Sharon,

He also talked about Great faith so when these words are used, it is easy to 
get the opinion that faith comes in various levels and degrees of 
effectiveness.  At the time of our Lord's ministry, the disciples were still 
not believing in the true identity of Jesus as the Christ .  The faith they 
had was small and great based upon what they were believing at the time. 
What we believe now is a fixed measure, that is, the giving of the Holy 
Spirit at the moment of salvation fixes faith as something unchangeable for 
eternity.  I will have to think about this subject more before answering you 
better but I have had a chest and head cold for a week and today it finally 
is going away.  My sinuses were infected and I have been on antibiotics.  I 
have a multiple-part series on this topic which I started, I think, posting 
here on echurch a long time ago.  I'll look for those notes because the 
theological concept of a fixed measured faith is one I have never heard 
preached before and especially not by Charismatics and Pentecostals and I 
already know what Baptists believe, hahaha.  I make a lot of Charismatic 
Word and Faith Christians nervous just talking about it so I try and be 
careful not to ruffle too many theological feathers.  Anyway, my series 
builds upon basic passages of Scripture, some I used in the Object Of Your 
Faith I just posted, but I go into much more explanation and Scriptural 
detail.  Let me find those and read what I said about how I explain little 
face, great faith, and once Jesus said they had no faith.  The basic answer 
I gave in the illustration about the water hose and the nozzle screwed on 
the end.  If the constant flow of water in the hose is viewed as fixed 
faith, the nozzle on the end makes the faith, or water, coming out at 
different levels, appear as if the water is different for each setting when 
the truth is, it is all the same water.  The nozzle changes the pressure and 
causes the water, or faith, to look different.  For example, if I told you I 
heard the Lord say to me the other day, and He did, Satan Has A God Complex, 
some might hear that and say, "Wow!  That guy hears God's voice.  He must be 
a powerful Christian."  If I turned around and told a story of laying hands 
on someone and they were blind but instantly received sight, that would 
appear to be even greater faith.  It is not a different degree, or level, of 
faith.  The gifts of the Holy Spirit, for example, all use the same faith 
but the gift of miracles can make others think, "Boy, oh, boy.  That guy 
really has power to believe.  His faith is strong."  Yet, it is the same 
Holy Spirit that administers all the gifts equally to whomever He wishes. 
One day, I was writing down some notes I was going to start teaching on one 
Sunday concerning the gifts of the Spirit.  I was alone, no one was home, 
and sitting in the living room and reading down a list of the gifts of the 
Spirit.  When I came to the Gift of Faith, I stopped and said, "Lord, I 
don't even understand this gift.  I don't have enough faith to pour water 
out of a boot even if the instructions are written on the bottom of the 
heel."  Before I tell you what He said to me concerning the gifts, I'll 
confess that I have experienced a word of knowledge perhaps hundreds of 
times in ministry in the last 27 years of being filled with the Holy Spirit. 
I have, many times, experienced a word of wisdom as well.  I've experienced 
the gift of miracles.  I constantly speak in three clearly discernable 
tongues.  I have demonstrated this gift of tongues sitting in my living room 
and some people on this very list have witness the three languages.  I did 
this on purpose so they could hear the three different sounds.  It wasn't, 
in other words, something that happened beyond my control as I prayed in 
tongues.  One language sounds like Spanish, or Italian, one sounds like 
French, and one sounds like a form of Chinese such as the Mandarin dialect 
or Cantonese.  The Spanish/Italian sounding language happens almost 
automatically when I begin to pray.  I have gotten the spiritual impression 
over the years that it is more conversational than specific.  I have never 
learned any French but based upon what I am praying about verbally, I 
sometimes hear myself slipping into a distinct sounding French language 
characteristic.  Again, over the years, I have felt the Lord telling me that 
this level of language relates to specific targeted areas of intercessory 
prayer.  I often drift back and forth from French sounding tones to the 
Spanish sounding language as I pray out loud and without warning.  It seems 
to depend upon the degree of spiritual intensity at any given moment.  The 
Chinese sounding language occurs specifically when related to demonic 
oppression.  I may be praying for a person I don't even know but is under 
some sort of demonic attack and I am told to pray, using this Chinese 
sounding language, by the Holy Spirit, when addressing this type of an 
issue.  I have a nephew and his family who work in a former Russian country 
that uses Chinese as one of their languages.  Oddly enough, many times, when 
I am praying for my nephew and his missionary ministry in this country, the 
Chinese language sounds come to my voice.  I have also spoken with people 
who could speak fluently some of these languages and they have been able to 
tell me what I was saying.  These are the three main languages I have 
noticed when I pray and use on a regular bases.  I have heard many others 
which sound Russian, German, Egyptian, and many more but I am convinced it 
is related to intercessory prayer.  In this case specifically, I am not 
using more, or less, faith but all three languages occur equally the same 
without effort or stress on my part.  Now, with this in mind, return to what 
I said to the Lord about the gift of faith and being ignorant of how such a 
gift could even work, the Lord spoke to me as I looked at a list of the 
gifts and I said, "Lord, which of these gifts do I really have?"  He said, 
"The gift of faith."  I said, "No, I don't.  I don't even know what it is 
all about and how the gift of faith differs with the gift of miracles, for 
example."  Jesus said, "That is the gift I have given you."  I was 
dumbfounded because if this was so, I didn't know how it even worked.  He 
told me by showing places where I had used the faith He has given me for 
certain things to happen.  Still not convinced, I said, "How do we make this 
type of faith work?"  He said, "This faith is mine and mine alone so you 
only need to refer a situation or circumstances for which you are praying to 
me, and my faith causes it to happen."  Wow, I said.  That's easy to do. 
Jesus said, "Yep.  Your are right."  So, I have probably confused you even 
more by now.


Phil.




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sharon Hooley" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, September 07, 2009 7:20 PM
Subject: Re: The Object Of Your Faith


> Phil,
>
> Thanks for sharing this again.  It's good to read over and over.  I have 
> one question though.  Since God has given each of us The Measure of faith, 
> why did Jesus say to His disciples, "oh ye of little faith, why did you 
> doubt?"?
>
> Sharon