The Believing Challenge: Last taught 2/9/2010 by ejbot.
James 1:5-8
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask [αιτειτω G154– ask for or demand; with a claim on receipt of an answer] of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth [taunts] not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask [αιτειτω G154 – ask for, demand; with a claim on receipt of an answer] in faith [πιστει G4102 – state of believing on the basis of reliability of the one trusted; trust in God], nothing [μηδεν G3367 - not one thing] wavering [διακρινομενος G1252 - doubting]. For he that wavereth [διακρινομενος G1252 - doubts] is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded [διψυχος G1374 – doubting, double headed person who staggers helplessly here and there in their thinking] man is unstable in all his ways.”
-Just like there is no fear in love, there is no doubt in belief; these things are polar opposites. Trusting God should not be fickle, you will only get results when your trust in him is stable! ‘The giving God’ is just champing at the bits for an opportunity to give to his children.
Hebrews 11:1-3
“Now faith [πιστις G4102 – confidence on the basis of the reliability of the one trusted] is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. [Believing is the title deed of things prayed for, the evidence that they are yours before they are seen] For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith [πιστει G4102 - believing on the basis of the reliability of God] we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
-Romans 4:17b says “God, who quickeneth [ζωοποιουντος G2227 – makes alive] the dead, and calleth those things which be not, as though they were.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 says “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
-Belief in something is a quality that can never be quantified. You either believe something to be true, or you do not believe it to be true. There is no middle ground; there is no such thing as believing something a little, or believing something a lot; doubt is believing in reverse. It is a yes or no matter, a positive or negative charge, an on or off switch. Nobody is more skilled at believing than anybody else because it is not a skill. The more of God’s word that you understand and the more connections you make within it, the more of it you will believe and trust. No matter how hard you try, you can NOT believe better, but you certainly CAN believe more. When we are fully trusting God, we walk with such exhilarating confidence!
Isaiah 35:3-6
“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb [mute] sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.”
-Tell people what is available, convince them that God really will heal them and perform miracles for them! People need to believe that the many wonderful things that God tells us are available (via revelation or the written word) can be trusted! In turn, miracles happen.
Isaiah 55:10-12
“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void [ריקם – emptily, ineffectively], but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
-Yesterday at school, I prayed to be able to bless someone with God's word at about 8:30am. I then reluctantly decided to skip my first class and went to the library to work on my teaching (no this is not a habitual occurrence). At about 9am, a young man whom I have met a couple times at the rock climbing gym sat beside me and inquired about my Greek Bible. After a brief explanation, I randomly improvised about an hour long teaching on the manifestations of holy spirit. This was a subject he had some fear and confusion about and he seemed so relieved and seemed to overcome his mental obstacles. He heard exactly what he needed to hear from God's word and his excitement was such a blessing to the rest of my day. In a similar manner to how God gives us one word at a time in prophesy, if you just open your mouth to someone with the heart to meet their needs, God will give you the precisely appropriate words. God's word never ever proves to be useless, it never returns void, it always accomplishes His will. When we speak His perfect word, it always benefits, both us and whoever hears it. Do we really trust that God says what he means in this verse? If we believed this verse, we would speak God's word to every single person we meet; it certainly couldn't hurt. Being ashamed or shy about this good news, worrying more about what other people are going to think about us, is pure selfishness. When we care more about other people than we do about ourselves, we see many more opportunities to give, and we speak God's word FREELY!
Mark 16:15-18
“And he said unto them, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach [κηρυξατε G2784 - make public declarations] the gospel [good message] to every creature. He that believeth [πιστευσας G4100 - entrusts oneself to an entity in complete confidence] and is baptized shall be saved [σωθησεται G4982]; but he that believeth not [απιστησας G569 - unbelievers] shall be damned [κατακριθησεται G2632 – will be under sentence, i.e. loss of salvation]. And these signs shall follow them that believe [πιστευσασιν G4100 - entrusts oneself to an entity in complete confidence]; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.'”
