Miracles of Faith

7/27/2019 Miracles of Faith

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted,

are from the King James Version.

Italics for emphasis are ours.

GRACE PUBLICATIONS

P.O. Box 18715BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21206

PRINTED IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, U.S.A.

COPYRIGHT © 2001



A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Throughout my many years of pastoring, I havewitnessed an imbalance in the views of some regarding

what the Bible teaches about faith, healing , and mira

cles. Perhaps more than ever, this is true today. Some in

terpret healing in the atonement to mean that Christians

should never be sick. Others teach that if a believer is

not healed, it is because he does not have enough faith.

This kind of teaching puts God in a box and brings con

fusion an d condemnation into the minds of sincere

Christians, casting a looming shadow upon the true na

ture of God.There are both natural and supernatural causes for

sickness. But God is greater than disease. He desires to

heal and bless each one of His children. Yet, in His sov

ereign will (Psalm 115:3), God ma y allow sickness as an

opportunity for a believer to glorify Him in time.

Though God does no t enjoy seeing His people suffer,

He has great pleasure in men or women who will keep

following an d revealing Jesus Christ in the midst of

sickness. God will reward this kind of faith by adding

degrees of glory to the believer's soul in time and degreesof eternal glory to his future glorified body in heaven.

The Word of God also promises that this person will

reign with Christ on earth during His one-thousand

year reign on earth (2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:26-28;

20:4). '

It is God's desire that Christians would be in good

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health and prosper even as our souls prosper (3 John 2 .

God wants us to bring Him glory by letting Him work

His character into our lives. When i t seems that God is

no t healing us, our attitude should always be to trustGod for healing now, and then to rest in His love during

the times He allows sickness, knowing that His plan is

perfect.

This book came from a series of messages I preached

on healing. I t is my heart that as you read it, you will

come to a fuller understanding of the nature of ou r God.

He always acts toward His children according to His in-

tegrity, faithfulness, lovingkindness, mercy, and grace.

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'TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter OneMIRACLES ARE FOR TODAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chapter Two

THE ETERNAL COVENANT OF THE TRINITY .. 17

Chapter Three

GOD WANTS TO BLESS HIS FAMILY . . . . . . . . . . 23

Chapter Four

HAVE FAITH IN GOD ....................... 29

Chapter Five

PREPARING FOR A MIRACLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Chapter Six

HEALING: A GIFT OF GRACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Chapter Seven

HEALING: A PRODUCT OF ETERNAL LIFE . . . . 65

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71



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MIRACLES OF FAITH



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Chapter One

MIRACLES ARE FOR TODAY

"He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and

worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of

the law, or by the hearing of aith?" (Galatians 3:5).

N

oa h Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

of the English Language defines a miracle

asu

An event or effect contrary to the estab-lished constitution and course of things, or a deviation

from the known laws of nature; a supernatural event."

He continues, uMiracles can be wrought only by

Almighty power."

There are some who claim that miracles are no t for

today. They say that miracles were only for the time of

the Gospels and the book of Acts. Yet, Galatians 3:5 is

not in the Gospels or in the book of Acts. It is in the

church epistles, written much later, and says that God

works miracles in the midst of His church. If this wastrue when the Ne w Testament was written, then it is

certainly true for today. Has Jesus Christ changed since

He walked on the earth as the God-man? Has His com

passion changed toward the needs of man? The answer

is emphatically, no. Malachi 3:6a says, uFor I am the

Lord, I change not." The Ne w Testament echoes these

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

words: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day,

an d for ever" (Hebrews 13:8).

Miracles are for today. Healing is for today. God's

love is for today. God's compassion, mercy, and graceare for today. Genes is 18:14 says, "Is any thing too hard

for the Lord?" Jeremiah 32:27 says, "Behold, I am the

Lord, the God of all flesh: is the re any thing too hard for

me?" The answer is found in verse 17 of the same chap

ter: "'Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth

by thy great power an d stretched ou t arm, and there is

nothing too hard for thee."

God is a God for today. He makes things happen

today. The Word of God declares in 2 Corinthians 6:2,

"Behold, no w is the accepted time; behold, no w is theda y of salvation." Three times throughout Hebrews

chapter 3 and 4, the Holy Spirit inspired the words,

"Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your

hearts." God is ready to act today. He is ready to deliv

er and heal today. He is ready to give us a provision for

today.

Galatians 3:5 also says that God works miracles

among us by the "hearing of faith." The key word is

/fhearing." Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the

Word of God (Romans 10:17). As Bible believingChristians, we must be careful never to make faith the

issue. Ou r faith must no t be in faith itself, bu t rather in

the object of ou r faith, Jesus Christ and His Word. As

we will see in this book, the issue is not, "Do I have

enough faith to be healed?" The iss ue is, uDo I have the

right kind of faith?" It is true that Jesus said to a woman

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MIRACLES ARE FOR TODAY

with a blood disease, "Thy faith hath made thee h o l e ' ~(Matthew 9:22). It is true that He said to two blind men,

"According to your faith be it unto you" (Matthew

9:29). But what He was saying to these people was,uYour focus and reliance upon Who I am and the words

I speak will produce in you the faith to be healed.

Knowing the true source of our faith places the

emphasis upon God. We do not have to go around

bragging about how much faith we have. We can turn

ou r focus on Christ and rest in His love. Psalm 34:2 says

that humble believers "make [their] boast in the Lord:

the humble shall hear thereof and be glad." Notice that

first, this verse says that we boast in the Lord, not in our

faith. Also, it says that the humble hear the Word ofGod, which produces the right kind of faith.

Because parents love their children, they want to do

what is best for them. Still, they may not always know

what is best for them. At times, it may not be within

parents' means to give children what they would like to

give. But with God, there are no limitations. He wants

the best for Hi s children. Because He has all-knowledge,

He knows what is best. Because He has all-power, He

can give us what is best. And since He is everywhere

present, He is available every moment to make it happen.

God has a provision for the whole man-spirit,

soul, and body. Do not be familiar with the "letter" of

the Scriptures. Receive it in the power of the Holy

Spirit. As you do, build yourself up in your most holy

faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, keep yourself in the love

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

that God has for you, an d look for His mercy to work in

your life (Jude 20-21 ). Live in the law of faith, not the

law of doubt and fear that interferes with the Holy

Spirit's power to minister miracles of faith. Live in the

law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, not in the law of

sin and death. Do no t ever condemn yourself or

become introspective about your faith if yo u are no t

healed instantly. God's plan for you is perfect. Your

miracle is coming. It could be today.

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Chapter Two

THE ETERNAL COVENANT OF THE TRINITY

The name Elohim Alah refers to a covenant

made before time in eternity past by the

Trinity on behalf of sinners. This covenant is

spoken of in Acts 2:23 when it says that Christ was

delivered up to be crucified by "the determinate coun

sel and foreknowledge of God." In this eternal covenant,

the Trinity-the Father, Son, an d Holy Spirit-agreed to

save sinners by grace through faith, giving us a provision to rebound in grace if we fail. They decided that

whenever believers do fail, Jesus will be there as an

advocate, an attorney to plead our cause (1 John 2:1-2).

They also determined that believers would not be utter

ly cast down (Psalm 37:24), and that even at our worst

moment, there will be no condemnation (Romans 8:1).

In this plan of grace, the Trinity purposed that the ever

lasting arms of God will be underneath every Christian,

to hold us up so we will never hi t the bottom (Psalm

145:14; Deuteronomy 33:27).In Hebrews 6:13-14, this eternal covenant was reaf

firmed by Go d to Abraham. "For when Go d made

promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no

greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I

will bless thee, an d multiplying I will multiply thee."

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

By His very nature, it is impossible for God to lie

(Hebrews 6:18).

The Trinity also agreed that the Holy Spirit will

stand by the believer when we become weak and canno t even pray. "The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:

for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:

bu t the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with

groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that

searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the

Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints

according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27). They

decided that even i f a Christian is backslidden, the

Holy Spirit will groan in intercession to the Father in

order to draw the child of God back into God's will.In this eternal covenant, the Trinity purposed that

all things will "work together for good to them that

love God, to them who are the called according to his

purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Before the foundation of the world, in His infinite

foreknowledge, God predestinated, called, justified,

and glorified every person who would believe on

Christ in time (Romans 8:30). The Trinity designed a

perfect plan for imperfect people, knowing every mis

take we would ever make. In this plan, all the badthings would be worked into a plan of divine good.

God Is For Us

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be

for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). I f God

loved us enough in eternity past to predestinate, call,

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justify, an d glorify us, and then design a perfect plan

for us, wh o could ever be against us? We need to

rehearse this verse often in our meditations, saying to

ourselves, ~ ~ G o d is for me forever."

