2 Kings 4:1-7 (NIV) 1 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” 2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.” 3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” 5 She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
Miracle in the House… 1. Give up what you got. (Surender)
“In your “Nothing” God sees something.”
Your little becomes a lot when you give it to God.
2. Go around and ask. Corporate miracles increase faith for personal miracles.
Sometimes what you need is in your neighbors house.
3. Start pouring. Exercise faith.
Matthew 17:19–20 (NIV)19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
“Great faith is just small faith that has been exercised.”
Faith will be tested. “The test won't pass; you have to pass the test."
James 1:2–4 (NIV) 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 1. Testing grows us 2. Testing is a revealer 3. In testing, the Devil tempts us. James 1:13(NIV) When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.
The devils desire is to….
Disengage from your community and connection to Jesus
Disappoint your desires.
Discourage you and rob you of hope.
Distract from your purpose.
Disrupt the refining process.
Dismantle your identity.
4. Testing proves us James 1:12–15 (NIV) 12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
"A faith that is tested is a faith that can be trusted."
Passing the test: Genesis 22:1(NLT) Some time later, God tested Abraham's faith. "Abraham!" God called. "Abraham!" God called. "Yes," he replied. "Here I am." 2 "Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you." 3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.
1. Hope up
God's promise is always the greater reality!
1 Peter 1:3–4 (NLT) …It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance…
Genesis 22(NLT) 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 "Stay here with the donkey," Abraham told the servants. "The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back." 6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac's shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "We have the fire and the wood," the boy said, "but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?" 8 "God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son," Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.
2. Speak Up John 16:33 (NIV) In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. 1 John 5:5 (NIV) Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Romans 8:31 (NIV) What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:35 (NIV) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Romans 8:37 (NIV) We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Genesis 22(NLT) 9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Yes," Abraham replied. "Here I am!" 12 "Don't lay a hand on the boy!" the angel said. "Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son." 13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means "the Lord will provide").
3. Look up Hebrews 10:23 (NIV) Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Psalm 121:1–8 (NLT) 1 I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! 3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. 4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. 5 The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. 6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. 7 The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. 8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.
Mark 1:14–15 (NIV) 14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Repent: Metanoia- to change one’s mind or purpose
Believe: Actively trust. Acts 20:21 (NIV) 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to Godin repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
“Believing Jesus requires a changed mind and direction.”
Matthew 3:8 (NIV)8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Romans 12:1–2 (NIV) 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Believing in the wrong things will transform you into the wrong thing.
Only the renewed mind can know and understand the will of God.
How do we have a renewed mind? 1. Thinking differently. - Repentance. -Filling our mind. A renewed mind is a well informed, and well equipped mind.
John 17:17 (NIV) Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
2. Walking in the Spirit Romans 8:5–8 (NIV) 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
The result of walking in the Spirit is life and peace.
A. Aware B. Yielded “His primary role is not feelings but leadership.”
You cant trust Jesus without removing trust in yourself.
Yielding our thoughts…. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Psalms 46:10(NIV) “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations…
Exodus 14:10–16 (NIV) 10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
Faith that works James 2:14–19 (NIV) 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
Faith that works is the only faith that works.
James 2:20–24 (NIV) 20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous*by what they do and not by faith alone.
*NLT Shown to be right with God
1. Faith connects
“Faith without works is dead, and works without faith are dead.”
John 15:5 (NIV) “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Your beliefs determine your behaviors. We begin and end in faith.
“You cannot be made righteous by doing anything but by trusting someone.”
In Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone.
“We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone” -Martin Luther.
Luke 6:43–45 (NIV) 43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
“When we sow the seed of faith, we produce the fruit of faithfulness.”
2. Faith walks 2 Corinthians 5:7(NIV) We live by faith, not by sight.
-Faith lives with conviction -Faith lives with meaning and intentionality. -Faith walks in dominion. -Faith walks in Obedience to Jesus
Obedience is the active part of Trust!
James 1:22 (NLT) Don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
3. Faith Talks 2 Corinthians 4:13 (NIV)It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak. -Talking the talk is part of the walk.
