"I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 36:11
For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 2 Corinthians 1:20
Dr. Larry Ollison in his article The Two Power Partners - Grace and Faith writes:
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).
As a Christian you have been given something the world does not have. You have been given the availability of a power that can solve all your problems and defeat any enemy that comes against you. As a Christian you have access to power that can help you accomplish the impossible — the ultimate power — the power of grace.
Before you become a Christian, you’re spiritually defenseless. When the devil attacks and tempts you to sin, you don’t have the ability to resist. Envy, strife, gossip, hatred and all the works of the flesh can come in and take control. Just being a decent human being seems like a hopeless task! But after you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, there is no excuse for defeat any more. You now have the ability to access grace and develop faith. With these two “power partners,” you have the potential to move mountains and eliminate any obstacle that would hinder or bind you.
The Apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament and laid the foundation of the church for the world. He established the government of the church for us. However, he could not have done this on his own. He had to have a supernatural force helping him. That supernatural force was the power of grace: a special endowment to do that task.
We are to build on the foundation Paul laid, but we can’t do it under our own power. We can only do this by using the same power Paul used. That power is grace.
We know faith is equally as important as grace. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” But we can’t overlook the supernatural power that only comes through grace. Faith is the catalyst that activates God’s Word, causing what we are believing to come to pass. We’re saved by grace, but faith contains the belief and requires action that activates grace. Grace for salvation is always available for the non-Christian. God’s grace is more than sufficient, but grace for salvation is only activated by faith.
As Christians, we know we are to walk by faith and not by sight. We believe God will do what He said He would do. We know it is impossible for God to lie. Titus 1:2: “In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began” and Hebrews 6:18 both say it is impossible for God to lie: “That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie …”
We know what God says is true. We can take it to the bank. We can count on it. That’s what being a faith person is. We walk by faith and we live by faith. We know when God says it, it doesn’t matter how things look around us. It doesn’t matter if everything appears to be falling apart. If God says it will be a certain way, it will be that way. A faith person believes it has already been accomplished because God has said it. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
When the world hears faith spoken, they usually don’t understand. They may say, “Well, it doesn’t look that way.” But faith says, “It doesn’t matter how it looks. You can look at how it looks, but I’m going to look at what God says. You can look at the problem, but I’m going to look at the promise. I’m going to focus on the answer instead of the question. I’m going to stay focused and believe God’s Word and what He said.”
Faith is simply believing God is doing what He said He would do regardless of how things look, and believing it so completely that everything you say and everything you do is based on what you believe, and not what you see. That’s faith.
The bible tells us that faith is not a set of religious beliefs but the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible (Hebrews 11:1-3).
True faith accomplishes things. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens (Hebrews 11:30-34).
Yes, faith in God produces positive results. In Lystra, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked a certain man without strength in his feet, was sitting and Paul observed that he had faith to be healed. So Paul with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" And he leaped and walked. It was said of Stephen, And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8). It was said of Barnabas, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord (Acts 11:24).
But unfortunately this cannot be said of most Christians that they are full of the Holy Spirit, full of faith and power? Probably because they have grieved the Holy Spirit, have delegated Him to some dark obscure room in their house of clay and have designated faith to be some set of religious beliefs including that God doesn’t heal today and tongues are off the devil? They are not full of the Holy Spirit but full of unbelief and demons! It’s amazing what Christians define faith to be but it’s obvious that they don’t have the real thing or they would be more like Stephen, Philip or Barnabas. Yes, God’s word is unchanging:
"And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Mark 16:17-20
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city. Acts 8:5-8
Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. Acts 15:12
Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?- Galatians 3:5
Yes, God is unchanging and is a miracle working God who not only supplies the Spirit to us but works miracles amongst us by the hearing of faith! So if people are not seeing and receiving miracles it’s obviously they don’t have faith or have the wrong kind of faith? They don’t have faith that through faith in Jesus name gives men perfect soundness including physical and emotional healing.
Because Jesus Christ is alive and well and has overcome the world including sin, demons and death and has won the victory, He gives the victory to His trusting children to achieve great things for His honor and glory. The size of their mountain or enemies is not a problem because their God, friend, provider and Lord, is bigger than anything that they face or will face. He is still in the mountain moving and miracle working business and none can stand against Him and the power of Jesus name. Everything must bow at the name of Jesus including sickness, poverty, disease, demons, loss and governments. God’s word is true:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11
So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. Luke 17:6
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith. 1 John 5:4
EXTRACT FROM Be Not Ignorant
http://walthope.tripod.com/ignorant.htm
http://walthope.wordpress.com
https://plus.google.com/u/0/100302133262254344211/posts
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