"H e that spared no t his ow n Son, bu t delivered hi m

up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give

us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of

God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that con

demneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen

again, wh o is even at the right hand of God, who also

maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from

the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or per-

secution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the da ylong; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay,

in all these things we are more than conquerors

through him that loved us." (Romans 8:32-37).

Paul was convinced beyond any shadow of doubt

that nothing could ever separate him from God's love.

He mentions nine more things in verses 38 and 39: death,

life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things

to come, height, depth, "nor any other creature"- i nother words, anything else that might come against us.

Think of God's perfect plan for your life. No matterwhat you have done, there is no condemnation. Just

remember that God is for you. I f you are sick, God is for

you. I f yo u are hurting inside, God is for you. If yo u are

going through a very difficult time, God is for you. Not

a thing can ever separate yo u from His love.

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

"I Am n Is the One

The Lord is the One wh o heals us an d provides for

us. In Exodus 15:26, God says, "I am the Lord that

healeth thee." The Hebrew words are Yahweh Rapha.God is saying, "I am the Lord who heals you spiritual

ly, mentally, emotionally, and physically. In Genesis

22:14, He is Yahweh Jireh, the One who will provide for

us. In Genesis 22, He provided a ram for a sacrifice so

Abraham would not have to offer his son Isaac. God

made sure the ram was there precisely when Abraham

needed it. The ram was for that particular day in

Abraham's life. In the same way, God says, "I have a

perfect provision for 'this' day. Because yo u are my

child, I call you by name. And whatever is going on inyour life, I am your Lord, and I desire to provide for

yo u and heal you.'/

In Ezekiel48:35, we find the name Yahweh Shamma

meaning, the Lord is always there with us. He is inside

us through His Word. For this reason, the Word of God

says, /.(But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh

on this wise, Say no t in thine heart, Who shall ascend

into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that fs, to bring

up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? Theword is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart:

that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou

shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt

believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the

dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:6-9). \aul said

in 2 Corinthians 4:13b, "I believed, and therefore have I

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spoken; we also belie:ve, and therefore speak." When

we believe the Word that resides in us and begin to con

fess it, then we are confessing our faith in God's char

acter. We are saying, "The Lord is here! He is here to

provide for us; He is here to heal us. He is here to love

us, to fellowship with us, and to guide every step we

take."

Let the Holy Spirit teach you to speak what you

believe. Let Him teach you to confess positive things, to

confess that all t h i n g s ~ i l l work together for good-

that God loves you and is for you. Nothing can sepa

rate yo u from the love of God. All things are for your

sake, that the grace of God ma y flow from you and

cause others to give thanks (2 Corinthians 4:15).

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Chapter Three

GOD WANTS TO BLESS HIS FAMILY

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath

anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath

sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliver

ance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the

blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke

4:18).

''God is love. In this was manifested the love of God

toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son

into the world, that we might live through him. Herein

is love, not that we loved God, bu t that he loved us, and

sent his Son to be the propitiation [(mercy seat)] for ou r

sins" (1 John 4:8b-10).

"For the Son of ma n is come to seek and to save that

which was lost" (Luke 19:10).

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,

while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans

5:8).

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

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These verses tell us why Jesus Christ came to

earth as the God-man. His purpose today

remains the same. He has not changed. He

has no t changed His mind about how much He loves

us. Psalm 46:1 tells us that God is a ve;cy present help in

trouble. We are His children, so why wouldn't God

want to help us? I f He sent His Son to die for every per

son who will ever live on the earth, including those

who reject Him, then how much more will He do for

those wh o accept Jesus Christ and become members of

His royal family?

God has a deep desire for His children to prosper

physically as well as spiritually. He wants us to prosper

in marriage, family, church, and business. Consider the

following verses:

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest

prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth"

(3 John 2).

"Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of

Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to

profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest

go" (Isaiah 48:17).

"If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their

days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures" (Job

36:11).

Christianity is more than knowledge of the Bible; it

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is more than attaining something in this world.

Christianity is receiving the abundant life of God. Jesus

said, Iii am come that they might have life, and that

they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10b).

David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, discovere d how he

could have the abundant life. In Psalm 16:8, he wrote,

"I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at

my right hand, I shall not be moved." He went on to

say in verse 11, "At thy right hand there are pleasures

for evermore." This is wh y he could say, in Psalm 30:6,

"In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved."

We Are Jesus' Family

Ephesians 4:3-6 speaks of the seven-fold unity of

the Spirit: /fThere is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye

are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one

faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is

above all, and through all, and in you all." The one

mentioned first is "one Body"-God 's family in heaven

and on earth.

In Luke 8:19-21, Jesus makes it clear who the mem

bers of His family are. "Then came to him his mother

and his brethren, and could no t come at him for the

press. An d it was told him by certain which said, Thy

mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to seethee. And he answered and said unto them, My moth

er and m y brethren are these which hear the Word of

God, and do it." Marriage and family are sacred insti

tutions of God. But what Jesus is saying here is that His

spiritual family-the royal family-is made up of those

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

who hear the Word of God and keep it in the unity of

the Holy Spirit. The very reason that many marriages

and families are no t close is because tl)_ey do not hear

the Word of God and keep it.

God gives good things to His family. Psalm 84:11b

says that He will not withhold any good thing from

those who walk uprightly. Matthew 7:9-11 affirms this.

"What ma n is there of you, whom if his son ask bread,

will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give

hi m a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give

good gifts unto your children, how much more· shall

your Father which is in heaven give good things to

them that ask him?"

In light of this, why wouldn't God want to work

miracles for His family (Galatians 3:5)? He is waiting to

be gracious. "Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may

be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted,

that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a

God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him"

(Isaiah 30:18).

In Genesis 12:2-3, God made an unconditional prom-

ise to bless Abraham and his descendants. The Lord

said, "I will make of thee a great nation, an d I will bless

thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be ablessing: An d I will bless them that bless thee, and

curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all fami

lies of the earth be blessed." This promise is reaffirmed

in Genesis 22:16-17, an d again in Hebrews 6:14,

"Surely, blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will

multiply thee." In the dispensation of grace, God has

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extended the blessing of Abraham through Jesus Christ

to the Church: "That the blessing of Abraham might

come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we

might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith"

(Galatians 3:14b).

The Basis for All Blessing

The imputation of God's righteousness is the basis

for all blessings in the believer's life. To "impute"

means to reckon or charge something to someone's

account. In the Bible, there are two kinds of imputa-

tions: judicial imputations and relative imputations.

There are two judicial imputations. First, all of

man's sins were imputed to Christ on the Cross (1 Peter

2:24; Isaiah 53:4-12). Second, all of Christ's righteous

ness was imputed to us the moment we were saved

(2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 4:3-5). The unique thing

about these two imputations is that neither party is

deserving of them. Christ di d not deserve to be charged

with our sins, and we certainly did not deserve to have

God's righteousness placed on our account. The only

grounds for God's judicial imputations is in the wisdom

of the Trinity (Acts 2:23), having ordained Christ's sac

rifice for sinful men. Now, God's righteousness in us

becomes the basis for all blessing in the Christian's life.

Romans 10:3 says that Israel, being ignorant of

God's righteousness, went about to establish their ow n

righteousness. They did not understand that Christ is

the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who

believes (Romans 10:4). Similarly, the Christian gets

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

into trouble when he tries to produce his ow n right

eousness rather than receiving it all from God. He may

get down on himse lf becal1se he tries to measure him

self by his ow n righteousness. Any man-made system

of righteousness is all filthy rags before God (Isaiah

64:6). The key is admitting that we do not have any

righteousness and that we need to receive it all from

God. Jeremiah 23:6 says, "THE LORD OUR RIGHT

EOUSNESS" (see also Jeremiah 33:16). Every believer

has been made the righteousness of God in Christ

(2 Corinthians 5:21 ). We are just as righteous as God is!

Once the righteousness of God has been imputed to

the believer, he ha s a basis upon which God may bless

him in his Christian life. These blessings are called "rel

ative imputations." Because we have the Son's right

eousness in us, God has to bless us and promote us.

Not only has God given us a robe of righteousness

(Isaiah 61:10); He also gives us an inner garment of

righteousness through the impartation of the Word and

the Spirit. He has to bless us on the basis of that right

eousness, because it is no t ours, it is Christ's. Even in

trials of ou r faith, His ultimate goal is to bless us even

more. He always looks upon His Son's righteousness

inside us whenever we ask for anything. The measure

that the righteousness of Christ abounds in us is the

measure He has to bless us. This is the reason John

14:13-14 says, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my

name [which reveals my nature], that will I do, that the

Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any

thing in my [nature], I will do it."

