Everywhere I turn I see a need for healing. Yet, when the word of God is presented, people get greatly offended, Matthew 11:6. There
The issue is the belief, not so much confession, but that’s equally as important. To believe something is to have a strong conviction about the subject. If I say “The sun will NOT rise tomorrow.” How many would have a strong conviction that my statement is true? No one. Yet, the word of God says someday it won’t, Isaiah 24:19-20. We live in a fallen world and all the information we gather is based on that fact. The truth is in the word of God which says we live in the shadow of the real, Hebrews 8:4; Colossians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 13:12. What is the real? The things not seen, the invisible, not the unknown, Hebrews 11:1
So, to quote Pilot, “What is truth?” John 18:38. Jesus and the word of God with the help of the Holy Spirit, John 16:13; 1 John 2:27. This question is linked to “What is faith?” Faith isn’t blind, Isaiah 1:18-20. The word faith doesn’t show up in the Hebrew Scriptures because it means actually “trust,” Habakkuk 2:4. In the Greek, it means to have a “strong conviction.”
Immovable Faith is:
• Faith is NOT blind
• Faith is NOT taking a leap into the unknown
• Faith has to do with the invisible not the unknown
○ Faith is seeing you pay your bills on time
○ Faith is seeing yourself healthy
○ Faith is seeing yourself full of energy at the end of the day
Faith is a strong conviction that the things we do not see (health and peace) are there, we just need to take it, Matthew 11:12; Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24. Faith is built up like anything else, Romans 10:17. If we are to be good a mathematics, we must work out the problems. The more we do the better we get. To run a marathon, we must build up our stamina, Romans 1:17. The issue with Christians is they want microwave Christianity. We find out we’re sick and we want instant healing. If we have the faith, it’ll happen, if not, we need to build up that faith. To build up our faith is by hearing the word of God, Romans 10:17.
Every coach and motivational speaker has the proper understanding – see in our mind’s eye of being healthy. This isn’t easy believism, it’s changing our mind to execute what we believe based on the promises of God, Philippians 4:8-10. Imaging it helps us solidify the truth, Proverbs 23:7; Genesis 6:5. While the world says “Seeing is believing” in the scriptures is “believing is seeing.” If this were not so, the placebo effect would not be real. If you believe, you can change. This is based on the scriptures I’ve already posted above. But it’s also a choice. If we cannot get over the world view, we’ll never take by force the spiritual.
Miracles are not for the perfect, but for the believing, Matthew 9:29. Hope is confident expectation of good. If we maintain hope of being healed, we create the capacity to see the evidence that it’s possible, Romans 5:2-5. If we confidently expect to prosper, our mind will begin to work in such a way that we will begin to see the evidence that it is indeed possible. But if we think we’re going to fail, then we’ll see all the evidence pointing to failing. The evidence is there that we’re going to succeed, and the evidence is there that we’re going to fail. Literally, the tongue holds life or death for the path we choose, Proverbs 18:21; 1 Peter 3:10. It is just that simple. Believe the evidence based on the word of God and the finished work of Jesus or not. Our choice is whichever evidence we recognize for the outcome we expect. It’s not that the “other” evidence isn’t there. If we’re not alive to the evidence for sickness, then sickness withers up and dies. If we’re not alive to destructive things they eventually become unrecognizable in our environment. It’s not that they don’t go away if just that they’re not going to have an effect on us.
Remember something else about faith. Doubt is not the absence of faith. Doubt is the persuasion and deep belief in the evidence that is contrary to faith. Our problem isn’t we don’t have enough faith, our problem is our attention is on the evidence that proves it’s not going to happen. When we have our attention on the evidence that says “I’m never going to get out of this,” that’s what doubt is. Faith is when we have our eyes on the evidence that says “I’m coming out of this!” This is how one becomes fully persuaded like Abraham, Romans 4:20-22.
Finally, faith is not blind. We need to gather evidence of things. The greatest misconception is “Just take it by faith – blindly”. Isaiah says “Come let us reason together” which is what God wants to do and why we have 66 books in the scriptures written by 40 penmen over thousands of years. It’s to prove God’s work through His promises. When people say “take it by faith” they’re saying “just take it without evidence.” If God says we can reason (to prove, decide, judge, rebuke, reprove, correct, be right) about our salvation, we can reason about everything else – get the evidence. Faith is not blind. Faith is based on very specific evidence.
At Creation, God knew what He wanted and decided the outcome before He spoke anything. The process is understanding the desired outcome in your mind’s eye, believing it in your heart and then speaking it into existence. We’re made in God’s image, and whatever we imagine, all things, if we believe, and ask for, it shall be given.
Matthew 21:22
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Romans 8:31-32
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
The choice is ours to believe or not. Period. Any ifs, thans, or buts, are just us not believing the plainly written word of God, Galatians 3:7; 3:26; Hebrews 11.