BY GREG CRUM
“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Mark 11:22-23
Who is recorded to have spoken the words we read in Mark 11:22-23? In my Bible the letters are in red. They’re the words of the Lord Jesus. If you listen to some modern Pharisees you’d think the words spoken and ideas presented in this chapter of Mark were authored by some “name it and claim it” preacher trying to falsify God’s Word and drain your bank account. Has the “Word of Faith” included some doctrinal error over the years? Sure, I don’t know a group or denomination that hasn’t had some weeds grow in their garden. Yet, despite the error and misapplication of some, the principles of faith still find their root in the beliefs of our Lord Jesus. He was and is the ultimate “faith” preacher. That may be something you want to consider the next time you have the urge to bash those who are trying to live by their faith.
Last week we wrote of the power and place of our words. We mentioned that the words of man, spoken from the appropriate perspective (faith), bring the life of God into our lives. God’s life finds a place in our reality when we use our voices to agree with His Word concerning our lives. In a nutshell, this is the “word of faith” which is preached, when it is conveyed according to Scripture.
We left off last week acknowledging that the world loves to mock this idea of faith, and religion has historically scorned these truths, but Jesus taught us much about how faith operates, both through his actions and through his words concerning the subject, as we find in Mark 11. What are some of the highlights of his doctrine concerning faith? That our words have the power to move mountains and receive the promises of God in our lives, but for our words to function in this manner, they have to be spoken, and even more importantly, spoken from the correct spiritual disposition. This is where many fail. They’ve heard of the power of confession and they’ve been taught to confess and confess, but they’ve failed to pay attention to the other key revealed in Mark 11 and Romans 10.
Our confession must proceed from a heart that believes what it is saying! Confession without conviction is like clouds without rain. We have to believe what we say will happen, or it will not. Our voices alone won’t disturb a pebble, but a voice that carries the Word of God from a heart of faith will always move mountains.
So, how do we get convinced of what we know we should be confessing? We have to immerse ourselves in that reality. What do I mean? If you want the promises of God that you see in the Bible to become “real” in your life, you have to immerse yourself in that Word. So much so that it becomes more real to you than what you experience with your five senses.
Want those promises that God said in Jesus were “Yes and Amen”? (2 Cor. 1:20) Immerse yourself in God’s Word, in the reality of God’s love for you, in God’s truthfulness, in God’s desire that you have what Jesus has provided for you. This is the mind renewal that Romans 12:2 speaks of. It’s getting ourselves to the perspective that we can think like God thinks concerning situations so we can believe the way He does as well.
Friends, those who are the most successful in this life at receiving God’s promises are those that live the faith of Jesus. That entails thinking like Jesus, believing like Jesus, and speaking like Jesus!
Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.