Does Jesus Satisfy You

 

The night before His crucifixion Jesus told the disciples that He would be leaving them soon to prepare a place in His Father’s house for them. He told them that He would return one day to get them and that they knew the way.

 

Thomas declared they did not know where He was going and asked how could they know the way. 

 

“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” Jesus said. “No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

 

“Lord, show us the Father,” Philip said, “and we will be satisfied.”

 

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

 

Are we like Philip and not satisfied with what is right before us? Maybe we are like Thomas and have trouble believing. Christ satisfied the law once and for all time for us. He satisfied the price for our salvation and healing and provision and wholeness of life. He has given us a right relationship with the Father. Yet, are we like Philip asking Him to prove Himself to us just one more time? If Christ has satisfied us with the Father, why are we not satisfied with what He has done for us? Why do we have trouble believing every Word of truth He has given us?

 

Jesus has shown us His Father. He has satisfied our account. Are we satisfied with Him? 

 

You can know about Jesus and not know Him. You can know what the Word says with your mind and not believe the Word in your heart. The heart is where you believe. And for the heart to believe you cannot connect to God with your natural mind. Your spirit connects to His Spirit. The truth that is born of His Spirit lives within you but you must know it and believe it. You draw from it. 

 

Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. Jesus is in you. And the Father is in you. Are you satisfied with Him?

 

For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

—Psalm 107:9

 

Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

—Psalm 103:5

 

The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

—Isaiah 58:11, 12:3

 

With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.

—Psalm 91:16

 

Are you hungry enough to seek all Christ has done for you? To lay down all your doubt for His truth? To taste and see that the Lord is good? He satisfies your hunger with good things so that you are renewed! He guides you and satisfies your soul in hard times and good times with His Word that is planted deeply in your heart. 

 

His living water longs to spring up in you—to be an ever-flowing fruitful garden whose water never fails. You can draw from His living truth within your heart! 

 

Have we been like Philip or Thomas? Christ has been with us all this time and we really haven’t known or believed who He is in our lives? 

 

Are you satisfied with what Christ has done for you? Is He enough?

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/05/does-jesus-satisfy-you.html

 

 

Above All You Ask or Think

 

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

—Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV)

 

 

Many read Ephesians 3:20 and leave off the phrase “according to the power that works in us.” But it is this phrase that reveals the truth of this verse. God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we ask or think, according to His power working in us. 

 

A synonym for “according” is “allowing.”  His power works within us to the amount that we allow—to the extent that we act upon what we believe by faith. What God promises is exceedingly and abundantly more than we ask or even think. But are we willing to allow God’s power to work in us—transforming how we think and what we believe? God has already fulfilled His promises in the gift of His Son. Our part is to believe what we have received in Christ, take His “exceedingly and abundantly more that we ask or think” at full value, and appropriate what He promises by faith.

 

Faith is the evidence of things not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1). It takes no faith to believe what your eyes see. It takes faith to believe in God’s Truth. That is why we are told to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith comes by hearing the Word (Romans 10:17). The Word is Truth (John 17:17). The Truth that you HEAR and you KNOW in your heart will set you free (John 8:32). God’s Truth doesn’t benefit your life if you don’t believe it by faith.

 

If we are going to see the supernatural power of God, we have to connect what we believe and how we think to God’s Word. Then we will see God actually making a difference in our lives and the lives of others. It is easy to identify with what you see. To walk by faith and not by sight, you have to intentionally choose to have faith in God’s Truth over what you see.

 

Do you believe that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all you ask or think? He will—according to His power that you allow working in you. It is the same life-giving power that rose Jesus from the dead. Trust what the Holy Spirit reveals in His Word. Believe His promises. Stand on them. Step out in faith. 

 

I pray from His glorious, unlimited resources that the Holy Spirit will empower you with His inner strength and power, and you, being rooted and grounded in His love, will experience God working in your life exceedingly and abundantly above all you ask or think. 

 

 

©2022 Lynn Lacher

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/05/above-all-you-ask-or-think.html

 

 

 

His Truth in Your Heart

 

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

—1 Corinthians 2:14 (NLT)

 

The things of the Spirit of God are spiritually discerned. They are not mentally understood. You can have a mental understanding of God but not understand Him spiritually. Your spirit is where God quickens you to receive His Truth. The Holy Spirit bears witness with your spirit (Romans 8:16)—not your mind. Faith is not a mental exercise born of emotions and feelings and reasoning. Faith does not come from the logic of your mind. It rises from the Word which has been planted in your heart. 

