Though there is a place for human reasoning, it can become a stronghold
in the lives of believers. This happens when believers accept, as facts,
human explanations for why we are sick, impoverished, experiencing
mental or emotional anguish or when it causes us to justify or make
excuses for holding on to addictions, unforgiveness, bitterness, or
other sins. This is why it is of the utmost importance that all
believers continuously experience a rising of their faith to a greater
dimension. Faith gives believers the ability to see beyond the natural
realm.
The Apostle Paul tells us, "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith."
(Romans 1:17) It is continuous revelation of God from the Holy Spirit
that will take us to a higher dimension of faith, that is, faith to
faith. When we go from one level of faith
to another, our faith moves forward from the place to which we have
already advanced into a greater level of faith. For instance, say you
were suffering from constant headaches. One day your level of faith had
advanced to where headache symptoms that try to come upon you are gone
before they take hold because you have received in your spirit a
revelation of healing and have acted upon it. But now the day has come
by your continuously standing on and speaking God's Word to sickness,
that your faith has advanced to a higher level and any symptoms of
sickness that try to come upon you can no longer attach themselves to
you. Because you have advanced in faith, from faith to faith, you give
no thought to headaches; therefore the symptoms of a headache will never
affect you again.
Again,
an essential key to advancement in faith is continuous revelation, or
revealed knowledge of God by the Holy Spirit. Faith advances through
revealed knowledge. One cannot exercise faith in something that they do
not know. When
a person lacks revealed knowledge, it is impossible for that person to
move to the next leve1 of faith. But when revelation is present, faith can catapult the individual into a new place. The
advancement of faith occurs when we receive revelation knowledge of
God, believe it, and then act on the knowledge we have received.
Therefore, to walk by faith, we must have a revelation of God, or put
another way, we must have God's knowledge. Faith and knowledge from God
always go together.
If
revealed knowledge ceases, faith also ceases. Without continuous
revelation of God, human reasoning will eventually take hold and we will
believe only what our five senses can understand, the natural realm.
This leaves believers in a vulnerable place. The Prophet Hosea says it
this way, "My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me..." (Hosea 4:6 NLT) Remember, we cannot have faith in something we do not know or do not believe. This means that we cannot allow our faith to become stagnant. This is why we must advance from faith to faith. The Christian life was never designed to stay at one level of faith.
In fact, the Apostle Paul had to confront the church at Corinth with
their lack of spiritual advancement, (1 Corinthians 3:1-4) and the
writer of Hebrews dealt with the same. (Hebrews 5:12-14)
Finally, we see that "the just shall live by faith," that is, the
just person, or the righteous person, shall live by his confidence in God. A
believers faith is to advance to where their confidence in God should
sustain them, and preserve them from the satanically corrupted world
system, or as the Apostle Peter said, "from this perverse generation."
(Acts 2:40) It is not by reliance on our own works, abilities or merit,
it is by confidence in God, that is by faith, that we are to live. God
wants us to advance to a greater level of faith, but for that to happen,
we need revelation to pave the way. If we want to walk from faith to faith,
we cannot ignore God's revelation for each day. We cannot walk in
greater faith today with yesterday's revelation because faith is now,
always in the present. "Now faith is..." (Hebrews 11:1)
Monday, October 23, 2023
Revelation Knowledge
Monday, October 16, 2023
What is the Reason?
The word "Reason" is defined in two basic ways. The first deals with a
cause, an explanation or the grounds for making a decision, for example,
"The reason why I am late is due to road construction on the route that
I had taken." The other way the word "Reason" is defined is the power
of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of
logic. This is what is referred to as human reasoning. As we can see in
the latter definition, there is a close connection between reason and
emotion, whereas the former definition has nothing to do with an
emotional response.
When it comes to believers exercising faith, they must fully understand that human reason never stands on the side of faith.
When believers resort to reason, it separates us from or neutralizes
faith. This is the very tactic that the devil used when speaking to Eve.
His questions caused Eve to use her human reasoning which, in a sense,
caused her to question God's Word or God Himself as to whether He was
being truthful or forthright. "Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) “You
will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your
eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)
If we were to consider much of what God did, as recorded in the Bible,
with the natural mind, it would no doubt seem to be unbelievable, far
fetched or as the Bible records, foolishness. (1 Corinthians 2:14) This
is why we must learn to see and hear with spiritual eyes and ears. Let's
consider the miracle of creation (Genesis 1) Everything seen and unseen
came to be in this way, "God said, and it was so." We cannot
understand God's brilliant, masterful work of creation without faith.
