FIRST YOU BELIEVE AND THEN YOU RECEIVE
1). WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO “BELIEVE”?
SOME MAY ASK, DO I REALLY BELIEVE AS I SHOULD WHEN IT COMES TO BELIEVING THAT WHEN I DIE I WILL GO TO HEAVEN; TO BELIEVING THAT JESUS IS REALLY THE SON OF GOD AND ROSE FROM THE DEAD? MAYBE I DO NOT BELIEVE ENOUGH. HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? I MEAN, I WAS NOT THERE. I DID NOT SEE IT. HOW DO I KNOW FOR SURE? THE ANSWER FOR MANY IS….”I JUST BELIEVE”, or “ I KNOW DEEP INSIDE.”. BUT WHAT DOES “BELIEVING” REALLY MEAN…SPECIALLY WHEN YOU CANNOT SEE SOMETHING?
BELIEVE – as defined by Websters is :
- TO TAKE AS REAL, TRUE, ETC.
- TO TRUST A STATEMENT OR PROMISE OF (A PERSON)
- TO SUPPOSE OR THINK
- TO HAVE FAITH
2). NOW, WHAT IS FAITH? FAITH IS TO BELIEVE. Websters gives the following definitions:
A. IT IS DIFFERENT THAN “HOPE”.
B. HOPE IS “WISHING” AND MORE PASSIVE.
C. BELIEVING IS TO TAKE AS REAL AND TRUE, TO TRUST A STATEMENT OR PROMISE, TO SUPPOSE OR THINK…TO HAVE FAITH.
3). IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY RECEIVE FROM GOD WHEN WE PRAY WE MUST COME TO AN UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT BELIEVING IS AND IS NOT.
4). NOW THAT WE HAVE DEFINED WHAT IT IS TO BELIEVE, ASK AND ANSWER YOURSELF THIS SERIES OF QUESTIONS:
- DO I BELIEVE JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD?
- DO I BELIEVE JESUS DIED FOR MY SINS?
- DO I BELIEVE THAT I HAVE ETERNAL LIFE WITH HIM IF I DIED RIGHT NOW?
- DO I BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS CONCERNED ABOUT MY WELLBEING RIGHT NOW ON THIS EARTH?
- DO I BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE INERRENT, INFALLIBLE, TRUE WORD OF GOD?
- DO I BELIEVE THE BIBLE AND THAT GOD’S PROMISES APPLY TO ME?
- DO I BELIEVE GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF ME IF HE SAYS HE GIVES US ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO LIFE AND GODLINESS?
- DO I BELIEVE GOD WILL HEAL ME NOW IF HE SAYS BY HIS STRIPES I AM HEALED?
5.). FIRST YOU BELIEVE….AND THEN YOU RECEIVE.
.
A. Mark 11:24
"Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.
- Note the past tense in the above word “received”….meaning as soon as you prayed, it was already done.
- HEALING OF THE NOBLEMAN’S SON
John 4:46-54 (New American Standard Bible)
Healing a Nobleman's Son
46Therefore He came again to (A)Cana of Galilee (B)where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at (C)Capernaum.
47When he heard that Jesus had come (D)out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.
48So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see (E)signs and (F)wonders, you simply will not believe."
49The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50Jesus said to him, "(G)Go; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.
51As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living.
52So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, "Yesterday at the [a]seventh hour the fever left him."
53So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives"; and he himself believed and (H)his whole household.
54This is again a (I)second sign that Jesus performed when He had (J)come out of Judea into Galilee
D. NOTE THAT THE MAN FIRST BELIEVED THE WORD, THEN HE STARTED OFF…WALKED IN FAITH…..THEN THE FINAL RESULT WAS THAT HE RECEIVED.
E. Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
F. FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE (OR BELIEF) OF THE THING WE HOPE FOR. IT IS NOT HOPE ITSELF BUT THE BELIEF OF WHAT WE ARE HOPING FOR AND THE EVIDENCE OF THE THING NOT YET SEEN.
