FaithAct: According to Your Faith

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. This is week number seven. Everybody

say week number seven. Week number seven in our

series on faith. And dad and I have been tag

teaming this, going back and forth a lot of the

weeks. But yeah, we're talking about faith. Everybody

say faith. The faith that does, right? The faith

that pleases God is a faith that acts. It's a

faith that is not passive. It doesn't just sit

by and let life happen to it. It's a faith that

takes hold of the promises of God. Amen? Takes

hold of the promises of God. It's not passive.

It doesn't sit back. It lays hold of what God

has in store for us and counts on it. There's

more to faith than believing, as we've been looking

at. There's more to faith than simply believing.

I know the majority of my Christian experience,

you know, I've thought faith was just hearing

or believing, right? But it's so much more than

that. It's acting. It's acting, standing on as

if God's word is true, right? We're doing those

things as like in our belief, we're standing

in them. We're moving towards them. It's more

than just simply believing. How many of you have

learned something through this series? Yeah,

it's really been good. It's really impacted me.

I've learned so much. And as we continue, we're

going to learn more today. But the faith that

pleases God is a faith that responds. It's a

faith that gives. It's a faith that does. It's

a faith that acts. Belief without action. does

not see the promised results. If we've seen time

and time again, right? Those stories that we

read about in the Bible are of men and women

who acted, who did, and saw the promises of God

fulfilled. They didn't just, you know, it was

because of their action, they wrote, and we see

them in the Bible in those stories. Things are

not just up to God, and we've learned that we

play a significant part in the things that happen

in our lives. Let's go over some verses just

to recap where we are. Ephesians 2 .8, for by

grace you have been saved through faith. Everybody

say faith. Grace is God's acts of kindness and

favor towards you and to me. And we experience

that his work, that work of salvation, right,

is what he did on the cross. It's what he accomplished.

Grace is what he does. Faith is what we do, right?

Galatians 3 .11, that no one is justified by

the law and the sight of God is evident, for

the just shall live by faith. 2 Corinthians 5

.7, for we walk by faith, not by sight. That

is the sphere of our existence. It illuminates

where we are. It shows us where we're going to

go. But each and every day, each one of us have

to choose to walk by faith. 1 John 5 .4, for

every child of God defeats this evil world. And

how do we achieve it? We achieve this victory

through our faith. Amen? Amen. As a believer,

we can have victory over the world. Why? Is it

because of something that we do? No, it's because

of what God has done, right? We can go ahead

and get happy about the victory that we walk

in. We are overcomers, the Bible says. We are

overcomers in this life. Do you believe that?

Are you an overcomer in this life as a Christian?

Say amen. Amen. You are an overcomer, and we

have victory through our faith. Hebrews 11, 6,

it is impossible to please God without faith.

So if we are saved through faith, if we're called

to live by faith, if we can only experience victory

through our faith, if we can only please God

by our faith, we need to be people of faith.

And like we said, we need to be people of faith.

We're actively living by faith each and every

day. We're dependent on it, right? We're dependent

on God and what he's going to do. We're actively

standing on his promises, standing in faith,

and then actively increasing in our faith, being

about the kingdom of heaven, learning, growing,

doing more and more faith acts. So what is faith?

Where does it come from? How do we have it and

how do we live it? We can see through Scripture,

Romans 10, 17. So then faith comes by hearing

and hearing by the word of God. That's the divine

utterance like we've talked about. It's spoken

and it's written. It's that still small voice

of the Holy Spirit on the inside of us, leading

us, guiding us, wooing us into the things that

God has for us, right? Showing us where to go.

People often ask, like, how do I hear from God?

It's that urge to do things. innate sense of

like okay this is what God has and this is according

to his word but then like you run those things

but it's like a still small voice and we talked

about how we have to be we have to be still in

order to hear something that is still we have

to put ourselves in places of stillness and places

of expectation places of places of Being able

to hear, right? I can't hear if I'm in like the

subway or something like that or if I'm on, you

know, and it's real loud and all that kind of

stuff. You can still hear the voice of God, but

that's why most people will hear the voice of

God when they're at church, right? Because you're

taking the time out of your schedule to sit,

to focus, to be conscious of what God has to

speak to you in that moment. So we have to hear

from God. So the first step of faith is hearing

the divine utterance from God. Second step of

faith is the confidence that we, Hebrews 11 .1,

faith is the confidence that what we hope for

will actually happen. It gives us assurance about

the things we cannot see, right? It's not the

world's view of hope, not hope so hope. It's

no -so hope. It's what we like to say. Hope is

the confident expectation. This is what it means

when we read hope in our Bibles. It's the confident

expectation that we will see the goodness and

promises of God fulfilled in our life. Amen.

So the second step of faith is wholeheartedly

believing and having confidence in God's word

and what he has said. And then James 2 .26 tells

us this. Faith without works is what? Is dead.