(Hebrews 11:3) This is why man has devised many "theories" that cannot
be proven concerning creation. What about what God instructed Noah to
do? God instructed Noah to build a massive ship (ark) that would save
him, his family as well as a specific number of "birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind." (Genesis
6:20) A miracle took place when the birds, animals and creeping things began to arrive from everywhere to enter the ark and coexisted
peacefully within the ark for months without attacking each other. Such a
miracle can only be understood by faith.
How about, Israel, led by Joshua? They conquered the impenetrable City of Jericho by doing nothing more than "seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns that went before the ark of the Lord continually blowing the trumpets, with the armed men going before them with the rear guard coming after the ark of the Lord...and shouting a great shout." (Joshua
6:13, 20) Even a greater miracle happened in the incarnation of Jesus.
(Matthew 1:18-25) How can anyone fathom the one and only true invisible
God, God the Word, (John 1:14) becoming a man by being birth through a virgin? (Luke 1:26-38) It is impossible
without faith. This is why the Bible tells us, "without
faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently
seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6) By human reasoning, none of these things make sense.
Faith cannot be judged or proven in a court of law where reason rules because there are no books or codes that can judge faith. Jurisprudence is based on human reasoning and deals with only facts
and
physical evidence that can be proven on the basis of our natural
senses. Faith will never find place in a court of law. This is a good
reason why one believer should not take another believer to court. (1
Corinthians 6:1) In a similar way, if a physician diagnoses a sickness,
even though God's Word reveals that healing is a part of redemption in
Christ, the human mind will most often believe the physicians verdict of
sickness. It is not to deny that the sickness does not exist when it
does, it is simply that reasoning only understands the natural realm,
that is, what the five senses can comprehend. The more time we spend
trying to reason what God wants to do in and through us, the more we
will lose the manifestation of His supernatural, miracle power and
blessings that He has given us.
For
believers to get past the natural realm, we must cast aside our human
reasoning, accept and act upon God's Word without question. Only then
will we be able to realize that everything He does makes sense. If you
are a preacher or teacher of the Word, you are called to build the faith
of those who hear you, so that unbelief does not take root in their
hearts and minds. Preachers are to speak God's Word with faith so that
the hearers faith is activated for the supernatural. To live by faith,
therefore, we must disconnect our natural reasoning ability and allow
the Holy Spirit to transform our minds and open our spiritual eyes to
see what God can do. If we act only out of human reason, we will doubt
God's Word every time, because faith believes God even when everything
else shouts the complete opposite.
We
also need to keep in mind, what physical exercise is to our body, faith
is to our recreated spirit. We must constantly exercise our faith or it
will not grow. So, let us look at every circumstance that life may
bring us as an opportunity to grow our faith and see the supernatural
power of God go to work in and through us for His glory...
Monday, October 9, 2023
Fully Convinced?
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19) But we must be fully convinced that He is willing and able to work through us supernaturally to once again turn this world upside down for His glory.
Monday, October 2, 2023
Let's Exercise
The Word of God tells us, "...God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." (Romans 12:3) Although not in the same measure, every
believer has been given a measure of faith. God will take those who
have believed for greater things to a higher level of faith. When we
take the measure of faith that God has provided to the limit, He will
take us to a higher level of releasing the supernatural. However, let us
keep in mind that it is possible for us to lose our measure of faith,
instead of obtaining a new leve1. This happens when believers choose to
remain comfortable at a place where their faith is not challenged. Yet,
if we are being good stewards of the measure of faith we have been
given, then God will give us more. (Matthew 24:14-30)
What do we do with our measure of faith?
We operate in and apply it to the sphere of influence we have been
given by God, so that we can produce fruit for His glory. The Amplified
Version of the Bible says, "For if because of one man's trespass (lapse,
offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who
receive overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of
righteousness reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ
(the Messiah, the Anointed One)." (Romans 5:17) Notice that we reign as kings in life through Jesus Christ. Therefore, as a king has authority to rule, God has also given us a measure of rule that is equivalent to our particular spiritual authority and spiritual gifts.
In the spirit realm, everything operates according to measures of rule.
