Redefine-1.: to define (as a concept) again :reformulate<had to redefine their terms>

2 a : to reexamine or reevaluate especially with a view to change

b : transform

Miriam-Webster.com

 What is faith? Everyone has an Idea. We must let the Bible define what Bible faith is. We undo religious preconceptions and allow God to redefine faith in this message ministered at Russellville Christian Center.

Definition of Faith.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

“The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms” ~Socrates

One of the most common errors in Christianity is not allowing the Bible to define itself.  Although I am grateful to live in a predominately Christian nation, one of its unfortunate side affect is that everyone has an opinion about what the Bible says. We have to examine, however, where we got our ideas about the Bible.

We should view Bible study as divine communication. When we study our Bible see it as God speaking to us personally. Ed Cole said that, “Communication is the Basis (fundamental ingredient) of life”.  In any communication, however, there is always an understanding gap between the speaker and the hearer. The more you get to know the speaker the narrower the gap gets. When we hear things they go through our filters of experience, religious teaching, and other contexts so that many times the intent of the speaker is skewed. This fact is illustrated in the word “Logos” which is translated “Word” in many of our English Bible translations. According to W.E. Vine “Logos” is “a word, account, etc.,” sometimes denotes “a reason, cause, intent,”. Another words, it goes beyond merely the words spoken, to the words with the thought and intent behind it. We have to be sure God’s Word spoken to us resonates in us the way He intended it. For illustration purposes, consider Genesis 24:64.

And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.

Genesis 24:64 KJV

The uninformed American reader could easily mistake this passage for smoking a cigarette. In an attempt to look seductive to her suitor, Rebekah fired up a stogie. Conjuring up images of old black and white 40’s bombshell flicks.  Actually (as I am sure you probably know), “lighted off” is just a real Elizabethan way of saying “She got off of her camel, man.” I know this is a silly illustration, but not as strange as some I have actually heard from people!

The New Testament teaches that the whole world system is flowing with the Satanic influence (Ephesians 2:2, 1 John 5:19). One of the attempts of Satan is to replace biblical words with counterfeits. He does not take them out of our conversation but replaces them with watered down versions. For example, consider the word “believe”. In the Bible it is the verb form of pistis (faith), pisteou. Americans, however, use the word “believe” as “I think so” or “maybe so”. Someone asks, “Are you going to town tomorrow?” To which you answer, “I believe so.” By believe you mean “I think so” or “maybe so”. This is not how the Bible uses that word.

It is much like carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide kills an average of 1500 people a year. The reason carbon monoxide is so lethal is because it so closely resembles a oxygen molecule that the red blood cells readily take it in. Yet being more dense than an oxygen molecule it gets lodged in the red blood cell thus suffocating it. This is the way it is with misunderstood biblical terminology. Because it is a biblical word or phrase we innately are drawn to it and take it in. Yet, their religious tradition distorts the original meaning and it is destructive to the hearer not allowing the truth to come into their heart thus suffocating their faith.

making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Mark 7:13 NKJV

“Faith” is one of the most understood of biblical words. The following are some misconceptions of faith.

1. Faith is not merely the belief that there is a God.

We have all experienced it. We share the love of Jesus with someone and encourage them to have faith. To which, they respond, “But I believe in God”. To which I usually respond, “Congratulations, you have attained to devil level faith”.

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

James 2:19 NKJV

Do not get me wrong. Believing there is a God out there beyond Pluto somewhere is a form of faith. It is just not Bible level faith. The implication in the previous passage is believing in God is not enough.

2. The Cessationist misconception of Faith.

Cessationism is the belief that the supernatural gifts such as divine healing, prophecy, and tongues have passed away. There are many strands of this line of thinking of which an exhaustive study is not the purpose of this article. Some teach that God withdrew the supernatural gifts when the last apostle John died .  Others teach that they passed away when the canon of scripture was complete. Regardless of when, they believe it has passed away. Bottom line, according to them, the supernatural is not happening now.  Maybe at some future point I will demonstrate how both scripture and history easily disprove this line of thinking.  The following is an exerpt from the writings of Augustine.

“We still do what the apostles did when they laid hands on the Samaritans and called down the Spirit on them…It is expected that the converts should speak with tongues.”

Augustine (4th Century)

Keep in mind this is fourth century. Long after the gifts had supposedly passed away. The Bible does not speak of a day of miracles but a God of miracles who never changes.

