The Force of Faith

[victoryword]

I promised T7 that I would address this. I have not put together a theological discourse on this. My thoughts are somewhat scatter. However, I will attempt to justify why there is nothing at all wrong with referring to faith as a force.

1. Argument 1: The use of metaphorical language to describe the potency of an attribute:

When faith teachers refere to faith as a force, they are using metaphorical language to describe the potential that can be accomplished when one trusts God without doubt. The Bible sometimes uses metaphorical language to describe a literal truth. In the case of faith, we see it described as:

a) A Shield -
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (Eph. 6:16)

b) A Breastplate -
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

c) Compared to a Mustard Seed -
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (Matt. 17:20)
​

So we can see that the Bible has, on more than one occasion used metaphoric anguage to describe faith. Twice we find faith described in a military fashion, as a weapon of defense meant to protect us (shield and breastplate).

Yet we know that faith is not literally a shield, a breastplate, or a mustard seed. These descriptions and comparisons are given to faith to describe its potency, what it is able to do for the person who has it. It is able to protect the heart. A small quantity of it can produce amazing results.

2. Argument 2: The Word "Force" is used as a Synonym for POWER

People in the days of Simpson, Spurgeon, Anderson, Hannah Whitall Smith, etc. understood the phrase to mean "power". Unfortunately, today's Christian has been influenced by the barrage of mysticism that has crept into the world and the fact that they use language similar to what Christians have used.

For example, the popular "Star Wars" series have often referred to "the force" as some mystical entity that enables one to fight better, levitate objects, etc. This movie portrays a "dark" side of the force as well as a "good" side. This is the dualism that the Star Wars creator borrowed from New Age concepts.

Unfortunately, because Star Wars has been so popular in this generation and it's language so well known, some critics have falsely accused Word-Faith preachers of borrowing from the anti-christian concepts in this movie with the attempt to Christinize them.

This is the reason why I point to quotes by authors such as Simpson, Spurgeon and others. These fine heroes of the faith lived and died long before there was ever a Star Wars movie. Nevertheless, their language is similar to that of the Faith Teachers when describing the potential of what one can do when they have a pure trust and reliance upon God and His Word and they act upon these things.

3. Scripture shows us that miraculous power, Holy Spirit energy, and authority is released as a result of faith:

A) Faith as seen as energetic and forceful

And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness. So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working. (James 5:15-16 - BBE)
​

The KJV uses the word, "avail" in the place where the BBE uses the phrase, full of power. Here are some definitions of avail:

Availeth much (polu iscuei). "Has much force." (Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament)
"to be of force, to be effective, capable of producing results," (Vines's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)
To be strong; to avail, to be of use, or force; to be able (Zodhiates, Spiros The Complete Word Study New Testaments)
to be a force, avail (The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon)
​

So as we can see, this word is synonymous with the word "force". Some other translations use the word "energy."

b) The release of divine miraculous power as a result of faith:

And how unlimited is his power to us who have faith, as is seen in the working of the strength of his power, (Eph. 1:19; BBE)

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. (Mark 9:23)

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? .... And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. (Mark 5:30, 34)
​

The word virtue used in Mark 5:30 comes from the Greek word, "dunamis". The following is a definition from the Greek:

strength power, ability: inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth; power for performing miracles; power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts. (The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon)
​

Notice that Jesus gives credit to the woman's faith rather than the power that was released from Him to bring her healing. Faith releases the power or "force" of God. Therefore, faith can justifiably be referred to metaphorically as "a force." So we can see that faith releases the power of God in our lives.

c) The word of power or authority comes as a result of faith (see Matt. 17:20; Mark 11:22-24; Luke 17:5). Faith can be metaphorically referred to as a "force" or power simply because the Word of Power can be exercised by faith to command obstacles to be removed.

I would need more time to develop this thought but this is what I have for you so far. I look forward to reading everyone's comments, but especially Theophilus'.

 

[Theophilus7]

I promised T7 that I would address this...I look forward to reading everyone's comments, but especially Theophilus'.

A thread especially dedicated to me. I'm deeply moved. How can I refuse to contribute?