Each person's faith is to be used effectively in relation to his own
measure of rule. God has entrusted us with faith and spiritual
endowments. Jesus tells us, "For
assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will
say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and
nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)
Therefore, if our measure of faith is sufficient to move mountains or
destroy strongholds, then it stands to reason that our measure of rule
will be proportionate to it. This is also why we must take our faith to
its limit. To take our faith to the limit we must understand that faith
not only believes the impossible, but it feeds on the impossible.
When God gave each one of us a measure of faith, an appetite for the
impossible should have been ignited in our spirits. However, if our faith is
not exercised, then the desire and hunger for the impossible will
eventually fizzle out or worse yet, it will be stolen by the enemy.
Satan certainly does not want believers to operate in the kind of faith
that moves mountains and he will do his best to discourage and deceive
believers so their faith erodes. But, a believer who is full of God's
supernatural faith is passionate about what does not seem possible
within the natural realm, and his faith is fed when he confronts
impossible situations, circumstances and or difficult trials. His faith
grows because the revelation given by the Apostle James resonates in his
heart, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:2-4)
In
a sense, impossible situations, circumstances and or difficult trials
to ones faith is like resistance exercises to ones muscles. Resistance
exercise is a form of exercise that forces your skeletal muscles to
contract which leads to increases in muscular mass, strength, endurance
and tone. So, it is important for believers to grow their faith, which
grows their ability in and through Christ to make the impossible,
possible. The Apostle Paul was certainly a man whose faith grew through
the numerous impossible situations, circumstances and or difficult
trials that he faced. (2 Corinthians 11:22-28) so, when he said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
(Philippians 4:13), he was actually saying, "I am powerfully equipped
to do whatever God calls me to do through Christ who empowers me." We,
like Paul can say the same, but is our faith growing? Do we realize the
power of the Holy Spirit at work in us and are we willing to step out
and stand on God's Word regardless of what the situations, circumstances
and or trials may be? May, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with
you..
Monday, September 25, 2023
How Is Your Doppler
Radar is a device for determining the presence and location of an object
by measuring the time for the echo of a radio wave to return from said
object and the direction from which it returns. It can also be described
as a means or sense of awareness or perception. From a spiritual
perspective, we can say that faith is God's radar in the believer that
gives them the ability to determine the natural from the spiritual or
the visible from the invisible. "By faith we understand
that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which
are seen were not made of things which are visible." (Hebrews 11:3)
Jesus tells us, "...“Have faith in God." (Mark 11:22) A
more literal translation of this verse is, "Have God's faith" or "Have
the God kind of faith." In Greek, the verb is in the passive voice,
which means that the action comes from the outside. Jesus does not ask
us to have faith
in God, He is saying that God gives us a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)
that in essence, is a part of Him. In other words, our human nature is
incapable of generating the kind of faith that pleases God. We must take
hold of God's faith. In a sense, Jesus was telling His disciples to
receive God's faith to operate in the supernatural to bless others.
Another aspect of faith is, it sees as real and complete that which has yet to be revealed to the natural senses, "the evidence of things not seen." Think
about it, there are times when God commands that we do something, that
might not seem to make sense, because the carnal mind cannot understand
spiritual matters. (1 Corinthians 2:14) However, if we understand that
faith is "the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1), we
will begin to see things as God sees them. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10) God
has already determined the end from the beginning as well as everything
in between. So, how do we appropriate what He has declared in the now?
This is where our faith
comes in. It touches things in the spiritual realm that are already
complete but cannot yet be seen in the natural realm or visible world.
When our faith reaches into the spiritual realm, it gives us a
conviction of its reality and persuades us to wait for the fulfillment
of things not seen. In other words, faith converts things that cannot be
seen, into a tangible reality in the physical world which manifests in
the now, not in the future.
If
we continue reading the definition of faith as revealed in Hebrews
11:1, we will notice that there is still something pending, something
that has yet to manifest, something that waits for the future, "things hoped for."
But let us remember that in terms of eternity, where God resides, He
has already completed everything. For example, He has already
accomplished every miracle, sign, wonder, healing, provision or any
other need that man could ever think or ask Him for. (Ephesians 1:3,
3:20) He has also completed and given every promise found in His Word.