 

“Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears” (Ezekiel 3:10, NKJV). 

 

Faith comes by hearing the Word spiritually with your heart (Romans 10:17).  Faith believes with the heart (Romans 10:10). The words that God speaks to your heart are spiritual life (John 4:24, John 6:63).

 

Paul prayed for believers to spiritually hear and receive revelation knowledge of God. He prayed “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (Ephesians 1:17-19, NKJV).

 

Having revelation knowledge is not something that automatically happens in your life. It comes from seeking and pursuing God. We are not meant to be spiritually blind and have no spiritual understanding. God wants to pour a revelation knowledge of Himself into our hearts. He wants us to believe His Truth and be enlightened by it. He wants us to know the hope of His calling in our lives and the great power He has given us. Spiritually discerning God’s Truth in our hearts comes from allowing the Word to renew our minds until we believe it (Romans 12:2). If we fail to renew our minds, we will live our lives without experiencing the abundant life Jesus has given us (John 10:10).

 

Look at Ephesians 1:17-19. What is the hope of His calling and His power in us who believe?  It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. But if we don’t have understanding in our hearts about His power within us, we will not believe His power is ours. When we don’t believe in what Christ has given us, we have no spiritual understanding of our capability in God. But when the eyes of our spiritual understanding are open to receive, we have His eyes to see, His ears to hear, and His understanding to see what the natural mind cannot grasp. And our hearts believe.

 

You take ownership of God’s Truth when you spiritually receive it in your heart. Look again at Ephesians 1:17-19. When you believe these verses in your heart, they are true for you—not just for someone else. They are yours. God will freely give you His wisdom and impart to you the revealed knowledge of the Holy Spirit. You will believe without a doubt that you possess God’s power—the same power that raised Christ from the dead. And you will hear and receive God’s Truth—not with your natural mind but with your spiritual understanding. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is alive in you, but if you don’t have spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear, and a spiritual understanding to believe this Truth in your heart, you will live a defeated and powerless life.

 

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20, NKJV). 

 

The natural mind cannot grasp this Truth, but your heart can believe it. It is His power at work in you. Seek and pursue God. Receive in your heart the spiritual wisdom and knowledge God has for you. And believe what you have been given in Christ Jesus.

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/05/his-truth-in-your-heart.html

 

 

His Revelation for You

 

 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

—3 John 2

 

If you believe that God wants to prosper you with good health just as your soul prospers, then you have grown in spiritual understanding of His Truth. You believe in healing for yourself and others. But in this world, not everyone receives physical healing. Many wait years before receiving it. Others pass before they receive healing on earth.

 

All those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Savior will receive healing in heaven. And when we include heaven, everyone is healed. But if God provides healing as the result of Christ’s finished work (1 Peter 2:24), why doesn’t everyone receive it here on earth?

 

Some people answer by saying God doesn’t want them to be healed and that sometimes He even wants them to experience illness. If it is true God wants us to experience illness, why would we go against God’s will by praying to be healed or even seeking medical help? 

 

Our Abba Father is love. He is light, and there is no darkness in him (1 John 1:5). He doesn’t play games. His motives are pure. What He says in His Word is true. But some believe God wants them to be ill when they don’t experience healing. 

 

There is no definitive reason to explain why one person receives healing and another doesn’t. Each person is different. You just can’t stereotype everyone and put them into one mold. However, looking at some things might keep us from attributing sickness to the God who loves us.

 

When we abuse ourselves, we receive the result of how we have lived. The natural law of cause and effect is in operation. For example, someone who drowns himself in alcohol and drinks uncontrollably can have liver damage. Someone who is addicted to drugs can damage his body. Someone who is sexually promiscuous can get sexually transmitted diseases. Things like bitterness, rebellion, unforgiveness, and pride are things that can harm us and have consequences in our minds and bodies. Does God want us to overcome the results of what sin has caused? Of course, He does. And the Holy Spirit can address the deep wounds sin leaves behind. But each person is different. There is no cookie-cutter answer. The good news is that God cares and loves us. He will never forsake us or leave us. 

 

The natural world we live in is fallen. Not only do our bodies decay as we get older, but every living thing in this world experiences decay. Things happen in life. Accidents occur. Diseases are inherited. These happen because of the sin that entered the world. That original sin gave the enemy license to come against us. He uses those who listen to him. He lies in our minds and accuses us. He makes us feel that we are not worthy of God’s forgiveness and love. He wants us to believe that God could never love and forgive us. He certainly wants us to believe that God wants us sick and that He makes us sick. Sickness and death are from the enemy (Hebrews 2:14). 