For the benefit of any readers, my original question, on "The Health and Wealth Gospel (Bruce Barron)" thread, was this:

Does anyone here like the idea of "faith as a force"? Can anyone here who uses this terminology explain what they and the faith teachers understand by it? Why use the term "force"? How does it help us understand faith?

Our friend victoryword argues for the inclusion of the term 'force' in our collection of metaphorical and descriptive language about faith. He believes it's just another word which may, in some contexts, be useful, just as the metaphor of faith as a shield or a breastplate. I am inclined to agree. We will not argue about words. But I think we may need to argue about ideas.

When, say, K. Copeland defines faith as a spiritual force, I think he means it much more literally than victoryword. Nor is it just another descriptive word in the barrel which might be pulled out from time to time, in certain contexts, to make a particular point. Unless I am very much mistaken, the idea of "faith as a force" is a much more central concept in main-stream WoF. In WoF theology, God has faith and uses faith. He made man in imago dei, intending him to imitate his heavenly Father's use of faith. So we have a reified faith here, and one that is said to operate according to definite 'spiritual laws', either for us (in its positive manifestation as belief in God's promises) or against us (in the negative manifestation: fear). Faith, in its positive sense, is the power or force which brings into realisation what God wants us to have (not whatever we want, as some critics, including Bowman, suggest).

This is how I understand the "faith as a force" concept, as taught by Hagin and Copeland. I am open to any correction on my understanding at this point. In my next post, I'll offer some criticisms of this view (assuming it is still intact - I shall wait a bit to see if anyone responds first ).

 

[speakingthetruth777]

I promised T7 that I would address this. I have not put together a theological discourse on this. My thoughts are somewhat scatter. However, I will attempt to justify why there is nothing at all wrong with referring to faith as a force.

1. Argument 1: The use of metaphorical language to describe the potency of an attribute:

When faith teachers refere to faith as a force, they are using metaphorical language to describe the potential that can be accomplished when one trusts God without doubt. The Bible sometimes uses metaphorical language to describe a literal truth. In the case of faith, we see it described as:

a) A Shield -
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (Eph. 6:16)

b) A Breastplate -
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

c) Compared to a Mustard Seed -
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (Matt. 17:20)
​

So we can see that the Bible has, on more than one occasion used metaphoric anguage to describe faith. Twice we find faith described in a military fashion, as a weapon of defense meant to protect us (shield and breastplate).

Yet we know that faith is not literally a shield, a breastplate, or a mustard seed. These descriptions and comparisons are given to faith to describe its potency, what it is able to do for the person who has it. It is able to protect the heart. A small quantity of it can produce amazing results.

2. Argument 2: The Word "Force" is used as a Synonym for POWER

People in the days of Simpson, Spurgeon, Anderson, Hannah Whitall Smith, etc. understood the phrase to mean "power". Unfortunately, today's Christian has been influenced by the barrage of mysticism that has crept into the world and the fact that they use language similar to what Christians have used.

For example, the popular "Star Wars" series have often referred to "the force" as some mystical entity that enables one to fight better, levitate objects, etc. This movie portrays a "dark" side of the force as well as a "good" side. This is the dualism that the Star Wars creator borrowed from New Age concepts.

Unfortunately, because Star Wars has been so popular in this generation and it's language so well known, some critics have falsely accused Word-Faith preachers of borrowing from the anti-christian concepts in this movie with the attempt to Christinize them.

This is the reason why I point to quotes by authors such as Simpson, Spurgeon and others. These fine heroes of the faith lived and died long before there was ever a Star Wars movie. Nevertheless, their language is similar to that of the Faith Teachers when describing the potential of what one can do when they have a pure trust and reliance upon God and His Word and they act upon these things.

