Mark 11:22-24; "22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Faith! Faith is something that most people would not look at as a benefit of the Kingdom, but it is a tremendous benefit. Let me explain. If you asked me to come by your house this Saturday morning and I said, “I will try to make it,” then the best that you can do is HOPE that I will show up.
Hope is open-ended because it is not tied to a promise. On the other hand, if I said, “I promise I will be there,” then you can have faith that I will show up. Even after I promised that I would show up, however, I still might not make it because I am a man and prone to mistakes.
God, however, is not a man (Numbers 23:19) and if He promised something, He will do it -- period! The benefit of faith, then, is tied to the Word of God. The reason I share God’s Word is because I want people to be able to add substance to their hope (Hebrews 11:1) and walk in faith. We don’t have to live by open-ended wishes, but our text tells us that we should walk by faith!
2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight”
Summary:
How can we apply this faith to our daily lives? Let’s break it down:
1. Find the right promise: Jesus spoke to people who were hungry and said, “I am the Bread” (John 6:35). Jesus spoke to a woman whose brother had just died and said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25). Both were the truth. Both were the Word of God. Both were packed with promise and potential. But Jesus would not have told the people who were hungry that He was the Resurrection and He would not have told the woman dealing with death that He was the Bread.
Why? Because those words, although the truth, did not apply to the situation! The Bible is full of promises. I already taught you that you cannot have faith without a promise. Whatever situation you find yourself in, you must find a promise in the Word of God that applies to it!
2. Confess that promise: We have the power of death and life in our tongue (Proverbs 18:21). When we repeat God’s Word over our situation, we loose authority in the earth for angels to operate on our behalf.
We give God earthly license for heavenly interference. Keep repeating that promise and believing that God will bring it to pass.
3. Develop a plan: Many people perform steps 1 and 2. They find the scripture and they confess it with their mouths, but then they wait and never do anything about it. We must ask the Holy Spirit to give us clear instructions on what our responsibilities are to bring to pass this promise in our lives. God will show us what our part is and He oftentimes waits for us to fulfill our part, BEFORE He does His.
4. DO IT! James said, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). If you ask me, “How do we walk by faith?”
I will tell you:
- Find the promise in the Word of God,
- Confess that promise over your life,
- Develop a plan under the leadership of the Holy Spirit,
- DO IT! You will never receive from God without actually DOING what He tells you to DO. We can talk about it all day long, but faith requires action!
The best the world can do is hope, but we can walk in faith because we have the Word of God. What a wonderful benefit! Are you ready to use this benefit this week?
CONFESSION
Heavenly Father, Your Word is power-packed with promises. I find the promise that applies to my current situation. I speak that Word and believe it will come to pass in my life. I am led of Your Spirit to develop a plan to bring it to fruition and I have the courage and the ability to DO what you tell me to DO. I walk by faith and not by sight. In Jesus’ name Amen!
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