G. GOD CALLS THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE NOT AS THOUGH THEY WERE. THAT IS HOW HE SEES THINGS AND WE MUST LEARN TO SEE HIS WAY AND NOT BY THE FIVE SENSES OF:
SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TOUCH AND FEEL EMOTIONALLY
Romans 4:16-18 (American Standard Version)
16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
17 (as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were.
18 Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, So shall thy seed be.
6) UNDERSTANDING PRINCIPLES OF FAITH AND BELIEVING FOR HEALING, AND DELIVERANCE:
A. JESUS REDEMPTION OR SETTING FREE OF MANKIND FROM THE CURSE THAT OCCURRED WHEN ADAM AND EVE SINNED IN THE GARDEN HAS A TWO-FOLD PURPOSE. ONE IS SALVATION THROUGH HIS BLOOD. THE OTHER IS HEALING BY HIS STRIPES AND BEATINGS….THE BODY AND THE BLOOD. THERE CAN BE NO PROVISION FOR SALVATION WITHOUT ALSO A PROVISION FOR HEALING. THE TWO GO TOGETHER AND ARE HIS GIFT TO US.
B. HIS BLOOD CLEANSES US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. BY IT WE ARE THEREFORE SAVED, CLEANSED AND DELIVERED. DELIVERANCE COMES THROUGH HIS BLOOD.
C. BY HIS STRIPES WE BOTH WERE (1 PETER 2:24 ) AND ARE (ISAIAH 53:5 ) HEALED. HEALING COMES AS A RESULT OF HIS STRIPES AND SCOURGING. HE SUFFERED FOR US AND TOOK OUR DISEASES UPON HIMSELF.
D. IN THE SALVATION EXPERIENCE OUR SPIRIT IS MADE ALIVE TO CHRIST (Romans 8:10; I Cor. 2:12; Ephesians 2; Eph. 4:22-24 ). IT WAS ONCE DEAD. WHEN WE CAME TO THE ALTER, OUR SPIRIT WAS SAVED. PHYSICALLY WE MAY NOT HAVE EXPERIENCED ANYTHING UPON THAT FIRST DECISION FOR SALVATION. MENTALLY, WE MAY NOT HAVE CHANGED THAT SAME MOMENT ALTHOUGH IN SOME CASES BOTH HAPPEN. BUT OVER TIME, WHAT HAPPENED IN OUR SPIRIT FILTERS DOWN TO THE MIND AND BODY. WE NO LONGER FEEL LIKE DOING WHAT WE USED TO DO. WE NO LONGER THINK THE WAY WE USED TO THINK.
E. THE HEALING EXPERIENCE IS MUCH THE SAME. DO NOT BE CONFUSED. THERE IS INSTANTANEOUS HEALING AND THIS IS THE GIFT OF MIRACLES. BUT THERE IS A GIFT OF HEALING AND THIS IS MORE PROGRESSIVE AT TIMES. IT OFTEN DOES NOT HAPPEN INSTANTANEOUS BUT OVER A TIME PERIOD. IN THE HEALING EXPERIENCE, OUR SPIRIT, IN THE SAME WAY AS IN THE SALVATION EXPERIENCE IS TOUCHED AND REGENERATED FIRST. THINGS HAPPEN FIRST IN THE SPIRIT BECAUSE GOD IS SPIRIT AND WE ARE ACTUALLY SPIRITUAL BEINGS. THE SPIRIT IS FIRST AND THE PHYSICAL IS LAST. SO WHILE WE MAY FEEL ILL, HAVE AN INFIRMITY OR CONDITION, BE LAME, ETC., THE PROVISION OF HEALING HAS ALREADY BEEN PROVIDED THROUGH JESUS STRIPES. ONCE WE TAKE FAITH AND BELIEVE, THEN IT WILL BEGIN TO WORK FOR US. LIKE SALVATION, IT IS NOT AUTOMATIC. JUST AS WE ARE SAVED BY FIRST BELIEVING IN OUR HEART AND THEN CONFESSING WITH OUR MOUTH, (Romans 10:9) HEALING WORKS THE SAME WAY. WE MUST EMBRACE IT AND BELIEVE FIRST. WE MUST CONFESS IT ALSO. THEN, OVER TIME OR MAYBE EVEN INSTANTLY, IT WILL MOVE FROM THE SPIRIT TO THE BODY AND EVENTUALLY MANIFEST ITSELF. THIS