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YOUR STRENGTH
Submitting Your Will-Power To Jesus Through BELIEVING
Heb 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being SURE of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we do not see. BELIEVING is to trust, rely, depend, and to have faith in God. You must be WILLING to give your choices, decisions, and actions over to God. But, this WILLINGNESS has to exist moment by moment and issue by issue. You can be WILLING one moment and not the next. You can trust God over one issue and not the next issue. That protects your God-given free will; but, it requires you to BELIEVE, trust, rely, and depend on Him all day long. If for every moment and every issue you BELIEVE in God, then your will-power for the whole day is submitted.
Jesus Speaking Faith Into You
Rhema
Once your will-power is submitted to Jesus over an issue, this opens the door for Jesus to speak (rhema) faith into you. Rom 10:17 (NIV) Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word (rhema) of Christ. Faith comes from hearing: This means the door of your will-power is open. The way to open the door to your will-power is to BELIEVE in the honesty and trustworthiness of God. If you BELIEVE in God MORE that you believe in yourself, then your will-power door will be open to Him. Then when Jesus speaks faith, you will-power door will allow it in.
Faith Comes From Hearing
The way you got human faith was to successfully accomplish something over and over again; human faith doesn’t work in Christianity. In Christianity, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word (rhema) of Christ; this is the only kind of faith that works in Christianity. If you are only WILLING to BELIEVE those things you have been successful at during your lifetime, then you will fail as a child of God. But, if you are willing to BELIEVE that Jesus is telling you the truth, you will be able to BELIEVE anything He tells you.
Rhema faith from Jesus deals with those things the Bible doesn’t address directly. You have to be WILLING to behave in a way that is totally honest, pure, righteous, and loving. 1 Cor 8:8-9 (NIV) But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. There will be things that the Bible allows you to do but your conscience keeps bothering you over. Jesus is speaking to you because, for you, it isn’t good. There are other things the Bible and your conscience give you permission to do; but, a weak Christian around you would be hurt if they saw you doing it. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
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Faith For Submitting Your Will-Power To Jesus
Submission through Authoring And Perfecting
Your will-power decides WHERE you get your faith. Heb 12:2 (NIV) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. You can BELIEVE in yourself; or, you can BELIEVE in Jesus. If your eyes are fixed on Jesus, then all your faith will cause you to BELIEVE in Jesus, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit speaking to your conscience.
Giving Up Human Faith
You may WANT to believe in yourself; you may have SELF-confidence and SELF-esteem. Your will-power may be directed toward you, your abilities, your skills, your talents, and your wants. This can cause you to doubt the faith Jesus is trying to speak into you. Doubt kills Jesus-faith: James 1:6-7 (NIV) But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive ANYTHING from the Lord. Your human faith will cause you to BELIEVE in yourself. It will take your eyes off of Jesus and cheat you out of all the blessings, benefits, and power you would have received if you had fixed your eyes on Jesus.
Faith Comes As A Power To Act
Faith from Jesus gives you the power to BELIEVE; you may hope, wish, have positive feelings, or try to determine something; but, Jesus-faith is totally different from anything you can work up. Sometimes you have a deadline; it looks like if you don’t take action right away, you will miss the “opportunity.” Faith from Jesus, so you can BELIEVE, requires that you WAIT on Him. As the clock keeps on moving forward and the deadline gets closer, you may feel like you had better DO SOMETHING. 1 Pet 1:17 (NIV) Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. If you are going to be motivated by fear, then reverently fear God. Ask Jesus to help you NOT take action until He speaks faith into you so you can know what to do.
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