3. Scripture shows us that miraculous power, Holy Spirit energy, and authority is released as a result of faith:

A) Faith as seen as energetic and forceful

And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness. So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working. (James 5:15-16 - BBE)
​

The KJV uses the word, "avail" in the place where the BBE uses the phrase, full of power. Here are some definitions of avail:

Availeth much (polu iscuei). "Has much force." (Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament)
"to be of force, to be effective, capable of producing results," (Vines's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)
To be strong; to avail, to be of use, or force; to be able (Zodhiates, Spiros The Complete Word Study New Testaments)
to be a force, avail (The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon)
​

So as we can see, this word is synonymous with the word "force". Some other translations use the word "energy."

b) The release of divine miraculous power as a result of faith:

And how unlimited is his power to us who have faith, as is seen in the working of the strength of his power, (Eph. 1:19; BBE)

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. (Mark 9:23)

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? .... And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. (Mark 5:30, 34)
​

The word virtue used in Mark 5:30 comes from the Greek word, "dunamis". The following is a definition from the Greek:

strength power, ability: inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth; power for performing miracles; power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts. (The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon)
​

Notice that Jesus gives credit to the woman's faith rather than the power that was released from Him to bring her healing. Faith releases the power or "force" of God. Therefore, faith can justifiably be referred to metaphorically as "a force." So we can see that faith releases the power of God in our lives.

c) The word of power or authority comes as a result of faith (see Matt. 17:20; Mark 11:22-24; Luke 17:5). Faith can be metaphorically referred to as a "force" or power simply because the Word of Power can be exercised by faith to command obstacles to be removed.

I would need more time to develop this thought but this is what I have for you so far. I look forward to reading everyone's comments, but especially Theophilus'.

Amen Victoryword! Faith is a force. Without our faith, God wouldnt accomplish what he can by us having faith. Without Faith we couldnt have been saved. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith, God couldnt have healed my cancer.
God Bless You

www.arkwebshost.com/biblestudies/joevberry3/

 

[Theophilus7]

I have finally got round to offering some remarks on the subject of "faith as a force". Actually, I'm going to quote from some old notes I made a long time ago (long before I did any serious research on WoF or before I'd really got into theology!). Some of my comments I made then I disagree with now. Some I would put differently. (I am happier now with the term 'spiritual law', in some contexts, than I was, after reading DeArteagas book, for example). I also hope my writing style has improved a little since then... (vain creature that I am ) Nevertheless, my thoughts at that time will doubtless reflect many peoples', and to a certain extent, they still reflect my own in some respects, so I have decided to large chunks of the document, and if anyone wishes to, we can discuss it.

Personal Faith

There are two ditches I think we can fall into when it comes to faith, and sometimes it can be hard to navigate between them.

On the one side is the ‘gospel casino’ mentality; “sometimes God does, sometimes He doesn’t, you never know what God’s going to do”. A “Que sera sera” Christian of this ilk cannot “believe and not doubt” – he is “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” (JAM. 1:6-8). Gospel casinoChristians can’t do much for God.

But on the other side of the road is the ‘faith formula’ ditch. ‘Faith formula’ thinking is based on the theory that there is ‘strict causality’ between faith and healing, or faith and prosperity etc. In other words, these qualities in our lives (healing, prosperity, peace etc.) are subject to a spiritual law (– a rule describing a definite relationship between one thing and another that is true all the time) 1. Faith formularisers can do much more for God than the Que sera sera’s, and God can do much more for them, but, as Ken Blue observes, the god of the faith formula 'awaits some specific quality and quantity of faith/human work to be offered up to him before releasing His blessings'. His relationship with his people is more like a contract than a covenant.

The real problem emerges when results are not forthcoming. If it is a ‘spiritual law’ that governs the relationship between faith and healing, then a person who is sick must be sick from a lack of faith, and it ought to be impossible for someone to receive healing without faith. Whilst these are often the case, they are not always the case (JOH. 4:47-53; 5:5-9; MK. 9:20-25 etc), therefore the application of the word ‘law’ is inappropriate. If it is a spiritual law that governs the relationship between faith and prosperity, then a person who is experiencing material lack must have a lack of faith. Again this may often be the case, but Paul repudiates the idea that there is an absolute cause-and-effect relationship between “gain” and “godliness” (which includes faith) (1TIM 6:5), and freely confesses his moments of lack in which God taught him the secret of contentment (PHP. 4:11-13). So once more the word ‘law’ is somewhat inappropriate.

Whilst I think the ‘faith formula’ is much closer to the truth than the ‘Gospel Casino’ ditch, I reject it nevertheless, because I have come to see how personal our faith is, and how an over-emphasis on spiritual laws can leave us clinging to a system of human works instead of a God of love.