 

The Word of God heals (Psalm 107:20). But when we don’t know the Word, the enemy takes advantage of our lack of knowledge and plants wrong thinking in our minds. He wars against the truth of God’s Word trying to take root in our hearts. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy all that God loves (John 10:10). He tells us that God doesn’t want us well.

 

You can be sure that if the enemy wants you to be sick and die, God wants you to be well and live. While we don’t understand the reasons some don’t receive healing, we know and believe that healing comes through faith in the gift of Jesus’ finished work on the cross for us. 1 Peter 2:24 tells us that we were healed at the greatest cost. We have to trust what God says in His Word and hold on to it. 

 

Just because everyone isn’t healed doesn’t mean that healing isn’t God’s will. Jesus wants us to have a relationship with Him—one where the Holy Spirit speaks to us through His Word and where we hear His Truth. Not everyone gets to the place where they personally hear God speaking to them, but He desires for His children to have the revelation from His Word of who He is and what Jesus gave His life for them to have. 

 

Your relationship with Jesus opens the door for you to hear from God. Your answer from God is the one for you. It is one of a kind—not someone else’s answer. No one has your answer but God. And your answer is revealed through the Truth of His Word. When you desire above everything to believe the Word, the Holy Spirit will teach you (John 16:13).

 

Are you hungry enough to seek His Word for answers to whatever your need—whether spiritual, emotional, or physical?  God desires you to allow His Truth to penetrate your heart for it brings life and healing to everyone who finds it (Proverbs 4:20-22.) God wants you to experience what He has given you. His Word is life (John 6:63). He sent His Word so you could experience His forgiveness and healing (Psalm 107:20).

 

“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:8, NKJV).

 

Seek and find His revelation for you. He will open His Truth to you.

 

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/05/his-revelation-for-you.html

 

Stand in His Grace

 

By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.

—1 Peter 5:12 (NKJV)

 

The true Gospel of Grace, which gives us right standing with God, does not demand our performance to prove that we are worthy. If it did, the work of redemption would place the work of holiness upon us. The Gospel of Grace is a gift given to those who believe by faith in the finished work of Jesus. It is nothing we do. It is all He did. Right standing with God only comes through faith in what Jesus did for us. We are encouraged in 1 Peter 5:12 that it is the true Grace of God in which we stand. 

 

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2). 

 

Being justified with God—having right-standing with God—is peace. We can only stand in the true Grace of God—in His peace—when we believe in our hearts that Jesus gave us right-standing with God. We can only live His righteousness when we believe we have received His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). When we truly know we have peace with God, then we have peace. We choose to stand strong in that peace. We let God fight because we know He will. We put on His armor that by right-standing is ours. And having done all, we stand (Ephesians 6:13).

 

Right-standing with God—peace with God—only comes through faith in what Christ did for us. True Grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live soberly and righteously (Titus 2:12). But true Grace also teaches us that it is only by His righteousness we live and have our being (Acts 17:28). When we know our righteous standing with God through the Grace of Christ and live out of that truth, we rest in God’s peace.

 

Faith in God comes out of our identity in Christ. We have peace with God and are His. That is who we are. We are blameless and holy because of Jesus (Ephesians 1:4). Faith comes out of knowing we have peace with God. And having peace with God is the only way we can walk in faith. Otherwise, we are going to try to do something—to prove something to God to get Him to do something for us. God does not do something for us because we do something for Him. There is nothing left to be done. Christ’s work is complete and finished. When we believe His work has already accomplished our right-standing with God—our eternal forgiveness and healing (1 Peter 2:24), there is nothing for us to do but receive God’s forgiveness and healing and rest in His Grace. And we rest in His Grace when we believe there is nothing we have to earn.

 

You access God's Grace which gives you the power to stand by faith. Know who you are in the finished work of Christ—believe what Christ has given you—and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2). When you exercise faith, you trust God. When you trust God, you experience peace. The place you experience peace in your life is where you have faith. 

 

Follow your faith and have His peace. Rejoice in your right-standing with God. Stand in faith and believe that God who promises is faithful to keep His promise (1 Corinthians 1:8-9, Hebrews 10:23).

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/05/stand-in-his-grace.html

 

 

His Vision and His Work

 

 

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have.

