FAITH & HEALING!
GP M
8/70
1. PEOPLE ARE SUCH EXTREMISTS! They think it's all this way or that way. In the repairing of electronic equipment we have knowledge up to a point, but because of a lack of skilled technicians who've had more training, when we have an abnormal case that is beyond their experience, we don't hesitate to take it in to the expert. Something beyond our experience, we have to take it to the expert who knows.
2. I USUALLY HAVE MORE FAITH FOR THOSE THAT ARE BEYOND THE POWER AND ABILITY OF MAN. The Lord Himself worked along this line when He was on Earth. He made men do what they could do, made the people roll the stone away, made the man go wash in the Pool of Siloam. He did what they COULDN'T do. PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN TOO DEPENDENT ON THE SYSTEM. There are many normal things they could do for themselves, but the System has made them so dependent on it both for their bodies, their religion & their economics they are almost helpless. They go to the System for everything. IN THIS CASE WE ARE ONLY GOING TO THE SYSTEM FOR AN EMERGENCY WHICH IS BEYOND OUR TRAINING & EXPERIENCE, both in certain repairs & in this case, physical repair. There is really nothing the doctor can do in the way of changing or healing or anything except that he has a little additional information on how the body works & what to expect & how to assist in an abnormal situation.
3. IF GOD IS GOING TO HEAL, HE CAN DO IT WITHOUT ANY HELP, & IF HE DOESN'T WANT TO, IT WON'T BE DONE! When I was sick with appendicitis, I said this, but this is pretty strong fanatical faith. I was just throwing myself absolutely on a limb & He honoured my faith. I could have said, "Lord, I'll go to the hospital & they'll give me advice on what to drink & what not to drink & give me some mechanical help" etc. The doctor told my Mother, "Don't let him do it! They'll put him under sedation & he won't be able to trust the Lord for healing then."
4. IT'S ALL IN HOW MUCH FAITH YOU HAVE! How much do you claim the promises? How many promises are you quoting? It's just like you'd take a treatment or pills & have faith in the doctor. IF YOU'VE GOT FAITH IN GOD YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THE SCRIPTURAL PILLS & FOLLOW THE TREATMENT HE PRESCRIBES. You can't say, "I'm trusting the doctor, but I won't take his pills." You have to follow through & obey in whatever you're putting your faith in. If it is the LORD, you quote & claim Scriptures just like Jesus did. YOU STAND ON THE WORD!
5. FAITH IS JUST SOMETHING YOU HAVE OR YOU DON'T HAVE! It's like being a little bit pregnant.--There is no such thing, you either are or you aren't! You have faith or you haven't! That's why Jesus said, "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can move a whole mountain."--Mat.17:20. FAITH IS SOMETHING THAT IS BUILT BY FAITHFUL STUDY OF GOD'S WORD. Faith comes--it grows by hearing the Word of God. It's not a sudden boom. You can get sudden faith for certain things with sudden Scriptures from the Lord. But you have that kind of faith because of a substantial background of faith & trusting God's Word.
6. PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE LORD'S HEALING HAVE TO GET FAITH & HEALING FOR THEMSELVES DIRECTLY FROM THE LORD! Calling for elders' laying on of hands is a SYMBOL of your faith & exercising of your faith & a witness to others. You can have faith for healing because you are OBEYING the calling for elders etc., not that your faith is resting in the elders' laying on of hands.
7. WITH GOD'S CHILDREN WHO KNOW HIM PERSONALLY & KNOW HIS WILL & HIS WORD, GOD EXPECTS THEM TO TOUCH HIM PERSONALLY, DIRECTLY, & MAKE A DIRECT CONTACT with the Lord, not in somebody else's faith or prayers or somebody else's decision. That's why God requires them to make the decision of faith THEMSELVES. In their case, just like with Salvation, nobody else can make the decision for you. You have to make the decision of faith YOURSELF--take the step of faith YOURSELF--"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15), & you personally have to take the responsibility, not try to shove it on your husband or wife or leaders. IF YOU HAVE TO SHOVE RESPONSIBILITY ON SOMEBODY ELSE, THEN YOU'RE JUST A LITTLE BABY SPIRITUALLY, & if you are just a baby & don't want to admit it & you claim to have faith when you haven't, that's just plain damn PRIDE! If you're proud, God will surely humble you.