“ For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob…”

Malachi 3:6 NKJV

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8 NKJV

Although most followers of the cessationist doctrine trace their origin to John Darby and C.I. Scofield the fingerprints of this deception trace back to even Jesus’s day.

We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”

John 9:29 NKJV

Notice the mentality. We know God spoke back then but not now. This way of thinking has tainted many people’s concept of faith. They are convinced that the fact that they believe that Jesus healed the sick two thousand years ago is the same as biblical faith.  They say, “I believe Jesus healed the sick, Amen”. “I believe Jesus walked on the water, Hallelujah”.  They are convinced that makes them a faith giant. The entire thrust of their faith is rooted in the past. Another symptom of cessationist thinking is future based.

Jesus said to her, “Your brother (Lazarus) will rise again.”

Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

John 11:23-24 NKJV

Martha would fit in well in many modern churches today. Jesus is talking to her about raising Lazarus from the dead right now. Yet, she gets religious and says, “I know he will be raised  up in the last day. In the sweet by and by, when we all die or fly, but ‘til then we are going to cry because all we can do is try.” Jesus had to refocus her faith from being future oriented to present tense oriented.

Those are the two ditches that cessationist find themselves in. I know God did something back then and I know He will do something again when I get to heaven. But, according to them, if you need something now you are sunk because that all passed away. According to the Bible that is not faith. Bible faith is always in the now.

Now faith is (present tense) the substance of things hoped for…

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

But without faith it is (present tense) impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is (present tense), and that He is (present tense) a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6 NKJV

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray (present tense), believe that you receive them , and you will have them.

Mark 11:24 NKJV

(Parenthesis mine)

When we put everything we receive from God off into the sweet by and by , we will faint and lose heart.

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Psalm 27:13 KJV

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

Psalm 27:13 NKJV

Can you see how the cessationist mentality has created weak and discouraged Christians. They have no faith nor hope of anything that pertains to this life. If we want to be victorious and pleasing to God (see Hebrews 11:6), we must appropriate the faith of God in all of our present circumstances.

3. Faith verses Fate/Fatalism.

Fate- 1.something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot: It is always his fate to be left behind.

2.the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time: Fate decreed that they would never meet again.

3.that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny: Death is our ineluctable fate.

Fatalism–noun 1. the acceptance of all things and events as inevitable; submission to fate: Her fatalism helped her to face death with stoic calm.

2.Philosophy . the doctrine that all events are subject to fate or inevitable predetermination.

(Dictionary.com)

The belief that all events are decided in advance by God or Fate so that human beings are powerless to alter their destiny.

The Definition of Faith is Not Fate or Fatalism

What many people, even Christian, call faith is actually fate or fatalism. We can easily see how the two could be confused by the fact that they even sound the same. Fatalism says, “Ca sara, sara, what ever will be will be.” Many call this a Christian doctrine but it traces to Greek and Roman mythology. According to Greek and Roman mythology, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos control human destiny and are referred to as “the Fates”. I am embarrassed as a Christian that much of the professing Christianity could be hoodwinked by mythology. Let us look at some fatalistic phrases.

a. “God is in Control”

We see this phrase everywhere from songs to bumper stickers yet it is an unscriptural concept. I know this flies in the face of everything  you have ever heard from religion. But we have to see what the Bible says. Dominion over this earth was originally given to man.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26 NKJV

The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.

Psalm 115:16 NKJV

What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

For You have made him a little lower than the angels (literally-Elohim-God), And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,

Psalm 8:4-6 NKJV

All dominion over the earth was given to Adam and he bowed his knee to satan and forfeited his dominion to him.

Then the devil, taking Him (Jesus)up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Luke 4:5-6 NKJV

Had this statement not been partialy true, it would not have been a valid temptation. This authority was delivered when Adam bowed his knee reliquishing his authority . This is how satan became the “god of this world”.

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV

in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (satan), the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

Ephesians 2:2 NKJV

We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

1 John 5:19 NKJV

When Jesus raised from the dead he stripped satan of all authority and regained the authority Adam had lost.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28:18 NKJV

Because of what Jesus did we as individual believers have our authority restored. We can take dominion over the elements of the curse operating in our lives. However, the earth will not be back under God’s dominion until Jesus sets up His earthly kingdom during the millinial reign. So all of the disaster happening on the earth is not the will of God. It is, rather, the work of satan who is the “god of this world”.

Some say, “Then why don’t God just hurry up and kick the devil out”? The answer is that when God finally judges satan and removes him from the earth all those who  have not accepted Jesus as their personal saviour will be judged as well. It is spiritual law that people receive the same judgement as their lord (which if you have not received Jesus as Lord, satan is your lord by default). God is holding back in His mercy to give everyone ample opportunity to avoid judgement.

If everything that happened was the will of God we would not be commanded to submit to God and resist the devil.

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you

James 4:7 NKJV

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  Resist him, steadfast in the faith, …

1 Peter 5:8-9 NKJV

Jesus says that everything that steals, kills, and destroys if from the devil (John 10:10). There fore we must resist anything that steals, kills, and destroys.

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Acts 10:38 NKJV

And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.  But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”

Luke 13:11-13,16 NKJV

The rich man’s wealth is his strong city; The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

Proverbs 10:15 NKJV

Since poverty destroys then we know it is from the devil and must be resisted.

b. “It must not be God’s time.”

As innocent as it may sound, this second phrase (or any dirivative of it) is another form of fatalistic thinking. In the general will of God, covered in the Bible, God’s time is always now.

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:2b  NKJV

Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.

Psalm 118:25 NKJV

c. “God works in mysterious ways”/ “You never know what God is going to do.”

Once again, very religious sounding but not biblical.

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

1 Corinthians 2:10-12 NKJV

that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.

1 Corinthians 2:12 Amplified

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Ephesians 5:17 NKJV

God would be unjust to command us to know His will if it were not possible to do so.

d. “…if it be thy will.”

Many sincere believers tack this faith destroying phrase at the end of their prayers. The implication being, if they receive what they pray for it was the will of God. If they do not receive, it was not the will of God. I have heard many Christians say, “God answers three ways. Yes, No, and wait a while.” But this violates the clear teachings of scripture.

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

2 Corinthians 1:20 NKJV

For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 1:20 Amplified

All of God’s promises have their yes in him. That is why we say amen through him to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 1:20 Common English Bible

Christ says “Yes” to all of God’s promises.

2 Corinthians 1:20 CEV

We have to know the will of God before we pray or we will not have confidence.

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

1 John 5:14-15 NKJV

If we put an “if”in our prayer, we are not in faith.

Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.”

Mark 9:23 The Message

e. “This must be happening for a reason”/ “I must be suffering for God’s glory”.

It is human nature to try to find some high spooky spiritual reason for their suffering. The reason they are suffering is that satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Others are even as arrogant to say that their suffering is somehow redemptive. This implies that, first, you are qualified to redeem mankind with your suffering. This is the height of spiritual pride. Secondly, it implies that Jesus’s sacrificial work was not enough without you adding to it. The New Testament teaches that we will suffer persecution. But anything Jesus suffered for us we need not suffer. Jesus was made poor with our poverty (2 Corinthians 8:9) so we need not bear it. Jesus was made sick with our sickness.

He is despised, and left of men, A man of pains, and acquainted with sickness, And as one hiding the face from us, He is despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains — he hath carried them…

Isaiah 53:3-4a YLT

Jesus bore our sickness so need not carry them and to do so would be to belittle Jesus’s sacraficial work. Jesus was made sin with our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) so we need not carry the penalty of them.

These are just a few examples of fatalistic phrases that even Christians use. I will leave you with one final thought.

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV

If you try to discern the will of God by what is manifest in the seen realm you are walking by sight and not by faith. The only trustworthy guide to finding the will of God is His written word.  Learn how the accurate Definition of Faith will work for you.

(Please understand I am not being critical of precious people who have thought this way, we have all missed it in some area or the other.)  The Bible teaches however that Jesus our High Priest is easily touched with our infirmities.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15 KJV)

How we pray determines our effectiveness in receiving from the Lord.

You ask, and do not receive, because you ask wrongly…. (James 4:3a Greens Literal Translation)

We have to pray according to God’s prescribed methods, found in His Word, if we want to be in position to receive from God. Cain approached God his own way and his offering was rejected (Genesis 4:4-5, Hebrews 11:4).

