Paula
There is a holy chamber I love to enter as often as I can. I take off my shoes, wrap myself in a warm blanket, get comfortable, enter in, and begin to pray. As I open my mind and my spirit to God’s leading, Jesus takes my hand, and together we pass through the mountains, hills and valleys, and the fragrant stretches of holy ground where all things are possible and nothing is impossible. What could be more lovely, more satisfying than taking this sacred walk with Jesus, the One Who loves me just the way I am and Who gently instructs me in the ways I should go, despite my reluctance or lack of faith?
As Jesus and I pass through this hallowed terrain, the deep longings of my spirit and my desire to fulfill God’s purpose for my life flow from my soul like water from a roaring river. In this place all is possible and nothing is impossible. My utter and absolute communion with Him has sprung wide the portal to all things of the Spirit. Faith rises from the river of God’s promises, and as I drink these waters of faith, all my longings, all my sufferings, all my disappointments--as well as all my triumphs--become one dynamic shout of praise to the One Who has made all things possible to those who believe (Mark 11:24). Everyday trials, that before seemed like insurmountable mountains, crumble and fall at my feet. And as Jesus and I travel farther into this land of the Spirit, there is nothing I long for more than to remain in this place forever.
But I can’t stay here forever. My consolation is that when prayer time is over and I must reenter my earthly world, I leave that sacred place an altered vessel, armed and fortified. My mind is cleansed of all doubt, all fear. The eyes of my understanding stand wide open, and the words of the author of Hebrews have become a part of the foundation of who I am. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.,” the author writes. My faith, the faith that the Trinity has placed in my heart through this time of communion, contemplation, and prayer, allows me to believe for those unseen impossible things I harbor hope for.
I promised I would report back to everyone about the selling of my mother’s home in California. It is the substance of faith and my passionate belief without any doubt whatsoever that God would fulfill His promises that allowed the home to sell within two days of placing it on the market—and sell for two thousand dollars over the asking price! What thrilled me even more than that, though, was hearing about the people who bought the house. Yep. It was, as I’d envisioned in that previous blog, a “dear family who’s at this very moment praying about owning a home of their own.” A young couple with a new baby are at this moment enjoying the blessings of home ownership.
God always fulfills His promises. Through faith, my vision came to pass. And I can’t wait for the next time I enter my prayer closet, take Jesus’ hand, and step with Him once again onto that holy ground of promise.
Pam
I heard a wonderful teaching presented by Andrew Wommack last week on the subject of faith. He talked about the two kinds of faith. There is a natural faith, the faith that is controlled by our senses and our minds. It is controlled by what we can see, hear, feel, taste, smell, or logically deduce. We’ve all heard it said that it takes faith to sit in a chair. That is the natural faith, the faith of man. We can see that a chair looks properly made, and we can reason that our doctor wouldn’t put faulty chairs in his waiting room. Sadly, all too often this is the kind of faith that I allow to govern my life.
There is another kind faith, however—a far more powerful and perfect faith. It is God’s faith. God’s faith is a gift from our Heavenly Father. It is the faith He, in His great mercy, imparts to us before we can be saved. Without it we could not believe in our salvation. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God...” (Ephesians 2:8). God is always true to His word and would never, ever take back something He has given us. If we are born again, then we have God’s faith inside us forever. It is there for our use. The use of His gift is pleasing to God. He gave it to us because he loves us dearly and wants what is best for us. By God’s faith the unseen becomes real.
A.W. Tozer in his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, states:
“In spite of tears and pain and death we believe that the God who made us all is infinitely wise and good. As Abraham staggered not at the promises through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving the glory to God, and was fully persuaded that what He promised He was able to perform, so we base our hope in God alone and hope against hope till the day breaks. We rest in what God is. I believe this alone is true faith. Any faith that must be supported by evidence of the senses is not real faith. ‘Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.’”
To quote Andrew, “Just because something can’t be seen doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” All the wisdom, prosperity, good health, joy, peace, and love we could ever want or need are there for us in the spiritual. They are part of the atonement. These blessings are just waiting for us to access or manifest them by believing God for them. If we are experiencing lack, poor health, fear, discouragement, and anxiety, then we know we are being governed by our natural faith and it is time to start exercising God’s faith.
Desire, hope, and wishing for something are not faith. Faith is present tense on a personal level. It is confessing, “By His stripes I am healed,” or “God is supplying all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Faith is felt in the heart and permeates the bones.
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