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Chapter Four

HAVE FAITH IN GOD

Faith means to have repose in another's ability.

"Repose" means "to lay at rest; to rest in con

fidence or trust; to place confidence in a per-

son's veracity." Therefore, faith is the believer resting in

the ability of Jesus Christ. It is placing trust and confi

dence in His veracity. We enter into repose by reflecting

on who Jesus Christ is inside of us, by not being occu

pied with our weaknesses, bu t with His strength. Wecease from ou r ow n works and focus upon Christ

(Heb rews 4:10; 12:2).

Jesus said to his disciples in Mark 11:22-24, "Have

faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever

shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, an d be

thou cast into the sea; and shall no t doubt in his heart,

bu t shall believe that those things which he saith shall

come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire,

when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shallhave them." This passage does no t say that the moun

tain will be removed if it is God's will. It says that

whosoever can have whatsoever. It says that whatever

your mountain is-sickness, financial problems, a bad

marriage-you can cast it into the sea. But the key is

that you do not doubt in your heart. The Lord Jesus

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

Christ wants us to say what it is that we want, and

believe that when we pray, we receive the things that

we desire.

What is it that enables God's people to have suchboldness of faith? It is a personal revelation of and a

simple trust in the character of God. If the Father loved

us enough to send His only Son to Calvary and die for

us, how much more will He do for us now that we are

His sons and daughters?

The Basis for Faith: Trust in God's Character

God always addresses His children through a reve

lation of His character-who He is, what He is like, and

what He has done. Exodus 34:5-7a is a proclamation of

God's name, which reveals His nature. "And the Lord

descended in the cloud, and stood with [Moses] the re,

and proclaimed the name of the Lord. An d the Lord

passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The

Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and

abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for

thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and• If

s1n ....Jesus Christ is the Living Word (John 1:1,14).

Therefore, the written Word always reveals His charac

ter. When we receive the written Word through the fill

ing of the Holy Spirit, then we receive a revelation of

the Living Word-God's character. This is the basis for

faith, as described in Romans 10:17, "So then faith

cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

''But without faith it is impossible to please him: for

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HAVE FAITH IN GOD

he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that

he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him"

(Hebrews 11:6). We must believe that He is. Our faith is

first di rected to\vard God's character-who He is and

what He has done for us. It is vital that we trust in His

character before we look to His promises. Why?

Because the integrity of character is behind every

promise! When we begin to understand God's charac

ter, then He can address ou r faith in what He says to us

about His character.

In order to have a personal revelation of God's

character, we need to receive a steady diet of Finished

Work messages from the Word of God. We need to hear

that God is love (1 John 4:8), that all His paths are mercy

(Psalm 25:10), and that He is waiting to be gracious to

us (Isaiah 30:18). We need to hear that He is the God of

all grace (1 Peter 5:10), the Father of mercies (2 Corinth

ians 1:3), and that He is a God of forgiveness and

patience. As we become established in Finished Work

teaching, He can begin to address our faith in the

integrity of His character to fulfill every promise.

Faith in the Old Testament means to have confi

dence in God and to lean on His character. For example,

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine

heart; and lean not unto thine ow n understanding. In

all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy

paths." Psalm 28:7 says, uThe Lord is my strength and

my shield; my heart trusted in him, an d I am helped."

And in Psalm 56:3, uwhat time I am afraid, I will trust

in thee."

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

An evangelist once said, "I f you trust in yourself,

you will be doomed to disappointment. I f you trust in

your friends, they will eventually die and leave yo u

alone, even if they were good friends. Trust in money,

and you're bound to lose it. Trust in reputation, and

some slanderous tongue can change it overnight. Trust

in God, and yo u will never be confounded in time or in

eternity."

Jeremiah 17:5 says, "Cursed be the man that

trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm." Certainly

we should respect, love, and honor one other in the

Lord, bu t Christ should be the object of ou r trust. Even

Jesus, in His humanity, would no t commit himself to

me n because He knew what was in all men: a wicked

and deceitful old sin nature (see John 2:24).

God's question to all of us is, "Will yo u trust Me

with all your heart? Will you trust Me to reveal My

nature to you as I work My promises into your heart?"

Partake ofGod's Divine Nature

uGrace and peace be multiplied unto you through

the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, accord

ing as his divine power hath given unto us all things

that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowl-

edge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:whereby are given unto us exceeding great and pre-

cious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of

the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is

in the world through lust.

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your

32

HAVE FAITH IN GOD

faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowl-

edge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to

patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kind-

ness; an d to brotherly kindness charity" (2 Peter 1:2-7).

Through faith in His exceeding great and precious

promises, God has given us a way to escape the cor

ruption of Satan's world system. God's promises are

"precious," that is, they are worthy of the highest honor

and esteem. Why? Because every promise is backed by

the integrity of God's character. Hebrews 10:23 says,

"For he is faithful that promised." God cannot lie (Titus

1:2). In fact, it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews

6:18). 1 Kings 8:56 testifies of God's immutable charac

ter: "There hath no t failed one word of all his good

promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his

servant." "For all the promises of God in him are yea,

and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (2 Cor

inthi ans 1:20).

The key to our escape from the corruption of the

world is found in the words, "By these [the exceeding

great and precious promises] ye might be partakers of

the divine nature ..." When we receive God's promises

with meekness (James 1:21) and mix faith with them

(Hebrews 4:2), we become partakers, or sharers, of

God's nature! This takes us beyond mere knowledge

into the power of the promises to deliver and heal us.

Through His promises, God is inviting us to share in all

He is, all He has done, and all He wants to do for us

now.

The success of the spiritual life is based upon the

33



MIRACLES OF FAITH

charader of God undergirding everything He says to

us in His Word. For example, in Ezekiel 12:25, He says,

"For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I

shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more pro

longed: for in your days, 0 rebellious house, will I say

the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God."

Jesus said in John 14:29, "Now I have told you before it

come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might

believe."

There was a pastor in our church who ha d a disease

that caused his body to shake severely. Unable to work

for nine months, his wife did the best she could to make

ends meet. Then during a Wednesday evening church

service, he heard a promise from_ God about healing. In

a moment, he acted upon the character of God by mix

ing faith with that promise. After the service, when he

got into his car to go home, he began to feel better. All

of a sudden, the shaking stopped. He was completely

healed.

The Right Quality ofFaith

I'N ow faith is the substance of things hoped for, the

evidence of things not seenn (Hebrews 11:1). aBut with

ou t faith it is impossible to please him: for he that

cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is arewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews

11:6). These verses address the quality of the believer's

faith.

In Luke 17:4, Jesus said to His disciples, ulf [a broth

er] trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven

34

HAVE FAITH IN GOD

times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou

shalt forgive him." The disciples responded by saying,

"Increase ou r faith" (verse 5). They thought they need

ed more faith. But the lesson that Jesus was trying to

teach them was that they did no t need more faith; they

needed the right kind of faith. The issue was not quan

tity, bu t quality. He told them if they had the faith of a

grain of mustard seed then they could say to a tree, "Be

thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the

sea," and the tree would obey them. According to

Matthew 13:32, the mustard seed, smallest of all seeds,

grows to be one of the largest of all trees.

Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus looking for

the right kind of faith in people-faith that would trust

in His character. In Matthew 8:23-27, Jesus and His dis

ciples got into a boat to cross over the Sea of Galilee.

During the night, a great storm arose and water began

to pour into the boat. Jesus was asleep on a pillow in

the back of the boat (Mark 4:38). Fearful that the boat

would sink, the disciples woke Jesus and said, "Don't

you care that we are perishing?" Jesus got up, rebuked

the demons that had caused the storm and then said to

His disciples, "Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith"

(Matthew 8:26). The Greek word for "little faith" indi

cates that the disciples lacked confidence in Christ for

the situation at hand. Hebrews 10:22 instructs believers

to draw near to God with "full assurance of faith,"

with maximum confidence in the character of God.

35



MIRACLES OF FAITH

Heroes of Great Faith

In Matthew 9:2, some of the people of Capernaum

brought a ma n sick with palsy to Jesus. The Word of

God says that Jesus saw their faith and healed the man.

Jesus is always looking for faith in His people. He sees

whether we have little faith or great faith.

The story of the Syrophenician woman in Matthew

15:22-28 is one of the most remarkable stories of great

faith in the Bible. She came to Jesus crying, "Have

mercy on me, 0 Lord, thou son of David; my daughter

is grievously vexed with a devil" (verse 22). Jesus was

silent. The disciples wanted Jesus to send her away.