This here is why it's so important and why we

just keep hammering this same topic about faith

and the actions of faith. Because look, we can

hear, we can believe, we can wholeheartedly believe

and wholeheartedly do, right? But if we don't

act, if we don't act in faith, what good is it?

What good is it to you? Even the demons believe,

the Bible says. So there has to be more to believing.

There has to be more to faith than just simply

believing, right? We don't make up what to do.

You know, you don't just come up with things

to do when you're thinking about what God has

to say. A lot of people like to put words in

his mouth and say, oh, well, you know, I'm going

to make up something to do. But doing something

without direction is simply presumption. We must

do what he's told us to do. Under that divine

utterance, under that word that he has for us,

okay? So we must act according to God -given

direction. That's how we're going to see his

promise fulfilled. So the third step of faith

is acting in obedience, acting in obedience.

That is the connection point. That's the connection

point to the manifestation of power is when we

act upon what God has said. So faith is gained

by hearing, it's held by believing, and it's

lived by acting each and every day. And I love

this picture of like the little baby, right?

When I was... you know, designing the series

and coming up with what I wanted, you know, it

to look like. We go back and forth and we talk

about it. And I immediately, when I saw this

picture, it's like a meme of this little baby.

Now, I don't know what's going through the baby's

head or whatever. It's probably not thinking

what I'm thinking it means, but it was a good

picture, right? Because the baby is putting its

hands to something that it can't physically accomplish

on its own. And sometimes as Christians, God

is calling us to put our hands to things that

only he can do. Amen? That only he can do in

and through you. But, but, the problem is we

let our minds, we let logic and reason get in

the way of what God wants to do, but he's wanting

to do it through you. But are we going to be

people of faith to put our hands to things that

only he can do? But a lot of times we limit God.

We say, oh, well, God, that can't be done. That's

impossible. But like we saw last week, faith

laughs at impossibilities. Amen? It laughs at

it. It laughs at the face of it. Because what

with God, all things are possible. Amen? He wants

to use you. He wants to use you. And today we're

looking at, we're going to talk about healing,

going to talk about healing. Now we've looked

at healing with like Naaman, if you were here

for week one, some of these other faith acts

we've seen like healing being a big part of that.

But I noticed that immediately when I said healing,

everybody was like, oh, what's going to happen?

No, I'm praying that. that God will give us clarity,

that God will give us revelation here. I believe

there's a lot of ignorance surrounding this topic.

And I just want you to follow along through this

story. We're going to see some other things.

We're going to see a lot of things that God spoke

to me this week. And God just continues to show

me throughout Scripture about healing. We're

looking at, if you're familiar with the story,

we're looking at the woman with the issue of

blood. How many of you have heard this story

before? Please don't check out just because it's

a familiar story. I encourage you to like sit

up, get ready, and I need you to listen because

I don't want you to leave here and be like, well,

you know, that little kid that was standing,

I'm not a little kid, but anyways, that guy standing

up there, I used to be a little kid, no longer

a little kid anymore. Anyways. That guy sitting

up there said this when I really didn't, okay?

I know I'm country. I know it's a little hard

to understand sometimes. I'm going to try to

speak clear as I possibly can because I don't

want you to miss this and to miss the truth of

this. This will transform your life, amen? Because

that's what God wants to do. He wants us to leave

here different than the way we came in, okay?

So let's listen. Let's listen with our spiritual

ears to this story and let's view it in a different

way. This story is found, it's recorded in Mark,

Matthew, and Luke. Kind of gives us a little

different take of the same story. It tells us

all the same facts, but some of them just have

a different slant to the story, which reveals

a little bit more. I don't have time to dig into

the differences between each one, but we will

bounce a little bit around, okay? I encourage

you this week to read all three accounts of the

story. place in the overall thing of what Jesus

was doing was Jairus was coming with his daughter

being sick, you know, on her deathbed. And Jairus

is coming, talking, you know, to Jesus. And Jesus

is going with Jairus, going with Jairus to Jairus'

home. Okay? And then now we pick up our story.

Mark 5, 25 through 34 says this. Now a certain

woman, everybody say certain woman, certain woman,

had a flow of blood for 12 years. We don't know

her name. We don't know her name. None of the

accounts record that she has some sort of name.

We don't have that information. She was known

for her affliction, but she had suffered many

things from many physicians. She had spent all

that she had. Everybody say all that she had.

And she was no better, but rather. grew worse

she grew worse when i look at this i see just

because we have nothing else we can do right

it does not mean that nothing else can be done

okay Just when we hit those impossibility times,

when we think when medical science has gone as

far as it can go and lead you, you know, it stops.

And someone, what do they do? They say you're

terminal, right? Terminally ill. There's only

so much that can be done and what can happen.

It stops here, right? That does not mean nothing

else can be done. And I don't want it to be confused

here. We always need to look to God first. It's

a part of seeking his will, right? In all you

do, the Bible encourages us to seek his will.

