Ever been believing God for something, I mean really convinced that the Word was true, in spite of circumstances? Standing on the Word, seeing it as already finished, speaking it out into the world, and then...wham! You wake up filled with doubt and fear...what if it doesn't work? What are you going to do? Etc. etc. etc...
If so, you are not alone, trust me! Re-read my post on Fear—it discusses this very phenomenon. Fear is a spirit, sent to kill, steal and destroy.
But the good news is this...in your reborn spirit, you are One Spirit with the Lord, and you have His faith! In your spirit, you have the faith to move mountains and calm seas. Because your spirit is filled with God, you are filled with His power and attributes—you have this treasure in earthen vessels [2 Corinthians 4:7].
In fact, in your spirit you have the Mind of Christ! [1 Corinthians 2:16]
The Mind of Christ
The Mind of Christ is misunderstood, I think. If you go up a couple of verses in that same passage, we are told that we have received the Spirit Who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. [1 Corinthians 2:12] Verse 13 says that natural man cannot understand or accept the things of God, because they are spiritually appraised.
We read that chapter and think we have the Mind of Christ in our natural minds, but this is clearly not so. Or, even worse—we read it and fixate on verse 9 and neglect the rest of the passage, taking it completely out of context to prove why we can't understand why God is [killing/stealing/destroying...fill in the tragedy].
Spirit Faith
So we see that, in our spirit, we have all the faith, love, hope, joy, peace, patience, etc that Jesus has...and more, what the Trinity has! In the gospel of John, Jesus said that He AND the Father would come and dwell in us by the power of the Holy Spirit! Ephesians 3 says that we can be filled up to all the fullness of God! Talk about creative faith! And it's in us, whether we feel like it or not. Whether we're racked with doubt and fear, we still have the faith of God in our spirits.
So What Do I Do?
Remember these things when the spirit of fear attacks. Even if you have doubts in your mind, your spirit is filled with God and all that He has—His faith, the faith that created all things. Stand on Bible truth and know that you can exercise the faith of God despite circumstances and lying spirits.
Don't believe the doubts and fears. Some say "Do it scared" but I say rebuke the doubt and fear and know that if you exercise your spiritual faith, you will not fail. 1 Corinthians 13:8 says love never fails—we know that God is love and that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Stand you ground and confess that your faith has made you whole, complete. Colossians 2:10 says that we have already been made complete in Him.
Peace
The Hebrew word Shalom means peace, but the Old Covenant understanding of that peace includes far more than what we of when we hear the word today. It actually means whole, or complete—peace and completion in every area of life! And Jesus was the Prince of Peace [Isaiah 9:6] Who gave us His peace [John14:27] and made it clear that it was not a natural peace.
Of course, religion has twisted this into a scary thing...you're not to have any natural peace but will have to be comforted with [just] spiritual peace instead. So we put our heads down and suffer through life, when what we really have is the Shalom Peace of God, complete wholeness in every area!
Where is it? It's in your spirit, with the faith and love and every blessing bestowed by God [Ephesians 1:2]. This is another misunderstood verse—we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, which of course must mean that we aren't blessed in the natural. What a load of [fill in your favorite expletive]!
What it really means is that in our reborn spirits we have every blessing, to enjoy here on the earth and for eternity. Jesus told us and demonstrated how to use our faith—to speak to the natural so that it would obey us [Mark 11:21-24]. It is by exercising our spiritual faith that we bring the blessings from our spirit into the natural world.
Mind Faith
There is such a thing as mental faith, based on our individual or cultural experience. I'm sure you've heard the analogy that faith in God is like faith in a chair...you sit in the chair because you know from experience that it will hold you.
Unfortunately, that is an example of mental faith only. The faith of God that dwells within you is based on Who He is and His power, not on your natural experience.
Because we're never been taught these things, we have a completely natural view of faith. We equate it with mental belief—if we believe hard enough in our minds and don't doubt in our minds, we might be able to pull it off. But the Word says not to doubt in our hearts, not our minds. Our minds are really the filter between the spirit and the physical...they will allow or forbid based on pre-conceived beliefs, from the spirit into the physical. So while the Word may say we are already healed, the mind looks at science, medicine, and natural reality to decide whether to allow the healing power of the Spirit within into our physical circumstance or not.
That's why it is imperative to know that in your spirit you have the faith of God, and it is not affected by our mental doubts or fears. It is only restricted by our mental beliefs, and those can be renewed by the Word of God to prove what is the good and acceptable will of God [Romans 12:2].
Ok...Mark 11:23-24
It's time to look at the definitive 'how-to' passage on faith. You know the story...Jesus 'cursed' a fig tree because it had no figs on it. The next day, they passed it again and the tree was dead from the roots up. Jesus explained:
"And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you."
Know that your spiritual faith is the same faith that created the universe, and don't be deceived into laying it down by fear or mental doubt.
I hope that I've made myself clear...it seems so obvious to me now, but not always so easy to communicate. Re-read Faith etc. for additional detail on these wonderful truths.