Then Jesus said, ui am no t sent bu t unto the lost sheep

ofthe

house of Israel."That

did not discourage thiswoman. Verse 25 says that she worshiped Jesus and

said, "Lord, help me." He answered again and said, "It

is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to

dogs." But she kept on believing. "Truth, L o ~ d : ye t the

dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's

table" (verse 27).

Finally, after testing her faith, Jesus said, "0

woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou

wilt. An d her daughter was made whole from that very

hour" (Matthew 15:28). This woman ha d a quality offaith that could no t be hindered by delays. It was a faith

that could neither be discouraged by silence nor robbed

of its fulfillment by the unkind words of the disciples.

In Matthew 8:5-10, there was a centurion wh o ha d

great faith. He came to Jesus on behalf of his servant

who was at home, sick of the palsy. Jesus offered to

36

HAVE FAITH IN GOD

come and heal the servant, bu t the centurion said, "I am

not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof:

bu t speak the word only, and my servant shall be

healed" (Matthew 8:8). This centurion recognized the

authority of Jesus' word. "For I am a man under

authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this

man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he

cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it"

(verse 9). To this Jesus said, "I have not found so great

faith, no, not in Israel" (verse 10). In verse 13, Jesus said,

"As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." Jesus

rewarded his faith by giving him exactly what he ha d

asked for. This is the kind of faith that pleases God.

Embrace the Promises"These all died in faith, not having received the

promises, bu t having seen them afar off, and were per

suaded of them, an d embraced them, and confessed

that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth"

(Hebrews 11:13).

Every circumstance in life is an opportunity to

switch on a positive faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ

and embrace His promises. The Old Testament saints

mentioned in Hebrews chapter eleven, "The Faith Hall

of Fame" were so intimately acquainted with the prom

ises that they were persuaded by them. They

"embraced" the promises-that is, they held on to them

tightly because of deep love. These people ha d no room

in their hearts for doubt or wavering.

On the other hand, Hebrews 3:8-11 and 3:16-19

37



MIRACLES OF FAITH

reveals how a particular generation of Israelites never

entered the Promised Land because of their unbelief.

The Lord spoke of this generation in Deuteronomy

32:20b, "They are a very froward generation, children in

whom is no faith." Second Thessalonians 3:2 says, uFor

all men have not faith." The only two exceptions were

Joshua and Caleb. The other two and a half million

Israelites died in the wilderness because they fell short

of faith in God's promise to bring them into rest. They

failed to embrace the promise. But Joshua an d Caleb

took God at His Word and lived byl it.

God gave the nation of Israel a promise that He

would bring them ou t of the bondage of Egypt into

Canaan where they would find rest. uLet us therefore

fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his

rest, any of yo u should seem to come short of it. For

unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them:

bu t the word preached did not profit them, no t being

mixed with faith in them that heard it" (Hebrews 4:1-2;

see Exodus 6:6-8).

Long after the unbelieving generation of Israelites

died in the wilderness, Caleb continued to embrace the

promise. In Joshua 14:10-12, he confessed, uThe Lord

hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five

years . .I am this day fourscore and five years old. As

yet I am as strong this da y as I was in the day that

Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my

strength now .. no w therefore give me this moun

tain . .if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be

able to drive them out, as the Lord said."

38

HAVE FAITH IN GOD

Think of it. Forty-five years prior to this time, Caleb

embraced a promise from God-the very promise that

had been given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and to the

nation of Israel. Caleb carr ied the promise in his heart,

embracing it for forty-five years without any evidence

of its fulfillment. Numbers 14:24 says that Caleb had

"another spirit"-a spirit of faith that did not waver. In

Joshua 14:8, he said, "I wholly followed the Lord my

God." (see also Deuteronomy 1:36). In Numbers 32:12,

Joshua and Caleb wholly followed the Lord.

As Christians living in the twenty-first century, we

can embrace the promises as Joshua an d Caleb did. We

can receive victory over emotional wounds and

garbage from the past by wholly following the Lord. As

sacred and precious as the promises are, however, they

will not profit us unless we mix faith with them when

we hear. We will fall short of inheriting any promise

that we do not embrace. But the more we hear, read,

and meditate on the promises, the more we will be per

suaded by them, and embrace them.

Don't Forfeit the Power of aPromise

When we mix faith with the promises, the Holy

Spirit transfers them from the pages of the Bible into

our hearts. They become ours. Everywhere we go, the

promises go with us. But the moment we begin to

rationalize our circumstances or live in our emotions,

we reveal that we have left the promises in the Book.

Because of self-occupation, we forfeit the power the

promises could have ha d in our lives. When we spend

39



MIRACLES OF FAITH

time being anxious and upset about something, no t

only do we leave the promises in the Book, bu t we

grieve the Holy Spirit inside of us. Instead of leaving

the promises in the Book for that occasional time when

we may feel stimulated to quote them, it is much better

to pick them up, embrace them, confess them, and

carry them with us every moment.

Unless we wholly follow the Lord, we will only be

half the Christians that we could be. The Word of God

should come before everything else in a Christian's life

because it is the Word that will evalvate us at the future

"Beman (judgment) Seat, which will take place in

Heaven after the Rapture of the Church (see John 12:47-

48). That is why, unless we are sick or working, we

should faithfully attend every service at our local

assembly.

Faith always leads to obedience. The Israelites in

the wilderness never obeyed God's Word because they

did not have faith. They never learned to follow the

faith of Joshua and Caleb. God desires that we identify

with other believers wh o have a strong faith. He wants

us to be around them and follow their example of faith.

"Be no t slothful, bu t followers of them vvho through

faith and patience inher it the promises" (Hebrews 6:12).

The Reward ofFaith

IJ'Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he

that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he

is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (He

brews 11:6).

40

HAVE FAITH IN GOD

"There sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his

feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, wh o

never had walked: The same heard Paul speak: wh o

steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had

faith to be healed, Said with a loud voice, Stand upright

on thy feet. And he leaped and walked" (Acts 14:8-10).

God promises to reward those wh o have an active

faith-a faith that acts on the promises and on the char

acter of God behind the promises. Paul told the lame

man in Acts 14 to get up and walk because he discerned

that this man had faith to be healed. Where did this

faith come from? He heard Paul speak the Word of God.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of

God (Romans 10:17). The lame ma n exercised a certain

kind of faith that came from a precise word spoken by

the Holy Spirit through Paul, which resulted in a mira

cle of healing. This kind of faith pleases God because it

comes from God in the first place.

Galatians 5:6b says that faith "works" by love. A

Christian who has an active faith will build an Ark, as

Noah did, with no prior experience. He will leave his

"Ur of the Chaldeans" as Abraham did, without any

help or encouragement from his friends. Abraham acted

in faith and went out, not knowing where he was going

(Hebrews 11:8).

Abraham was strong in faith. Likewise, a person

who derives his faith from the Bible will always

respond to Jesus Christ and the Word of God as the

objects of his faith. He begins his Christian life by acting

in faith toward the death, burial, an d resurrection of

41



MIRACLES OF FAITH

Christ. After he is saved, he acts in faith-obedience

toward what God says to him through the Word.

Just as the nobleman in John 4:46-52, we believe

that things will happen according to the Word we have

heard. We act upon it because we have the power of

faith inside us. The nobleman believed his son would

be healed if Jesus would just speak a word. Verse 50

says, "The ma n believed the word that Jesus ha d spo

ken unto him." This kind of faith pleases God.

~ ~ B y faith Enoch was translated that he should not

see death" (Hebrews 11:5a). Try to_imagine the conver

sation God and Enoch might have had:

"God," Enoch said, ui don't want to die."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't. I just want to walk with You and fel

lowship with You all the time. I'm believing that You

will hear my prayer-I don't want to die."

"You really don't want to die, Enoch?" God said.

uNo."

"And yo u have faith to believe that you won't die

as long as yo u continue to walk with Me?"

"Yes."

"Then you will no t die. I will take you up to be with

Me in heaven."

It is interesting that the very next verse in Hebrews

11 says that without faith-the kind of faith that Enoch

hadO-it is impossible to please God. Only a living,

active faith can please God. The Word of God says we

must believe that God rewards those who diligently

seek Him. What was Enoch's reward? He did not die.

42

HAVE FAITH IN GOD

What was Noah's reward? He and his family were

delivered from the Flood (see Hebrews 11:7). What was

Abraham and Sarah's reward? God fulfilled His promise

to give them a son, Isaac (see Hebrews 11:8-12).