We're supposed to be spirit -led. individuals.

If you want a good series about being spirit

led, go look it up. It's on YouTube, on the podcast,

everything. Go back and listen to that if you

want to know more about it. I don't have time

to sit there today, but we need to be Christians

who are led by the spirit. So what does that

mean? We're always taking everything that comes

to us. We're viewing our world and everything

around us in that lens of God. What would you

have me do? Okay. When it comes to healing, this

is so important because God might lead you to

do, to have some sort of procedure. God might

lead you to take some sort of medicine. So don't

get me wrong here. We have two different camps,

I think. Sometimes we have the camp that's just

like, well, okay, God, you know, God's able and

he's just going to heal everything and I'm going

to be miraculously healed. of everything, and

I don't need to use doctors. And then you have

the people that's like, well, God gave that wisdom

to the doctors, and we need to rely on them and

forsake everything supernatural. But I believe

there's a very balanced view we can take here,

okay, and what we'll see. God might direct you

to utilize what physicians can do. Who gave those

doctors the wisdom that they have, the natural

wisdom that they have? God did. And all healing

comes through him. And I don't care what a doctor

does to you, what kind of procedure you have,

there's going to still be some healing involved

that they don't do. You have a surgery on your

back, there's going to be six months of healing

involved, right? But we need to seek God first.

We need to look to him first. You don't look

to the doctors for your healing. You recognize

that all healing comes from God. You look to

him and be spirit -led, okay? So please don't

leave here and say something that I didn't say.

I'm just throwing this out there. We're going

to be real clear, and we're going to move forward.

Okay? Everybody say, we're moving forward. We're

moving forward. We need to do what God tells

us to do. That's the whole point of this whole

series, is being willing to act upon what he

tells you. And I don't know what he's told you

to do. You can't do something that someone else

did and expect the same result. Moving ahead.

Mark 5, 27. When she heard about Jesus, everybody

say heard. Heard everywhere she went, or everywhere

Jesus went, he was healing people. You read throughout

the New Testament, he's healing people time and

time and time again. A lot of people want to

just discredit healing altogether and just brush

it under a rug. But what did Jesus do when he

was here? Look at his earthly ministry. Look

at the things that he did on a day -to -day basis.

We see time and time again, he is healing people.

People are coming to him and things are happening.

Miracles are taking place. The power of God is

on display. It's to the point where he's telling

people, shh, don't tell. anybody what just happened

here today, right? And like this, this is a healing

taking place with inside another healing. It's

a miracle taking place with inside of another.

He turns around and there's some more, like two

blind guys come up in Luke, right? And he heals

them too. But let's take, let's take a look.

But she heard about Jesus. So based on what she

said and what she did, As we will see, or if

you already know what's coming, she most likely

had heard that the Messiah would have healing

in his wings. It's Malachi 4 .2. So she had probably

heard this prophecy of the coming one, of the

king of Israel, right? The one who would reign.

He's coming, and he will have healing in his

wings. He'll be healing people, right? That was

a part of... That prophecy that Jesus fulfilled.

And the wings here in Malachi, this word here

in Hebrew is kanaf, and it means the edge of

a garment. It means the edge of a garment. It's

very clear here. The edge of a garment. 27, when

she heard about Jesus, and then 28, we're going

to skip forward. She said, everybody say she

said. She said. This Greek word is lego. It's

lego. If only I may touch his clothes, I shall

be made well. If only I touch his clothes, because

she's standing on this word of the promised Messiah.

We're tracking, right? So she's standing on that

and she said, if I touch his clothes, I'll be

whole. If I just touch his clothes, and this

is in a different translation we'll see in a

second, I think it's in Luke. Again, it says

the edge of his garment. I will be made well.

Now this is a lady who spent 12 years. This isn't

something that just came up overnight. She spent

12 years, every penny that she had, she had went

to every doctor, every natural understanding

and physician that she could, and she was out

of options, okay? She's completely out of options.

And when she hears that the Messiah is coming

and the Messiah is close, she knows and remembers,

and she stands on this word and says, if I touch

his clothes, I shall be made well. This is her

first act of faith. She spoke in agreement with

what she believed. Her lego. What does that mean

when you look at the definition of that Greek

word? It's to lay forth in words. It's lay forth

in words. It's a systematic or set discourse

building or establishing. Okay? So this means

that she didn't just say it once. She didn't

just say it once and give up. No, she kept saying

it over and over and over again. She laid forth

in her words and built this up in her spirit.

