We've probably heard Mark 11:24 more times
than we can count, but what does it really mean? "Therefore I say unto
you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,
and ye shall have them." That simple? If you believe it, you
have it.
If we study the miracles in Matthew 9:1–8 and John 5:2–9, we find insights into how this works. Would the men have been healed if they had waited to feel that they were healed before they acted on Christ’s word?
So what about us? Why are we waiting to feel that we can overcome? How is that supposed to work? It's not how Christ worked when He was here on earth, and He never changes.
You see, the
problem is us. We literally believe we are to remain the way we’ve always been
until Jesus comes, because we don’t feel that we have the victory. We
are buying into one of Satan’s lies. True, we have no power to overcome on our
own, BUT only we have the power to choose. God will not do this for us. God
wants to sanctify us, but we cling to sin, hoping in vain to be saved with it.
The reality is, we don’t even want to live without it. This is why it’s
time we took a different approach: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh
the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith.” (1 John 5:4)
FAITH is the victory! Yes, we don’t, in our
natural sinful state, even want victory. That’s why we have to pray for that
desire. But too often we do this, and then just leave it there. This is where
we fail! We MUST take it to completion. We MUST live as though we DO have that
desire, as though we experience the victory, not because we feel it, but
because God has promised. Strength IS provided, whether or not we feel it.
We choose, He empowers. We act, He strengthens. Not the other way round. We
prevent Him from helping us, because we do not choose. We sit waiting to
someday miraculously wake up and find that we have the victory. It's like we
expect the promise to be fulfilled in spite of us. But it’s up to us. We know 2 Corinthians
5:7 off by heart: "For we walk by faith, not by sight". It's time we applied it. We cannot ever base our
trust on feelings.
Like a train,
FACT - is the engine, FAITH - is the fuel, and FEELINGS - are the carriage.
“Now
go to Him, and ask that He will wash away your sins and give you a new heart.
Then believe that He does this because He has promised” (Steps to Christ, p
49, 50). You choose to serve God. You confess your sins and give yourself to
Him. You take Him at His word, believing His promise to make you righteous.
Put God's
promises to the test, and see if He won't do great and mighty things for you.
Remember, He has already poured out all of Heaven for you in one gift. Were it
not for Him, we shouldn't even be alive today. There is no question as to
whether or not He will grant you the strength for the victories you so
desperately need. We know that He will not allow anything to afflict us
that He has not already made provision for. Praise Him as though the victory is already
yours, He will set up the circumstances for you to overcome. Live in the
knowledge that you HAVE the victory.
"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the staircase."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfil His word to you. If you believe the promise—believe that you are forgiven and cleansed—God supplies the fact. . . . It is so if you believe it” (Steps to Christ, p 51).
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