Romans 10:9(NLT) For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
Our declaration determines our direction.
Faith spreads the gospel. Romans 10:14 (NLT) How can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?
Luke 18:8 (NIV) When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" John 11:40 (NIV) Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
Examples 1. The Woman with the issue of blood. Matthew 9:22 (NIV) Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the Woman was healed at that moment. 2. The Roman Officer(Centurion) Matthew 8:10 (NIV) When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. Matthew 8:13 (NIV) 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that moment.
3. Two blind Men Matthew 9:29 (NIV) Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be done to you."
Faith hears before it sees.
4. The Canaanite Woman whose daughter was demonized and suffering. Matthew 15:28 (NIV) Jesus said to her, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed at that moment.
5. A desperate Dad. Mark 9:20–25 (NIV) 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. 22 "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." 23 "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
We don't need great faith. We just need faith that is committed to growth.
A Growing Faith Matthew 17:19–20 (NIV) 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" 20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Matthew 13:31–32 (NIV) 31 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches."
1. Identify where your faith is. "Vulnerable trust is bold faith."
We all have a measure of faith. Romans 12:3 (NIV) 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
2. Become a person of the word. Romans 10:17 (NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
We grow our faith by growing in the word.
"Our faith grows by listing to, meditating upon, living in line with, and boldly declaring the Word of God!"
3. Be filled with the Spirit of God. The Spirit identifies us as God's. Romans 8:15 (NLT) So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."
Pray in the Spirit Jude 20 (NLT) But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. Rest with yielded spirit.
God isn't looking for strength. He is looking for Surender.
Independence is opposed to trust.
Don't trust yourself.
______ Psalms 46:10(NIV) Be still, and know that I am God!
Mark 4:35–41 (NIV) 35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
1. Going to the other side requires Faith. 2. Getting through the storms requires Faith.
Faith can sleep through storms
Faith speaks to storms.
3. Jesus identifies where their Faith was at. 4. The storm we can sleep through for our peace is the same storm we need to speak to for the peace of others. 5. Faith will cause others to recognize the Nature of God.
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) Without Faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Faith is a fight. 1 Timothy 6:12 (NLT) Fight the good fight for the true Faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.
1 John 5:4 (NLT) For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our Faith.
Faith is a shield Ephesians 6:16 (NIV) Take up the shield of Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
3 arrows of the enemy If the devil can talk you out of Faith, he will take over your life.
Fear, 2. Doubt, 3. Unbelief
“I want you to learn, recognize, and identify those tactics so you can rise up in faith and extinguish them.” 1. Fear A. Some justify fear. B. Some victimize themselvesto fear.
Fear is failure to trust.
C. Some moralize fear. Fear is spiritual. Fear: cripples, controls and manipulates.
God doesn’t give us a Spirit of Fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT) For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
2. Doubt Matthew 14:28–33 (NIV) 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Distazo (διστάζω, 1365), greek: Dublicate-Twice: waver “to stand in two ways”
James 1:6 (NIV) But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
John 6:22–31 (NIV) 22 The next daythe crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
1. The crowd was asking for a sign, yet he already provided signs.
2. The crowd was asking about the works(plural) God required; Jesus gives them the work (singular)God requires.
‣Believing is the work God requires.
What does believing mean?
πιστεύω Pisteuō; (verb) to believe, entrust.
A. To be convinced.
“If you are not convinced, you won’t live with conviction.” "Biblical Believing is the act of trusting based on the basis of its truthfulness and reliability."
B. To place ones trust in. Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 1. Faith is substantive. 2. Faith is evidential.
To believe is to actively trust.
1. Believing is the beginning. You have to believe Jesus to receive Jesus. Believing is how we are reborn Genesis 15:6 / Rom 14:3(NIV) Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Romans 4:18 (NIV) Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed… Acts 16:31 (NIV)“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.
Ephesians 2:8 (NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
John 3:14–15 (NIV) 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
John 3:16–18 (NIV) 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
2. Belief empowers life in the Spirit. John 7:37–39 (NIV) “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