HAS BEEN THE EXPERIENCE I HAD UNDERGONE WITH MY HEART. REMEMBER, JUST LIKE YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY SAVED IN THE SALVATION EXPERIENCE…WHETHER YOU FEEL SAVED OR NOT, YOU ARE ALSO IMMEDIATELY HEALED, WHETHER YOU FEEL HEALED OR NOT. THE BATTLE IS ONE OF FAITH AND BELIEVING IT DESPITE LYING SYMPTOMS AND VANITIES. FIRST WE BELIEVE AND THEN WE RECEIVE. I LIKE THE EXAMPLE F.F. BOSWORTH PROVIDED IN HIS BOOK, “CHRIST THE HEALER”. HE EXPLAINED WHAT I AM SAYING IN THIS WAY:
YEARS AGO THERE WERE SEVERAL WAYS TO KILL A TREE. ONE WAS BY CHOPPING IT DOWN AND ANOTHER WAS USING A METHOD CALLED “GIRDLING”. IN ORDER TO “GIRDLE” A TREE, A METAL SHEET OR THICK ROD WAS INSERTED INTO THE BARK OF THE BODY OF THE TREE ABOVE THE ROOTS. THE METAL WOULD THEN BLOCK WATER FROM GETTING UP THROUGH THE ROOTS TO THE REST OF THE TREE AND THUS WOULD KILL THE TREE. NOW, TECHNICALLY THE VERY MOMENT THIS SHEET OF METAL WAS INSERTED INTO THE TREE, THE TREE WAS DEAD. HOWEVER, IF YOU LOOKED AT THE TREE AND JUST WENT BY VISUAL APPEARANCES, IT WOULD SEEM VERY MUCH ALIVE FOR A WHILE. BECAUSE SOME WATER STILL REMAINED ABOVE WHERE THE SHEET OF METAL HAD BEEN INSERTED, THE TREE, FOR A PERIOD OF TIME WILL STILL SPROUT LEAVES, BLOOM AND GROW STEMS. BUT EVENTUALLY OVER TIME YOU WILL SEE IT DRY UP AND COMPLETELY DIE. THIS HELPED ME GREATLY IN UNDERSTANDING HOW YOU CAN BE HEALED AND YET STILL FEEL THE SYMPTOMS OF BEING SICK…FOR AWHILE. IT HELPED ME IN LEARNING AND UNDERSTANDING HOW FAITH ACTUALLY WORKS. MUCH LIKE GIRDLING A TREE, I HAVE INSERTED THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT..THE WORD OF GOD INTO THAT TREE OF DISEASE IN MY BODY. THE MOMENT I DID THAT, THE TREE WAS TECHNICALLY AND FOR ALL INTENT AND PURPOSE “DEAD”. IN THE SAME WAY, MY DISEASE, FROM THAT MOMENT ON WAS DEAD. NOW, FOR A WHILE I WOULD STILL SEE THE LINGERING SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE IN MY BODY. BUT LIKE THAT TREE THAT HAD BEEN GIRDLED BUT WAS STILL USING ITS LAST BIT OF WATER TO FEED SOME GROWING LEAVES, I BEGAN TO MAKE THAT COMPARISON AND SAY, “LORD, I KNOW I AM HEALED NOW. I FEEL THESE TERRIBLE SYMPTOMS AND IF I JUST WENT ON APPEARANCE I WOULD HAVE TO SAY I AM STILL QUITE ILL. BUT NOW I KNOW BETTER. JUST LIKE THAT TREE THAT HAS BEEN GIRDLED, ALL I AM FEELING ARE THE LAST VESTIGES OR DYING SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS OF A DYING TREE OR DISEASE.” AND OVER TIME, THE SYMPTOMS BECAME LESS AND LESS…JUST AS THE TREE BLOOMED LESS AND LESS AND THEN FINALLY THE BRANCHES JUST WITHERED AWAY, BECAME BROWN INSTEAD OF GREEN AND DIED FOREVER. THIS IS HOW WE MUST VIEW THE WAY GOD OFTEN HEALS US. INSTANT HEALING CAN COME THROUGH THE GIFT OF MIRACLES OR IF OUR FAITH CAN RISE TO THE LEVEL OF ACCEPTANCE. BUT GOD WILL ALSO USE THE GIFT OF HEALING AND WORK WITH US TO SEE GRADUAL MANIFESTATION OF WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR US TAKE PLACE, AS I HAVE EXPLAINED.