She's taking a hold of this and building up her

faith over and over and over again. She's standing

on, speaking in agreement with the word that

was spoken with that prophecy. Now, when I think

of Legos, When I think of Legos, and like Dad's

used this illustration before, and I got to be

honest, you know, when it's real early in the

morning, I am not at the peak of mental ability,

okay? And, you know, I spent roughly like, it

was two evenings building this beautiful Lego

set. of a X -Wing, Star Wars X -Wing. And I had

every intention to bring it. And I thought it

was so cool looking. I like set it up on my piano

at home. And what did I do this morning? I got

everything except that one piece for that illustration

that I worked so hard on. Anyways, we're moving

on. Now, growing up, I had Legos, but not like

Legos that they have today with like the sets

and all that kind of stuff. I just had a blue

box. Did anybody have like a big blue box of

just Legos? Me and Talia. Yeah. Yeah, so like

we just had this big... box of legos there were

different shapes but pretty much consistent right

like how with how big they were there wasn't

all these cool ones like big sticks and see -through

ones and all these fun stuff we just had to use

our imagination to just create stuff i'd be like

oh i'm going to create a a building you know

and stack a few up or i'm going to make a plane

and it would look funny and not hold together

real well and and uh for this for this though

it you know dad he was like hey we need to buy

this lego set let's do that it'll be a great

illustration piece ah yeah gotta love it gotta

love it but anyways you know all these all these

fancy lego things they come in this big beautiful

full color box showing you what you're going

to make they come with the instruction manual

which also shows this beautiful thing in some

sort of like you know green screen background

like it's flying and shooting stuff out of it

it looks so cool and then it gives step -by -step

instructions that if you've built anything from

ikea you can follow and you should be okay at

it at the end of the day i only had to break

it apart like two or three times but we built

it and it and it looks great sitting on my piano

at home yeah um But, you know, I followed it

step by step, and I built this beautiful X -Wing,

built this beautiful X -Wing. And the thing with

this, this word, I don't know how it's connected

to, or even if it is connected, but in my head,

this makes really good sense, because God, listen.

God gives us a vision, just like a Lego gives

you a vision of what will be. If you follow the

book, right, if you follow step by step the instructions

of the book, it shows you what will be. If you

build it, if you put your hands to it, brick

by brick, by brick, by brick, systematically,

over and over and over again, to complete. And

it's all given to you. The manufacturer gives

you everything that you need in the box. Like

20 billion bags. But yeah, there's this box and

it has all these pieces in it. It has everything

that you need. And the manufacturer gives it

to you and says, if you do this, you will have...

the vision, the image of what it could be, right?

So first off, God's like this. God's like this

with things in your life. He gives you a vision

of what will be in your life if you follow his

direction. But he always gives you that image

of what will happen. God gives us vision through

the promise, right? Gives us that image and directions,

the instruction. And our words, listen, our words,

our Lego, are intentionally placed in accordance

with his word, our action. It makes God's vision

become a reality in my life. Okay? Confessions,

though, are merely words unless they are connected

to the promise of God. I can't just create things

that I want and just make it up in my head and

then just see the promises of God. No, I've got

to stand on a word from God. That divine utterance,

that's what we're talking about. Written or spoken,

it's the word of God. It is God who has the power

to accomplish his word, right? But it's through

faith, through faith, that we see it a reality

in our life. Okay? So listen, she said what she

heard. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the

word of God. She had heard that when the Messiah

comes, he will have healing in her wings. That

was the written word that she had heard and that

she's standing on. And get this. Don't miss this.

She receives. according to her level of faith.

Could she have been healed differently? You know,

could she have been healed? We see later on with

the centurion, right? Going, just speak your

word, and it'll be. You don't have to come to

my house. You don't have to lay hands. You don't

have to even be there. Just speak the word and

it will be done. In Jairus, in the context of

this story, he's going to receive according to

what? His level of faith. He said, if you come

and lay hands on my daughter, she will be whole.

And what did this lady say? She's standing on

the light in which she has, on the knowledge

of which she has, on the word in which was spoken

to her through divine utterance, and she receives

according to her confession of faith. Faith is

at different levels. That's why God said if you

can have faith as a mustard seed, as small as

a mustard seed, you can move a mountain. Think

about that a little bit. Back to her story. When

she heard about Jesus, she came behind him in

the crowd and touched his garment. For she said,

if only I may touch his clothes, I shall be made

well. But she pushes through the crowd. You know,

having that issue of blood, she would have been

pronounced unclean. It would have been unseemly

for her to be out in public. People would have

looked at her. People would have possibly stoned

her according to their times and their traditions.

It would have been a very weird time. And she's

really putting herself out on a ledge here, really

as her last resort. But she came behind him,

pushed through the crowd. And notice, Jesus here

is not looking for her. He's going to the house

of Jairus. See, I think that's why this miracle

is really important. It's like, it's a little

different than some of the other ones. Jesus

wasn't intentionally seeking her out, right?

She had to go where Jesus was and press through

the crowd. She pressed through. When she saw

the crowd and how difficult it was going to be

to get to Jesus, this is the moment she could

have lost her miracle. She could have said it.

She could have believed it. She could have heard

it. But she could have saw that and let all of

that get in the way of what God had for her.

