The Daily Word of Righteousness

Two Kinds of Faith, continued

But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: (Hebrews 2:6,7)

It always has been God's will that man rule nature and that nature respond to man's needs and will. It is a normal, natural thing to walk on the water, to get money from the mouth of a fish, to multiply food. We now are imprisoned by the dead material realm and exist in a subnormal, unnatural condition. Our faith has been destroyed to such an extent that the Lord Jesus continually marvels at our unbelief.

No, this is not an invitation to presumption. Rather, it is a commentary on our fallen state.

Can we grow up into a normal faith in which miracles are a daily occurrence? Yes, we can. In order to do so, three things must be true of us. First, the Lord Jesus must be King on the throne of our life. King self must be dethroned. Second, our position always must be, "Not my will but Yours be done." We always must be ready to suffer and to be imprisoned for the Gospel, just as was true of our Lord.

Third, we must be living our life as servants of Jesus and not according to our own desires. When these three aspects are true of us at all times we then are ready to grow into mountain-moving faith, and to exercise such faith when obstacles arise to hinder our service to the Lord.

Today, lukewarm believers who are governed by self-will are challenged to move mountains by faith so they can get whatever they want. This doctrine is an abomination. The Lord Jesus never comes to lukewarm, self-centered, worldly believers and invites them to use their faith to get what they want of worldly gain. Such perversity is taking place in our day and is of Satan, not of God.

The eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews is known as the "faith" chapter of the Bible. Modern soulish faith, as well as the effort to "do big things for God," to "get things from God," does not appear in this chapter. Rather, the faith of these saints did not always bring them material prosperity but often resulted in "cruel mockings and scourgings" and the other suffering described in Hebrews 11:35-38.

If we will allow Jesus to rule in our life, if we will be willing to follow Him into suffering and death, and if we will serve Him faithfully, coming out of the world, denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and patiently accepting His decisions concerning us, we can ask what we will and it shall be done.

We may not receive the answer immediately. But when we ask in Jesus' name, God either will give us our request (in minutes, or after forty years have passed), or else He will show us that what we have asked is not His best for us.

To be continued.