1. When you pray you must believe you have right standing with God.

II Corinthians 5:21 says that if you are in Christ you are the righteousness of God in Christ. I you are not in Christ, receiving the New Birth is not hard. Although human religions make it difficult, God made it easy. Simply pray:

“Lord Jesus, I believe you died for me, I believe you rose from the dead. I receive you as Lord. Lord, You said, whosoever would come to you; you would no wise cast out. So I receive your forgiveness now in Jesus Name. AMEN”

You may say, “but you don’t know what I have done”. II Corinthians 5:20 says that God is not keeping score and keeping a record of our sins. The only sin that can separate us from God and send us to hell is rejecting the Lordship of Jesus.

Now that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord we have right standing with God. If you have right standing with God and been made righteous you can expect your praying to produce results.

The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results. (James 5:16b New Living Translation)

2. You must know what God’s Word says about healing and health.

… “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26 New King James Version)

“I will put” is an unfortunate translation of this passage. God never has and never will put sickness on anyone. Jesus said that anything that kills, steals and destroys comes from the devil and that He only brings things that bring life more abundantly (John 10:10). According to Robert Young, a noted Hebrew scholar, many passages in the Old Testament in our English translations that say that God did certain things should have been translated “allowed”. In the Hebrew language (from which the Old Testament is translated) has no verbs for “allow”. That verse should be translated , ..I will allow none of these diseases to be put on you…”.

Notice, also, that God identifies Himself as “healer”. This is one of what has come to be known as the Covenant Names of God. In Biblical culture when two families made a covenant they would state the terms of their covenant agreement. If either family failed to uphold their end of the covenant agreement it would result in a death sentence because you violated this sacred oath. Hebrews 5:13 says that God swore by Himself because there was no greater to swear by. What does this mean? God was saying if He failed to uphold His agreement with Abraham and his descendants (which includes you and me, see Galatians 3:29), that He would self destruct! So when God identified Himself as healer He could no longer withhold healing from anyone without self destruction. Don’t worry that will never happen for it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18).

Surely He (Jesus) has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…And by His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4a-5 NKJV)

Although there are many debates in Christian circles about this passage, there is no debate that this passage speaks of Jesus’ redemptive work. In other words, this passage foretells part of what Jesus would accomplish through His death, burial , and resurrection. Both “griefs” and “sorrows” is a little blind to us. According to Strong’s Concordance the word translated “griefs” should be translated sickness. And “sorrows” should be translated pain or mental anguish.

Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment],… (Isaiah 53:4a Amplified Bible)

Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains — he hath carried them,… (Isaiah 53:4a Young’s Literal Translation)

Notice also how Matthew quotes Isaiah 53:4.

When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  “ He Himself took our infirmities  And bore our sicknesses.” (Matthew 8:16-17 NKJV)

Not only does Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, use the words “sickness” and “infirmity”, he also uses it in the context of physical healing. Jesus ultimately took our sicknesses and diseases at the same time as He took our sins upon Himself in redemption. This principle is mirrored by the apostle Peter when he quotes Isaiah 53:5 in his letter.

who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. (I Peter 2:24 NKJV)

The stripes refer to the beating Jesus received at the hands of the Roman soldiers with a whip. The Roman whip was braided with stone, bones, and hooks that literally tore the flesh from Jesus body.  It is interesting to note that Isaiah looking foreward to redemption said “are healed” and Peter looking back said “were healed”. The Old Testament believers were walking in the benefit of what Jesus did although it had not played out on the canvas of time. How much more should we walk in the benefit of it now that it is a done deal in Christ!

Beloved I wish above all things that you may prosper in all things and be in health, even as your soul prospers. (III John 2 NKJV)

If you believe that this is truly the Word of God then you must acknowledge that this is an expression of the will of God. AS I mentioned earlier, many precious people pray, “Lord, heal me if it be our will.” Not realizing that they are calling God a liar and they are praying in unbelief. God cannot respond to a prayer such as that. God’s Word and His will are synonymous. According to Hebrews 1:3 in the New Living Translation, everything about Jesus “represents God exactly”. The New King James Version of the same passage calls Jesus the express image of  God the Father’s person. I challenge you to find one incident in the gospel accounts where Jesus refused healing to anyone who came to Him in faith. Simply put if Jesus is the will of God in action, then the Father will not refuse healing to anyone who comes to Him in faith.

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. (James 5:15 NKJV)

Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, (Psalm 103:2-3 NKJV)

According to the previous passage if you deny that God heals all our diseases (not just some) then you have no basis to believe He forgives your iniquities or sins. You cannot pick and choose. You have to believe all of it or none. Thank God we do have forgiveness of sins but also the provision of health for our physical bodies.