In church, Don't let your mind, don't let reasoning

and logic based on your feeble humanity get in

the way of the things that God wants to do in

your life. Because God wants you to put your

hands to things that only he can do. She sees

the crowd. She doesn't let it get in the way.

She doesn't let that keep her. from having what

God has for her. And she touched his garment.

She touched his garment. Here in Luke 8, 44,

she touched the fringe of his garment. It adds

that word. Touched the fringe of his garment.

That's her third act of faith. And like we talked

about, A lot of times in the miracles or in the

power of God, when we see it, it requires multiple

actions. It's not simply just one action. It

requires multiple actions. But immediately, I

like that word, immediately, the fountain of

her blood was dried up and she felt in her body

that she was healed of the affliction. Amen?

And I love this. And Jesus, immediately knowing

in himself that power had gone out of him, turned

around. The kind of faith that makes Jesus turn

around and say, whoa, who touched me? Who touched

me? Who's reaching out in faith? Who's believing

what I have said and taking a hold of my promise?

Hey! Who's going to do it? Who's going to have

the kind of faith that makes Jesus turn around?

Who's going to have the type of faith that pleases

God? It pleases him when his children do this.

He's instructing us to do it and it pleases him

when we act upon what he said. Just like with

a parent, when your parent asks you to do something

and you do it, right? What happens? It pleases

your parent. Hallelujah. Right? Makes them happy.

Makes them smile on the inside. If they ask you

to do something, you're like, I don't know. That

don't seem right. I think I know better. I think

I can do it like this. And it kind of accomplishes

what you said, but I can do it my own way. Does

that please your parents? No. No. Sorry, I'll

get off of that. Get off of that. No. The kind

of faith that makes Jesus turn around. Turn around

and said, who touched my clothes? But his disciples

said to him, I love it because they're just like,

you know, you see the multitude around you, thronging

you, and you say, who touched me? I mean, everybody

has bumped up into you. Everyone has been, you're

in like a complete crowd. Everyone's bumping.

It's like being at a concert, right? Everybody's

just around, but they're all trying to get to

Jesus. They're all trying to get to Jesus. But

you know what? There was a multitude around him

that day. Listen, there's a multitude around

him. There's a multitude of people touching him.

It's not about the action. It's about the faith.

Multiple people touched the hem of his garment.

Only one lady took hold of his promise by faith.

Only one person received the goodness and promise

of God. Only one person saw the miracle happen.

Saw the affliction that had been troubling her

for 12 years get turned around. Like it never

even happened. Who touched me? There were many

people. Hearing Jesus bumping him, only one touched

him in faith. Only one received a miracle. And

he looked around to see her who had done this

thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling,

knowing what had happened to her, did she run

away? No, she didn't run away. She came and fell

down before him. Everybody say worship. Worshiped

him and told him the whole truth, what had happened.

Did Jesus rebuke her in any way? Did he say,

ah, you shouldn't have came to me like that.

That's not in order. Did he say that? We're talking

about healing this morning, in case you forgot.

Did he scold her in any way for doing what she

did? No. I love this. And he said to her something.

He said, daughter. Some of you got it. He said,

daughter. This whole entire time, listen, this

whole entire time, she had been the lady with

the issue of blood for 12 years. She had been

the lady isolated from everyone and everything.

And then now Jesus. Turns around and says, daughter.

You know, this is one of like the only times

Jesus like says this word here. Calls her daughter.

She went from being known as the person with

her affliction to child of God. Why? I think

it's to tell us something because his children.

His children take a hold of his promise. His

children do and are willing to do what he told

them to do when he told them to do it. His children

say that, well, if God has it and that's who

God is, I can take a hold of it and see it real

in my life because I'm an heir to him. So if

he has it, I have it. If he promised it, I can

take it to the bank. I can stand on it. I can

live it. I can speak those words. And it happened

in the same way, not from my ability, not from

what I can do, but because of what he has done.

Just like salvation, just like all of God's precious

promises are through faith. Daughter. Your faith

has made you well. Go in peace and be healed

of your affliction. She is no longer identified

by affliction. Her identity is now daughter of

God. But get this. He says it. It's so clear

as day. And this is not the only time it is said.

I talked about the two blind guys. He's going

to turn around and do this. He's going to heal

Jairus' daughter. And he's going to turn to the

two blind guys who came up to him. And he's going

to say, according to your faith, you will be

healed this day. Boom, their sight was restored.

Your faith has made you well. Your faith has

made you well. Do we believe God has the ability

to heal? Yeah, we believe that, right? We believe

that that is what God does. We believe that God

has the ability, right? He is more than able,

right? I hope as a church we agree to this. Do

we believe God has the ability to heal? But listen,

do we receive according to God's ability? What

does Scripture has to say? Do the people in the

Bible receive according to God's ability? Or

do they receive according to their faith? A lot

of people think that just because God is able

to do something, that He is going to do something

in their life despite what they do. That is passive

Christianity. That is the lie of the enemy keeping

you from taking hold of the promises of God.

