Many people, including some preachers, say that God is completely sovereign and therefore whatever happens is His will. But does a farmer reap what God sows? What kind of crop will the farmer get if he takes the year off and just tells God he will take whatever crop God produces? No, the farmer reaps what he himself sows. If this principle is true for the farmer, isn’t it true for us also?
When King Nebuchadnezzar observed the three Hebrew children in the flames of the fire he threw them into for not bowing to his image, he was shocked to see a fourth man walking in the flames with them (Daniel 3:25). Regardless of the kind of fire you may be in—whether it’s a fire of some type of sickness or disease, or a struggle in your finances—there is another identity in your midst! The Lord Jesus Christ is with you in the midst of every struggle, abiding IN you, operating THROUGH you and working FOR you each and every day! “The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil” (Zephaniah 3:15).
Each and every day of our lives we should arise acknowledging our identity in Christ, not our old man! We don’t come crying to God telling Him who we used to be, we come to Him thanking Him for who we are now, hidden with Christ in the Father! (Colossians 3:3)
As believers, faith is a lifestyle we are all called to embrace. Three times in the New Testament we are told “The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). What does that mean? It means that our decisions are not solely based on our senses. It requires that some steps be made without having all the facts, resources, or people in place, but God will make the difference!
Paul had an interesting view of himself. He thought of himself as a man who had died and awakened to a new life in Christ. He considered himself a dead man, yet still breathing. Dead men do not get offended at people. Dead men do not scream back when they are screamed at. Dead men can be poked, kicked, mocked and spit upon, and they still do not respond. The devil and his followers have no weapons left when Christians do not respond in fear or anger to their evil threats and actions!
Simply stating you believe something in God’s Word isn’t what produces results. Results are seen through being convinced of the reality that His Word is operating in your heart, your mind and your soul, along with the recognition that as you release your faith, this faith works by love. Not our ability to love God, but rather His amazing ability to love us!
When the twelve spies came back from the Promised Land, ten of them couldn’t conceive themselves winning in a battle with the giants, because they saw themselves as grasshoppers. God was for them, but they were against themselves. Start agreeing with God and see yourself achieving the impossible!
Read the Bible and find all the verses that talk about healing. You must take this medicine every day until your faith becomes so strong you can say, “Yes! By the wounds of Jesus, I am healed! I am healed, because Jesus took all my sicknesses upon Himself. Jesus died on the cross for me and gave me perfect health!”
“…when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” (1 Thess. 2:13). It doesn’t say we and our own efforts are effectively working in us, it says the Word of God that we trust and believe is doing the work—regardless of what our senses or other people are saying!
The faith God has given us is the most powerful force on earth, but it can’t work in the midst of doubt, fear and worry. We must spend time in God’s Word and allow it to renew our minds to its absolute truth. This is how we enter the rest of faith and watch the impossible become possible!
