Rise to a New Life
Taken form “Prophecies and Poems Volume One”
“…the just shall live by HIS faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4b)
God, since the beginning, has always intended for Man to live by every Word of God. It’s by the hearing of the Word that faith comes. World-overcoming victories are wrought by this same faith. In recent years we have seen a great revival of teachings about living by faith, yet a short while ago the Lord spoke to my heart that for the most part the Church has allowed these great truths to slip and we’ve reduced the life of faith to mental-assent of His Word. It’s becoming nothing more than another formality and venerated ritual — which avails nothing in His Kingdom.
We see a principal in 2 Corinthians 4:4 which states that the minds are blinded of those who believe not. “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, IN THE VANITY OF THEIR MIND, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, BECAUSE OF THE BLINDNESS OF THEIR HEART” (Ephesians 4:17-18). The book of Romans tells us that God’s people, the Israelites, were “given the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear” (Romans 11:8). Did God do that to them? – Definitely NOT! Hebrews 4:2 says, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, NOT BEING MIXED WITH FAITH IN THEM THAT HEARD IT.” Jesus further reveals in Matthew 13 verse 15, “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes THEY HAVE CLOSED: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”
Now, where we’ve missed it in reducing the life of faith to mental-assent, is that faith doesn’t work from your head. Faith is a spiritual force and only operates by being released from a heart [spirit] filled with revelation knowledge of God’s Will [Word].
The Lord showed me the reason so many “Faith People” are living defeated lives is because they’ve reduced faith to a formula – just push this button and pull that lever [say the right confessions and do the right things]. When they don’t see immediately the expected results, the devil jumps on their shoulder and says, “See, this faith stuff doesn’t work,” and because their physical senses agree, they give up and accept defeat.
FAITH DOESN’T WORK FROM YOUR HEAD! Faith is a confident assurance based on God’s Word of what you’re believing for is already yours. THEN your mouth will speak in line with your convictions and Jesus has something to be High Priest over [for He watches over His Word to perform it]!
“Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light'” (Ephesians 5:14 [NKJV]). “Arise [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you; RISE TO A NEW LIFE]! Shine – be radiant with the glory of the Lord; FOR YOUR LIGHT IS COME, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you” (Isaiah 60:1 [Amplified]). “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If ANYONE hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:20-22 [NKJV]). I can hear the Word of the Lord yet saying: “Prove Me,” saith God, “who says you can’t walk on water?”