GOD WORKS THROUGH FAITH

God Works Through Faith

We see great faith mentioned by Jesus in the healing of the centurion’s servant. This man was a Gentile outside the covenant, yet his faith moved Jesus. His faith not only caused Jesus to pay attention, but it got an answer! Great faith is answered. The centurion understood the rank of Jesus in the spirit and put a demand upon his authority. He understood the power of the spoken word, and he simply requested of Jesus to do what he was authorized to do.

And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, entreating him, and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home, sick with paralysis, terribly tormented.”

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. But, only  speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For, I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this man, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard it, he was amazed and said to those who followed, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say to you that many will come from the east and west and will dine with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way. And as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment. [Matthew 8:4-13]

A Roman centurion caused Jesus to marvel. The Roman soldiers were not known to be friendly with the Jews, nor were the Jews fond of the Romans. I have discovered an amazing thing about great faith: it bypasses all limitations, including cultural limitations. It lays hold of the promises of God with no regard for what man deems acceptable.

Growing up as a Roman, this man would have had a pagan background. He was stationed in Palestine to enforce the emperor’s government and laws upon the Jewish people. He would have excelled to the level of leadership in the Roman army at times with brutal force. He would not have been a person you would expect to cause Jesus to marvel, and yet he did! This was a foreshadow of the exact thing Jesus came to do, to tear down the wall of sin and separation so all people can come to salvation. This situation was a demonstration of grace.

I believe the Roman centurion’s understanding of the spirit realm is what caused Jesus to marvel at his faith. He knew that whatever Jesus spoke would come to pass. He understood the power of God in action. This was revelation.

Revelation births faith and faith moves things from one realm into another. To tap into this realm of anointing and glory, it takes believing trust and faith.

We need patience to walk in the spirit by faith, to birth realms of glory, potential, and promise. We must be able to bear pain and trial. Times of conflict and challenge birth the most powerful deliverers. This should give you a different perspective on the presence of difficult circumstances. Often in these moments God chooses a man or woman to break the cycle in our lives.

For God speaks once, yes twice, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumber on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. [Job 33:14-16]

Each of us has been handpicked by God for a unique and timely work in the earth. It all comes down to our level of obedience. We cannot delegate our obedience to another or blame adversity for our lack of co-operation with the plans of God.

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. [Isaiah 1:19]

Obedience is critical in fulfilling personal and corporate destiny. When we obey God, we enjoy His blessings. Obedience can be costly and cause us to do things that are uncomfortable, but it is all part of God’s master plan for us.

Obedience is the fruit of surrender. When I am surrendered to the will of the Father, I am happy to follow His instructions even when I don’t understand completely what the end result will be. This comes as I plant my life in prayer. Prayer is a time of reflection and balance. I come into His presence with questions, seeking answers, realizing my helplessness, and as He quiets my mind, my spirit begins to receive instruction from my Father. His voice calms the storm and brings divine peace and understanding.

With His indwelling presence I am empowered to live boldly. I am free from the fear of man and ready to launch forth into His revealed plan. This is the journey of obedience. It is fueled by a hunger and desire to please my God and my Father. The world cannot understand of this because it is the mark of a disciple. An obedient one has yielded in faith-obedience to the discipline of the Father, denying his own desires, reckoning the self as dead, in order to fulfill His will. The rewards far outweigh the price.

My responsibility is to obey, to surrender my heart in total commitment and to yield myself to the will of God. It is though this process of obedience that we gain understanding of His williHHH. You can’t get the peace that passes understanding until you give up your right to self; until you die to self and walk in the spirit.

Seeds produce harvest. We must have a twofold faith: faith to sow and faith to receive!

See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant. [Jeremiah 1:10]

Jeremiah was called as a prophet to root out, to pull down, to destroy, and to throw down! All those things had to happen before any building and planting can begin and have full impact.

It is for this reason that the apostolic and prophetic offices are linked together, along with the teacher, as foundational to the church. The prophets speak the heard things. The prophets receive revelation of what needs to change, what God wants us to do, and His heart behind it. Apostles come in with a grace of God to strategically build and plant by the leading of the Spirit of God.

Having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus God’s anointed one himself is the chief cornerstone. [Ephesians 2:2:20]

The apostolic office brings governing (kingdom enforcement and authority), liberty (bondage broken), and building to establish the rule of the Messiah! Apostles are direct ambassadors of Jesus the Messiah and his glory. The apostolic anointing is a Jesus-revealing anointing.

The prophetic brings forerunning (out ahead in seeing, knowing, and hearing), intimacy (praying, seeking, and pursuing), seeing (wondrous dreams, visions, and prophetic encounters), and speaking (releasing the voice of Yehovah).

In no way is this a complete list of all the attributes of these various anointings or offices. It is a partial, quick overview of the truths we know to be true. Volumes could not contain all the wonderful attributes of the various gifts and offices of God’s anointed one and his called-out Assembly, his body.