That is the lie of the enemy keeping you from

experiencing the victory of God that God has

for you. That's why you see many Christians living

defeated lives, suffering, aching. It's not because

their God is not able. Your faith has made you

well. This same, I encourage you, go through

your Bible. Look at this phrase. Look through

the Testaments. You'll see it over and over and

over again. You'll see each one of these healing

miracles that take place. It's all because of

their action. They came to Jesus and they received

a miracle. They went. They did what he told them

to do. Why did they go? Because they believed

in him. They believed that they were going to

leave different than the way they came or they

wouldn't have went. And he said to her, daughter,

your faith has made you hell. Faith is what connects

God's ability, right, to our reality. To our

reality. Did Jesus ever refuse anyone in the

Bible who reached out to him in faith? Did he

ever turn someone away? We don't see it. Show

me a place in the Bible that you see where God

said, no, that ain't right. That's not the way

it happens. But our church, you know, churches

will propagate this. And I don't know where everybody's

came from. Different backgrounds and different

understandings and the way you've... read scripture

and how you've been taught, and I just want to

clear up some things. But did Jesus ever refuse

anyone in the Bible who reached out to him in

faith? No. I can't go through every single instance,

but listen. Here's two. Luke 4, 38 through 40.

As the sun went down that evening, people throughout

the village, wasn't just a select few, wasn't

just some that he just chose one day. No, people

brought, people... throughout the village brought

sick family members to Jesus, and no matter what

their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed

everyone. Does it take a touch of his hand? No.

But they received according to their faith. But

he healed everyone. Healed everyone. You know

why? Because that's who God is. Matthew 15, 30,

a vast crowd brought to him people who were lame,

blind, crippled, those who couldn't speak, and

many others. They laid them before Jesus, and

he did what? He healed them all. Healed them

all. Amen. Amen. God's name, we did a whole series

on the names of God. God's name reveals that

healing is not just something that he does on

the side, when or whenever he... His divine will

pleases. It's who he is. His identity as God

is healer. The name of God, Jehovah Rapha. The

Lord, healer. Not the Lord who heals. It's the

Lord, healer. The Lord. Deliverer, right? The

Lord, our healer. That's who he is. That's who

he is. And God has not changed. Hebrews 13, 8,

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and

forever, despite what anyone has to tell you.

Jesus is the same. He wants to do the same things

that he did. He even promised that he would do

greater things in and through his disciples,

in and through his followers. If they acted in

faith. Just because something is the will of

God, though, does not mean that his will is going

to be done in your life. Just because something

is the will of God does not mean his will is

going to be done in your life. Some of you might

not believe that. Some of you might be struggling

with that this morning. But think about our stories

that we've went through. It was God's will, right?

He promised it to them. He promised it to them.

It was God's will that the Israelites entered

the promised land. He laid it out, told them.

He was like, this is my plan for you. But you

will escape Egypt. You will enter into the land

I have given you. You go take hold of it. You

do those things. And time and time again, we

see them doing things, doing faith actions, right?

Him holding up the rod, parting the waters, them

being delivered out of Egypt. They move in. All

of a sudden, there's food. There's provision

for them, even though they're in a dry desert

place. God's taking care of them. Because they're

following what he said. They're headed to the

promised land. And as soon as they get there,

what happens? What happens? There's giants in

the land. But there's giants in the land. We

can't have what God told us to have. There's

giants in the land. We'll die. Did God tell them

that they could have it? Did God tell them that

it was theirs? Had they not defeated and conquered

and overcame and done all these things time and

time again to get all the way out there, all

the way to the end? They had acted in faith so

many times. And then in this one time, they missed

it. And they didn't receive it. They didn't receive

it. What happened? They wandered in the wilderness

another 40 years. Was it still God's promise?

Was that God's will for them to wander in the

wilderness, to die in the wilderness? No, he

told them to enter in. And they refused to do

what God told them to do. So to say that it is

God's will to perish is to also say that unbelief,

rebellion, suffering, and ultimately death was

the will of God for them. But it took two guys

acting in faith and said, hey, you know, if God

told us we can have it, we're going to go take

it. Caleb and John, they're like, hey, I'm going

to go over here. This is mine. I'm going to go.

I'm going to go take it. I don't care what the

giants are. It's a beautiful land. It's what

God had given me, and I'm going to go for it.

And what did they do? They acted in faith, and

they received the promise. When others died in

the wilderness, they received the promise. Amen?

But it was not God's will. for any one of them

to perish, to suffer and to die in the wilderness.

If God's will is always done in the earth, then

why did Jesus tell us to pray for God's will

to be done? Dad kind of touched on this last

week, but I want you to see it through this lens.

What is the Lord's prayer when the disciples

ask Jesus, teach us how to pray? What should

we pray? What does he say? And I love this. Look

at this this way. This changes the whole thing

right here. Look, for your father knows what

you need before you ask him. He knows what you

need. And then he says, pray then like this.

Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth

as it is in heaven. Let it be done on earth.

as it is in heaven. He's telling us to pray for

that, to be ambassadors of that, to see his kingdom

come in the earth, right? To see his will be

done in the earth, and it's going to take us

acting in faith. Your will be done. See, God's

omniscience allows him to know your needs before

you ask them. His omnipotence Makes what you

need available. Faith takes hold of, on earth,

what is known and available to us in heaven.

God's omniscience allows him to know your needs.

He says, for I know your needs. The Father knows

your needs before you even ask him. But then

he says to pray. Pray that his kingdom come and

his will be done. His omnipotence makes what

we need available. He's able, right? He's all

-powerful. He has everything that we need to

live a life of godliness, to live a life exceedingly

abundantly, right? He has this life for us. He

has this life for victory. He has a plan. The

plan is not to harm you. Plans not for suffering

and disease. I had someone tell me one time that

God gave them cancer. God gave them cancer. And

we would deal with that a lot at Lakewood. These

people, they'd be like, well, God gave this to

me to show me something, to work something in

my life. I know I just hit a nerve, but I'm going

to keep going. And they said, well, God brought

this upon me so that he could teach me something.

Is that the way a father works? Would you do

that to your own kids? How much more does God

love you? How much more, if it makes sense to

us right now, how much more, like, we just wouldn't

do those things. God can turn something around,

something that sin and death has brought on you.

He can turn that around to a good. And He, no

matter what you've done, no matter what you've

not done, He can turn that around and you can

still see God move and do exciting, big things

in your life. Okay? There's never, there's never,

never. And a way, a time where God can't do something

big in your life, okay? But he has so much for

us, so much more for us than even you're experiencing

right now. He has more for us. And his omnipotence

makes what you need available. And then faith

takes hold of on earth what is known and available

to us in heaven. So do we believe that God is

our healer? That he wants us to be free from

injury and disease? For our bodies and minds

to be sound and whole? Do we believe that? Is

that his will for us? You've got to get this

through your head. If you want to see these things

real in your life, you've got to first believe

it. God wants you well. He is your healer. Right?

So no matter what the world and the corruption

of the world has and all the sin things that

impacts us on a day -to -day basis, we are overcomers.

We can overcome those things by the blood of

the Lamb, the word of our testimony, through

faith. We will see the goodness and promises

of God in our lives. And a part of that is who

He is, being healed, being whole. mentally, physically,

whole, and well. God can't use you if you're

laid up somewhere, sick in bed all the time,

and can't do anything, can't go outside. God

can't use you to win the world, to be a disciple

of him, to be an ambassador where he's placed

you if you're sick and can't move. He wants you

well. Have you ever prayed for healing? Now I

want us to be real honest here. Have you ever

prayed for someone to be healed and they haven't?

Yeah? Yeah? Prayed for healing? Didn't see it

happen, right? And a lot of times those prayers,

those prayers that I would pray, that I would

hear other prayers would involve this phrase,

if it be your will, God. God, if it be your will,

let so -and -so be healed of whatever, let this

happen, or if it be your will, if it be your

will. You know, I started thinking about this.

If it's all up to God, you know, if that's what

we think, that it's just all up to God, if he's

going to do what he's going to do despite what

you do, Why pray? Why are we even praying? God,

if it be your will to heal. You know what? In

Scripture, the people that came up said, if it

be your will, God, heal me. You know what he

said? It is. It is my will that you be healed.

And then he healed them. Because we can come

to God with imperfect faith, right? We can come

to him that way. But he said, it is my will.

So if, you know. But if we believe that, hey,

I'm just whatever will be will be, God, you know,

you're going to do what you're going to do. Why

are we praying if it's his will? No, we know

his will. He's made it clear to us what his will

is, that he is our healer. You know what? Our

experience does not change who he is. Something's

wrong with your faith. You're acting out in a...

not in accordance with his word, right? If you

do something and it doesn't happen in your life,

it's not God who's changed. It does not change

his will. It does not change what is provided

in Christ. This includes healing. This includes

healing. Some people will say, well, Jeffrey,

you know, eventually the corruption of sin, we're

all going to pass away. We're all going to die.

Eventually sin will corrupt our body, you know,

and we are passing away. We're in a constant

decay, right? And some people will say, well,

that kind of goes against because like people

are not just living forever. Listen, in the kingdom

of God, death is not a victory for sin. Death.

To be absent from the body is to be present with

the Lord. It's victory over death. Over death,

hell, the grave. That's what Jesus did. That's

why he came. So it's not seen as death's defeat.

No, it's seen as heaven's win. Because we will

be with him, amen? Immediately. Immediately with

him. With a new mind, new body. Faith does not

beg God to heal. Faith does not beg God to heal.