God desires to train every believer in the school of

faith through the Bible. He has given to each person a

measure of faith (Romans 12:3); yet, this faith needs to

be cultivated. God wants to take us beyond just having

faith to be saved. He wants to lead us into a personal,

living faith in His character. We need to hear messages

from the Word of God about faith, sing about faith, and

confess ou r faith. We need to build up ou r faith at night

before we go to sleep and in the morning when we

wake. As our capacity is enlarged to trust God's char

acter, we will have a quality of faith to believe Him for

anything at anytime. Ou r hearts will truly be ready for

a miracle!

43



Chapter Five

PREPARING FOR A MIRACLE

IIAnd [Elisha] said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this

valley full of ditches. For thus saith the Lord, ye shall

not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley

shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and

your cattle, and your beasts. And this is but a light

thing in the sight of the Lord ... " (2 Kings 3:16-18a).

I n 2 Kings 3, Jehoram, king of Israel was prepar-

ing to stop the rebellion of Moab against Israel.

Seeking passage through Judah, Jehoram asked

king Jehoshaphat to join him in the battle against Moab.

The king of Edom, also under Judah's authority at this

time, joined the allicu:lce. Jehoshaphat ha d no business

joining this alliance with king Jehoram. Following in

his father Ahab's footsteps, Jehoram was still support-

ing Baal worship. At one point when things were notgoing so well, Jehoshaphat suggested that they seek

counsel from a prophet. The prophet was Elisha.

Elisha's counsel from God was, "Make this valley

full of ditches." That was their responsibility. It was up

to God to supernaturally fill the ditches with water.

This is a pic ture of what God wants to do with His chil-

45



MIRACLES OF FAITH

dren. Digging ditches represents an act of humility on

the part of the belie ver (James 4:10). It means that we

develop a capacity for God to fill us and to do His super

natural work in and through us. God does not dig the

ditches for us. We must do it by faith-without seeing

wind or rain. Digging ditches is preparing for a miracle.

aBut he giveth more [(greater)] grace. Wherefor e he

saith, God resisteth the proud, bu t giveth grace unto

the humble" (James 4:6). Many people have difficulty

humbling themselves because they are no t filled with

the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Spirit, any effort they do

make to humble themselves is only an act of self-efface

ment in the flesh. God's people can humble themselves

only when they live in the truth of Galati ans 2:20: anot

I, bu t Christ." Christ must take the believer's place in

every situation. Humility then becomes an automatic

response, and God floods the Christian with greater

grace as a provision for every problem.

First Peter 5:5 tells us to be clothed with humility.

This means that once we have received the Word of

God with meekness (James 1:21), it produces a healthy

spiritual life. We begin to produce the inward fruit of

the Holy Spirit: love, joy, and peace. Then people

around us see the manifestation of this fruit: longsuffering, gentleness, and goodness. This manifestation of

the fruit of the Spirit is the outer garment of humility.

Finally, our lives minister back to God through the

upward fruit of the Spirit: faithfulness, meekness, and

temperance.

Jehoshaphat humbled himself and exercised faith in

46


Elisha's message from God. The result? u An d it came to

pass in the morning, when the meat offering was

offered, that, behold, there came water by the wa y of

Edom, and the country was filled with water. An d

when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come

up to fight against them, they gathered all that were

able to pu t on armour, and upward, and stood in the

border. And they rose up early in the morning, and the

sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the

water on the other side as red as blood: An d they said,

This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have

smitten one another: no w therefore, Moab, to the spoil"

(2 Kings 3:20-23). As Moab went down to the spoil,

Israel rose up and defeated them. The water ha d the

appearance of blood to the Moabites. This is a beautiful

picture of our supernatural victory over our enemy

through the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Prepare for a miracle of faith. Humble yourself in

the sight of God and He will lift you up in His time.

God is saying that instead of asking others what yo u

should do, just start mpking your valley full of ditches.

You may not feel anything, no wind or rain. If yo u walk

by sight, there will appear to be no answers. But it has

to be this wa y because God desires to do a supernatu

ral work. He wants us to see how He will honor our

faith in Him.

Raise Your Level ofConsciousness

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual

house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacri-

47



MIRACLES OF FAITH

fices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5).

''But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most

~ o l y faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves

In the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord

Jesus Christ unto eternal life" (Jude 20-21 ).

. prepares each one of us for a miracle of faith by

raising our level of consciousness t-oward His supernat-

ural power. He does this by building up our faith in

specific areas of truth that correspond to ou r precise

need. As we continue to receive the Word of God line

upon line and precept upon precept, our level of con

sciousness is raised to a place where we know God inti

mately and sense His compassion toward us. This

releases us to act in faith upon His promises.

Being built up as a spiritual house means that the

members in the Body of Christ build each other up in

love. For example, i f five people see yo u during the day,

and they all express love through their countenance

and their words, then your consciousness of God's love

for yo u is raised. Your self-image is defined by the love

of God. The more you are conscious of love, grace, and

the t r u t ~ of the Finished Work, the more you are ready

for a miracle to take place in your life.

. When people come into my office for counseling, I

will have them turn to particular verses in the Bible that

reveal God's provision for their problem. Then I ask

them to read the verses ou t loud. I encourage them to

do the same thing at home several times a day. Before

long, they are completely delivered. Why? The letter of

the Scriptures becomes the Word of Life inside, and

48


they are built up into higher levels of faith-expectation.

Eventually, the energy of faith translates into a faith

walk. No w they easily trust in the compassion, the

promises, and the desires of Christ for their life.

Have an Expectation

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,

saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give

you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and

ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto

you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall

search for me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

God is looking for people wh o will seek Him. He is

not a respecter of persons. He says that anyone wh o

searches for Him with all his heart will find Him. In

Matthew 9:29, Jesus said,"According to your faith be it

unto you." God honors the believer who will stretch

out his hand in expectation to receive exactly what he

needs from Jesus.

In Matthew 9:20-22, a woman with an issue of blood

sought after Jesus just so she could touch the he m of

His garment and be healed. Her disease caused he r to

be ostracized by her community, excommunicated from

the synagogue, and divorced from he r husband. She

was so contagious that she was not even supposed togo outside he r house. Nevertheless, in an attitude of

faith-expectation she said to herself, "I f I may bu t touch

his garment, I shall be whole" (Matthew 9:21 ). In

Luke's account of the same story, he writes that as soon

as she touched Jesus' garment, she was immediately

49

/



MIRACLES OF FAITH

healed. Jesus asked, "Who touched me?" (Luke 8:45).

At this point, Peter spoke up and said, ''There's a whole

crowd of people here, Lord. Many people have been

touching You." But Jesus said, "No, someone has

touched me in faith. I perceive that virtue has gone ou t

of me" (see verse 46). ~ ~ v i r t u e " is the, power of compas

sion executed through the authority of resurrection life.

Trembling, the woman came before Jesus and fell at His

feet to proclaim he r healing. Jesus told her, "Your faith

has made you whole."

The story of this woman's great faith is recorded a

total of three times in the Gospels: Matthew 9:20-22;

Mark 5:25-34, and Luke 8:43-48. When God says some

thing twice, it is important. But when He says some

thing three times, it is extremely important. He does

this to teach us the spiritual law of repetition: The more

we read or hear truth, the more our faith is built up to

trust God. The Holy Spirit inspired three different

gospel writers to record Jesus' words, "Thy faith hath

made thee whole." God wants us to know that ou r faithpleases Him.

What was it that drew virtue from Jesus to heal this

woman? It was her expectation of faith-faith in who

Jesus is and why He came, personal faith in His nature.

Psalm 62:5 says, "My sout wait thou only upon God;

for my expectation is from him." Proverbs 24:14 says,

"So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul:

when thou hast found it, then there shall be a rewardI

and thy expectation shall not be cu t off." This woman's

faith was rewarded because she sought after Jesus with

50


all her heart, expecting to be healed.

As in Matthew 8:5-13, the centurion's faith in the

authority of the Word was rewarded. He sought after

Jesus with his whole heart and found Hi m faithful to

heal.

In Matthew 9:27, two blind me n followed Jesus and

cried out, "Thou son of David, have mercy on us." Jesus

said to the two men, uBelieve ye that I am able to do

this?" And they replied, "Yea, Lord." "Then touched he

their eyes, saying, Accordi ng to your faith, be it unto

you. And their eyes were opened .." (Mat thew 9:29-30a).

These two me n ha d a faith that expected Jesus to give

them their sight. They believed, and confessed that He

could do i t -and He did.

We can see this same kind of expectation at work in

a man who sought after Jesus for healing from leprosy.

As he came and worshiped, his confession was, "Lord,

if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean" (Matthew 8:2).

