I ministered at the farm community of Lightenburg last weekend. It is in the “mielie” (corn) county of South-Africa. The mielies were standing tall and it was so beautiful to behold the reward of the farmers hard work. I knew that it was a lengthy process to get the mielies the way they looked now. The ground had to be prepared, good seed had to planted and tended, and it had to be treated for protection against pesticides. It was a continual day-to-day process.
In the distance I could also see the watering sprinklers turning slowly in their circular movements to provide the mielies with their much needed supply of water. I looked at the field in front of me in awe, and I heard the farmer say: “The water from the irrigation system gets the job done, but nothing can compare to the water that comes from heaven.” I smiled at his comment and thought to myself, “that is exactly how it works in our walk of faith too.”
There are the times when you are with your Bible study group, or in the church service ,or at the prayer meeting, but nothing compares to your “knee-time” with Abba Father in your inner room. Although all the Christian activities we do are much needed and profitable to our spiritual growth, the kiss from God that we receive when we spend time intimately with Him, is like rain from heaven. This “kiss” is a firsthand revelation when the Holy Spirit reveals things to you through the Word and Spirit. It flows from His Spirit to your spirit. Even if you are a child, you will receive understanding for the things of God, and no man’s opinion will be able to take that away from you.
The farmer continued explaining to me the importance of rain to his crop: “The rain gives the mielie a better colour. The change in the mieliescan clearly be seen after a good rainfall. Nothing compares to the goodness of heavenly rain.”
That is also what happens to our spirit when we spend time with God in our inner room – there where you meet Him spirit to Spirit. It is when He breaks open the Word of God to you and it becomes living in your heart. It is when you receive first hand revelation of His character, when you learn to trust Him, and when He deposits faith into your heart.
The gift of faith is one of the three gifts of power. It is distinguished from other forms of faith by the fact that it is the supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit working through a believer. It is the “God kind” of faith, and it is a gift from God. It is rooted in faith in God, and not faith in man or man’s abilities. It is an aspect of God’s own eternal nature.
Through the gift of faith, the Holy Spirit imparts a portion of God’s faith supernaturally into a believer. This is faith on a divine level. It is higher above mere human faith, just as heaven is above the earth. That is the kind of faith that Jesus spoke about when He said to His disciples: “Have God’s faith.” Jesus Christ challenged His disciples to receive an exercise this kind of faith, just as He himself had done.
“Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?” So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:18-21)
We can live by this promise from Jesus even today. Jesus did not put a restriction on who may ask in prayer, by faith in the Living God.
Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”
Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?”
And they were afraid, and marvelled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!” (Luke 8:22-25).
We also see in this story that when Jesus Christ spoke to the wind and the waves they obeyed him. Normally the wind and the waves don’t obey people – so that means that Jesus had supernatural faith – it was an impartation of God’s own faith. Then by speaking the word of faith He accomplished what otherwise only God could have done. The storm calmed down at once, and afterwards Jesus asked His disciples: “Where is your faith?”
Why do we struggle so much with this aspect of faith in our walk with God? Because the moment you feel your heart beat rising because of fear or anxiety you can know that Satan is standing at the door and shouting: “Open up! Fear wants to come in and take over!” If we give him that gap, fear will enter and take our focus off our dependency on God.
Jesus showed us how we should operate in faith. We must look to the Father and trust in His goodness, and His love for us. He is the Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth for whom nothing is impossible. Jesus opened His heart to the Father and received the “God kind” of faith. We need this supernatural gift of faith to deal with the day-to-day storms we face.
Let’s make a choice to draw close to God and to receive that kiss from Him. If you receive a firsthand revelation of Him, no one will be able to take that away from you. You know, what you know, what you know. Let us not look around at each other, but let us rather place our focus on Jesus and the path that He has laid out for us. Each of us are walking on our own unique road of faith. The farmer is walking on his road of faith trusting God for rain for his crop; I’m walking the road of faith with Aldo, and I know that you too have a road of faith. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
So many people have contacted me asking for advice and input about their unique situations; whether it be soul ties, word curses, bloodline curses, addictions, broken hearts or infirmities. I would like to share some reading material with you that I believe would be very helpful to everyone seeking healing from the Lord: Healing through Deliverance, by Peter Horrobin. (Peter Horrobin is the Founder & Director of Ellel Ministries International: www.ellelministries.org) This book covers so many of the issues we face. We are all part of the body of Christ, and we are here to help each other with our giftings. No one person knows everything – we learn from each other.
So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building (1 Cor. 3:7-9).
May the Lord bless your coming and your going.
Love,
Retah.