-Last week, Andrew and I were visiting a Nursery in Plant City, picking out some old overgrown shrubs to sculpt into bonsai trees. I grabbed a plant by its pot to set it aside, but it had rooted itself into the ground through the bottom of the pot and would not cooperate. I tugged a couple of times, flinging the dirt on my own hand and wrist. Suddenly my hand was on fire... about a hundred ants had landed on me. Let me give a little background history of myself, the last time I got bitten by fire ants, my entire body swelled up and I ended up blacking out in the shower for a few hours. Historically, I am very allergic to ant bites, so this was what my five senses were predicting for me. I did the typical freak-out and shake the bugs off dance for a minute and hand-picked the resilient remnant that had already bit into my flesh and were handing out for dear life with their pincers. My hand had multiple little holes in it, and the typical tingling was rising up my arm already. I thanked God for healing and quoted this verse to him, just in case He forgot or something, and absolutely no swelling and no further discomfort occurred. This verse has proven to be available to us all, Apostle Paul experienced all of these signs except for drinking poison.
Matthew 6:30-34
“Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith [ολιγοπιστοι - small extent of trust]? Therefore take no thought [μη G3361 ουν G3767 μεριμνησητε G3309 – don’t be anxious], saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek [ζητειτε G2212 - devote serious effort to realize one’s desire or objective; desire to possess] ye first [πρωτον G4412 - in the first place, above all] the kingdom of God [βασιλειαν G932 του G3588 θεου G2316 – reign or rule of God], and his righteousness [δικαιοσυνην G1343 αυτου G846 - the righteousness of Him]; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought [μη G3361 ουν G3767 μεριμνησητε G3309 – don’t be anxious] for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for [μεριμνησει G3309 be anxious about] the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
-In Mark 9:1 Jesus says “That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power [δυναμει G1411 – the power that works miracles].” Luke 17:20 Jesus says “the kingdom of God is within you.” John 3:3 says “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” 1Corinthians 4:20 says, “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”
-This refers to the privilege of the new birth, the dominion of the Spirit over our senses. Letting God reign and rule inside of us is the ‘kingdom of God,’ this is what we should devote serious effort to possess. We all have heard a lot of teachings about money this past month, but our careers and our steady incomes are not going to bring us true joy in this life. Paul Giles said in one of his recent teachings that “having your financial needs met should be a byproduct of living your life according to the word, not a goal in of itself.” Our first responsibility is to serve our heavenly Father with our full potential, with our personal talents being maximized and energized by Him; that is the key to happiness. That is the entire reason we are alive, to love God and to function in the body of Christ, whatsoever our function may be.
Matthew 8:5-10, 13
“And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal [ιαθησεται G2390] him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great [τοσαυτην G5118 - to such extent] faith [πιστιν G4102 – state of believing on the basis of reliability of the one trusted], no, not in Israel.
13And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed [επιστευσας G4100 – entrusted oneself to an entity in complete confidence], so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed [ιαθη G2390 – delivered from a variety of ills or conditions that lie beyond physical maladies] in the selfsame hour [instantly].”
-We do not need to even be in physical proximity of someone to heal them. If someone calls you on the phone and needs healing, you can minister to them, if someone text messages you, you can reply and heal them! God is not limited to our five senses. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” This man was healed of things beyond the physical realm. It is sometimes a challenge to always remember that our battleground is spiritual. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus says to “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” It is not the person we fight, it is the spiritual influence. We need to live up to our elevated position and truly be greater than this world by loving people abundantly, brethren or enemies. This centurion believed that Jesus was a man of God and fully capable of healing his servant with just a word, so he did. We do not have Jesus the Christ walking in our midst today, but we do have our own reasons to believe that healing is available.