When you pray, you don't need to be begging God

to do things for you that he's already promised

that he will do for you. Don't beg God for what

he's already given you. All these promises are

in his word. If you don't know, read the book.

Get to know who he is. Be spirit -led. But faith

does not beg God to heal. And a prayer of faith

stands on the fact that God wants you well and

actively confesses that God's will, his healing,

will be done in your life. That's how he wants

us to pray. Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come and

your will be done. It's literally like your will

is done in my life. And will be accomplished

through me. Your will. What you want for me,

I'm going to take hold of. For what you want

for me, I'm going to act on. That's why it says

fight the good fight of faith. You don't win

a war by standing back and letting, well, if

it's God's going to win, you know, he's going

to do what he's going to do despite what I do.

It might look good in Hobby Lobby on a sign,

but it doesn't play out in life. That's a lie

from the enemy. We got to fight. It's the only

time it's encouraged for us to fight. Fight the

good fight of faith. Lay hold of the promises

of God. Because if you don't take hold of it,

you're not going to see it real in your life.

If you don't lay hold of the promises of heaven,

they're not going to be reality to you here on

earth. John 10 .10, the thief does not come except

to steal and to kill and to destroy. So you know

what this tells me? That the things of this world

that steal from you and that kill you and that

are out to destroy you are not from God. They're

from the enemy. So if anyone tells you that something

that has taken from you, something that has stole

from your life, something that is trying to kill

you, either mentally, emotionally, physically,

destroy you, break apart your family, do whatever,

listen, that is the enemy. And at that moment,

you have the option to stand. and lay hold of

the promises of God for you, or you can let this

world overcome you. But it's your decision. God's

a gentleman. He's not forcing this on you. He's

not just guaranteeing, well, you're a Christian,

so therefore it's just all going to be done for

you. No, no, no. Why? Because He's just. And

as we've seen time and time again, That it's

his will that we be actively involved in the

things that God has for us. We play an active

part in what God wants to do. Because God has

come that we may have life. And not just the

world's kind of life of living. We may have the

God kind of life. The life that he has for us

is the life that he had, like the life of God,

and that we may have it, not just like average.

He wants us to not have just an average life.

He wants us to have an abundant life. And abundance

is not just about stuff. It's not about your

possessions or any of those things. He wants

us to have and lay hold of his promises, which

include joy, which include peace, which includes

righteousness, and all the things of his kingdom,

right? That's how we're going to see the victory

of God. That's how we're going to have a victorious

life. God does not choose to heal some and deny

healing to others according to his divine will.

This is the takeaway today. He doesn't choose

to heal some, deny healing to others. For God,

Romans 2 .11 says, For God does not show favoritism.

doing that would be against his very character

of being a just God. If he said, I'm not going

to heal this person. A lot of people, though,

think that, oh, it must be something that I did,

you know, some sort of sin that I committed.

I'm not going to have what God said, right? But

God is not like that. He is unconditional, right?

It doesn't matter what we've done. It doesn't

matter what's happened in our life. Like, he

doesn't show favoritism to one and not another.

So we can't say that, well, God chose to heal

this person but then denied healing to them,

according to his divine will. What we see throughout

Scripture is that God has chosen for us to always

be involved in our healing. God has always chosen

us to be involved in the miracles that he has

for us, in the supernatural things, by an act

of faith. by an act of faith, by willing to do,

be willing to go, be willing to give, be willing

to speak, to lay forth in our words, standing

on the promises of God. That's how we're going

to see those heaven things reality on earth in

our lives. God is just. And get this, our faith

act... is what justifies him doing something

for us that he does not do for someone else.

This is how it makes sense. This is God's will

for us to be involved. In our faith act, when

him telling us, hey, if you do this, you will

receive this, that's what justifies him doing

something for us that he does not do for everyone

else. Why? Because we would do what he told us

to do. when others would not. And you might be

struggling with that, but listen, it works with

salvation the same way. God's will for everyone

is that no one perish, that all will come to

repentance and all have life. But is that going

to happen? Is his will of God going to be done?

Is that what's going to happen in the earth?

No. Wide is the road. that leads to destruction.

Narrow is the road that leads to life. Few will

find it. Few will find it. And it's the same

thing with this. Why? Why do some receive healing?

Why do others do not? It's because they would

do what he told them to do. And you can't always

judge. Listen, you can't always know. What God

has told someone else to do. You don't know.

You can only be accountable for yourself in this,

right? So we don't know. We can't judge other

people and say like, well, okay. No. You don't

know. You don't know. I pray that this doesn't

like confuse. too much but I want us to see what

God has for us real in our lives I want to see

you healed I don't want to see you battling something

for 12 years when you can have something today

and I would be remiss not to share It's according

to your faith. You can have what God wants you

to have. And you can do what God wants you to

do. But you've got to have faith. You've got

to be willing. You've got to be obedient to act

in accordance to his word. Amen? Amen. This online

worship experience was brought to you by the

Friends and Partners of Eulation Church.