DEVOTIONS

Thursday, October 20, 2011 Believing with the Heart/Devotional Believing with the Heart Creflo Dollar Do you know what it means to believe with the heart? Many Christians are not seeing their faith produce anything because they are more consumed with what their five senses are telling them than they are with believing the Word of God, even in the face of contradictory circumstances. Real, Bible-based believing is based on an absolute, unwavering stance on the Word. Faith is released when we believe with the heart, which means believing with the spirit. A key to knowing how to release our faith properly is to understand the tri-part nature of man. Man is a spirit, who possesses a soul, and lives in a physical body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). You don’t have a spirit, you are a spirit. Your soul, which includes your mind, will, and emotions, is attached to your spirit. When a person accepts Jesus as his Lord and personal Savior, the “spirit man” becomes recreated and infused with the life of God, which is called zoë. At the point of death, the spirit and soul leave the physical body and return to either God or Satan, depending on whether the person is born again or not. The spirit of a man is the place where faith resides. To believe with the heart means to believe from the spirit rather than with the physical senses. This is the kind of faith that gets results in the kingdom of God. Many times, people have a mental awareness or acknowledgment of what God has promised, but the promise has not gotten down in their hearts. As a result, they do not see consistent results in their lives. In order to believe from the heart, the Word must be deeply rooted in the spirit. This is the only way we can lay hold of the type of faith that our minds cannot intellectually obtain. When the Word becomes infused in our spirits, we are able to believe apart from what our physical senses tell us. In order to get to this level of faith, we must constantly meditate on the Word of God until it becomes a part of us. Faith must be in two places in order for it to produce manifestation in a Christian’s life. Romans 10:8 says, “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith which we preach.” The two places it must be is in our mouths and in our hearts. By constantly speaking the Word and making faith confessions of the Scriptures, we keep the Word in our mouths. Every time we hear ourselves saying it, our spirits become full of it as well. The combination of the Word being in our hearts and our mouths creates a faith explosion that will eventually be seen in the form of actual, tangible, physical results in the natural realm. Our spirits were designed to believe the Word of God, and our physical senses were designed to believe what we perceive in the natural world. We should never try to govern our faith life by what we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste because spiritual things cannot be perceived through natural means. Even in the face of what appears to be lack, sickness, or a hopeless situation, believing with the heart means making the decision to stand on the Word and believe God’s promises. Second Corinthians 4:18 is a strong supporting scripture that explains what heart-deep faith is all about: “While we look not 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.” Christians walk by faith and not by sight because the unseen spiritual realm is the realm from which all seen things originate. This means it is actually more real than the physical realm. By allowing the Word of God to be our final authority rather than our senses, we position ourselves to receive from God. If your faith is weak, it’s time to get on a Bible regimen that involves continually feeding on the Word. The more you meditate on the Word, speak it, and act on it, the more your faith will grow. And it won’t be long before you find yourself walking in the fullness of God’s promises.

Hang On!
Sharon Jaynes

Today’s Truth
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me (Psalm 63:8, NIV).

Friend to Friend
Have you ever felt that this thing called life is just too hard?  I know I have.  Sometimes life just does not turn out like I thought it would.  That’s when I have to hang onto God and simply trust Him.

I remember when my son was four-years-old and I was trying to teach him how to snow ski.  The first day was just horrible…at least it was for me.  I felt like a down-covered workhorse as I lugged two sets of skis in one arm while dragging along Steven with the other. Clunky ski boots, overstuffed mittens, and a hooded snowsuit made it difficult for Steven to maneuver. Add all that to the slippery snow, and we had the perfect formula for a day of whining in winter wonderland.

I tried to teach Steven how to snow plow to keep from going too fast.  That’s when you point the tips of the skis toward the center and the backs of the skis point out.  Well, he just wasn’t catching on.  He fell and he fell and he fell.

Finally, I came up with another idea.  I made an A-frame tent with my legs, Steven stood in front of me, and wrapped his arms around my thighs.  Off we went.  We moved as one.  If I turned left, he went with me.  If I turned right, he went with me.  His only responsibility was to hang on and relinquish control.  And even though he thought he was skiing, in reality, I was the one skiing and he was simply along for the ride.

That is a great picture of what trusting God is all about.  That’s a picture of what “abiding in Jesus” is all about.  We cling to him, hang on to Him, abide in Him.  If He goes left, I go left.  If He goes right, I go right.  David wrote in Psalm 63:8, “My soul clings to You.” In other words, David was saying, “I’m hanging on for dear life” Just like Steven did.

Today, as you move through life, cling to Jesus.  Hang on to Him.  Acknowledge His presence with you and His Spirit in you. Trust Him!

Let’s Pray
Jesus, I’m trusting You today.  I’m clinging to You.  I’m hanging on Your every word.
In Your Name, men.

Now It’s Your TurnWhat do you think David meant when he wrote, “My soul clings to you.”  Notice he said “soul.”  That encompasses the mind, will and emotions.