Faith that moves Mountains!

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Jesus told us that when we believe we can move mountains...

Mar 11:22-24 Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. For truly I say to you that whoever shall say to this mountain, Be moved and be cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he said shall occur, he shall have whatever he said. Therefore I say to you, All things, whatever you ask, praying, believe that you shall receive them, and it will be to you.

How many different interpretations are given to that promise?

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.

Let's see, what I have heard many so-called theologians say: "It is very difficult to know what God's will is". But let's look at some of Jesus' statements... Mat 7:11 If you then know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give good things to those who ask him?

We also know that God is love... 1Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested in us, that God sent his only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through him.

In that passage we can see how great is God the Father's love for us, but how much does God love us? 1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Jn 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

What does propitiation mean? The Bible teaches us that "the wages of sin is death", Rom 6:23. For Jesus gave Himself, offering His life, and shed His blood to pay for the sins of all those who accept His payment, just by believing in Him and acknowledging Him as Lord of their lives, Rom 3:25.

After reading these passages, can you affirm with me that God's love for us is PARAMOUNT? In the words of the apostle Paul... the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge.

Going back to what we could say about "God's Will"... Could we affirm that God's Will is to fulfill his promises, or not? When we promise something to our children, we do it with all the intention of fulfilling our promises, right? In our case, it is possible that some difficulty may arise that prevents us from fulfilling what we have promised, for example, missing an appointment because our vehicle has an accident, etc., but when God promises something, for Him there is no difficulty that prevents Him from fulfilling what He has promised us. Can we say that God's will is that you believe in His promises? Of course we can. But the Children of God have "free will", so God does not force us to do anything.

The great majority of Christians, and most of the time due to religious teachings they have received, deduce that God only answers when and how He wants, that is, "when He feels like it", because many times they pray, and if they did not receive what they asked for, then they deduce that what they asked for was not God's will.

Now, to understand this apparent lack of answer to our prayers, it is important to know the conditions that God gives, so that we can receive an answer to what we ask for. In speaking of these conditions, I am assuming that you are a Christian and that Jesus is the Lord of your life, in case you are not yet converted, read this writing and then continue reading here. https://www.concerning-thekingdom.com/post/how-do-we-become-born-again

 - First Condition

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Of course, Christians believe in God. Now, what does "rewarder" mean?

To reward: Is to reward or remunerate the services or merits of someone.

The apostle James explains it like this...

Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing: for he that doubts is like a wave of the sea, which is carried about by the wind, and tossed to and fro. Let not such a man think therefore that he shall receive anything from the Lord. The double-minded man is fickle in all his ways.

In other words, if we do not believe that God will grant us what we ask for, it is better not to ask, since it is most likely that we will not receive it, since we do not expect it.

- Second condition

Jn 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

This passage does not need much explanation. Abiding in Jesus means seeking his company and meditating on his Word, every day. For those of us who delight in God, that is not tedious, but divine and the greatest thing we can do. Who doesn't like to be in the company of someone who truly loves you, especially when that person is sensational, beautiful, charming, loving, caring, understanding, forgiving, intelligent, full of every good quality and virtue? When we are filled with His Word what we most want to do is to be with Him and please Him.

If we abide in Him and His Word, we can ask for... What? Whatever we want and it will be done for us. Our part is to ask, "it shall be done unto us" is God's part.

- Third condition

Jas 4:2b-3 You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your lusts.

1Jn 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

That is also clear: if you do not ask, you will not have! Or if it is to waste, neither.

Then the questioning of an erroneous religious teaching arises: "we cannot know what God's will is".

I invite you to think about the following... When our God defines Himself in His Word as.... God is Love, and He is the example of the most sacrificial love, who gives even when it hurts, He is Merciful, Kind, Rewarding, Holy, in Him there is no darkness at all, He defines Himself as Yahweh Rapha, that is God who heals us, Yahweh Jireh who supplies all our needs according to His riches, who also lives within us, because we are the Temple of His Holy Spirit... Do you think He will not answer you when we need Him? Not to do so would be contrary to His divine nature. God's will is good, acceptable and perfect. Phil 4:19, Rom 12:2

Jesus told us that when we look at Him, it is the Father whom we see, Jn 14:9, Jesus healed all the sick who asked Him for help, even just by touching Him, they were healed, He never conditioned His healing to the good behavior of any of those who approached Him, He did not even question the behavior of those who asked for healing, He simply healed. We read Mat 8:16 And when even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, He took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

Do you see? He healed how many? All, that the prophecy of Isaiah 53:4-5 might be fulfilled.

Even under the Old Covenant, King David proclaimed... Psalm 103:2 Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. He it is who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with favor and mercy, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that you are rejuvenated like an eagle.

In other words, God's will regarding not only the salvation of our souls, but also the healing of our bodies was already described in the Old Testament. That is why the apostle Peter takes the prophecy of Isaiah 53 and writes... 1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. Luke also tells us in the book of Acts... Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil: for God was with him. So in the light of the New Testament, diseases are oppressions of the devil, for example when Jesus healed the lady who was bent over in the synagogue, this is what He said... Luke 13:16 And this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen years, was she not to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? Jesus also tells us... Jn 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. From these passages we understand that God's will is that all his Children enjoy good health, for his wounds we have already been healed, if Jesus came to bring us life in abundance, how could we deduce that somehow, God is the one who oppresses his Children with ailments and diseases? Those of us who are Christian parents and have a great love for our children, we do everything in our power to make them well, right? How can we imagine that God who loves us more than we love our children, when He sees us in trouble, or with problems, is going to give us cancer, or any other disease to teach us a lesson? That kind of thinking comes from theologies of pure religion, from theologians who do not have the Power of God and try to excuse themselves by saying that God does not always respond. But there is no passage in the Bible that affirms that.

Rom 5:1  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The great question... and why do so many of God's Children suffer from sickness and so many other things in this world? I would add... And why are so many Sons of God still lost in the world?

Well… Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. The reason Jesus sent us to preach his Gospel was precisely to snatch from the Devil, the Sons of the Kingdom who suffer because they have not yet been reconciled to God.

2Co 5:17-21  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all these things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ; and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation: to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto men, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; in the name of Christ we beseech you: Be reconciled to God! He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Col 1:13  For He delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.

In those passages we read that the ministry of Christ was to reconcile men to God, to bring them out of the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of Light, and that continues to be the ministry of Christ in us, since He is in us, and by means of which those who receive His grace become "new creatures", and He continues to be the same as yesterday, that is why He told us...

 Mat 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

Jesus would send his disciples to Luc 9:2  And he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. How can you tell people that the Kingdom of God is on its way and leave people sick? If the Kingdom of God is in us, the diseases must go out, for in the Kingdom of God there are no sick people.

Then before ascending to the Throne of the Father, Jesus sends the disciples to preach the Gospel to every creature and says....

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

The signs that will follow the new disciples who believe, it does not say apostles, are the same that accompanied Jesus, and why? Because the fact that Jesus is in us does not make it impossible for him to be the same yesterday, today and forever, Heb 13:8.

There are Christian denominations that proclaim that the day of miracles has already passed, that is to say that for them, Jesus is not the same yesterday, today and forever, since the fact that Jesus is in us, means nothing to them. Could you imagine Jesus teaching people and there was someone suffering from cancer, or anything else, and Jesus would not heal him? In these days is when more miracles are to come, just to see that in the days of the end, in which we live today, and in the days of the Antichrist... Dan 11:32 And he will make the violators of the covenant to sin with flattery: but the people that know their God shall strive and do exploits.

The people who know their God, are Christians who are rising up with the Power of the Holy Spirit, who will lead multitudes to Christ. Furthermore, what does it mean to say that a Christian has the Power of the Holy Spirit? To say that the power of the Holy Spirit is only to go to church on Sunday, and try not to sin during the week is silly, and I think it might even be offensive to the Holy Spirit, to limit His power and work in us.

Don't Muslims attend their mosques, and the faithful of all religions attend their temples, and try to keep their commandments as best they can, without any power from the Holy Spirit?

If we look at the disciples of the First Church, in the book of Acts, we can see what the Holy Spirit was doing through them.

Hech 1:8  but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

It is because of the power of the Holy Spirit that both the disciples of the book of Acts and the disciples of the last days before the return of Christ will do exploits. Dan 12:3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who have led many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. That is why Satan makes and will make war against Christians, Rev 12:7 Then the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

So back to the question, why do so many of God's children suffer from sickness and so many other things in this world?

God has placed at our disposal everything we need to face the enemy and come out victorious...

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ ... 2Pe 1: 2-3 For his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of him who called us by his glory and excellency, by which he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

According to these passages, taking into account Eph 1:3, we possess every spiritual blessing... What does spiritual blessing mean? Spiritual, we can say that we refer to virtues such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, right? All of them ours... wow! Those are fruits of the Spirit in our lives, Gal 5:22-23. We could add... word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, power of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits; various kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues, 1Co 12. All those fruits and gifts fall under "every spiritual blessing", and as the apostle Paul says... 1Co 14:1 Follow after love, and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that ye may prophesy. If the Lord promises to have already blessed us with every spiritual blessing, I think the reason why many Christians have not realized that the gifts are there for them, is because they do not believe they are for them, and so they do not take them.

I remember an anecdote of a wealthy man who gathered a group of ten poor children from the street, and took a gold watch out of his pocket, and went one by one putting the watch in front of their faces, until he reached the last of them, who immediately stood up and threw the watch out of his hand, and the man said to him, very well my friend, that watch is yours now. The rest of the children began to protest, and complain, "Why didn't you give the watch to me? And he replied, "And why didn't you take it? They replied, and how were we to know that you were going to give it to us? He answered? I put it in everyone's reach and only he took it!

If we can ardently desire spiritual gifts, it is because they are within our reach. In other words, we are, or we can be, supernatural, depending on our faith... Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him: All things are possible to him who believes.