So, what is our part in all of this? We appropriate these eternal things
into the now by activating our faith to believe for the impossible. Jesus tells us, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) Also, keep in mind that with God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)
We
may sometimes find ourselves in a place where these truths do not seem
to be real. Maybe that is where you find yourself right now. You have
asked in the Name of Jesus but what you have asked God for has not yet
manifested in the physical realm. Well, in Mark's gospel a man came out
of a crowd and asked Jesus to deliver his demon possessed son. He stated
that he had some faith, but admitted to Jesus that it may not be enough, "Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)
Maybe our faith has not risen enough to bring the eternal into the
physical in a certain area, but the Lord certainly understands exactly
where we are in our faith. As with the man in the above circumstance,
let us also cry out to the Lord and ask Him to help us out of the realm of unbelief. With
the mans honesty declaring his lack of faith, "Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him." (Mark 9:25-26)
Remember,
God loves us and gave His only begotten Son to restore us to what Adam
was and had before he disobeyed God. Not only that, in Christ, the
believer has been given eternal life. Although Adam was not mortal nor
immortal, but a perfect human being, He did not have eternal life. He
ate of the fruit from the tree that brought death, not from the tree of life.
So, do not become discouraged, but continue to confess and stand on
God's Word. Do not focus on the problem, but believe God for the
solution, be thankful in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and release
your faith now.
Monday, September 18, 2023
Walking By Faith
The Bible reveals many principle concerning the faith that moves mountains. (Mark 11:23) In the King James Version of the Bible the word faith appears 243 times; 241 times in the New Testament. This is why believers should be well versed in all the aspects of faith as revealed in the Bible. One of the important thing that we must understand, although God is not bound by time and space, but is eternal, He also dwells in the "now." (Exodus 3:14.) He does not need time nor does He depend on either the day or the night to do His works. The Bible clearly reveals that God is in the past and future at the same time, but can also invade the present. (Revelation 1:8) Therefore, in the spiritual realm, the past and the future come together in the present constituting the now.
One reason why most do not see supernatural manifestations of miracles,
signs, and wonders in the church is that these things take place in the
now. Unfortunately, many believers speak in terms of the future. They
say that God will some day bring revival; some day He will heal; some day He will perform
miracles. They use a language for the future, not the now. But faith
is now! (Hebrews 11:1.) We need to believe that God is bringing revival
now; He is healing now; He is performing miracles now; the harvest of
souls is ready for gathering now! "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2
Corinthians 6:2) Most believers know where they came from and some know
where they are going, but few know where they are now. They are unaware
of what God is doing and saying at this very moment.
The Apostle Paul tells us, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:1-3) When we live according to sight only, we essentially have no comprehension of the reality of faith.
Walking by sight causes believers to focus on the problems and
difficulties that arise in this life. We forget that these things are
temporary. This is one reason why the Apostle James tells us, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:2-4)
By faith, we must believe that God is intervening now. Now is the time to activate our faith. Job tells us, "You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways." (Job
22:28) Right now, 1et's declare and establish the time to receive
healing for any sickness, disease, financial struggles or any other need
that we may have. We must determine the time, refuse to let doubt or
unbelief have place and God will do it. It is His promise. "So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For
assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and
be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes
that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:22-24)
I'm not
suggesting that we are to order God around like a servant. I'm saying
that these things are already done in the spiritual realm. Jesus has
opened the door to all believers to receive all the promises God. (2
Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 8:6) The promises of God, are just waiting for
us to decide when we will receive them. But we must remember, releasing
the promises of God requires faith in the same way that Abraham believed God; "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness...He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." (Romans 4:3, 20-21)
Let us also keep in mind what the Apostle James tells us, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James 1:6-8) So,
let us believe God above the circumstances, problems and or trials that
we may face, look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,
release our faith and receive the promise that God has for us.
Monday, September 11, 2023
The Breakthrough
When believers think that the natural realm consists of our whole reality as if there is nothing else besides it, they become vulnerable, because the natural realm is subject to the curse that came with the fall of man. Nature has been devastated by the curse that fell upon it after the fall (Genesis 3:17-18), and it cries out for God's children to manifest the glory of God. (Romans 8:19-22). Most tend to see their lives, circumstances, and problems relating only to the natural realm, but our breakthroughs will come when we begin to operate by faith. We cannot get comfortable in the natural realm, especially since it is always changing. Our faith needs absolute, unchanging truths, such as the reality of Jesus, His Kingdom, Power and Glory as revealed through His Word. There is no other place than the Word of God that reveals these three things in detail as well as God's will, nature, character, purpose and plan and at the same time build ones faith to do the impossible (Mark 9:23).