3John 1:2
“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
“Αγαπητε G27 περι G4012 παντων G3956 ευχομαι G2172 σε G4771 ευοδουσθαι G2137 και G2532 υγιαινειν G5198 καθως G2531 ευοδουται G2137 σου G4771 η G3588 ψυχη G5590 = Beloved, I pray that all things may go well with you and that you may be in good health, even as it is well with your soul.”
- The Greek word that King James translated as ‘prosper,’ εὐοδόω, literally means ‘to be led along a good road;’ but in the common sense it means ‘to have things turn out well,’ or ‘to succeed.’ This is much broader than the typical financial definition that is commonly taught, it is success in every single thing that we do! 1Peter 2:24 says “By whose [Jesus] stripes ye were healed [ιαθητε G2390 – wholly healed].” All of us believers were and are healed spiritually, mentally, and physically; in the plural, past tense. The struggle, the battlefield of our day is in our minds; our minds are the gatekeepers to our physical and spiritual components. When our perspective is right about the stewardship of our bodies, we realize that sickness is not something to accept or live with. There are many ways to receive healing, changing a bad habit, listening to God, listening to another believer's wisdom, or directly being ministered to. Miraculous healing is not what is needed in every instance because quite often we can do something simple to fix the situation ourselves. Personally, I can pinpoint exactly why I have gotten sick the past few times. It has been either because I was stressed and did not get adequate sleep, or because I had a bad habit that I refused to change. God desires every aspect of our lives to be fully functioning and successful!
Philippians 2:13
“For it is God which worketh [ενεργων G1754 – produces] in you both to will [θελειν G2309 – to have a purpose in mind for oneself] and to do [ενεργειν G1754 – to put ones capabilities into operation] of His good pleasure [υπερ G5228 της G3588 ευδοκιας G2107 – above and beyond good will, or in God’s good will].”
-Matthew 19:26 says “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Believing MUST be according to God’s word, either His written word or His direct revelation; the power resulting is of God, not of us or of our believing. It takes making our will align with God’s will, not visa-versa. Believing has no power in itself, it is a simple switch that must be on in order for the power to connect and make an impact in this world! Try removing the batteries from your cell phone and making a call, you can not, it is rendered powerless. The body-soul man is the same, absolutely powerless. Believing is not the power; it is simply the catalyst necessary in order for the power to energize you. Believing is not a magic wand for us to wave and make miracles happen, we believe on what God tells us, and we act on it in order to fulfil His will, not ours. Believing is dead without a spiritual power energizing it. The statement that ‘believing equals receiving’ can be a very dangerous statement. This type of believing is spoken about in things like “The Secret” and among spiritualist groups. If I 'believe' to be able to lift my keyboard off of my desk with my mind, it SHOULD NOT happen. If it does begin floating, there are devil spirits energizing my believing; that is spiritualism. Satan wants us to believe we can have all sorts of vain little super powers that glorify our own egos. God wants us to believe for things that He says are available, things that glorify Him. The power is not of us or our own greatness, we are weak as human beings, we are powerless alone.
Philippians 3:3
“For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence [πεποιθοτες G3982] in the flesh [σαρκι G4561].”
-2Corinthians 10:7a says, “Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again.”
“Τα G3588 κατα G2596 προσωπον G4383 βλεπετε G991 ει G1487 τις G5100 πεποιθεν G3982 εαυτω G1438 χριστου G5547 ειναι G1510 τουτο G3778 λογιζεσθω G3049 παλιν G3825 = Do you pay especially close attention to what is before your eyes? If anyone is convinced that he belongs to Christ, let him remind himself on the other hand or of the alternative aspect.”
-We have so much information bombarding our minds these days, our five senses are sensing more things per day than any generation of people of all time before us. The adversary fills our minds with averages and probabilities, all flesh knowledge. He tempts us to forget what God promises us. We are called BELIEVERS for a good reason, we live by faith and not by sight, we live by the spirit and not by our senses, we are the exceptions certainly not the average statistics.