The stories in the Bible give accounts of men and women who trusted in a loving and personal God who worked out His good plans in their lives (JER. 29:11). He was a faithful God who responded to their faith and obedience with blessings but who also took sin personally and punished wickedness. "See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand” (DEU. 32:39). He didn’t always do what they expected Him to do, but was always justified in what He did. Job confessed to the LORD: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted… Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” (JOB. 42:1).

The people, prophets and patriarchs of the Bible (esp. those in Heb 11) did not see their lives as constructed by a successful manipulation of spiritual laws, but as the outcome of their relationship with their personal Creator (“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD…” Ps. 89:15). God wasn’t an energy source they could learn to tap into, but He was a God they could learn to walk in fellowship with who would bless - a God “who is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear him.” (Ps. 115:5). Sometimes he withheld good things for a time in order to work out a good purpose in their lives. In Job’s case, God waited some time before answering, then He blessed him with twice what he had enjoyed before, doubtless to the surprise of the penitent and humbled Job! Joseph testified to his brothers who sold him into slavery; “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (GEN. 50:20). God was involved with His people’s faith. His actions in the present always had the future (and eternity) in view. The people of the Bible served a God of faithfulness, but not of formula. He was dependable, but not mechanical -- A personal Provider who responded to love, devotion, obedience and prayers of faith, but not a vendor machine activated by buttons and levers. You couldn’t fasten the God of mystery down to a formula (for "...My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways… For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" Is. 55:8-9), but you could depend on Him to honour His Word (for “he remembers his covenant forever” Ps. 115:5).

On the subject of formulae, it is worth commenting on the fact that sometimes faith teachers, wishing to excuse God from ‘withholding’ when the conditions of a promise are not met, prefer to couch the explanation in terms of these ‘spiritual laws’ or ‘operations’ – eg. “it just won’t work that way”. Perhaps this is fine up to a point, but I feel we must tread carefully, and it is for this reason I am writing. The inherent danger in taking the idea of ‘spiritual laws’ or ‘spiritual operations’ too far is its power to depersonalise and mechanise our faith. (That is, of course, the nature of a law.) We can liken many of God’s principles to laws in that His Word is His bond and what He promises is certain, but I believe we should be wary of separating the person from our provision by imagining that any of His precepts are (self-fulfilling?) mechanisms built into the (spiritual) universe which anyone with ‘know-how’ can operate, thus (effectively) reducing God to an impersonal energy source which we tap into by skillfully harnessing the ‘laws of the kingdom’. There is no room for God to be God when we think like this.

Once we go too far into mechanising God’s principles, when people abuse them (like giving to get), or think they can abuse principles, we find ourselves compelled to explain our “system’s” failure, appealing to shut-off mechanisms, additional laws, and the like, rather than sharing with them the characteristics of a Holy, Living God. Occam's Razor is a principle that cautions against any unnecessary multiplication of hypotheses to explain a given set of phenomena. I don’t believe God is standing back in the distance somewhere watching spiritual cogs turn – He’s personally involved with His creation in word and in deed, actively working in all things for good for those who love Him (rom. 8:28). We should certainly avoid theorising about a complex interplay of spiritual laws and forces to explain our Christian walk with God – Is it God we are trying to please, or is it a system we are trying to ‘function’ in? We should always ground our faith firmly on God’s person and get to know Him thoroughly ("He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." Ps. 62:2) To put it another way, I wish to draw more attention to the faithfulness of God to respond to faith, love, hope, confession, patience and perseverance rather than the reliability of a cold system of laws that make these things worthwhile. Incidentally, I think it is more honouring to God to say He simply will not do something when our motives are wrong (JAM 1:1-4) because of His Holiness, than to say ‘it just doesn’t work that way’. I’m not suggesting anyone does this all the time. I’m just pointing out a danger...

