Between Heaven And Earth

"God hears."

FAITH IS NOT a standard. It is continually held up as a “make it or break it” standard of healing. Men say, in some variety, “If you have faith, God answers. If you don’t, He won’t.” A number of things are wrong with this idea. One, that it isn’t true. Two, God is merciful and heals people continually who didn’t ask or asked incorrectly. He healed me of what I didn’t know I had. Three, all of God’s children have THE MEASURE OF FAITH, which is Jesus (Romans 12:3). WHO IS JESUS. He is real and alive. He is not a name, a sword, or a book.

Switch from “it” to “He” in your thinking. We say to speak “it”, the name of Jesus. But His name makes change because of your relationship with Him. He does what His authority enforces. We say to swing “it”, the sword. But it isn’t our sword, it’s the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, which is WHO, the Word of God, WHO is Jesus.

Remove the generic pronoun “it” from all references to the Spirit as well. The glory, the fire, revival (a word which needs to be laid to rest), a “move of God”, the spirit of faith, all of these are HIM, and He is personal to you.

God doesn’t want to bring revival. He wants us to live continually between heaven and earth. Jesus did. He held conversation with the Father on a scale we have not desired. In fact, we can go as deep in the things of God as we hunger for. He has no set limitations. We accept manifestations of the devilish as real but refuse the manifestations of God. When evil becomes more fearful than trusting in God, than seeing God, our scales are off.

But our hunger for God cannot replace Him with manifestations. He shares Himself with us in visible manners because we treasure it. He gives us new revelation because we will treat it with grace. We aren’t those who have to tell everything we know. There is a silence required. Just as God is silent, we must be silent. And thankful. This is given as our response to our prayers (Philippians 4:6). We are to rejoice, to show moderation, to pray, and to be thankful. This is repeated in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

“Always be joyful; keep an open conversation with God and talk with him about everything, and no matter what your situation—be thankful, because God is for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Remedy)

It is as we know God, as He becomes our closest Father and Friend, that we trust Him to heal us, to set us free of mental trauma, and to provide our needs. It is because we know Him that we speak Jesus’ name without any doubt of His working for us. Faith is trust, and, despite some preaching, many people trust without having to know everything first. The Spirit gives to the weak strength to believe in His kindness. Some cry out from the place they stand, and God, who knows the heart, answers. From wherever we are at, at whatever spiritual maturity we have, knowing our shortcomings, our doubts, God hears, sees that we’re trusting Him, and He answers.

When the disciples were frightened of the storm and shook Jesus awake. He spoke to the wind and the waves to silence, then said to them, “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? (Mark 4:40)” He didn’t refuse to calm the storm because, after all, they should have known more and trusted Him more first. He didn’t lecture them about how they doubted and “tsk-tsk, maybe next time. ’Cause God won’t answer now.” No, He answered and with His statement, gave them a glimpse of Truth. “There is more of God’s love and care for you than you know.” The cross would prove it.

The cross has proved it. And the Resurrection should be our constant backdrop, in everything, what we see and what we know the love of God will do for those who don’t yet believe.

Illustration by Ands Mahardika on Unsplash


----------
Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com