Muscles
of Faith
Think
about this: Jesus sends out the twelve, two-by-two, with this command—pack
light and depend on Me to provide every need.1,2 Were any of the
disciples fearful or scared? Or did they walk confidently, knowing that the Son
of God had sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God? Essentially, Jesus
called them to an assignment they had no experience with and told them to rely
on him, not themselves.
By the
way, there is a profound difference
between being fearful and being scared: Being scared is temporary and
affects you at the moment, while fear affects you long after the moment has
passed and can continue to affect you if not addressed. God did not give us a
spirit of fear.3
A
primary reason that Jesus sent his disciples out without Him was to increase
their faith. They had to experience challenges to become stronger. Consider
this: A person does not grow strong muscles watching someone lift weights; they
need the stress of the weight, the burden, to develop strength. And so it is
with developing spiritual power by growing in faith. Our faith, beliefs, trust,
and confidence must be challenged to witness Christ as the source of our
strength—from within where His Spirit dwells.4 He’s there; we just
need to “tap into His fountain” to release His power.5,6,7 Think of
an underground stream of water. Tapping into that stream might not release the
water unless the source is under pressure. Then when tapped, it becomes a
fountain.
Our
faith can be analogous to that. A believer in Christ as Savior has an
indwelling of this “underground stream of water.” A new person in Christ may
first experience God’s peace that is beyond their understanding, peace that
doesn’t make sense because their situations and circumstances have not
changed other than receiving the Holy Spirit within.8 As they grow
in their knowledge and understanding of Christ, that stream magnifies within,
and their countenance changes—they appear full of light because the “light of
God” has penetrated the darkness in their life.9 Darkness flees in
the presence of the light.10 All of that is wonderful, and life may
seem like a honeymoon—until life’s challenges and trials cause their faith to
be put under pressure by the burdens in life. But God has a valuable and
good purpose for those trials that test your faith.11, 12, 13 He
wants us to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit within.14 When we
surrender our will for His, trust in His ways, He will give us the desires of
our heart—in his sovereignly established time.15, 16, 17 When we tap
into our faith that is under pressure, a fountain of living water18
is released, symbolically representing God providing for our needs—you will
thirst no more,19 whatever that may be: provisions for living; physical,
mental, emotional, relational healing, financial blessings—God is good all the
time.20
The above stellar rhema was inspired by the Holy Spirit and scribed by Jeff Cambridge.
All praise to the King!
© Jeff Cambridge 2023
References:
1. One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. “Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes.”
~Luke 9:1-6
2. The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals.
~ Luke 10:1-4
3. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
~Apostle Paul’s
letter to his spiritual son, Timothy: 2 Timothy 1:7
4. “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”
~Jesus speaking to his disciples is recorded in John 14:15-17.
5. “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
~Jesus speaking to his disciples is recorded in
Luke 24:49.
6. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.
~Apostle
Paul’s letter to his spiritual son Timothy: 2 Timothy 1:14
7. “It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
~God speaks to Prophet Zechariah
4:6
8. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
~Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians 4:7
9. Asking God, the glorious Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so
that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will
be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has
given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious
inheritance. ~Apostle Paul writing in his letter to Ephesians 1: 15-18
10. This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
~Apostle
John writes in his letter: 1 John 1:5
11. When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James, brother of Jesus, writes in his letter:
~Jesus’ brother James writes in his
letter: James 1:2-4
12. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.
~Apostle Paul in his letter to Romans 5:3
13. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
~Apostle
Peter writes in his letter: 1 Peter 1:6-7
14. So we have not stopped praying for you since we first
heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to
give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always
honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good
fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.
~Apostle
Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians 1:9-12
15. “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
~Luke 22:42
16. Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you. …
Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
~A psalm of David: Psalm 37:3-7
17. Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
~Proverbs
3:5-6
18. “For my people have done two evil things:
They have abandoned me—
the fountain of living water.
And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
that can hold no water at all!”
~Almighty God speaking to the prophet Jeremiah
2:13
19. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
~Apostle John records in John 4:14
20. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
~Apostle Paul writes in his
letter to Romans 8:28
All Scriptures are quoted from The
New Living Translation
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996,
2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol
Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