In the realm of faith confession, as another example, I believe we can boldly state that there is no absolute spiritual law that we will ‘have what we say’ anymore than there is an absolute spiritual law that we can ‘sow a car to get a car’. God is good, but He will not be manipulated in this fashion. Not if He’s really God. That doesn’t mean we don’t ever get what we say, nor does it mean a person could never sow a car into someone’s life and receive a Mercedes… but these are not “across the board”, self-automated, mechanical laws. They are things we do in obedience to the Holy Spirit (GAL. 6:8). The sowing or the saying are made efficacious by responding to God’s will at that moment in time, which is quite different from the absolute cause and effect relationship of a spiritual law. God’s will is that we sow and pray and confess on a regular basis, but the more we can tune in to the Holy Spirit’s direction in these practices, the more effective these things will become because of our relationship. (“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land” IS. 1:19)

I am not suggesting it is wrong to speak of ‘spiritual laws’, or that there aren’t any ‘spiritual laws’ God has made which are, in a sense, self-automated (eg. the law of sin and death? 3), but we should be cautious about permitting any ‘law’ to sneakily supplant the true object of our faith. They have a habit of doing that...When any practice in our Christian profession becomes empowered by a spiritual law, it becomes a technique. That is what a law does. That is the nature of a law.

A multiplicity of laws and forces in our walk of faith [logically] admit no room for God’s purposes and timing. When we try to tie the fruit of our lives down to a collection of impersonal absolutes, we put God in a box and He disappears from sight under a heap of cogs and machinery – cogs without compassion or personality, spinning in a sickening cycle – and our lives are spent in a vain effort to grind in unison or be crushed by the cold and irresistible motion of a self-automated and merciless mechanism. It might be a mechanism ingeniously impressed with a robotic image of God’s attributes, thus unresponsive to certain ‘abuses’, but it is a mechanism none the less.

... CONTINUED [See Part 2]

 

[Theophilus7]

I believe faith is very important in our Christian walk, just as love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, temperance and mercy are important in our Christian walk, but my conclusion is that we should not make absolute (and thus technique) what the Bible does not make absolute. God is absolute, and faith is relative to God’s purposes and timing. When God settles on doing something in our lives then “no plan of [His] can be thwarted” (JOB. 42:1) – no amount of faith and confession will change a circumstance or season that God has ordained (as Joyce Meyer would readily testify). We can understand this far better and submit ourselves to God’s will when we are placing our faith in Him, rather than trusting in a legalistic system to create results for us when fed the correct ingredients.

Take another look at Galatians 6:7-9.

7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit [lit. to the Spirit], from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (GAL. 6:7-9)

Look carefully at these verses. There is a spiritual law here! But where is it? People have looked at this verse and said there is a spiritual law that if I sow money or something else I will get it back multiplied, (as long as I do A+B+C+D as well), but sometimes that doesn’t happen. Why? Because they missed out a few words that describe the law. It says “the one who sows to please the Spirit” will reap. Here is the spiritual law! This is the centre of our faith – that if we are doing what God wants us to do when He wants us to do it, we will, definitely, absolutely, without any doubt whatsoever, be rewarded accordingly. If we sow in response to the Spirit’s leading, we will always get a harvest, because this is where the true spiritual law lies for everything. Paul offers us one marvellous, spiritual law: if we are ‘sowing to please the Spirit’ – whether the seed be prayer, money, time – then we will receive from heaven.

Do you see what this means? It means that God doesn’t have to leap from His throne to multiply every person’s ministry gift, but it does mean that those who are Spirit-led in their giving will receive a harvest every time! It means God isn’t obliged to submit to everybody’s faith (or positive) confession and let it come to pass, but it does mean that those who speak the words the Spirit gives them will most assuredly “have whatsoever they say”! It does not mean every prayer appended with Jesus name will be answered, but those who pray Word-based, Spirit-led prayers will be heard by the Father and will receive everything they ask for!

Do you see how this one spiritual law replaces all suggested spiritual laws? Do you see how this destroys the need to explain our failures by appealing to a multiplicity of conglomerated and unsatisfied spiritual laws working together like a huge and hideous machine? Do you see how this makes the different things God calls us to do effective without making any one of them a technique? Do you see the person of God shining through this promise of promises with all the assurance we could ask for of any ‘spiritual law’, but with all of His divine attributes intact and His very own hands outstretched to personally fulfil His Word?






