Mid-Lesson REVIEW.


     Our topic is the Force Of Faith.  Trusting that I made my
preference clear in the first two lesson for the choice of titles
to indicated the true nature of faith rather than titles such as
The Strength Of Faith, or The Exercise Of Faith, and other such
titles which might leads one to believe that faith is something
that must be practiced, exercised, made stronger, developed, or
somehow increased, let's move on.

     The outline I am using for the Force Of Faith is simple.  The
Origin, the Operation, Opposite, Object, and the Open Door of
Faith.

     I tried my best to make you mad by suggesting four things
about faith which are not commonly accepted by evangelistic
circles, or even by many Pentecostal and Charismatic
denominations, in today's church.  They are:

1.  Faith is a fixed value.
2.  God has faith, or God is faith to be more precise.
3.  You will, as a Christian, never have any more faith than you
did at the very moment you became Born Again.
4.  More faith is not what we need.

Under Romans numeral I., or one, The Origin Of Faith, I had three
points we discussed in lesson two.

A.  The Source Of Faith.
B.  The strength of faith.
C.  The size of faith.

     My major point was, that Jesus did not fulfill the request of
His disciples, apostles, when they came to Him and said, "Lord,
increase our faith.  He did, on the other hand, answer their
request when these same disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. 
when it came to their faith, on the other hand, He always launched
off into a comparative story, as it would seem, about mustard
seeds, trees, mountains, and what would happen to these objects,
if spoken to by these same disciples, when they verbally commanded
them.  As they say, "What's up with that.  Speak to inanimate
objects?  Come on, Lord!  We want more faith.  That's the ticket
to victory.  right?"  If Jesus is supposed to be our example, did
Jesus speak to inanimate objects?  Oh, like dead people who had
already been buried four days?  What about the little girl he
raised from the dead when he spoke and said, "She isn't dead but
is asleep," and the doubters laughed themselves silly because he
couldn't see she was dead.  How about sick people, the demonized,
the blind, the deaf, and those unable to speak?  In one case, He
even spoke directly to the dumb and deaf lying spirit to come out
of a man.  (See Mark 9:25).  What about the six water pots of
stone that were filled with plain every day water which he turned
to wine?  How about horrible, out of control, ship sinking,
storms?  Remember the time Peter was concerned about not paying
taxes and Jesus sent him fishing and he caught a fish with a piece
of money in his mouth?  (See Matthew 17:27).  How did Jesus pull
that one off?  What about the time He told his disciple, after
fishing all night and catching nothing, which side of the boat to
cast their net?  go figure.  God, for that matter, not only
numbers all the stars in the universe, (See Psalm 147:4), but He
even individually names each one.  Do you know why?  I do, but do
you?

     In lesson three, we are going to begin discussing exactly how
Jesus indeed, explained in pains taking detail how faith that we
already have, should work.  Some of you are not going to like it,
but I will prove, to your satisfaction, it is what Jesus taught on
the subject.  If you choose not to believe, this doesn't mean I
think I am a better Christian, nor will I judge you any
differently, nor will Jesus, for that matter.  If you learn
nothing else in these lessons, learn that Jesus works with his own
children exactly where they are.  Not on different or various
levels of spirituality, not because some are stronger Believers
than others, even with others certainly not on my personal terms
of supposed understanding and great spiritual insight, and who
claimed to have giant faith, when at the same time, others of His
children are designated by some as nothing more than pip squeaks
when it comes to initiating faith.  This isn't God's nature and
you might as well learn that fact now rather than later.  It will
save you a load of spiritual grief and misery.


End Of Review.


It Sounds Like God To Me.
www.SafePlaceFellowship.com