The only angle that works
This is our weekly post here at deposition of our faith. Thank you for joining us.
This is week 2
Scripture Reading: Mark 11:24
This is the approach we should have to the Word of God.
Trying God’s Word will not work. Doing it is what works. “Why?”, you may ask. Well, the reason is simple. How many of you try things that you are sure will actually work? Trying in this sense simply means approaching the Word of God on the basis of “well, let’s give it a week. Starting…now”. This simply wouldn’t work because scripture tells us that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. “Let him not think he shall receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6–8).
No amount of logic, theology or testimony can remove the step of faith. We must actually believe that we will receive the things we ask for before we even see them happen (Mark 11:24). That is faith. That is what Kenneth E. Hagin called the “God-kind of faith”. God didn’t wait to see a flicker of light in the ether before proclaiming the words “Let there be light” at the beginning of time.
God expects us to have the faith of Abraham, and not the faith of Thomas. Why? The “faith” of Thomas wasn’t really faith at all. At least not the God-kind. Thomas literally put his hands into the holes caused by the piercing of nails on Jesus’s body. He had to do that to even believe that Jesus had risen (John 20:27–28). And then Jesus said to him, “you have believed me because you have seen, but blessed are they who have not seen but yet have believed” (John 20:28). Believing before seeing is the God-kind of faith. Believing after seeing is commonsensical. Few men doubt what they have seen. Waiting to see God in action in your own life, in order to then be sure that you can believe His Word is what is called having the cart before the horse. Not everybody will have a visitation on the road to Damascus. Faith in God is simply a decision that one makes.
“How long shall you stand between two decisions? If God be God, follow Him…” -1 Kings 18:21
Another important thing to note in your faith walk with God is testimonies. Testimonies are proofs of the power of God in present times (1 John 1:1). They are pointers to the fact that God still does wonders in the midst of his people, even today (Revelations 12:11). However, it is also important to know that a lack of testimonies in your church, or your town, or your country is in no way an indication that God does not do wonders. “These signs shall follow them that believe” (Mark 16:17–18). Not them that preach, or them that teach, or them that wish, or them that suffer, or them that desperately need. Just because you heard of a full-gospel preacher that is riddled with illness, or a devout christian that is full of troubles doesn’t mean that God failed.
Jesus in his own hometown could do no mighty works (Mark 6:3–5). The people would hear him speak and say amongst themselves, “Is that not Yeshua bin Yosef? The carpenter’s kid? The guy I knew since he was a little kid wrapped in swaddling clothes? So now he’s God?!”
The bible tells us to be followers of they whom through faith and patience obtain the promises (Hebrews 6:12). The Bible also warns us to be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves (James 1:22). The doing is where the answer lies. It doesn’t lie in the wishing, or the knowing.
A lot of people approach God on their own terms, and they condemn Him when things don’t go the way they wanted it to. We see people who act in faith concerning their health, and we call them foolish. Yet, when we experience loss caused by health failure, we go back to the same God we just ridiculed and we wave our fingers frantically in His face. Anger and resentment has never been what moves God. Faith is what moves Him.
Lastly, one thing that helps believers in their faith walk with God is actually having the definition of faith clarified. Faith is not simply believing that there is a God. The devil believes that there is a God. Faith is not knowing scripture. Unbelievers know scripture. Faith is believing that God exists, and that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). By that I mean, that God rewards according to his promises and his covenants. “Thou shalt serve the Lord, and he shall bless your bread and water, and he will take sickness far away from you” (Exodus 23:25). That is an example of a promise of God.
However, “thou shalt serve…”.
If you serve God, then it is left for God to hold up his end of the bargain. That is faith. It is holding God on the basis of the things he has promised. It’s not wishing, it is not wanting, it is not blaming and daring God to show up because you are in trouble. It is almost like appearing in a court room. There are many people who have been cheated off their rights because they didn’t have a good enough lawyer.
The law was on your side, the judge was fair, but your lawyer didn’t know the law, and so you couldn’t exercise your rights. We are to call the Word of God in our time of battle as we would call an article of written law. We are to stand on those promises (after holding up our end of the bargain. The equivalent of that would be appearing to court as an upstanding citizen and therefore having no rights withheld as a result of breaking the law). Then, we are to sit back and watch the accuser scamper and cower. However, if you do not know your rights, you will be cheated off your inheritance.
Join us next week as we continue our discussion on what stops believers from gaining access to their rights in redemption. Spoiler: it rhymes with “sin”!
God be with ye till then!