The result? "Jesus pu t forth his hand, and touched him,

saying, I will; be thou dean. And immediately his lep

rosy was cleansed" (verse 3). The reward for this man's

faith was immediate cleansing.

Sadly, unbelief-the opposite of faith-expectation

is at work in the hearts of many. Unbelief is a powerful

force. Matthew 13:54-58 records how that Jesus was

rejected in His ow n country. When He came to the syn

agogue in Nazareth to teach, those who knew Him

said, "Whence hath this ma n this wisdom, and these

mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is no t his

mother called Mary? An d his brethren, James, and

51



MIRACLES OF FAITH

Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they

no t all with us? Whence then hath this man all these

things? And they were offended in him" (Matthew

13:54b-57a). They did not believe in Him because they

were familiar with Him. Verse 58 says that Jesus was

no t able to do many mighty works in Nazareth because

of their unbelief. \

Come unto Jesus

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy

laden, an d I will give yo u rest. Take my yoke upon you,

and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and

ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,

and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

The practical application for the word ulabour" inMatthew 11:28 is someone who has caused their ow n

problems. Being "heavy laden" refers to someone who

is a victim of what others have done.

As Jesus looked upon the multitudes, He was not

thinking of what made them the wa y they were. He did

no t think, "Drugs and alcohol did this," or, "Immoral

ity caused this.n He did not decide who deserved heal

ing and who didn't. He had compassion on them all.

He acted in grace-giving each one something they did

no t deserve.Maybe you have caused your ow n problems. You

ma y feel that it is your fault that your marriage is ba d

or that your family is divided. But your pain is still just

as real as someone who is an innocent victim of cir

cumstances. You hurt just as much as they do. But Jesus

52


is saying, "Just come-as you are."

Sometimes people ma y think, "That person was on

drugs for fifteen years. He deserves to reap what he has

sown." But do you know what God says to that person?

"Come." He may still be on drugs, bu t God says,"Come as yo u are, yoke up with me, and I will take

away the desire for drugs, and remove the guilt and the

pain."In Matthew 11:29, Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon

you." When two animals are yoked together as a team,

the stronger animal always leads. In the same way,

when we yoke up with Jesus, His strength leads us. As

we walk together, yoked up with Him, we begin to

learn about His nature. We learn that He is meek and

lowly. We learn to think right about ourselves and

others. We learn that the battle is the Lord's. He is lead

ing. He is resolving the things in our lives that have

been left unresolved. We learn that His yoke is easy and

His burden is light. As we walk with Him, we become

meek and humble because we are being conformed to

His image.Notice that Jesus did not say He would take away

the burden. He said it would be light. He also said it is

His burden. For example, a mother may be heavy laden

because her alcoholic son has caused he r so much pain.The promise in Matthew 11:28-30 is not that Jesus will

take away ou r problems all at once. He promises to

give ou r souls rest, making the burden light an d the

yoke easy. That woman's son may not stop drinking

right away, bu t Jesus says to h e r ~ "Bring the burden to

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

Me, and it will be Mine. I will bless you and help you.

I will make this burden light and your yoke easy, and I

will teach you how to trust Me for your son's deliverance."

After many years of marriag-e, a husband left his

wife for another woman. She was heartbroken. She was

heavy laden. Her husband caused her much pain. But,

through it all, she learned that her greatest need was

no t to have her husband back. He r greatest need was to

come to Jesus. Maybef in time, He would bring her

husband back. But that was not the issue. It was more

important that she allow Jesus to take her burden and

make it light.

Healingis a gift

of grace-something we do not

deserve and cannot earn. Yet, grace never rules ou t

human participation. God filled Jehoshaphat's ditches

with water, bu t Jehoshaphat and his me n ha d to dig the

ditches. God builds our faith in His character, bu t we

must choose to hear the Word of God that produces our

faith. God gives us a personal revelation of His love

and compassion, bu t we must seek after Him with all of

our heart. Jesus Christ promises rest from the burdens

of life, bu t we must draw near to Him. God is ready to

do a miracle in your life. Are you ready to receive it?

54

Chapter Six

HEALING: A GIFT OF GRACE

Why Jesus Heals

Contrary to the belief of some today, Jesus did

no t heal people in order to fulfill Old

Testament prophecy. There is a belief that

some of the healings recorded in the New Testament

were done to fulfill Isaiah's prophecies. Others believe

that Jesus healed to prove His deity. Though the fulfill

ment of prophecy ma y have been a result of His acts of

healing, that certainly was not the motive behind the

healings.

Jesus healed people simply because He loved them.

Romans 5:8 tells us that this love is the reason that God

sent His Son to die for us: "But God commendeth his

love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us." If Jesus Christ loved us so much that

He died in our place, then why wouldn't He want to healus? "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him

up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give

us all things?" (Romans 8:32). Psalm 84:11b says that

He will not withhold any good thing from those who

walk "uprightly" in the gift of His righteousness. All

that God wants is for us to respond to Him so we can

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

receive what is ours. If He can just get us to look unto

Him, and trust in His character, then we will be able to

receive what His love already desires to give us.

Healing begins, on our part, by recognizing who

God is in His essence, and then who He is in us. It

begins by realizing that whenever God's people gather

together, His power is present to heal (Luke 5:17). The

words He speaks when He is present will produce faith

in us to be healed.

The Word of God says in Jeremiah 17:14, uHeal me,

0 Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be

saved: for thou art my praise." The Lord is saying

through Jeremiah that just as salvation is a gift of grace,

healing, too, is a gift of grace-something we don't

deserve and cannot earn. Yet, God is just waiting togive i t to us freely.

Is It God's Will to Heal Me?

"I f ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it"(John 14:14).

Many Christians pray, uGod, if it is your will . .

and then they tell God what it is they would like Him

to do. But John 14:14 does no t say, "I f yo u ask some

things in my name, I will do it." In fact, there is only

one time in the Bible that God's will is mentioned in theequation: "And this is the confidence that we have in

him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he

heareth us" (1 John 5:14). God does no t want us to be

occupied with whether or no t it is His will to heal us.

He wants us to be bold, trusting, and confident in His

56


ability to heal. God is no respecter of persons. However,

in the sovereignty of His perfect plan, it ma y not be

God's will for some people to be healed. His plan may

be to bring the trial of their faith (1 Peter 1:6-8), and to

allow suffering for a season. This trial no t only works

God's nature into the lives of those who suffer, bu t it

produces degrees of reflected glory in the soul-both

now and for the future. That's right! There will be

degrees of glory and happiness given to individuals

for all of eternity. (For further study on undeserved suf

fering, see Romans 8:18, and 2 Timothy 2:12.)

As our faith begins to rest in His love for us, we

learn to accept the integrity of His character toward our

needs. We learn to approach God boldly on the basis of

His compassion for us. From human viewpoint, this

may be considered as running a risk. "What if it does

n' t happen? What if I don't get healed?" These are some

of the questions the natural mind poses. But according

to divine viewpoint, faith in God is never a risk.

Abraham was "fully persuaded" that what God had

promised, He was able to perform. There is no risk in

that equation. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:12, "For I know

whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is

able to keep that which I have committed unto him

against that day."

Psalm 107:20 says that God sends His Word to heal.

As long as we do not exalt a man, a church, or a partic

ular emphasis in the Word above Christ, then His Word

can come forth to heal with the power and authority of

His life. Our part is to exalt the King of Kings and the

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

Lord of Lords, not worrying about whether or not it is

His will to heal us. He is the Lord over death, the Lord

over sin, the Lord over disease, the Lord over forgive

ness, and the Lord of all mercy and grace. He is the

Lord over everything that could ever happen to man.

And when a member of His royal family needs some

thing, He is no t going to turn a deaf ear to them.

You ma y have a physical, emotional, or spiritual

need today. But no matter what your condition is,

release your faith in the God of all grace, the God of all

compassion, and the Father of mercies. He is a God of

integrity who stands behind every promise in the Book.

He is a God of love, just waiting to be gracious to you.

Only believe. In your desire to see God work, learn to

"say" what it is yo u want Him to do for you. Then

believe that what yo u say will come to pass. God loves

to reward this kind of faith with precise healing.

Remember, Mark 11:22-24 does no t say that the moun

tain will be removed i f it is God's will. It says that

whosoever can have whatsoever i f he believes and does

no t doubt in his heart.

The Compassion ofJesus

Jesus heals ou t of compassion-a fervent, over

whelming desire in Himself to express His love to meet

our every need. In Matthew 14:14, Jesus was "moved

with compassion" toward the multitude, an d He

healed their sick. The word "moved" in this verse is a

constative aorist passive indicative in the Greek syntax.