—2 Corinthians 8:9-11 (NKJV)

 

 

Have you ever started something and not finished it? Maybe circumstances kept you from reaching your goal. Perhaps you were distracted. Whatever the reason, you lost your drive to complete what you started. 

 

What if the work you once started came from a vision God gave you? It was something He desired to use you to bring to life. In the beginning, you believed in that vision with all your heart and soul. You poured your life into it. You gave your love, your time, and your support, but you never saw your efforts make any difference. Perhaps you became weary because of the constant struggle to attain that vision. You just lost heart. 

 

Pouring your life into His vision is not the answer. Your human efforts profit you nothing. They burn you out. Allowing the Holy Spirit to pour His life into the vision is the only answer. He brings the vision to life—not you. It is His responsibility—not yours. Only the Spirit gives life. You are His to guide—to direct—to use. 

 

You were the one to whom God imparted the vision. You were the one to get it started. You can only bring life to it with the power God has given you. God’s perfect will is for His vision to be completed, but you can’t make a vision happen—even with all you have done to inspire others to receive it. God will bring His vision to completion with the support He gives. He always supplies the means to bring life to His will. It is His promise for the vision to be completed because it is His work—not yours. It is His power—not yours. You can’t go by what you feel. You go by what He declares to be true.

 

You are rich because of the finished work of Jesus! His grace is enough! God has made you rich in His purpose. He has given you His power to bring life to the vision. Don’t allow your feelings and the enemy to destroy what God has revealed to your heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to give life to it. Believe no matter what you feel or what comes against His vision. Give out of His riches and trust Him to complete what only He can finish. 

 

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

—1 Thessalonians 5:24 (NKJV)

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/05/his-vision-and-his-work.html

 

 

As a Man Thinks

 

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

—Proverbs 23:7

 

 

The way you think of yourself is who you believe you are. If you want to have a positive attitude, then you must think positive thoughts. God is not going to make you have good thoughts miraculously. You choose to think about “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report” (Philippians 4:8a, NKJV). 

 

If you believe positive thinking happens quickly, it doesn’t. “If there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8b, NKJV). You must meditate long and hard to permanently change the way you think. This happens through the revelation power of the Word of God. The Word that God speaks is Spirit and life. And it is the Spirit who gives life to the Word (John 6:63).

 

Meditating on the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to change the way you process God’s Truth is the answer to changing your attitude. Over time, the renewing of your mind by the Word will change you (Romans 12:2). To be renewed, you allow the Truth of God’s Word to reveal to you what to believe instead of allowing your feelings or anyone else to tell you what to believe. As God’s Truth becomes planted in your heart, your emotions and feelings are controlled more easily.

 

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21, NKJV). The words you say speak life or death. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34, NKJV). And you will speak what you believe in your heart—either what is harmful or what is positive.

 

Do you want to believe in the goodness of God’s love for you? Do you wish to believe by faith in His promise that you haven’t seen or experienced in the flesh?  Well, Truth first transforms your mind and becomes the abundance of your heart. And then, according to the way you think in your heart, you speak what you believe. You speak hope and life. Doubt cannot shake you. You believe no matter what the world says or anyone else says. You believe God is faithful to keep His promise and that you will see His goodness revealed in your life.

 

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

—Proverbs 23:7

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/05/as-man-thinks.html

 

 

 

 

Friendship

 

“O my dear brother Jonathan, I’m crushed by your death. Your friendship was a miracle-wonder, love far exceeding anything I’ve known— or ever hope to know” (1 Samuel 1:26, MSG).

 

David and Jonathan were bound by the deepest friendship. On the report of Jonathan's death, David was crushed, but he said something in this verse that speaks of Jonathan's friendship being one that exceeded anything he had ever known. His friendship was a “miracle-wonder.”

 

C. H Spurgeon once stated, “Friendship is one of the sweetest joys of life. Many might have failed beneath the bitterness of their trial had they not found a friend.”  

 

I have a quote a friend gave me several years ago. “A friend is someone,” it reads, “who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.” 

 

Luke writes of a man who might have missed his healing without the determination of his friends to literally carry him. Four men bring their paralytic friend to a house where Jesus is, but can’t get through that mass of people. Determined, they climb to the roof of the house by an outside stairway. After removing roof tiles and prying up the mud and wattle, they lower the paralytic’s pallet through the opening. Jesus looks up and observes the pallet being lowered. He sees the faces of four men filled with purpose. He sees their great faith. Jesus looks at the paralytic and declares, “Friend, your sins are forgiven. Rise up, and pick up your mat. Go home.” (Luke 5:16-24)

 

In Proverbs, Solomon lists three strong values found in a good friend. He loves at all times (Proverbs 17:17); he is closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24); he never forsakes his friend (27:10). 