Everyday, we must decide which realm will have power over our lives, the natural realm of time and space or the spiritual realm of eternity. If we walk in the spiritual rea1m by faith, we will, in the natural, receive all the benefits Jesus has provided through His death, resurrection and glorification, such as, regeneration, health, deliverance, prosperity, strength, peace, joy and all other material, emotional, and spiritual provision we might need on this earth. (Romans 8:32; 2 Peter 1:1-4) Living according to the natural realm limits us from doing and being all that God has anointed us to do and be. Since the natural realm is all around us, we need a breakthrough to cross over the barriers of time, space, and matter into the spiritual realm which is the real realm. I say this because the spiritual realm is eternal, it always was and will ever be, whereas the natural realm is temporal. It was created by and from the spiritual realm. (Hebrews 11:3) We must be free of the bondage that keeps us subject to our senses so that we do not rely on what we smell, touch, taste, hear, or see in order to believe.
When we understand faith, the impossible becomes possib1e because faith has dominion and control over the laws of time, space and matter. Faith changes our perception of what is truly real. For example, suppose you were to incur a large debt. The old heating system in your house breaks down, is in disrepair and needs to be completely replaced. Let's say the total cost to replace it is fifteen thousand dollars. You do not have that amount of money on hand, so you are offered a five your loan at five percent interest. This means that you will pay several thousand dollars in interest, above the amount of the original loan. But what if you were to determine the amount of time to pay off the loan was in two years not five? By faith, we can allow God to supernaturally bring into the natural realm the resources needed to keep us from being enslaved by a debt for a longer period of time. It takes the kind of faith that pleases God which releases His provision. However, if one does not have faith for God to pay the monthly electric bill, they will find it difficult to believe God for something greater. Do not be discouraged, faith takes time to grow. Learn to operate in the faith that you now have.
In this example, not only did God pay off the loan three years earlier,
but in doing so, also saved you from the interest
payments. By exercising faith
and believing God over the things of the natural realm, we actually
break the laws of time. What we are doing is being fully convinced that
God is able to provide. Instead of submitting to the debt, we submit to
God's Word, His promise of provision. (Philippians 4:19) Now in saying
this, it does not give believers carte blanche to frivolously spend and
create debt simply because God provides. The above is only an example of
stretching our faith and believing God according to His Word, to
supernaturally provide a need, above and beyond what the natural realm
my dictate. However, let's keep in mind that God is able to provide the full amount as to not take a loan at all, "...be it according to your faith." (Matthew 9:29)
The thing is, most people live only according to time. When the bank says it is going to take five years to pay off the loan for the replacement of the heating system, they believe it and make plans that correspond with that time frame. However, if you will plan according to the spiritual realm and not according to the natura1 realm, you will be able to break the laws of time. Again, faith does not rely on the five senses or reason. It simply believes God, period! The great trap is that we have made the natural realm our reality rather than the spiritual realm, so when most read the above statement of believing God to supernaturally pay off the debt, they often are quick to reject such a truth as this. The Bible calls this doubt or unbelief.
The only way to overcome doubt or unbelief is through God's Word. God's Word has the power within it to build faith, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17) We must see and believe that what God says carries the same power and results now, as it did when He first spoke it. We must not just read His Word, but we must speak it, meditate on it and act on it, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." (Joshua 1:8) If Joshua kept God's Word, God would keep him. If he would observe to do according to God's Word, then God would cause all his way to be prosperous and he was promised good success. This does not apply to Joshua only, but to all those who are obedient to God. (Hebrews 8:6) They shall not lack in any good things, "The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing." (Psalm 34:10) PTL.
With that said, let's look again at the Amplified Bible concerning faith, "Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]." (Hebrews 11:1) Takes some time and meditate on this verse to get it into your heart so that it can transform your mind and rid you of any doubt, fear or unbelief so you can receive the breakthrough that God has promised you in His Word. Again, keep in mind, faith takes time to grow. Do not become discouraged if the promise does not manifest immediately. Operating above your level of faith is presumption, not faith. So, stand fast, "fight the good fight of faith", (1 Timothy 6:12) and "receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:21)