8. ONE OF THE WORST KINDS OF PRIDE IN THE WORLD IS PRETENDING TO HAVE FAITH WHEN YOU HAVEN'T GOT IT! SPIRITUAL PRIDE--like the church today--hypocritical, pharisaical religious pride.
9. MOST CHRISTIANS CAN HAVE FAITH UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS FOR USUAL SITUATIONS--what they expect God to do--but when everything goes wrong & seems contrary to the Word & the usual, ONLY THOSE WITH GREAT FAITH CAN SAY WITH JOB, "EVEN THOUGH HE SLAY ME, YET WILL I TRUST HIM." What Job was saying was, "Even though it seems like God is breaking His Own Word with me, even though it seems like God has failed me, even though God kills me contrary to all His promises, I'll STILL trust Him!"
10. THAT'S WHAT I DID WITH THAT ATTACK OF APPENDICITIS.--I just told God, "Lord, I'm not going to do a thing." YOU LITERALLY PUT GOD ON THE SPOT! He likes it! He likes you to challenge Him to keep His Word. "Now, here, God, I've obeyed You. I've put myself on a limb & sawed if off. Now it's up to You to take care of me. If You want to heal me You don't need any help." BUT THAT REALLY TOOK WHAT SOME PEOPLE WOULD CALL GREAT FAITH. Because there might have been something the doctor could do to help, but God would have to heal me anyway. But if you haven't got that kind of faith, you'd better operate according to your faith.
11. FAITH IS KNOWING! YOU'RE POSITIVE! YOU'RE CERTAIN! You expect it beyond a shadow of a doubt! If you haven't got that kind of faith & you're not willing to literally die for it & take the responsibility of the decision yourself that "I'd rather die trusting," then you'd better run to the nearest doctor & hospital, or quit the group & run out & get yourself a job or forsake our type of martyrdom & run back to the comfort & luxury of the Church System!
12. IN ALL CASES, YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO DIE FOR YOUR FAITH AS A PART OF YOUR WITNESS--your final witness--whether you die for your faith as a martyr in preaching the Gospel, or WHETHER YOU DIE FOR YOUR FAITH IN STARVING TO DEATH because you've forsaken all to follow Him, OR WHETHER YOU DIE DAILY IN MANY TESTS & TRIALS--that's when you find out whether you have the faith or not! Job didn't know for sure he wasn't going to die. By all indications it looked like he was! And his friends as good as told him he was & that he didn't have any faith. They as good as said he was dying because of his lack of faith. The fact was that God almost let him die to show what great faith he had.
13. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE FAITH UNLESS YOU HAVE THE WORD!--Faith that is contrary to all normal conditions, all natural expectations, above & beyond the call of duty--above & beyond the usual!
14. GOD DOESN'T LIKE FORCED FAITH--when you have no alternative, no choice, when you HAVE to trust Him because there's nothing else you can do. Most Christians can then trust God because He's all that is left. But GOD LIKES THE KIND OF FAITH THAT WHEN THERE IS A CHOICE, WHEN THERE IS A DECISION, WHEN THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE, THE GREAT FAITH STILL CHOOSES GOD IN SPITE OF THE OTHER POSSIBILITIES! It is impossible to have faith unless you have the Word!
15. SOME PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR AN EXCUSE TO DO WHAT THEY REALLY WANT TO DO--QUIT!--They are looking for somebody else to blame, somebody else to make the decision, somebody else to take the responsibility, instead of laying hold on the Angel as Jacob did & refusing to let go until God blessed him, even though it crippled him and made a new man out of him, no longer a supplanter & deceiver & liar & a cheat & a pretender--like some people who pretend to have faith--but a proven Prince of God & a man who refused to let go until he got the blessing!
