23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Mark 9:22-24 NKJV
Sit back for a minute and think about the possibilities, if we believe that Jesus literally meant what He said. Most people seem to read the Bible through the prism of their own religious prejudices. But if you take the spectacles off, and truly begin to believe what Jesus said, the impact of these words is immense.
Jesus continually taught that we receive according to the measure of our faith. A just and righteous God could do nothing more, or less. The lesson of the confrontation with two blind men gives clear instruction regarding the necessity of faith.
27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” 28 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.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. Matt 9:27-30 NKJV
Now, the wonderful reality is that if our faith is not strong enough today to receive all that the Father has for us, then it can grow. If it grows, then we can receive more, because you receive according to your faith. Tomorrow can be better than today. Today can be better than yesterday if our faith is growing.
TWO KINDS OF FAITH
In Bible college I took a class called bible kinds of faith, that confused me immensely. There are literally six or seven, perhaps more, different kinds of faith in the Bible. But my dear friend Dale Sides did a wonderful service to me years ago when he broke it down into two basic kinds of faith: your faith and spiritual faith.
22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” Matt 9:21-22 NKJV
Your faith is the basic faith by which you live daily. It can be strong in certain areas and weak in others because of your disposition, training, experience, and prejudices. A good team builder analyzes the qualities needed in his team, and goes and finds people whose faith is strong in one or more of those areas, and recruits them for his team. Every one of us has areas in our lives where faith is relatively strong, and others where it is weak. The encouraging thing is to note that our strong areas can become stronger and our weak areas can be strengthened, bless God forever!
Spiritual faith is that gift of faith, also called the faith of Jesus Christ or God’s faith. Spiritual faith comes by revelation. The difference in practice between your faith and spiritual faith is that while your faith may at times be sufficient to receive the promise of God, spiritual faith is always sufficient to receive the promise of God. Your faith is operated by a request. Spiritual faith is operated by a command. Your faith is measured in your soul. Spiritual faith is measured in Jesus’ soul. Spiritual faith is the key to doing the works of the Lord Jesus.
THE ACTIVATION OF FAITH
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. Gal 5:6 NKJV
Love energizes your faith. This is why your prejudices (what you like and dislike) are so important to be recognized, understood, humbled and brought to the Cross. You will not have great faith for things (or people or situations) that you dislike. You will not have great faith for yourself if you dislike yourself. Bring your prejudices to the Cross. Pour love into everything – and I mean everything, everybody, everywhere, all the time – and watch it be blessed.
THE SUPER AND THE NATURAL
Shallow Christianity assigns responsibility for everything to God. Deep Christianity realizes that man has a place of responsibility that he must accept before God. Become responsible for your faith! Study the Bible and pray much in tongues to build your faith. Energetically address the areas in your life where you are unloving and bring them to the Cross. Plan your work in love and work your plan. The Lord will be there to direct you, guide you, enable you and see you through to victory. When the Super (God) and the natural (you) come together, something supernatural happens!
Remember, dear one, we must be about our Father’s business.