The Holy Spirit hasn’t been sent to help us sort out a massive mechanical juggernaut of laws and forces that God made in a moment of mad genius, so we can use this or that law or operation at the right time when the cogs happen to be at such and such a position, but rather to reveal the immediate will of the Father and teach us to respond perfectly to it – just as He wants us to respond; thus satisfying this blessedly simple, perfectly personal and delightfully singular spiritual law; that those who are doing what the Spirit says will get powerful results every time! Halleluiah!

Accept this, and now God, and not a spiritual law, has truly and in every possible sense become your personal provider when you sow seed into a ministry and receive a harvest, when you speak the Word and the promises come to pass, when you pray in faith and get what you prayed for, and when you walk in love in obedience to Him and receive the blessed life that He personally communicates to you through His indwelling Holy Spirit. ("I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” IS. 42:8 “…What do you have that you did not receive?…” 2COR. 4:7) Accept this, and you can understand how God can work in all things for your good, without tripping up on His equations.

This one spiritual law God has given us, which fulfils all Law He has ever given us and satisfies all the conditions of every promise and yields the fruit of God’s immeasurable goodness; to love God with all our spirit, soul and body. Those who love God will pray when he wants them to pray, fast when He wants them to fast, give as He instructs them to give, study as He leads them to study. They will learn to perfect themselves in all of these things, offering an ever-increasing abundance and quality of seed to the Spirit and receiving an every-increasing measure of the fullness of God in their lives.

Thank God we do not have to become spiritual mechanics to enter into the kingdom of heaven on earth and draft out heavy prayer and confession programmes to try and make things happen. We must rather become Spirit-led lovers and put our trust totally in God, even though He can’t be tied down to predictable patterns much of the time...

 

[Godz Marine]

Amen Victoryword! Faith is a force. Without our faith, God wouldnt accomplish what he can by us having faith. Without Faith we couldnt have been saved. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith, God couldnt have healed my cancer.
God Bless You

www.arkwebshost.com/biblestudies/joevberry3/

Yes, Amen!

Faith is a force of power just as much as the electricity that powers our homes.

The woman with the issue of blood used her faith to recieve her healing without the Jesus' knowledge of who had done it. Jesus repeatedly asked of those whom He was about to minister to if they "Believed", if they had faith. He was recorded to have told them that it was "faith", thier faith which healed them, made them whole. We can speak the Words of God and see then come into fruition within our lives for scripture tells us that His (God's) words )promises) concerning us will not return to Him void. In other words they will be fulfilled. We shall recieve the things He has promised but even Dueteronomy 28 tells us what we must do to recieve them. We must keep His Words and do them. If we are keeping them and doing them we will speak them for we believe them. Revelation tells us about those who overcome. We are told they overcome by the Blood of the Lamb (which has already been done) and by the word of their testimony. God's part is done. The only part of the equation which is variable is ours, our words which we speak.

Scripture tells us that we are to choose this day, blessings or cursings, life and death. We also read that life and death are in the power (force) of the tongue. We can speak life into our lives or we can speak death, it is our choice of that which we believe and do. We are told that out of the mouth flow the issues of the heart!

 

[joevberry3]

Yes, Amen!

Faith is a force of power just as much as the electricity that powers our homes.

The woman with the issue of blood used her faith to recieve her healing without the Jesus' knowledge of who had done it. Jesus repeatedly asked of those whom He was about to minister to if they "Believed", if they had faith. He was recorded to have told them that it was "faith", thier faith which healed them, made them whole. We can speak the Words of God and see then come into fruition within our lives for scripture tells us that His (God's) words )promises) concerning us will not return to Him void. In other words they will be fulfilled. We shall recieve the things He has promised but even Dueteronomy 28 tells us what we must do to recieve them. We must keep His Words and do them. If we are keeping them and doing them we will speak them for we believe them. Revelation tells us about those who overcome. We are told they overcome by the Blood of the Lamb (which has already been done) and by the word of their testimony. God's part is done. The only part of the equation which is variable is ours, our words which we speak.

Scripture tells us that we are to choose this day, blessings or cursings, life and death. We also read that life and death are in the power (force) of the tongue. We can speak life into our lives or we can speak death, it is our choice of that which we believe and do. We are told that out of the mouth flow the issues of the heart!

Hi Greg! We agree Brother!
God Bless,
Joe