For we walk by faith, not by sight.
—2 Corinthians 5:7
Everything good God has for us is provided in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. Faith doesn’t create anything new. It can’t create healing or deliverance or provision. Faith appropriates what God has already provided. When we make ourselves the authors and the finishers of our own faith, we aren’t going to like the results. Anytime we make receiving from God about ourselves, we become disappointed and disillusioned.
“Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: ‘Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk’” (Acts 3:11-12, NKJV)?
These two Spirit-filled men knew that this miracle was not anything they had done. They knew it was the supernatural power of God that flowed through them that had made a change in this man’s life. From lame to healed, this man was now whole.
“Through faith in the name of Jesus,” Peter said, “this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes” (Acts 3:16).
We never receive the promises of God through anyone else’s work or through our own work. We only receive by exercising the measure of faith Christ has given us (Galatians 2:16, Romans 12:3).
Do you have peace one moment and live in fear the next? You can never walk in the peace of God when circumstances or the opinions of others determine your life. These are unfinished and changing and always will be. But the finished work of Jesus on the Cross for you is complete. It is unchanging.
What you believe in your heart determines the course of your life (Proverbs 23:7). When you believe in your heart that Christ’s work on the Cross for you is finished, then you know that there is nothing you have to do to win God’s favor and love. You know you are favored and loved. You live in His peace that passes human reasoning and removes everything you thought necessary to be His. You are unhindered and free to receive His love.
Faith that receives from God is faith that comes from hearing God’s Word (Romans 10:17). The mind of Christ takes hold, and His Word speaks truth to you (1 Corinthians 2:16). Your beliefs are changed by God’s truth (Romans 12:2). When you seek God with all your heart, you are rewarded (Hebrews 11:6). You know that He is who He says He is in your life.
You have a new life in Christ— a life of wholeness and victory. But, maybe, you are afraid to seek it. Perhaps, you have struggled for a very long time and are afraid to reach for the wholeness of the new life Jesus has given you because you have been disappointed again and again.
Receiving from God is not about you. It is all about Him. Jesus is the gift. He is the Word that must be opened to discover the truths for you that have been hidden. Be renewed in your mind by the Holy Spirit’s understanding of the Word (Ephesians 4:24) until you believe without the need to see or experience your healing. Jesus becomes your focus and what you experience becomes less. Enter into fellowship with Him, where His presence becomes paramount, surpassing even your health, needs, or problems. In this surrender, receiving His love and returning it becomes more vital than any distraction or problem, regardless of how painful or disturbing it may be. Jesus, Himself, is your answer for your deliverance. Guard His truth from doubt. Continually clothe yourself in His righteousness and truth (Ephesians 4:24), constantly taking possession of it as yours. Keep on moving forward, walking by faith, and not by sight, and trusting in Him (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith in Jesus Christ requires action. Without action, that faith has no life. With action, that faith becomes life.
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).
Jesus, the Healer, dwells in you. His power dwells in you. He will give life to your mortal body through the Holy Spirit, who also dwells in you.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
Jesus has supplied all you need, according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).Above all else, seek fellowship with Him; the things Jesus has provided through His atonement shall be added in your life. It is only through faith in Jesus—in the name that is above all names—that you receive what God has already provided for you in His finished work of grace. His provision is for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment