Chosen Explosion Discipleship VA Putting The Sickle To The Harvest

We have learned that reading and hearing Gods word is how we grow our faith. Romans 10:17. We know by Hebrew 12:2 that God is the author and finisher of our faith. Some take this to mean that if God wants us to have faith He will just give it to us. And it is true that He has given us a measure of faith. But in order to operate in faith as the Christian is suppose to, we have to grow our faith the way God made the provision to do. The reason many have the faith to receive salvation is because they have heard the word of salvation over and over. Faith for salvation came and they were saved. God has made all the faith we need available, and Jesus taught us how to grow in that faith.

We know how to grow mountain moving faith. Now how do we move the mountain once we have the faith that is needed? Our mountain is the sickness, financial lack, anxiety, marital problems, sin or any other problem that we might be facing.

Jesus came to earth to atone for our sins but also to be our example and to teach us how to operate in the Kingdom of God while on earth. Gods kingdom is very different than the kingdom of this world. Therefore, all we know is how to operate in is this kingdom and Jesus' ways may seem very strange to us. It is strange, but it is right and it is truth. If we want results, we must conform to the ways of Jesus. This is why He came and gave us teachings and examples for us to follow. Remember, He is our Lord. We are His disciples. We follow Him and His ways, not the ways of this world because although we are in this world we are not of this world. Our real home is heaven. The new testament teaches us how to operate in the Kingdom of God, which we entered when we became born again. (We will discuss the Kingdom of God in greater detail next week.)

Also , I would like to remind you that the entire Bible is useful to us today. But the new testament began with the birth of Christ and nothing has changed (spiritually speaking) over the past 2,000 years and it will not until Jesus returns to set up His earthly Kingdom. All the things Jesus taught, he taught for our use today. Satan wants the church to think that Gods power is not for today. But I tell you, it is for today. And it is proven in thousands upon thousands of Christians lives today. What God does for one, he will do for all. He is no respecter of persons. But we know that God is moved one way, and that is by our faith. In order for Gods word to work in your life, you must believe. Simply believe Gods word. It will never let you down. It is absolute truth even today. If you have a problem in the interpretation of the word go to the Holy Spirit. One of His many jobs is to teach us truth concerning Gods words. He will never steer you wrong, you can count on it.

Early in the morning as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "may you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this , they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

We see that Jesus spoke to the Fig tree and told it never to bear fruit again and it withered and died. Jesus was not mad at the tree because it did not bear fruit for him obviously. For one thing, this incident was to show the disciples how to use their faith . It also has a two-fold meaning but we will get to this in another lesson. When the disciples were amazed and questioned Him, he told them that not only could they do the same thing that he just did but if they had faith they could say to the mountain (speak to the mountain of trouble) and tell it to throw itself into the sea and it would have to obey. This is one form of prayer. He goes on to say, if you believe you can ask for whatever you want in prayer and receive it.

There are many examples beginning in Genesis chapter 1 where God speaks and what He spoke was performed. This is how the world was created. Jesus did the same thing many, many times. He taught His disciples (You and I are also disciples -- He was teaching you and I also!) that this is how He expected them to operate.
This is how to harvest. We use our faith and speak to the mountain or problem and tell it what to do. You can speak to the mountain all day long but without faith it will not move. But if you speak to it and believe what Gods word says; it will go, it has to. We release our faith through our word and Gods angels set about to bring the spoken things to pass. Let's look at some more examples from the word.

Mark 4:39 Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the wave, "quite! Be still!!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

You will see from the word that Jesus would teach something then, many times, He would take His disciples out and show them what to do with what He taught. In Mark 4 he taught how to get faith then in 4:39 it shows that He took them out and showed them what to do with it. They got into the boat and started to cross the lake. A storm came and when they were afraid they woke up Jesus. He spoke to the storm and told it to quiet, be still! Then He rebuked them because they didn't use their faith to take care of the storm. If we really have faith, we will put it into action to overcome situations rather than letting those situations overcome us.

Jesus went on in Mark 5:8 to heal the demoniac. He spoke to the demons and ordered them to come out. Of course they came out. Not because Jesus was God. Remember, he laid down His standing as God to become the son of man for a season. Jesus operated the same way we can operate today -- by faith in God. That is why He taught His disciples to operate this way and remember we are His disciples also and He has no favorites. What was done for them has already been done for us as well.

In Mark 5:41 Jesus speaks to a dead girl and tells her to get up and she does. Yes, if we will believe and not doubt we can do even this. Many people have, and still do raise from the dead today. However, not many have grown to this level of faith. But it is Gods will that our faith walk be complete.We should continually strive for this, not only for our own good but for the good of others as well.

The examples are many. The word teaches that the way we receive whatever it is that we need from God is to speak to it in faith. If we do, it has to obey because we have been given this authority by Jesus. Here again is how it works.

I know to our natural minds this seems silly but we must remember that Gods ways are much higher than ours and His ways are always right even if we have never walked in them before. Please read Isaiah 55: 8-11.

Have you not wondered why Gods word says that God is our healer but most people get sick on a regular basis and stay sick until it runs its course. Or why Gods people really is not much different form the rest of the world. Or why we don't see the miracles that Jesus demonstrated and planly told us to do also. Is God a liar or has the church missed something somewhere. We know the problem is not with God or His word. It is in our understanding of His word. If satan can keep us from understanding Gods word, he can keep us from having the faith to walk in Gods power. This is how he has managed to steal the power from a large segment of the church.

All this is only a very foundational teaching of how to operate in faith. There is much to be learned that will make all this clearer. All of Gods word teaches faith because this is how the Kingdom of God operates. He wants us to understand His ways. We will continue to study Gods word and His ways. We will learn who we are in Christ and how to receive all the wonderful things He has provided for us.

Gods ways are not complicated. Man has confused and complicated them. If they did not understand they simply convinced themselves and others that Gods word is not truth for today. This is a lie form Satan. But don't believe me, read Gods word for yourself and put it to the test. Prove Gods word in your own life, and seek Gods help and direction in prayer. He will teach truth.