ANOTHER THING DR. F.F. BOSWORTH WROTE ON THE SUBJECT WAS THAT IF OR WHEN ALARMING SYMPTOMS CAME TO OUR BODY WHILE BELIEVING AND ACCEPTING GOD’S HEALING THAT WE ARE NOT TO PANIC BUT INSTEAD TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE CANNOT HEAL OURSELVES AND THAT WE HAVE GIVEN THE MATTER OVER TO THE LORD. HIS WORD IS TRUE AND THE RESPONSIBILITY IS HIS FOR HEALING US. WHEN I DID THAT, IT REALLY HELPED BECAUSE IT TOOK THE PRESSURE OFF ME. I NO LONGER HAD TO BIND THIS DEMON OR THAT SPIRIT BUT JUST SIMPLY REST IN THE COMFORT OF JESUS’S ARMS AND KNOW THAT I WAS TRUSTING IN HIS WORD AND DEPENDING ON HIM. I HAD SPENT YEARS READING EVERY BOOK I COULD GET MY HANDS ON TO TRY AND UNDERSTAND HOW TO HAVE FAITH FOR MY OWN HEALING. BUT WHEN I LEARNED THE TRUTHS I HAVE JUST EXPLAINED ABOVE, IT FINALLY REGISTERED WITH ME. A REVELATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF HEALING, FAITH AND TRUST IN THE LORD, AS WELL AS HOW FAITH WORKS CAMR TO ME AND I BEGAN TO SEE THE SYMPTOMS OF MY OWN DISEASE DECREASE OVER TIME UNTIL I BEGAN TO WALK IN HEALING I COULD ACTUALLY SEE AND EXPERIENCE.
F. I AM NOT TEACHING MIND OVER MATTER. THIS IS NOT SOME CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PHILOSOPHY. WHEN I WAS PRAYING AND BELIVING FOR HEALING OF MY HEART, SOMETIMES IT SEEMED TO GET EVEN WORSE. I HAD ALL THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS FROM THE DEVIL THAT SAID, “NOTHING HAS CHANGED. IN FACT, YOU ARE GETTING WORSE.”...JUST LIKE THAT DEAD TREE STILL GROWING LEAVES. YOU SEE, WE DO NOT DENY THE SYMPTOMS AND PAINS, AS THEY ARE VERY REAL. BUT WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS TO LOOK PAST THOSE SYMPTOMS AND PAINS TO THE MANIFESTATION OF THE HEALING THAT GOD HAS ALREADY PROVIDED FOR. WE CONTINUE TO BELIEVE DESPITE WHAT WE SEE, FEEL, HEAR, SMELL OR TOUCH. IN TIME, THE MANIFESTATIONS BEGIN TO COME. WE FEEL BETTER AND BETTER AND BEGIN TO SEE CHANGES.
