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| The "Cycle" of Faith |
Hebrews 11:1
"NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Father, let the level of Your kind of Life rise in those who read these words,
in Jesus' Name.
Faith is in the "NOW" tense of time.
"I AM THAT I AM"
"will" is a future tense word,
"was" is a past tense word,
"am" is a present tense word.
An example of the 'cycle of faith': the woman with the issue of blood
Mark 5:25-34
She had said within herself: "If I can but touch the hem of his garment, I will be made every wit whole."
Notice the tense: "If I can, I will be made", (future tense)
It would have been nonsensical for her to continue saying this WHEN she touched the hem of his garment.
I can hear her saying, as she touched,
"NOW, I am being made every wit whole!"
Her faith gave substance or brought into her being what she had previously hoped for.
WILL BE became NOW.
This woman is an example of the 'cycle of faith'....
set this cycle of faith into time.
Her beginning statement (If I can), was a one point in time, her touching Jesus' garment was at another point in time. In between, the cycle of faith was flowing forward to her manifestation.
Her faith was moving forward along the line of time, and each moment was a NOW
of faith.
Look at the hourglass .... I particularly chose a picture that shows the individual grains of time flowing and a man looking intently at them.
We are going to learn something about the cycle of faith by looking at this hourglass.
Look at the top with the individual grains of sand.
Look at the bottom and the grains falling down into it.
The most important part is the smallest part of the hourglass where the individual grains of sand are flowing through.
One grain of sand at a time, yet constantly flowing through that little opening.
The future flowing through the present and into the past.
The smallest part of the hourglass represents the present.
Focus your eye on the smallest part, for it is the NOW of your life.
Think of the individual grains of sand as individual moments of time.
Individual moments of time in YOUR life.
God is at that NOW point of your life.
That is where FAITH MEETS HIM.
Hope...upper part of hourglass....future....wanting....prayers prayed
Faith...middle....NOW.....receiving
Substance....bottom....past tense....having....prayers answered
Hebrews 11:1
Speaking of the cycle of faith again....
let's look at the hourglass again....
this time the hourglass is full of little grains of faith.
The measure of faith God has given you is in the top half of the hour glass.
Faith that is stored up for you.
Those grains of faith flow.....
when you walk in the Spirit and talk in the Spirit,
and live in the Spirit day by day.
The faith that collects in the bottom is 'spent' faith, faith that has finished its cycle concerning a certain matter, an answer to prayer that it has brought into manifestation.
A Spirit-song, given by the inspiration of the Spirit to Lu Hardy
Oh I walk in the Spirit,
and I talk in the Spirit,
and I live in the Spirit day by day.
I'm alive in the Spirit and I thrive in the Spirit,
and I walk with my Lord all the way.
This isn't just talking about the Holy Spirit, it is also meaning YOUR human spirit. The Holy Spirit LIVE in your spirit and when you walk by your spirit, you are walking by the Holy Spirit.
Print yourself a picture of an hourglass from the internet and label it:
top: hope
middle: faith
bottom: substance/answer
Definition of 'cycle' we're looking at today:
an interval of time during which a sequence of a recurring succession of events or phenomena is completed, such as a 4-year cycle of development.
Jesus used crops as illustrations of the 'cycle' of the harvest:
Mark 4:27-29
seed....stalk....head of grain.....ripened.....harvest
John spoke of the 'cycle' of spiritual growth:
1 John 2:12-14
child....young man....father
Child....knows their sins are forgiven.
Young man....is strong, the Word of God abides in him, and he is getting experience in overcoming the wicked one.
Fathers.....know God in a way the children and young men don't know Him. (John 17:3)
The 'faith' of the child, goes through a cycle....and pretty soon the devil can't trip you up any more, like a person can trip a child.
Faith begins to get muscles as its growth cycle continues.
Do you notice the word, 'phenomena' is associated with the definition of 'cycle'.
Phenomena: something that is impressive or extra-ordinary; a remarkable or exceptional person; a wonder, a marvel, a miracle.
You are a miracle....if you have been born again you are a phenomenon in this world.
You just can't see the 'real you' because of the veil of flesh that you live in.
But God sees the real you, so do the angels and the devil.
If any man be in Christ, he is in a new world altogether.
"If anyone has entered into fellowship with Christ, a new world has at once opened upon him, an old world has passed away."(Stanley)
"When anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world; the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun." (New English Bible)
Grow up in grace.
Grow up in your knowledge of the Word and the things of the Spirit.
Grow up in your ability to overcome the wicked one.
You are a phenomenon in the spirit world, and that is the real world.
Live 'from' that world in 'this' world.
You are a spirit having a human experience.
Galatians 2:20
"It is no long I that liveth, but Christ that liveth in me".
That is the consciousness we are developing.
Dr. John G. Lake:
Developing Christian Consciousness
In those early centuries of Christianity, Christianity did not go into the world apologizing. It went to slay the powers of darkness and undo the works of the devil, and it lived in holy triumph.
We have not yet learned to keep in touch with the powers of God. Once in a while our soul rises, and we see the flame of God accomplish this wonder and that, but beloved, Jesus Christ lived in the presence of God every hour of the day and night. Never a word proceeded from the mouth of Jesus Christ, but what was God's Word. "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63).
We have not yet learned to keep in touch with the powers of God. Once in a while our soul rises, and we see the flame of God accomplish this wonder and that, but beloved, Jesus Christ lived in the presence of God every hour of the day and night. Never a word proceeded from the mouth of Jesus Christ, but what was God's Word. "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63).
When you and I are lost in the Son of God, and the fires of Jesus burn in our hearts, like they did in Him, our words will be the words of life and of the spirit, and there will be no death in them. But, beloved, we are on the way.
Why, Jesus was the triumphant One. Did you ever stop to think of Jesus at the throne of God? I like to think of the twentieth century Christ, not the Jesus that lived in the world two thousand years ago, not the humiliated Jesus, not Jesus dying on the cross for my sin, but the glorified, exalted Son of God at the throne of God, Who stands declaring, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:18). Blessed be God.
And that is the Christ Who breathes His power into your soul and mine, and that is the consciousness that is breathed from heaven in the Holy Ghost when it comes to your heart. Amen.
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