16. THAT WAS ESAU'S SIN--HE GAVE UP TOO EASY! He found out he didn't have much faith. He despised his birthright & settled for something he could see & easily believe for, rather than something he couldn't see & had to have great faith for! SOME PEOPLE SELL THEMSELVES OUT TOO CHEAP, THEY QUIT TOO SOON! It is so easy to make excuses--legitimate, logical, reasonable, acceptable excuses why you couldn't make it, why you shouldn't be expected to make it--& in most cases MOST PEOPLE WILL ACCEPT YOUR EXCUSES BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE DON'T HAVE FAITH EITHER, & IN EXCUSING YOU THEY'RE EXCUSING THEMSELVES! BUT IS GOD GOING TO EXCUSE YOU?
17. THE DEVIL WILL DO EVERYTHING HE CAN TO TEMPT YOU TO FORSAKE GOD'S WAY. Then he'll stand up in the end & accuse you for doing it! He'll tempt you to sin, then accuse you for sinning. That's his & the System's tactics.
18. WHEN YOU TAKE THAT STAND OF FAITH, YOU USUALLY HAVE TO TAKE IT ALONE WITH GOD! Don't expect any help from the Devil or the System or sometimes even your friends. A MAN'S FOES CAN BE THEY OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD. It is impossible to have faith unless you have the Word!
19. MOST OF THE DECISIONS--GREAT DECISIONS--THAT I HAVE MADE IN MY LIFE AS A LEADER HAVE BEEN LONELY DECISIONS WHERE ONLY I & GOD STOOD TOGETHER & the whole World stood against us!--Sometimes even my family, sometimes even those I loved the most! THEY HAVE BEEN MOUNTAIN PEAKS OF DECISION, WITH NOTHING BUT THIN AIR BETWEEN ME & THE NEXT PEAK, & I HAD TO TAKE THAT STEP ALONE, & TRUST GOD for the consequences, with no guarantee but God, no warranty but His Word--all other conditions being against it--all natural circumstances being opposed to it--the waves & the winds fighting against it--& all I had was the Hand of God!
20. BUT HE NEVER LET ME DOWN, even if He had to pick me up by that Hand & lift me across to that next mountain peak, without any visible, natural, normal, logical, reasonable means of help! GOD SAYS, "SERVE ME, & I'LL KEEP YOU!" Man says, "It's impossible! Tie up in port. Retire & rot away. Don't attempt the impossible; you'll sink!" GOD SAYS, "LAUNCH OUT INTO THE DEEP! Cast forth thy nets & I'll give you such a draft there'll not be room enough to hold it! I'll give you the biggest load you've ever had, when you were all ready to sink WITHOUT any load!" MAN says, "Look at the waves! Look at the condition of your vessel! You can't do it!" GOD SAYS, "LOOK AT ME! WITH MAN IT IS IMPOSSIBLE; WITH GOD, NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE, & all things are possible to him that believeth!"
21. "ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH BE IT DONE UNTO YOU!" WE ARE LIVING HERE NOW BY FAITH, AGAINST MANY PROBLEMS AND OBSTACLES, BUT EVERY ONE OF YOU HAD TO MAKE THAT DECISION YOURSELF, on your own, alone with God. YOU made the choice personally or you wouldn't be here, because nobody is keeping you here and you don't have to stay here, if you don't want to. Husbands have even forsaken their wives, and wives their husbands, and parents their children and children their parents to follow God, but you had to make the final decision of faith YOURSELF, to live or die for God! YOU had to make the choice! IT HAD TO BE YOUR CHOICE OR IT WOULD BE NO GOOD, OR YOU COULDN'T STAND! IF YOU'RE TRYING TO COAST ALONG ON SOMEONE ELSE'S FAITH, FORGET IT! THEY'LL LET YOU DOWN SOONER OR LATER! You better stand on your own two feet before God now, and remember it is YOUR choice that you're here. YOU MADE THE DECISION TO FOLLOW GOD. NOT EVEN GOD COULD MAKE IT FOR YOU! "Many are called, but few are chosen"--because so few choose HIS Way!
22. BUT IF SOMEONE DOES NOT TAKE ACTION & MAKE A DECISION, EVEN BE WILLING TO STAND ALONE IN A STAND OF FAITH--IF WE ARE NOT WILLING TO ACT BY FAITH ON WHAT GOD HAS SHOWN US, IT COULD NEVER HAPPEN. SOMEBODY has to be willing to be the pioneer! Somebody has to be willing to take that first step of faith in that direction, to take the initiative because of the vision, & to take it alone, if need be, regardless of the cost!