G. WHAT DOES SATAN DO? HE COMES TO KILL, STEAL AND DESTROY. (John 10:10) HE DESIRES TO STEAL AND ROB YOU OF YOUR HEALING JUST AS HE WOULD LIKE TO ROB YOU OF YOUR SALVATION. BUT HE CANNOT IF YOU DO NOT LET HIM.
7). WHAT IF AFTER ALL OF THIS, I REALIZE I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH FAITH? MAYBE I JUST DO NOT BELIEVE ENOUGH.
- IT MAY SURPRISE YOU TO KNOW THAT JESUS WAS ALWAYS CHALLENGING HIS OWN DISCIPLES, SOMETIMES EVEN REBUKING THEM FOR HAVING SUCH LITTLE FAITH. (Mat. 17: 19-20; Mat. 6:30) I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THE LORD ALLOWS THINGS TO HAPPEN TO STRETCH OUR FAITH. HE FORCES US TO EXERCISE IT AND PUTS US IN SITUATIONS WHERE WE HAVE TO THAT SOMETIMES SEEM UNPLEASANT. BUT IT IS THE ONLY WAY OUR FAITH CAN REALLY GROW. I WOULD ADD TO THAT THE HEARING OF THE WORD OF GOD WHICH ALSO BRINGS FAITH TO US.
8). SO HOW DO I GET FAITH? HOW DO I INCREASE MY ABILITY TO BELIEVE? HOW DO I BELIEVE? WHAT CAN I DO?
A. THE BIBLE TELLS US FIRST OF ALL THAT WE DO HAVE FAITH. WE HAVE IT WITHIN US TO BELIEVE. YOU MAY BELIEVE YOU HAVE NO FAITH OR YOU ARE OUT OF THE FAITH YOU ONCE HAD. THE BIBLE THOUGJ SAYS THAT NOT EVEN A FLICKERING WICK WILL HE QUENCH. FURTHER, IT SAYS THAT TO EACH ONE IS GIVEN A MEASURE OF FAITH. (Romans 12:3) SO, WHOEVER YOU ARE AND WHATEVER YOU ARE GOING THROUGH, THE DEVIL IS A LIAR. YOU DO HAVE A MEASURE OF FAITH, WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT.
B. GOD’S WORD ALSO TELLS US WHERE FAITH COMES FROM AND HOW TO GET IT TO GROW. IT PROVIDES AN ANSWER ON HOW TO BELIEVE. (Romans 10:17) THIS SCRIPTURE TELLS US, “SO THEN FAITH COMES BY HEARING AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD.” YOU NEED TO BE IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THE TRUE WORD OF GOD IN ORDER TO SEE YOUR FAITH GROW.
C.HEARING THE WORD TRIGGERS FAITH AND BELIEF. – “PAUL AND THE LAME MAN”
Acts 14:7-10 (American Standard Version)
7 and there they preached the gospel.
8 And at Lystra there sat a certain man, impotent in his feet, a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked.
9 The same heard Paul speaking, who, fastening eyes upon him, and seeing that he had faith to be made whole,
10 said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped up and walked.
WHERE DID THE MAN GET THE FAITH TO BE HEALED? BY HEARING PAUL SPEAK THE GOSPEL. .
1. HE HEARD PAUL PREACH
2. HE HAD THE FAITH TO BE HEALED
3. HE LEAPED AND WALKED
9). WE CAN ALL ACTIVATE OUR FAITH AND BELIEF BECAUSE FAITH COMES THROUGH HEARING THE WORD OF CHRIST.
(ROMANS 10:17)
A. THIS IS A GOOD REASON TO BE IN CHURCH, TO HAVE BIBLE STUDIES AND INTERACT WITH OTHER CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS, TO LISTEN TO WORD MESSAGES
MAY THE LORD BLESS THIS WORD TO YOUR HEART.
EVANGELIST AND PASTOR MISCHA SAFDIE’
Mischa Safdie’ Ministries
136 N. Grand Ave., Ste. 278
W. Covina, CA 91791
(951) 796-3936
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