham into a father of many nations
and millions of people. This is called the faith of Abraham. Most believers today, especially in the
United States, know little about this measure of faith, which in reality is the normal operation of faith. Because our comfort and security levels are too high, our faith is
dysfunctional.
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Let us look at another aspect of Abraham’s faith. In Romans four and eighteen we find that
normal faith functions in the realm of hopelessness. What I mean to say by that
is that the Lord must bring us to a point where He destroys our dependency on
everything that is around us and that we can grasp and forces us to depend
solely on His rhema word. Abraham, when all hope was gone, founded His life on
hope. The hope that he had lost was
that every circumstance around him around Him was corpselike. The only hope
that He founded His life on was the rhema word of God. This is the faith of God
Romans 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Greek:
Abraham, with all hope gone, believed on a foundation made out
of hope, that he might become the father of many nations, in relation to the rhema word which was
spoken, So shall thy seed be.
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Abraham’s secret is found in
Hebrews eleven and one. Most of us at
one time have had in our possession a title deed to an automobile or a home at
the time that we purchased these items.
Though we may not have actual physical ownership of these objects for a
season of time after closing on them, we know without a shadow of doubt that
they belong to us because of the title deed.
Therefore faith, is the title deed of what we have hoped for thus giving
us a full assurance of that thing that is ours but that we presently yet cannot
see.
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Faith’s title deed is the rhema word of God. Every time that God gives us a rhema word we have obtained a
title deed to what God promises. This
is the hope that Abraham based his whole life upon when God had stripped all
hope of what he could discern with his natural senses.
Romans 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered
not his own body now dead ( now in a permanent state of a corpse) , when he was about an hundred
years old, neither yet the deadness ( the corpse-likeness) of Sara’s womb: