Jul 10
2
SECRET FOUR
In order to get more faith – exercise what you already have!
(Part A)
From my perspective, many of the “faith statements” that people make to me in e-mails are downright silly. Please hear me – I said, “From my perspective.” What that should mean to anyone is that I may be wrong. But it is my perspective – a perspective grounded in my own experience of taking the things Jesus said about acquiring faith seriously and putting them into practice and discovering that they WORK!
Is this where you get more Faith?
Implied in the foregoing is a challenge. If we are going to put SECRET FOUR into practice, it will be far more effective when we begin by exercising only the faith we actually have. I need to back up and explain why I say that some of the “faith statements” people make are downright silly. They are silly (again, from my perspective) because they are based on intellectual acquiescence to religious doctrine and tradition (“beliefs”) and not “faith” at all. If we go back to SECRET ONE and look at how “dynamic faith” is defined it becomes easy to see the difference between an intellectual belief and dynamic faith. Here it is again: “Dynamic faith is forceful, effective, get-it-done, earth shaking faith.”
Saying “I know God can heal” is intellectual, meaningless and powerless to accomplish anything, it is an intellectual belief and not “faith” at all. Remember the woman with the twelve-year menstrual flow? She heard about Jesus and that he had healing powers. She believed what she heard. She could have stayed at home and her belief would have been intact. She could have even made a statement such as, “I know Jesus can heal” and nothing would have happened. No action would have been taken that would have turned her belief system into the action she took …faith!
But instead of staying home – she said to herself, “if I can only touch the edge of his clothing I will be healed! Then she put actions with her words and went to where Jesus was. She pushed and shoved her way through the crowd until she touched his clothing. BANG! She was instantly healed. She accessed the miracle working, healing power of SPIRIT resident in Jesus.
What did Jesus say to her after he found out what she had done? Did he say, “Yes, you were healed because of the power in me” (?) No, he most emphatically did not. He told her that it was her faith that healed her. Again, what was her “faith?” She went to where Jesus was, she pushed and shoved her way through the thick crowd of people until she could reach out and barely touch his clothing – and she was instantly healed!
Now, here is a simple truth that we “can take to the bank.” We can read and believe Jesus’ words in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John which reveal that anyone who believes will perform the very same miracles (giving eyesight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, healing all kinds of diverse diseases, raising people from the dead, turning water into wine, casting out demons, having the resident healing power of God within us – yes EVERYTHING Jesus did –and more-), and yet do nothing to activate Jesus’ promises into dynamic faith and none of his promises will come into being.
Or we can begin to put our belief into action and actually begin to do the same things Jesus did in the same manner. JESUS DID NOT DO THEM! He said, “The Father in me does the works.” That’s the secret for anyone who does what Jesus did – they don’t do the works, the Father in them does the works. There can be no egotistical claims to anything. “You/I” did nothing – yet make no mistake about it, “miracles” take place!
What is the bottom line difference? Instead of making statements of unbelief and no-faith such as, “I know God can heal” or “If God wants me to have that kind of faith he can give it to me,” etc. – we can begin doing what Jesus said it takes to get to the point of being able to do what he did. Which shall it be?
Stay tuned… Part B is up next
In Freedom,
Brad,
Listen to the accompanying podcast here: Podcast 7 You don’t want to miss it! Podcast 7 Seven Secrets Pt 4 – A