The constative aorist takes into view an action in its

58


entirety. This means that Jesus wa s moved with com

passion constantly throughout His ministry on the

earth. Every time He saw people in need, He was was

moved with compassion. It was a deep, indescribable

yearning in His heart to help them. According toLamenta tions 3:22-23, it is because of the Lord's mer

cies that we are not consumed. God's compassions fail

not, and they are ne w every morning.

In Mark 6, Jesus took His disciples to a place where

they could rest and have something to eat. Verse 33

says that many saw where Jesus ha d gone and ran after

Him. When Jesus saw the multitude coming after Him,

He 1'was moved with compassion toward them,

because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and

he began to teach them many things" (Mark 6:34).

Here, the Greek word for "compassion" ha s the same

meaning as in Matthew 14:14-a deep, indescribable

yearning. Here, He ha d a deep yearning to teach them

and to impart the truth about Himself as the Shepherd.

In Matthew 15:32, Jesus ha d the same yearning, bu t this

time to feed the multitude wh o ha d been with Jesus for

three days and had nothing to eat.

Every time Jesus saw a need, He was moved with

compassion. In John 5:6, Jesus saw a lame man. In John

9:1, He saw a blind man. He was always searching for

someone to save, to heal, to make whole, to feed, or to

comfort. In Matthew 4:23-25, multitudes of people

came to Him-the diseased, epileptics, paralyzed peo

ple, and those under the power of demons-and He

healed them all. In Matthew 9:35, "Jesus went about all

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues,

and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing

every sickness and every disease among the people." In

verse 36, He saw the multitude and was umoved with

compassion" because they fainted and were as sheep

scattered, having no shepherd. Luke 6:19 says, "The

whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went

virtue ou t of him, and healed them all."

Why did Jesus keep on healing all wh o came to

Him? Because He was moved with an intense yearning

to impart all that He is. To Him, it didn't matter what

caused a person's condition. It could have been deep

sin or something someone else di d to them, bu t the

issue was only, uHow can I help them?" Acts 10:38

summarizes Jesus' whole life: uHe went about doing

good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil."

The Battle Is the Lord's

God fights ou r battles for us. In 2 Chronicles 20,

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, faced one such battle. The

people of Judah ha d no place to go. It seems that their

enemies were closing in on them from all sides. Though

Jehoshaphat was afraid, he set himself to seek the Lord

and proclaimed a fast throughout the land (verse 3). In

great reverence and respect, he reasoned with God

regarding His greatness. He said, "Aren't You God in

heaven? And don't You rule over all the kingdoms of

the heathen on earth? Don't You have so much power

that no one can withstand You? Didn't You drive ou t

the inhabitants of this land for Israel so we could dwell

60


in it and build a sanctuary for Your name? An d di d we

not say that if disaster came upon us that we would

stand before this temple in Your presence and cry ou t to

You, and you would and deliver us?" Jehoshaphat

was saying, "Lord, during this battle, I want yo u tokeep on doing what You have always done for Your

people. Be faithful."After diligently seeking God's face, Jehoshaphat

said to the people of Judah, f/Thus saith the Lord unto

you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great

multitude; for the battle is not yours, bu t God's" (2

Chronicles 20:15). Then he instructed the people in

verse 17, "Ye shall not need to fight this battle: set your-

selves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord

with you, 0 Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dis-

mayed; to morrow go ou t against them: for the Lord

will be with you." An d Jehoshaphat an d all Judah fell

before the Lord and began to worship. They under-

stood that the battle was not theirs to fight.

One of the professors in our Bible college went

through a battle with cancer and discovered that the

battle was the Lord's. Here is his testimony to ou r

church after God healed him:

"Six months ago, I ha d a headache that just would

not go away. When I finally went to the doctor to have

it checked out, he told me I had a small tumor in my

brain that ha d to come ou t right away. Surprise! The

operation went alright, bu t I was up and down for

months after that because the doctors were trying to

make my pituitary gland get back into operation.

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

uThen a couple of weeks ago, the doctors gave me

some bad news. They said my tumor was growing

back. They gave me three options. The first one was to

operate and take the tumor out again. I said to myself,

'How long is this going to go on?' The second option

was radiation, and the third option was to wait and see

what happens. I said to the doctor, 'I don't like any of

those options. I'm going to see my pastor, and we're

going to pray.'

uwe prayed both privately and with the church. I

can't begin to tell you the power of faith that was gen

erated in the presence of God. I could literally feel it.

But I will be honest with you. I ha d a little bi t of doubt.

As one of the elders anointed me with oil, I thought,

'Why no t pour ou t the whole bottl e?' You know, if a lit

tle bi t is good, then a whole bunch is a lot better!

ui went to a number of doctors after that. Finally, I

went to one wh o examined me and said, 'Well, there is

no tumor in there.' Somehow I knew he would say that.

By faith I knew God would remove the tumor when He

was ready. Of course, the other doctors wanted to

examine me again as if to say, 'We just want to make

sure it's gone.' I told them, 'The tumor is gone. I feel

better. I look better. I seem better. I am better. It's gone.'

They said, ~ ' W e l l , we're going to do some more tests

anyway.' I said, 'Go ahead and do the tests, bu t the

tumor is gone.' And it is gone!

lilt is incredible what can happen when the Body of

Christ focuses their faith together toward God. It's like

the sun's light shining through a magnifying glass on

62


one object until it start s a fire. The corporate faith of the

Body focuses the power of God toward the objects of

His love until the fire of the Holy Spirit begins to burn

in us and supernatural healing takes place.

"It is so good to stand before you and thank you for

your prayers. I have so much to be thankful for."

A precious young woman in ou r church has

leukemia. I talk with her on the phone as ofte n as I can.

Recently I asked her, "Janis, whose battle is this?"

She said, ''The Lord's."

Again I said, uWhose battle is this?"

She said, "The Lord's."

Then I asked her, do you think He will do

about the battle?"

She said, "He'll win."

I said, "That's right, so we will keep on believing

you are going to be healed until there is evidence to

prove otherwise."

What was I doing with Janis? I was giving her hope.

Hope is based on something we cannot see. Romans

8:24-25 says, "For we are saved by hope: bu t hope that

is seen is not hope: for what a ma n seeth, why doth he

yet hope for? But if we hope that we see not, then do

we with patience wait for it." Ezekiel 13:6 says that we

can make others to hope. Colossians 1:27 says that

Christ in us is the hope of glory. Every time that I talk

with Janis, I'm going to say, "Let's believe God for

today. Let's trust in His love for today. Let's have a

renewed hope that God will heal you today."

We can give people hope because the battle is the

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

Lord's. Even if someone has been confined to a wheel-

chair for many years, it doesn't mean that he will be

there for the rest of his life. An d even if he never gets

healed, he will be happier and more peaceful if he can

learn to live in hope each day. One thing is for sure. His

hope of being able to walk will be realized when he gets

to heaven, even if it never was realized on earth.

The same God who created the heavens and the

earth is our God. The same God who made the sun and

the moon stand still for one da y (in Joshua 10:13) is ou r

God. The same God who parted the Red Sea is our God.

The same God who gave the children of Israel manna in

the wilderness is our God. The same God who made

water flow from a rock in Exodus 17 is our God. The

God of the miracles in the Old Testament is our God

today. Nothing is impossible with Him (Luke 1:37).

Nothing is too hard for Him (Genesis 18:14). Just as He

fought the battles for the Old Testament saints, He will

fight ou r battles today. All He asks of us is to eat the

words of the Bible; breathe them, think them, confess

them, and dream with it. Go to bed at night thinking

about the promises of God. Get up in the morning with

an expectation toward His Word for today. God will do

the rest. The battle is His.

64

Chapter Seven

HEALING: A PRODUCT OF

ETERNAL LIFE

When God created ma n from the dust of the earth

(Genesis 2:7), He gave hi m human life. In the Greek lan-

guage, this is known as bios-man's biological, or phys

ical, life. The Greeks also ha d another word for life-zoe.

In the Ne w Testament, zoe came to mean eternal life, or

resurrection life. According to John 5:26, zoe is the very

life that God has in Himselt shared with His Son, Jesus

Christ. "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he

given to the Son to have life in himself."

Because eternal life is the life of God, it has no

beginning and no end. We could say that it is "unearth

ly" life, that it is no t of this world. When Jesus walked

on the earth as the God-man, He carried this unearthly

life inside of Him. Wherever He went, the manifesta-

tion of eternal life would bring love, encouragement,

compassion, grace, and healing.

