Have I not said through My servant that faith comes through hearing My word? You see here both the blindness of unbelieving men and believing men. The believing men had seen several miracles but failed to understand what they really meant. They were so preoccupied with present need that they failed to understand what My Son was saying. Some of the unbelieving men had seen miracles which My Son performed and some of them had heard the testimony of those miracles, yet they were not satisfied and they wanted a special performance on their own terms. Again My Son calls them members of an evil and adulterous generation. The sign that I chose to give them was one that they chose to reject because there was no sign that could bring them faith since they had already rejected My word.
You see how signs did not confirm faith in the heart. When the word was misunderstood or rejected signs only served to judge those who had rejected My word. Signs only perplex and mystify those who misunderstand My word as the disciples misunderstood My word. What am I saying to you?
That signs are valuable to those who recognize them as confirmation of My word, but they only serve as judgment to those who reject My word.
That is why My Son so often said, “Let him who has ears to hear, hear”.
Now what is this to you? It is this, that if you truly believe My word it shall produce faith in your hearts and you shall see its confirmation.
Even in events and happenings that shall not appear to others who do not believe, as confirmation, some of those events may be clearly miraculous and some of them may not appear miraculous. But because you believe My word and are faithful in your heart you shall see My hand in them. I tell you that if you do not believe My word, even though you should see signs and wonders they would do you no good. The foundation of belief, of genuine faith, is not what the eyes see but what you hear in your hearts and understand as being from me. This is that which enables you to walk in faithfulness and fulfill My purposes. This is that which truly pleases Me and has greater power than many miracles.
Tags: Faith, Miracles
Have I not said that “My ways are not your ways, My thoughts are not your thoughts”? You see here in these three instances strong evidence of that.
Even when men were willing to follow My Son they did not perceive the conditions upon which He was to be followed. They wanted to follow Him according to their own conditions. One man was enthusiastic but unmindful of the cost. Another man wanted to follow according to his own convenience and agenda. But you are coming to understand more and more that to follow My Son means to accept and submit to His conditions and lay down convenience and your own agenda. You will find that even those who are willing to consider Him will struggle with their own thoughts of what it means to follow Him. The best way you can help them in addition to prayer is to follow consistently, not according to your own thoughts but according to what I reveal. You see that even those who had chosen to follow struggled in the midst of the storm with their own fears. Their thinking was rooted in their fears of threatening circumstances and here they were governed by fear. The best that they could do was to call out to My Son to save them. He called them “men of little faith” not because of their emotions of fear but that they allowed themselves to be ruled by fear. You will experience fear, you will experience threatening circumstances, but I do not want you to be ruled by the fear. My Son did not rebuke their emotions, He rebuked their lack of faith in dealing with the dreadful circumstances. I Am honored and blessed when you turn to Me and trust Me even in the midst of threatening circumstances. You see in the third situation how the mighty power of My Son over demons was not appreciated by the men of the city. Rather than being able to think about the mighty deliverance of oppressed souls these people were more concerned about the loss of their swine and the disturbance of the routine of their life. They were unable to receive of the benefit of My Son’s power and grace. They were unable to rejoice in the blessings those two men obtained and so shall you find it with many. Their thoughts are so rooted in the things of this world that they have no capacity to appreciate or desire My blessings either for themselves or for others. Sometimes when I work My mighty work it will seem to disturb the order of things but that is man’s point of view for I Am the God of order not of disorder. If it should seem that disorder should come as a result of My work, I want you to remember that what is really happening is that things are being restored to My order and not man’s order. I have given you the mind of Christ so that you may perceive not as mere men but as those who receive My thoughts and can understand what I Am doing.
Tags: Faith, Order, Overcomer, Trial Trust
I want you to see here three different kinds of circumstances to which My Son responded. The need in each case was a physical illness, but there was an important difference in each one.
In the case of the leper, the man came to My Son and exercised faith directly by petitioning Him. In the case of the centurion and his servant, it was the faith of the centurion exercised on behalf of his servant that secured the healing that was needed. In the case of Peter’s mother-in-law, My Son merely responded to her need and healed her without any petition at all. I want you to recognize that I have sovereignly chosen and taken the initiative to extend healing through My Son and I do not do it through any magic formula or prescribed ritual. Most often I do respond to the faith of the needy or to the faith of someone interceding for the needy. But there are times when I sovereignly choose to heal or to deliver without any petition. I want you to be encouraged to bring your own sicknesses to Me.
I want you to be encouraged to entreat Me for others as did the centurion.
I want to encourage you to believe that even when you are not aware of a need and I do not inform you or prompt you to pray, that I am still willing sovereignly to extend My mercy. For My Son was not asked to come and lay down His life to cleanse from sin and to bear away infirmities and diseases. No, He was not asked to do this. No, it was not even in the thought of man that it should happen. But I am ready to extend that same mercy and healing power to you and through you, and I Am ready to give it even when no one asks. Don’t be reluctant to ask for yourselves and others, for if I am willing to extend healing, even when it is not requested, I Am certainly ready to extend it when it is requested. I know that you may say that it is not always extended, but I say to you do not on that account doubt either My willingness or My power. When it is not extended, do not draw the conclusion that My Son’s life is not available for healing. Rather, trust Me even when it does not appear that I have answered your petition. Have I not said that My ways are not your ways and My thoughts are not your thoughts? You see here, in these three instances, strong evidence of that. Even when men were willing to follow My Son, they did not perceive the conditions on which He was to be followed. They wanted to follow Him according to their own conditions. One man was enthusiastic but unmindful of the cost. Another man wanted to follow according to his own convenience and agenda. But you are coming to understand more and more that to follow My Son means to accept and submit to His conditions and to lay down convenience and your own agenda. You will find that even those who are willing to consider Him will struggle with their own thoughts of what it means to follow Him. The best way that you can help them, in addition to prayer, is to follow consistently, not according to your own thoughts but according to what I reveal. You see that even those who had chosen to follow struggled in the midst of the storm with their own fears. Their thinking was rooted in their fears of threatening circumstances, and here they were governed by fear. The best that they could do was to call out to My Son to save them, but He called them “men of little faith”, not because of their emotions of fear but because they allowed themselves to be ruled by the fear. You will experience fear, you will experience threatening circumstances, but I do not want you to be ruled by the fear. My Son did not rebuke their emotions. He rebuked their lack of faith in dealing with the dreadful circumstances. I am honored and blessed when you turn to Me and trust Me, even in the midst of threatening circumstances. You see in the third situation how the mighty power of My Son over demons was not appreciated by the men of the city. Rather than being able to think of the mighty deliverance of oppressed souls, these people were more concerned over the loss of their swine and the disturbance of the routine of their life. They were unable to receive the benefit of My Son’s power and grace. They were unable to rejoice in the blessings those two men obtained and so shall you find it with many. Their thoughts are so rooted in the things of this world that they have no capacity to appreciate or desire My blessings, either for themselves or for others. Sometimes when I work My mighty works, it would seem to disturb the order of things, but that is man’s point of view for I am the God of order, not of disorder. If it should seem that disorder comes as a result of My work, I want you to remember that what is really happening is that things are being restored to My order and not man’s order. I have given you the mind of Christ so that you may perceive not as mere men, but as those who receive My thoughts and can understand what I am doing.
Tags: Faith, Healing