 

The story of the paralytic in Luke gives life to Solomon’s observations. The paralytic received constant love from his friends. He was closer than a brother, and his friends did not forsake him. They believed in his healing and did what they could to help him. Maybe, the paralytic had given up all hope and had asked them to leave him alone. Perhaps, because he was unable to do anything for himself, he was relying upon his friends. Whatever the case what can we understand about friendship from this example of the four friends’ commitment? No matter what your friend’s belief or lack of belief, you believe in the very best for him. You encourage him with the Word. You believe in his miracle when despair has claimed his heart. You go the distance for him.

 

True friendship never acts upon human desire but only upon the desire of the Holy Spirit.  It listens and follows His guidance. True friendship never sacrifices the heart of a friend. If a friend shares his heart, he has trusted you enough to make himself vulnerable to what you think of him. If your friend comes to you seeking advice, pray for God's wisdom and always extend the grace of honesty without judging him. Realize you don't have all the answers but carefully listen. When the Holy Spirit gives insight, offer His insight and not place your expectation upon your friend. If you give a suggestion, make it clear that you love him no matter what he chooses. God extends free will to us, and we must do the same. You can believe in a promise for your friend, but you can never demand or make him believe it. That is his decision. You can share what the Holy Spirit has shown you, but you can't coerce him to believe. That is not your place. Your place is to believe, encourage, and inspire. You accept him with all his hang-ups and struggles, just as you have been accepted with all of yours.

 

A David and Jonathan friendship knows the other friend's heart without asking. When your friend has lost all hope, you will know it. If the time comes when the Holy Spirit tells you to cut that hole in the roof for your friend, you will step out in faith and cut that hole in the roof. You will believe in the miracle Jesus has promised. You will know what the Holy Spirit is drawing you to do for the sake of your friend. 

 

Trust Jesus if He has led you to the place on the roof. Step out in faith. If your friend has forgotten the song in his heart, believe. The Holy Spirit waits to meet the need.

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/05/friendship.html

Let's Believe

 

Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.

 

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”

 

So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

—Matthew 17:17-21 (NKJV)

 

 

In Matthew 17 (and also in Mark 9), Jesus had just returned from the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John to a father who begged him to cast a demon out of his son. The father told Jesus that the disciples had been unable to cast out the demon.

 

Jesus was exasperated and called his disciples faithless and perverse. He had already given his disciples the power to cast out all unclean spirits (Matthew 10:1, 8). He expected His disciples to be able to cast the demon out of this boy. But when faced with the opposition of evil, the disciples just didn’t believe. How about us? When we are faced with evil, do we believe in Christ’s authority within us?

 

Jesus immediately cast the demon out of the boy. The disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast it out.

 

“Because of your unbelief!” Jesus said. “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you have enough faith to move mountains. Nothing will be impossible to you. However, this kind of unbelief does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:20-21, Mark 9:28-29).

 

Jesus wasn’t saying in Matthew 17:21 that there are certain demons that only come out by prayer and fasting. There never was or ever will be a demon that the name of Jesus or faith in the name of Jesus won’t cast out. Jesus said in Matthew 17:21 that prayer and fasting cast out this kind of unbelief the disciples had. 

 

Unbelief kept the disciples from casting out the boy’s demon. Unbelief will also keep us from overcoming the enemy. What kind of unbelief did the disciples have? 

 

There are three kinds of unbelief: unbelief from ignorance, unbelief from wrong information, and unbelief that rises from what we feel or what makes sense to the natural mind. Unbelief that is the result of ignorance or erroneous teaching can be eliminated by receiving the truth of God’s Word.  However, the unbelief that hindered the disciples in casting the demon out of this boy was a “natural” type of unbelief. It came from what they felt—not from what Jesus had told them was true.

 

Just like us, life had taught the disciples to rely on what they experienced—what they could see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. They were simply dominated by the natural senses more than by the truth of what Jesus had told them—that He had given them the power over evil. The Holy Spirit tells us, just as Jesus told the disciples, that the way we deal with this kind of “natural” or “feeling” unbelief is by prayer and fasting. But it is not the acts of prayer and fasting that wipe out unbelief. It is the truth accomplished in our hearts as a result. If we focus on the acts of prayer and fasting instead of trusting in the truths they give us, then we trust in our own ability over God’s ability.

