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| Belief's Opposing Force - Part 1 |
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Belief's Opposing Force - Part 1
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:1-4)
Greetings brethren,
Belief is a very powerful force. The Word tells us time and time again that all things are possible to him that will believe. We are believers, Amen? We believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that He came to set the captives free. We believe that He is the Son of God, and we believe that God raised Him from the dead, and that He ascended to heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. Praise God for Jesus!
But what many of us fail to recognize is that while we do in fact believe in the things of God, at the same time we have, what can be, and equally powerful opposing force at work within us, unbelief.
One of my teachers, Andrew Wommack, frequently uses the following illustration while explaining this. He suggests to envision a team of horses hooked up to a weight. This team, by exhorting force, can move the weight in the direction they are pulling. Yet, if you were to hook up an equally strong team of horses and they began pulling in the opposite direction, then the net effect on the weight would be zero.
Unbelief is a major hindrance for many people. As much as we want to see the many great and precious promises which God has already provided for us, such as joy, peace, prosperity, healing and deliverance, manifest into our physical realms, we ourselves are often responsible for clogging up our own receivers, not because we do not believe, yet because at the same time, we disbelieve.
I know this kind of thinking rubs against the grain of the way most people perceive God. After all, we live in the United States of "Somebody Else is Responsible". It's the "Pass The Buck" Society. We rarely take heed to the truth that we are the ones who have been given authority and commanded to dominate this current earthly realm. We are constantly looking for someone else, or some circumstance to blame. "It's because of my dysfunctional family", or "we were raised in poverty". Statements such as these are the crutches we often lean upon. What gets me, is that when we can find no other alternative or no one else to hold accountable, we resort to even blaming God. I realize that very few of us would ever actually phrase it quite like that, but it's true.
When our situation goes contrary to what the Word of God teaches, or we fail to see certain things come to pass, we say things like, "Well, we know all things work together for the good", or "It must not have been God's will". Sometimes, we even cry out to God asking Him to increase our faith, when Jesus said we really don't need more faith, we need to implement, or use to a greater degree, the faith we already have. The way I see it, all of those are really escape mechanisms. They render us passive and cause doubt and unbelief to start taking root. They are just another form of passing the blame onto someone else.
So am I saying that we ourselves are the ones that hinder the blessings of God? Yep, that's what I'm saying. And, what's wrong with that? What's wrong with us accepting responsibility? We should be thankful to come to the knowledge that we are the ones requiring change. I have news for you, you are the only one you can change. God will not change, ever. Faith doesn't move God. God is not stuck. Faith pleases God. God's love and his blessings are constantly being funnelled in your direction, God never stops transmitting.
Friends, I say these things not to condemn you, yet to encourage you. While I, in no way, consider myself to be an expert on this topic, I can say that God has revealed some truths to me in this area. And it is my hearts desire to share some of these truths with you. I have decided to break this blog into multiple parts because, as many of you are well aware, I tend to get rather long-winded.
In the next couple of posts I will present several scriptural examples of Jesus teaching about unbelief verses belief, and or faith, as well as some suggestions on how to counteract that unbelief. I pray that you will stick with me through this series and find something that will help your roots continue to grow down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.
And by the way, Happy Thanksgiving!
Michael
See Part Two
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| To add a comment to "Belief's Opposing Force - Part 1" |
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| November 28, 2008 |
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Michael,
Before I move on to Part 2, I want to give you a HUGE "Amen, brother!"
The bible makes total sense when you read it this way. When you read it the traditional way, it's very inconsistent. In fact, when you read it the traditional way, God Himself is inconsistent, moody, and subject to change.
Thank God for you babbling Pentecostals!
Rob |
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| December 04, 2008 |
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Everybody Believes Something !
Un-Belief is a Belief.
To say I do not Believe or have faith is ...Your Faith & Belief then.
Everybody sets Expectations....but most do not [filter] their Expectations in accord with the
Expectations God would desire you to Merge with.
Hope = Expectation...not wishful, not gambling...& can be Positive or Negative.
The Hope that God desires us to align our thoughts...are His Thoughts His Mind [only].
Hope by The Lord's Definition = The Earnest Expectation of His Precious Promises for US !
So it is absolutely essential to KNOW what exactly those Promises are in order to claim FAITH
at All.
This is Raising The bar ..to His Goal for Us...
His Desires & Will...is that We merge into His Will...agreement.
Partaking in the Divine Nature...His Full Creative Force.
So Everyone has faith & hope.....But Disciples of Jesus...Partake in The Expectation of 0% failure
rate.
Speak... let there be...& Know You are Creating. |
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| December 04, 2008 |
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Linda,
You are right on. Unbelief is still belief of a sort but it's tainted with fear. Fear that things might not work out as promised. Fear that maybe God is a liar or maybe God's not really there at all. Fear is faith's ugly cousin.
Rob |
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