We also have to know from the Word of God that what God does for one He wills to do for everyone.

“Now I really see that God shows no partiality…” (Acts 10:34 C. B. Williams)

If God chose to heal some while leaving others sick, He would be showing partiality.  I will refer you again to Jesus, the will of God in action, we do not have one account of Him saying, “I know I healed others but it is not the Father’s will to heal you. Go and suffer more you nasty thing.” No! Everyone who came to Jesus in faith was healed.

Jesus Christ the same, Yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 New King James Version)

3.     We must ask in faith in accordance with the Word of God.

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. (James 5:15 NKJV)

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour. (Matthew 8:13 NKJV)

And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”   And their eyes were opened. (Matthew 9:28-29 NKJV)

But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:24b-23 NKJV)

Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.” (Mark 9:23 The Message)

“Did I not tell you”, replied Jesus, “that if you believed, you would see the wonder of what God can do?” (John 11:40 J.B. Phillips)

Therefore, [inheriting] the promise is the outcome of faith and depends [entirely] on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants–not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is [thus] the father of us all. (Romans 4:16 NKJV)

How do we get faith?

So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17 NKJV)

When you read scriptures pertaining to healing (or whatever you need) faith comes.  I recommend you read them aloud sometimes. Even as you are reading these words with ears to hear and an open heart, notice that many of you have a note of joy and peace that arises in your spirit. That note of joy and peace is faith arising in your heart.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NKJV)

Thank God that He made faith easy. Say healing scriptures over and over to yourself and faith will come. And your faith will make a demand on the power and provision of God and bring into manifestation your healing!

4. We must understand that healing is a done deal in Christ.

We touched on this earlier but we have to get it in our hearts about the past tense of redemption and healing. Have you ever seen the cartoon with a donkey chasing a carrot tied to a stick tied to him. Now matter how fast he runs he can never catch the carrot out in front of him. This illustrates many believer’s approach to divine healing. They put healing as something God is going to do out in the future. Sadly, many never get their healing apart from the operation of the gifts of the spirit (which operate as God wills). The fact is that God did something about our healing 2000 years ago. Although Jesus purchased our redemption from sin 2000 years ago we did not reap the benefits until we laid hold onto it by faith. The same is true with our healing. Jesus already carried away our sicknesses and purchased our healing. Sickness has no legal right to exist in our body. But we must exercise our God given dominion over that sickness and disease.

For all the promises of God in Him are yes and in Him amen (so be it), to the glory of God through us. (II Corinthians 1:20 NKJV)

Some religious folks say, “Sometimes God answers, ‘yes’, and sometimes God answers, ‘no’ and sometimes He answers, ‘maybe’.  But the Bible (you know, the book you wag to church every Sunday) says that God always answers “yes” to His promises and never says “no”. Healing is more than a promise, it is an accomplished fact.  When we speak the Word of God over our situation we are activating spiritual law. And the same power that created the universe  is at your disposal to bring healing and health.

The noise factor is the amount of other actions that you are taking that are not in alignment. Instead of corresponding action, our actions are sometimes in direct contradiction to what we want or just not supportive. This noise factor makes it more difficult to see the clear connection between our actions and the results that we are getting.

Since these two factors, lapse of time and noise, are at work in our lives; we must have diligence to re-establish our awareness of the connection. We know that God always tells the truth, so, we are rewarded for diligently seeking Him. Thus, if you are not seeing these rewards, make sure that you are being diligent in your pursuit of God and His Word.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. – John 10:10

We know from the Bible that God’s intentions are to bring us the fullness of life. If we are not receiving the fullness of life, then, we know that the problem is on our side. One of the ways for us to re-connect to the blessings that God has for us is to re-connect to the Old Testament. We know that Jesus is a fulfillment of the Law; thus, it is helpful for us to understand the benefits of following that Law.

Since we are righteous through Jesus, we have access to those blessings even if we don’t live sin-free. First, you must confess and repent of those sins. Then, we must receive God’s promises. We are to put God into remembrance of His promises for you. Promises of His good plan for your life, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. – Isaiah 43:25,26

To make sure that we are following God’s laws and repenting when we don’t takes diligence. Don’t let time and noise deceive you into giving up on living God’s best.