 

Prayer and fasting change the way we receive the Word from the Holy Spirit. They change what we believe and give us spiritual insight into what is really true in God’s realm. The callousness of our natural mind to things of the Spirit—our ability to understand what we haven’t experienced—is affected by prayer and fasting. Knowledge is the solution to not knowing the Word and also the solution to erroneous teaching. But knowledge by itself will not rid us of the “natural” unbelief that comes from what we feel and sense.

 

The natural man does not receive the things of God. They are foolish to him (1 Corinthians 2:14). We connect with God spirit to Spirit—not by what we feel—not by the “natural” mind. We commune and worship with God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). A heart change from unbelieving to believing comes as a result of receiving the revealed truth of the Word by the Holy Spirit. 

 

God’s Word is truth and it is life. The flesh—what our “natural” mind understands—accomplishes nothing (John 6:63). We don’t “earn” the power that Jesus has given us through prayer or fasting or any act that we perform. Jesus earned everything. We can’t receive the truth of who we are in Christ or the authority He has given us through our senses—through our “natural” understanding or through what we do. We receive God’s truth spirit to Spirit. We can’t change the unbelief of our “natural” emotions from what we feel to the peace of spiritual truth by just wishing it to be so. We receive an understanding of God’s truth and conform to that truth when our minds are renewed spirit to Spirit (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23). 

 

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).

 

Jesus Christ has revealed who we are in His grace. Let’s receive His spiritual understanding of who we are and what is ours—spirit to Spirit. Let's believe.

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/05/lets-believe.html

 

 

Unbelief

 

I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, “May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.

—Mark 11:23, NLT

 

What you believe is what you will experience. Believing God is essential to experiencing what the natural mind deems impossible. When it is the Word of God you believe, all things are possible. Jesus told the disciples that they could speak to a mountain and tell it to be thrown into the sea. But they had to believe it without any doubt in their hearts. "I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours” (Mark 11:24, NLT).

 

Believing in the Truth of God’s Word without any doubt makes the difference in whether you live a defeated or victorious life! Jesus told the centurion, who asked him to pray for his servant, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened” (Matthew 8:13, NLT). The centurion’s faith brought healing to his servant. Unbelief stands between you and the promises God reveals to you in His Word. To receive, you must believe. And you need to believe in the Word of God with no doubt in your heart. 

 

There is unbelief that comes from a lack of knowledge. “My people," God said about Israel, "are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6, NKJV).  A lack of knowledge of God's Word can destroy your ability to experience God's healing power. When what you are taught becomes established in your heart, you believe it. If it is the Truth of God's Word, it speaks of life and blessing. If it is wrong teaching, it speaks of death and curse. Wrong teaching is a roadblock to believing the Word of God. To believe, you must know God's Truth. 

 

Double-mindedness is another problem. A double-minded man is unstable in all His ways (James 1:8). His opinion changes based on how he feels.  If you are double-minded, you have not decided in your heart what you really believe. When you allow the Word of God to settle into your heart, you experience transformation. Your mind is transformed by the Truth you receive. How you feel eventually lines up with God’s Truth. To not be double-minded, you must be convinced of God’s Word, and believe it without doubting.

 

Belief based on what you feel comes from your natural senses—what you see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. Living by your feelings is detrimental to believing the Word of God. When you try to believe God and your five senses tell you that it is not working, you have chosen defeat based on your feelings. When you experience something that has become a disappointment or a disillusionment, emotions try to embed in your heart. In experiencing this kind of unbelief, your five senses rise to dominate your mind. Renewing your mind with the Word is essential to overcome your senses—your feelings, and believe that the Word is true (Romans 12:2). 

 

Jesus saved and healed you at Calvary. Everything in the natural world screams that this is not true, but it is true. What you feel is not factual in God's Truth. "My child,” God speaks, “pay attention to what I say. Listen to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body” (Proverbs 4:20-22, NLT).

 

Unbelief holds us back. Study and meditate on the Word. Pay attention to what the Holy Spirit reveals. Hold on to it. Let the Word penetrate deep into your heart. His Word brings life when its truth is planted in your heart. It brings healing to your whole body. Be transformed by the Truth of God's Word. Believe what the Holy Spirit reveals to you. Doubt will flee, and you will be able to take captive every thought or feeling from the enemy. 

 

Take authority over your mind and believe the Truth of God’s Word.  

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/05/unbelief.html