Sunday Message Summary, 24 September 2023
How were we born-again? We got born again because we heard someone talking about Jesus, we listened to the story of Jesus, what Jesus did for us, what Jesus has for us; and while we listened to this story, a miracle happened, we began to believe it – we felt convinced and convicted to believe the story about Jesus. The biggest miracle of miracles is believing in the Son of GOD, Jesus Christ, and this miracle of miracles was possible because of faith. We need to understand faith from its seminal, formative, fundamental aspect. In its simplest and most powerful form, faith is a gift of GOD (from GOD) in our heart and in our spirit – faith is a gift from GOD received by us. Romans 10:8 NKJV says we get to have the word of faith that is preached so near to us because it is in our mouth and our heart, it is in our spirit. Hence it is said that the word of faith is within you. It is a light that shines in our hearts and fills us with the power, a power so great, it is unfathomable, beyond comprehension.
In Ephesians 1:19 Paul tells us that the unfathomableness of the power of GOD (“…the exceeding greatness…”), that is without comprehension and without measure, makes faith available to us when we believe the word of GOD. Faith is activated by the word of GOD, it responds to the word of GOD, and it works by the word of GOD. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of GOD. Faith grows by the hearing of the word of GOD.
Faith pleases GOD because it is a grace that causes us to hear GOD and to respond to the voice of GOD through the word of GOD. Without faith, it is impossible to hear GOD, to receive instruction from GOD, or to receive guidance and direction from GOD. Faith causes us to believe GOD and to believe in GOD. Faith always moves us towards GOD, never away from GOD – it causes us to seek GOD out, in all circumstances, no matter what is happening in our lives, in all circumstances of our lives. Every born-again child of GOD is given the gift of faith, and it is that gift and that grace that GOD has placed in us that always keeps us moving toward GOD, our Father. Regardless of whether you are leaning to GOD for mercy, grace, compassion, or something that you desire GOD to do for you, faith by its very essence, remains a movement toward GOD. True faith is dynamic, it is never stagnant, it is a working power, it takes action, it does something, and it causes us to do something.
In Hebrews 4:16 NKJV we are called to come to GOD boldly, with courage, to receive our grace because the one true GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will never ask you about your past actions [Luke 15]. An example of how faith works as a verb is in Luke 8:43-44. The woman who “came” and “touched” the hem of the garment had genuine faith and this faith propelled her into action. The dynamic faith in GOD makes the power of GOD available to us [Ephesians 1:19] in any circumstance and for any circumstance when we begin to believe GOD for every circumstance by going to His Word. Faith is an impetus, a stimulus, a force that firstly propels me towards GOD, and secondly propels me to do something. You cannot be said to have faith when there are no works because faith without works is dead [James 2:26].
We cannot separate faith from action, doing, operating, or working. Hebrews 11:3 KJV tells us that GOD does nothing without His Word. We need to hear the word of GOD to cause faith to rise from within us. GOD is pleased with us when we, as men and women of faith, can hear the voice of GOD in the spirit over and within a sermon, during worship, or during prayer. The word of GOD is an invitation that begins with the word “come!” [Hebrews 4:16], so let us go, unapologetically and boldly. A paradigm shift needs to happen because we need to get moving from where we are in our lives, in our minds, in our hearts, and in our spirit to where GOD is. We need a new way of seeing, doing, and believing if we are to move towards GOD.
2 Corinthians 4:13-14 NKJV. GOD tells us we have the same substance, the same faith, the same spirit of faith, as all other generations of believers who came before us [2 Corinthians 4:13] – you and I have the same faith that Joshua had that stopped the earth, the same faith that Elijah had to close and open the heavens for rain at his spoken word; we have the same faith of Jesus Christ, the faith that we have comes from Christ. It is that same faith that raised the dead, made the lame to walk, opened the eyes of the blind, and made the mute to speak. We have the same divine supernatural gift of the faith of God that did all these supernatural deeds within us – we have no excuse. All we need do is open our hearts fully and completely to the word of GOD and to the Holy Spirit, to stand before GOD as vessels, empty vessels, for Him to use.
We must understand that we know nothing when we stand before GOD, and that this is the only way that we can be of use to Him. The same spirit of faith that we have requires us to first believe and then speak what the word of GOD says. Speaking what the word of GOD says requires a paradigm shift in how we see things, do things, think, and believe. The word that we speak and send into our future must resonate with the word of GOD about us, our situation, and our future. GOD tells us that whatever we go through will not last long and that those very things are to our advantage [2 Corinthians 4:17]. The danger of speaking anything other than what the word of GOD says about our situation or our future is that we may speak permanence over a situation that GOD had willed only temporarily. It does not matter the situation, when GOD says your situation is only for a little while, do not make it last longer than it should with what you say. GOD is not interested in what our view is on the situation, ours is just to believe GOD and speak it, and as we speak so we cause explosive action and instant movement in the spirit.
The same spirit of faith that we have requires us to first believe and then speak what the word of GOD says
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