Monday, February 13, 2006

Activating Your Faith

Whoever says to this mountain … (Mark 11:23)
The only one who can activate your faith is you. Faith comes from God, by hearing the Word of God, the Holy Spirit making it come alive inside you (Romans 10:17; 1 Corinthians 2:11-14). But it is activated by you, more particularly, by what you say. Jesus said,
Assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:23)
Notice that faith is expressed by what you say. This means that what you say must be in agreement with what you believe. That is how Jesus Himself activated faith. Notice that even in His statement, He is very aware of the act of saying: “Assuredly, I say to you.” The word “assuredly” means that He is speaking with utmost conviction. He is very consciously releasing His faith to the disciples.

The only one who can stop or hinder your faith is you. Many Christians, if they do manage to speak in accordance with the Word of God, often slip back into unbelief by speaking words of worry, doubt or fear. The devil has no power over you, but if he can get you to give voice to the lies he whispers in your ears, he can neutralize your faith. The answer, however, is to do what Jesus did when satan tempted Him in the wilderness — answer with the Word of God. The devil has no defense against that. Though he might try to twist the Scriptures on you, if you regular meditate on the Word and learn to discern your Father’s voice, you will not be fooled, just as Jesus wasn’t (see Matthew 4).

Once you activate your faith for something, it will work until it is fulfilled — unless you stop it. Remember the story of Jairus. He had great faith that Jesus could come to his house and heal his daughter. Jesus began to accompany him, but was stopped along the way by the faith of the woman with the issue of blood. Jairus might have let this become an offense, a stumbling-block to his faith, but he did not. However, when servants came from his house to inform him that his daughter was dead, his faith was in crisis, tested to the limit. When Jesus heard this, he immediately turned to Jairus and said, “Do not be afraid; only believe” (Mark 5:36).

Jairus had earlier activated his faith by declaring to Jesus, “Come and lay You hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live” (Mark 5:23). But now he had a choice to make: to continue to believe, or to let the report of his servants create fear and negate his faith. The decision he made is seen in the very next thing he said: nothing. He did not give voice to the doubt that was trying to grip his heart; he did not release words of anxiety; he did not short-circuit his faith with fear. He held firmly to his original activation of faith, “she will live,” and his daughter was restored to life.

What you do with your faith is up to you. It comes by hearing the Word of God; it is activated by the words of your mouth. Always speak in agreement with the Word and do not let fear attach to your words.

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