When Jesus died on the Cross, eternal life did not

die. Only His human body died and was placed in the

sepulcher. His soul went into Hades to announce His

victory on the Cross to the demons of hell, and His

human spirit went to the Father. Three days later, eter-

nal life resurrected the body of Jesus Christ an d

empowered Him to ascend into Heaven where, after

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

presenting His blood as payment for the sins of the

world, He would sit down at the Father's right hand.

Beyond Salvation

Whoever believes on the death, burial, resurrection,and ascension of Christ can nu w receive the gift of eter

nal life. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they

shall never perish, neither shall any ma n pluck them

ou t of my hand" (John 10:28). u An d this is the record,

that God hath given to us eternal life, an d this life is in

his son" (1 John 5:11). As Christians, we have an

unearthly life dwelling in our earthen vessels.

Eternal life, however, does more than save us from

hell. It heals us. Jeremiah said under the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit, "Heal me, 0 Lord, and I shall be healed;save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise"

(Jeremiah 17:14). Healing is no t separate from eternal

life; healing is in eternal life. Eter nal life is healing for

the whole man. It is perfect life. It contains no sin or

death, for sin and death would make eternal life some

thing less than eternal, something less than perfect.

The word "give," in John 10:28, is a present active

indicative in the Greek. This means that eternal life

goes beyond saving us from hell. Jesus wanted us to

have an ever growing surplus of eternal life for ou r

experience. He keeps on giving us eternal life through

His Word and the filling of His Spirit.

John 10:10 also speaks of this surplus of eternal life.

"The thief cometh not, bu t for to steal, and to kill, and

to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that

66

HEALING: A PRODUCT OF ETERNAL LIFE

they might have it more abundantly." Abundant life

superabounds beyond any conceivable measure. I t is

more than enough to meet every need.

The devil, on the other hand, is always trying to

steal from the believer. He steals happiness and health.He steals by luring people into habits that they can't

break. He tries to destroy marriages and relationships.

He does everything within his power to diminish the

believer's self-worth and to destroy his capacity for

God.Because we live in bodies of death, we will have

times of sickness and disease. Satan tries to get us to

focus on the sickness rather than on eternal life. He is

well aware of the power of eternal life when it is

released inside the believer. He knows that wherever

eternal life is being manifested, there will be faith,

hope, courage, vitality, and a special unction from the

Holy Spirit.When eternal (zoe) life takes over the biological

(bios) life of a believer, then the biological life begins to

experience the supernatural effects of eternal life.

Eternal life doesn't require healing. It needs to be

released inside someone wh o needs healing.

Lay Hold on Eternal LifePsalm 107:20 tells us that God "sent his word, an d

healed them, and delivered them from their destruc

tions." There is healing in God's Word because there is

eternal life in God's word. That is wh y 1 Timothy 6:19b

says we can /flay hold on eternal life." In other words,

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

we are to receive the abundant life of Jesus Christ

through His Word and Spirit, letting that life do the

healing. Proverbs 3:8 says that the Word of God is

health to the navel and marrow to the bones. In the

Hebrew, unavel" refers to the nervous system. The"marrow" is the place where red and white blood cells

are formed. Eternal life is our health-the health of our

heart, our blood, our nerves, ou r muscles, and our

mind and emotions. I t energizes every cell of the body.

It is time that Christians learn to do what the apos

tle Paul did in Acts 27:25. In the midst of a severe storm

that appeared to have no promise of survival to the

ship or the crew, Paul confessed, "Wherefore, sirs, be of

good cheer: for I believe Godf that it shall be even as it

was told me." We can believe God because He cannot

lie (Titus 1:2). In fact, it is impossible for God to lie

(Hebrews 6:18). "God is no t a man, that he should lie;

neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he

said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall

he not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19). Abraham was

strong in faith and staggered not in unbelief (Romans

4:20). He believed the promise God gave to him. When

we believe the promises that God gives to us, we are

laying hold of eternal life.

God has many desires. He desires that people

would be saved and come to an experiential knowledge

of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). He desires that no one

should perish (2 Peter 3:9). He desires to be our provi

sion, our life, our power, our peace, and our prosperity.

He wants to cleanse us and forgive us as often as we

68

HEALING: A PRODUCT OF ETERNAL LIFE

need itf even if we fail sevent y times seven times in a

day. It is possible, however, that God's greatest desire

for us is that eternal life would heal us from the top of

our heads to the soles of our feet. The Holy Spirit wrote,

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest

prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth"

(3 John 2).

God is saying to His children, "Ask, and I will hear

and answer. My love and compassion will release My

power to give yo u what I already am in My eternal

life." All He wants us to do is to mix faith with His

promises (Hebrews 4:2)f trust in His omnipotence, rely

on His omnipresence, look for His compassion, receive

His love, and le t Him care for us. Instead of exalting

problems or being occupied with our sickness, we have

the opportunity to respond to God's nature and receive

eternal life by fellowshipping with Christ, the One wh o

has eternal life inside of Him. We do not have to try to

work something up in our emotions. We simply believe

that things will be according to what God has said in

His word-whether we feel it or not.

God also desires to heal ou r ways. He wants to heal

our finances, ou r businesses, our family situations, and

our relationships. Isaiah 57:18-19 says, "I have seen his

waysf and will heal him: I will lead him also, and

restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create

the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to hi m that is far off,

and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal

him."

Christ is our Savior, ou r Justifier, and our Sanctifier.

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

He is our life (Colossians 3:4a; Philippians 1:21). He has

given us a glorious position in Him forever. One day,

He will resurrect the dead (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). We

will experience the glorious redemption of ou r bodies

(Romans 8:23). Philippians 3:21 says that God will"change ou r vile body, that it may be fashioned like

unto his glorious body ... " Though this is true, thanks

be unto God that He is the resurrection and the life

today (John 11:25). Jesus Christ paid for ou r sins once

and for all, bu t He gives us spiritual health today so we

don't have to live in the experiential effects of sin.

Christ is the health of the Christian's life because of His

life that is in the Christian.

70

CONCLUSION

"And ye are complete in him, which is the head of

all principality and power" (Colossians 2:10). As we

have seen, God is interested not only in physical heal

ing, bu t also in healing the whole man. By faith, the

woman with the issue of blood in Matthew 9:22 was

made "whole" from the very hour that she touched the

hem of Jesus' garment. Matthew 14:36 says that as

many as touched Him were made "perfectly whole."

Paul prayed in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that God wouldpreserve ou r spirit, soul, and body blameless until

Christ's return. In the Greek, the word for "preserve"

indicates completeness. God is interested in healing the

soul and the body, inner as well as the outer man.

Intimate fellowship with our Creator an d Redeem

er promotes the healing of the whole man. A recent

study at Duke University on prayer and health, showed

that people who pray or are prayed for by others are

healthier than those who do not pray. In fact, God has

called each of us into the fellowship of His Son(1 Corinthians 1:9). Christians who answer this call to

fellowship will experience the eternal, abundant life of

Jesus Christ.

Let's go forward together enjoying the Christian life

to the fullest. Do not settle for less than God wants to

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MIRACLES OF FAITH

give us. God is waiting to be gracious to us. He is wait-

ing to bless us, to share all that He is with us. Let's draw

near to the God of grace, mercy, love, integrity, and

compassion. Trust Him to work a miracle of faith-

today.

72



About this Book

Many Christians can believe God for their eternal salvation, yet they

may not trust Him in the details of heir lives. Infad, as much as we love God

for what He has done, many ofus do not know Him well enough to love Him

for Who He is.

The Bible says He is our healer, that He looks for opportunities to bless

us. If hat is true-and it is-then we are left with nothing to do but to find out

what He has to say to us in His Word, claim His promises, believe, and rest.Every promise is attached to apurpose: that we would know God and

be conformed to Christ's image. Sometimes God's sovereignty overrules our

desire to be healed immediately because of the greater plan of the Father.

Still, the Holy Spirit comes alongside to comfort us and plead our case in the

hardest times.

Don't put God in a box by declaring a limit on what He will do. Believe

Godfor a miracle, and rest in faith. It will be as He said it (Acts 27:23-25).

About the Author

Pastor Carl H. Stevens, senior pastor of theGreater Grace World Outreach Church in Baltimore,

Maryland, has been teaching the finished-work

gospel ofgrace for nearly half a century. This min

istry has borne fruit in over 175 countries as Pastor

Stevens hosts the award-winning international live

radio broadcast of The Grace Hour, directs a world

wide missions organization, and trains leaders in

the Maryland Bible College and Seminary, which he

founded in 1987. He and his wife, Barbara, reside near Baltimore.

ISBN 157907149-X

9 781579 071493

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Miracles of Faith