Let's see, it says... "all things pertaining to life and godliness"... We can say, then, that everything that has to do with our life, without lacking anything, as well as everything we need to live a life that pleases God, is ours if we know him who called us, and we know what are his precious and wonderful promises, which make us participate in his nature, that is to say that the nature of God is made manifest in our lives, when we live conscious of his promises. But, be careful, if you don't read your Bible, how are you going to know those wonderful promises? And I don't say just know them, but memorize them, and meditate on them all the time, it is then that we realize that we have power over all the power of the enemy... Luk 10:19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

But if you take hours of your day to fill yourself with all the lies on TV, or the Internet, then I doubt that your faith will mature.

- Well, and lastly, I will mention a couple of other points that are vital to reach the answer to our prayers.

Stand Firm.

Eph 6:10-18 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil: for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Above all things take the shield of faith, wherewith ye may quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

Holding fast to the Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, is the knowledge that we are now the Righteousness of God, 2Co 5: 21, we are no longer the former sinners saved by the mercy of God, we are now Saints, not by our good works, but by those of Christ, with the Shield of Faith, which is the one we are taking with this reading, and a little later I will expand a little on this, the Helmet of Salvation, is the being sure of our salvation, Jn 10: 27-30, and the Sword that is the Scriptures that we can quote, to ourselves, to others and to the enemy as well. And then Stand Firm!

In other words, when we pray, we have to realize that we are in a spiritual war, and we cannot defeat the enemy if we are not determined to fight with strength and wholeheartedly. In that previous passage of Ephesians it says to stand firm 3 times.

Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Imagine a fighter who is about to face a dangerous opponent, or a dangerous animal. If your opponent sees fear, or lack of faith in your face, or sees that you are hesitating, he already knows that he can defeat you. Dogs know right away if someone is afraid of them, and so do evil spirits, but if they see you with a fierce face and the Spirit of God in you, they leave scared, or grudgingly.

2 Tim 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

- The Waiting

Now, in the beginning, learning to wait for the answer to our prayers is also vital. Many believers, if they do not see a quick answer to their prayers, they open the door to doubts, fear, and dread, and their faith fades in seconds. It is then where your shield of Faith can extinguish all those fiery darts of fear and doubt from the enemy and many times from other fearful people, many times other Christians around you as well.

Let's see...

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

1Pe 1:7-9 That the trial of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though tried by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom you have not seen, yet you love, whom you do not see now, but you believe in Him, and you greatly rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, obtaining as the result of your faith the salvation of your souls.

Rom 8:24-25 For in hope we are saved; but hope that is seen is not hope, for what one sees, why do we still hope for? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

 2Co 4:17-18  For our light affliction, which is momentary, produces in us an immeasurable and eternal weight of glory; not by looking at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

All promises of an answer to prayer imply a future answer, for example... Therefore I tell you, whatever things you pray and ask for, believe that you have already received them, and they will be granted to you.

And what to do while we wait? Praise God and thank Him from the bottom of our hearts for what we have asked Him for, knowing that we already have it and that it is on its way, since doubting the answer gives the enemy room to attack us with fear and doubt. It is similar to ordering a pizza over the phone, once we order we know it is on its way, even if we are not seeing it.

Phil 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. You see, with thanksgiving.

It is there in "the waiting" that we need to defend ourselves with the "Shield of Faith", because it is at that moment that the devil takes advantage to tell you: "See, I told you, nothing happened, nothing is going to happen, forget it, run to the doctor", or other similar doubts.

- Our Affirmations

What we say is vital, because that is what we will have… who ever says to this mountain, "Be removed and cast in the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, what he says will be granted to him. That is a truth that works for both Christians and people of the world. The people of the world say what seems to them to be the reality: Oh, I have no money, I am broke... I am sick, I have this and that, or how bad the situation is, we will not be able to get ahead... I am good for nothing, everything goes wrong for me... and so on and so forth. Well, that is what they have, because they believe it when they say it. Many people without being believers in Christ say: "Everything will work out for me, you will see", and they have what they say.

Even for us believers our salvation, by the mercy of God, depended on what we said with our mouth... Rom 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Remember that Jesus not only paid for the salvation of our soul, but by his stripes we were healed, so both salvation and healing of our being depend on what we believe in our heart and what we confess with our mouth. Let's see, the verse says... if you believe that what you say is going to happen... “it is going to happen” that is future, it has not happened yet, the reason why we will receive it, is because we believed and confessed it before we saw it, but if what we confess is what we see, what we see is what we will have.

Finally... we must practice what we learn...

James 1:22-25 Be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for after he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets what kind of person he is. But he who looks attentively at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides in it, having become not a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this one will be blessed in what he does.

Practice makes perfect. If someone wants to be a good penalty kicker, he has to practice kicking the ball several times a day until he learns to do what he wants to do. So put into practice what God asks of you, go out and share the Gospel with those who will listen, and pray for those who need it, and see God work through you....

An interesting detail worth imitating, you cannot find a single passage in the entire New Testament where Jesus or his disciples asked God to heal anyone... They simply earnestly commanded the diseases or evil spirits to leave and not return, and they always obeyed, and the disciples commanded in the Name of Jesus. Let us do as they did, we are disciples just like them.

Dan 12:3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who have led many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

Blessings… Alejandro

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