23. "PROVE ME NOW HEREWITH, SAITH THE LORD, & see if I will not pour out such a blessing that there will not be room enough to hold it!" You don't see the blessing yet. How do you know He's going to pour it out? YOU'VE ONLY GOT HIS WORD FOR IT--YOU'VE GOT TO PROVE HIM! YOU'VE GOT TO TRY! YOU HAVE TO LITERALLY TEST IT, YOU HAVE TO CHALLENGE GOD! You have to take a step in the direction He said to go, to find out what He's going to do. Because if you don't go, He can't show! If you don't obey, He can't make a way! If by faith you don't "be", you'll never "see"! FOR BELIEVING IS SEEING, IN THIS BUSINESS--IN GOD'S BUSINESS!
24. BUT SOME PEOPLE WEAKEN JUST BEFORE THAT FINAL HOUR. THE GREATEST DARKNESS IS JUST BEFORE DAWN, THE GREATEST DESPERATION IS JUST BEFORE SALVATION! The greatest hopelessness attacks just before rescue! Some people ALMOST make it! AL MOST, but LOST! If you could have held on one more breath, one more step, one more hour, one more day, you could have had glorious victory & a wonderful testimony! But you suffered all these things in vain, & you didn't QUITE make it, & a "MISS is as good as a MILE!" May God forbid this ever has to be said to YOU! May God give us the faith & the willingness to make the choice alone, if need be, to make the decision on our own & to take the full consequences ourselves, whatever they may be!
25. FAITH IS NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN TRY TO HAVE! YOU EITHER HAVE IT, OR YOU DON'T! YOU HAVE IT BECAUSE YOU'RE FULL OF THE WORD & THE FAITH OF GOD & YOU JUST KNOW IT & EXPECT IT! You cannot TRY to have faith! Faith isn't something you work up, muster up or polish up by your own efforts & strength! TRYING TO HAVE FAITH IS A WORK OF THE FLESH! ACCEPTING FAITH THROUGH HIS WORD IS A WORK OF GOD'S GRACE, like Salvation. It's free, it can only be received, but your WORKS will SHOW it! If you have it, you won't quit; you'll be tempted to doubt, but you won't doubt! The Devil will try to scare you, but you won't fear. He'll try to frighten you, but you won't quail; he'll try to bluff you, but you won't retreat; he'll try to bully you, but you won't surrender!--Because YOU ARE WILLING TO DIE TRUSTING, YOU'RE SO SURE OF GOD! THAT'S THE KIND OF FAITH THAT GETS HEALING & WORKS MIRACLES!
26. "EVERY MAN MUST GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF TO GOD!" "What is it to thee? Follow thou Me!" WE CANNOT HIDE BEHIND OTHERS, WHEN IT COMES TO OUR MAJESTY OF CHOICE. We cannot push the responsibility upon others, when God is dealing with us personally!
27. GOD WANTS YOU TO MAKE YOUR OWN CHOICE BY FAITH ACCORDING TO YOUR OWN FAITH--not mine, not ours, not somebody else's, but YOURS! GOD IS DEALING WITH YOU & HE WANTS YOU TO LEARN TO TRUST HIM PERSONALLY, not lean on others! If you're going to be a LEADER of God's Children, this is the time for YOUR faith to come to the fore & for YOU to make your OWN decision, to see how much YOU trust God! YOU MUST BE WILLING TO DIE TRULY TRUSTING, NOT DYING WISHING YOU HAD GONE TO THE PHYSICIAN, NOT DYING FOR PRIDE'S SAKE, BUT DYING FOR FAITH'S SAKE!
28. FAITH IS A DANGEROUS GAME OF LIFE & DEATH, NOT TO BE PLAYED WITH LIGHTLY. YOU EITHER HAVE IT OR YOU HAVEN'T! DON'T TRY TO FOOL ANYBODY OR IT MAY KILL YOU--or you may at the last minute change your mind & turn to the physician, showing that's where your faith was all the time--that you were only lying!--Or TRYING to have faith you didn't have. "For without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God, for he that cometh to Him must believe that He is, & that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."--Heb.11:6. "For faith is the SUBSTANCE of things HOPED for, the EVIDENCE of things NOT seen!" In other words, you've really ALREADY got it by faith & you don't doubt it & you don't change & you don't run out on God at the last minute!
29. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE SHOWDOWN, EXCEPT FOR A FEW RARE EXCEPTIONS, SUCH AS BABIES & SPIRITUAL BABIES, YOU MUST HAVE FAITH FOR YOURSELF! "Have faith in God!" I cannot have it for you. IF YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO MAKE THE SERIOUS SPIRITUAL DECISIONS OF MARRIAGE & HAVING BABIES, YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO MAKE THE SERIOUS, SOBERING, LIFE-&-DEATH DECISIONS OF FAITH.
30. BUT IF YOU CANNOT TRUST GOD FOR YOURSELF, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO INSPIRE FAITH IN OTHERS FOR THEMSELVES? FAITH KNOWS GOD WILL DO IT!--AND HE DOES! If you have any inclination at all to want to go to a doctor or a hospital, you'd better go, 'cause that's where your faith lies! THE THOUGHT MIGHT CROSS YOUR MIND IN TEMPTATION, BUT THOSE OF FAITH RESIST THE ENEMY & HE FLEES FROM THEM; they give no place to the Evil One!--And they continue to trust without fail, that God will NOT fail!
31. OTHERS FIGURE THEY'LL JUMP OFF OF THE UNCERTAINTY OF GOD AT THE LAST MINUTE & land on what they consider the certainty of the flesh--in case God fails them! THEY DON'T BURN THEIR BRIDGES BEHIND THEM! They don't sacrifice the plow & the oxen!--1Kg.19:21. They hold a little reservation in the back of their mind, of what they plan to do in case God doesn't work! THIS IS NOT FAITH! THIS IS ONLY PRIDE & MANPLEASING WITH EYE SERVICE!--Supposedly trusting God because it's the popular thing to do, the accepted thing, the expected thing--NOT because they really have faith, but because they're trying to please others.
32. THE TRULY FAITHFUL HAVE TOTALLY & UTTERLY CUT THEM SELVES OFF FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD.--The "ecclesia" of God, the separated ones who have burned all their bridges behind them & CANNOT go back. These are the ones who are faithful to the end, who attain to the Crown of Life!--You can't get rid of them; they won't take "no" for an answer. They refuse to go back!--Even if you try to throw them out or send them back! This is where they belong & they'll die trying to stay here!
33. BUT THOSE WHOSE FAITH IS ONLY A PROUD PRETENCE WILL CHICKEN OUT WHEN THE GOING GETS ROUGH & it looks like all is lost! They jump off the ice floe, just as the crown is descending! They leap off the boat when they think it's about to sink!
34. BUT THE CAPTIVES OF FAITH WOULD RATHER GO DOWN WITH THE SHIP, if such be the Will of God, knowing that God is able to raise it again, if need be! t
35. FAIR WEATHER FAITH IS NO FAITH AT ALL! Real faith endures the storm, even when it looks like you're sinking! Real faith stands his ground when all else fails & all others desert! Even if he has to do it alone! REAL FAITH NEVER QUITS, never gives up, never stops, & therefore can't BE stopped--for God is with such faith! REAL FAITH WILL PAY ANY PRICE, SUFFER ANY SACRIFICE, DIE ANY DEATH!
36. YOU CANNOT STOP THE MAN OF FAITH. You cannot dissuade him! You cannot divert him! You cannot stop him! He'll go on with or without you, or right OVER you, if necessary. "For THIS is the victory that overcometh the WORLD, even your FAITH!" If it comes to that, all he needs is GOD! WITH THAT KIND OF FAITH IN GOD, YOU CAN GO ANYWHERE & DO ANYTHING, for "all things are possible to him that believeth, but WITHOUT faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him!"
37. WHAT KIND OF FAITH DO YOU HAVE? HOW FAR ARE YOU GOING TO GO WITH GOD? Are you going to get off at the last minute? Having run well, are you going to suffer so many things in vain & lose your reward; or are you going to endure to the end? "He that endureth to the END, to HIM will I give a Crown of Life!"
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family