"Faith Like a Child"
There's not much biblical language to this other than when Jesus rebuked the disciples for keeping them from Him, while he exclaimed that we must become like them to see the kingdom.
So of course we always try to break it down and think what does a child have that we don't?
Well it's trust placed on a parent that has never given them reason to distrust.
It's not being taught that something might not work or be true.
It's not been taught skepticism...
Where does the root of skepticism come from? Well we can say its from past hurts or wrongdoing, being lied to, etc. but it stems from the fall.
When Adam & Eve were tempted in the garden, Satan planted the seed of doubt, distrust & skepticism so that rather than trusting in the COMPLETE PROVISION God had placed within the garden, they looked elsewhere.
That act of disobedience was not that Adam & Eve wanted to become like God (no, that was Satan's sin) it was the seed of disbelief.
When they took and ate of that fruit, not only did they sin in not fully trusting God... they didn't merely sin in disobedience in eating the apple...
They unleashed Satan from being bound with no influence to the point of having all influence! (not control or power, just freedom to influence)
From the point of eating that fruit (the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) man has now battled with demanding to understand. He is no longer satisfied with the fruit and provision within the garden. He forever is taunted by the fruit from another garden. (This of course being the origin of "the grass is greener" issue...which we still know is always bogus)
That act in the garden still influences us today in our inability to trust God's provision. The seed of disbelief is firmly planted in our DNA and can only be removed with force when we allow the blood of Christ to fully cover us.
Why do we stir & strive for provision? Not because God said "oh! Nope sorry. You're on your own!" He didn't say that at all. But He did say that we would struggle. We're now forced to labor for our food, yet that struggle is not the struggle we have. It's the struggle of believing He'll provide for us at all and that we must do everything within our own strength and by our own means. But that struggle wouldn't exist if we could just get back to the garden. His garden is where our provision has always existed. But It's when we looked outside the garden for our provision that the struggle came. (another is child birth... Not only now is there pain in childbirth, there is pain in the menstruation period AND a physiological change in the hormones that supercharges a woman's emotions, leading to more worry, more disbelieve, more reaction than proaction...)
But what is the cross, other than the bridge to return to the garden?!
What does the bible say, but "...do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NASB) and "if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." (Ephesians 4:21-24 NASB)
Our struggle is in the renewing! It is in letting go of the natural mind and being renewed in thinking from within the garden, while being forced to live outside!
So when it comes to things like physical healing, does God say "oh! Nope sorry you're on your own!"
Well disease and death that otherwise wouldn't exist within His garden, now does as we're living outside. But we have access INSIDE through the cross! Anyone that has ever seen God step in and provide where we otherwise had no hope within our own garden can testify to this!
So is healing accessible the same way? If our minds are renewed, like children who know not of doubt and skepticism, to the point of returning to the garden; completely turning our back on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, our eyes fully on God the Father the loving provider, can we not fully access the power of healing?
We tend to look at "faith healers" like a bunch of kooks because their mantra is "only believe!" We think that statement means to conjure up something in our head repeatedly, but that's not what belief is! Belief is having a full 100% understanding of something. It's not theoretical, it's factual. That is why when we speak of faith as "BELIEVING in things not YET seen," we're talking about a true shift in thinking.
When we have faith about something, it's not the HOPE of a good outcome, it's the KNOWING of a good outcome.
When Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (and everyone else mentioned in Hebrews 11) acted in faith, it wasn't the knowing of the outcome, it was in knowing God; the knowing that He would provide.
When we describe faith as a gift, there's no other way to receive it! It HAS to be from God, because our natural man believes otherwise.
So is it a correct directive to tell someone "believe in God!?" Of course! It just means "let go of your unbelief." He will meet you and replace it with true faith.
"Oh Lord, we believe...but help our unbelief!"
If we refuse to eat of the tree of knowledge and choose to eat of the tree of faith, which is the cross, we shall see healing, restoration, power & provision!
There's not much biblical language to this other than when Jesus rebuked the disciples for keeping them from Him, while he exclaimed that we must become like them to see the kingdom.
So of course we always try to break it down and think what does a child have that we don't?
Well it's trust placed on a parent that has never given them reason to distrust.
It's not being taught that something might not work or be true.
It's not been taught skepticism...
Where does the root of skepticism come from? Well we can say its from past hurts or wrongdoing, being lied to, etc. but it stems from the fall.
When Adam & Eve were tempted in the garden, Satan planted the seed of doubt, distrust & skepticism so that rather than trusting in the COMPLETE PROVISION God had placed within the garden, they looked elsewhere.
That act of disobedience was not that Adam & Eve wanted to become like God (no, that was Satan's sin) it was the seed of disbelief.
When they took and ate of that fruit, not only did they sin in not fully trusting God... they didn't merely sin in disobedience in eating the apple...
They unleashed Satan from being bound with no influence to the point of having all influence! (not control or power, just freedom to influence)
From the point of eating that fruit (the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) man has now battled with demanding to understand. He is no longer satisfied with the fruit and provision within the garden. He forever is taunted by the fruit from another garden. (This of course being the origin of "the grass is greener" issue...which we still know is always bogus)
That act in the garden still influences us today in our inability to trust God's provision. The seed of disbelief is firmly planted in our DNA and can only be removed with force when we allow the blood of Christ to fully cover us.
Why do we stir & strive for provision? Not because God said "oh! Nope sorry. You're on your own!" He didn't say that at all. But He did say that we would struggle. We're now forced to labor for our food, yet that struggle is not the struggle we have. It's the struggle of believing He'll provide for us at all and that we must do everything within our own strength and by our own means. But that struggle wouldn't exist if we could just get back to the garden. His garden is where our provision has always existed. But It's when we looked outside the garden for our provision that the struggle came. (another is child birth... Not only now is there pain in childbirth, there is pain in the menstruation period AND a physiological change in the hormones that supercharges a woman's emotions, leading to more worry, more disbelieve, more reaction than proaction...)
But what is the cross, other than the bridge to return to the garden?!
What does the bible say, but "...do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NASB) and "if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." (Ephesians 4:21-24 NASB)
Our struggle is in the renewing! It is in letting go of the natural mind and being renewed in thinking from within the garden, while being forced to live outside!
So when it comes to things like physical healing, does God say "oh! Nope sorry you're on your own!"
Well disease and death that otherwise wouldn't exist within His garden, now does as we're living outside. But we have access INSIDE through the cross! Anyone that has ever seen God step in and provide where we otherwise had no hope within our own garden can testify to this!
So is healing accessible the same way? If our minds are renewed, like children who know not of doubt and skepticism, to the point of returning to the garden; completely turning our back on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, our eyes fully on God the Father the loving provider, can we not fully access the power of healing?
We tend to look at "faith healers" like a bunch of kooks because their mantra is "only believe!" We think that statement means to conjure up something in our head repeatedly, but that's not what belief is! Belief is having a full 100% understanding of something. It's not theoretical, it's factual. That is why when we speak of faith as "BELIEVING in things not YET seen," we're talking about a true shift in thinking.
When we have faith about something, it's not the HOPE of a good outcome, it's the KNOWING of a good outcome.
When Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (and everyone else mentioned in Hebrews 11) acted in faith, it wasn't the knowing of the outcome, it was in knowing God; the knowing that He would provide.
When we describe faith as a gift, there's no other way to receive it! It HAS to be from God, because our natural man believes otherwise.
So is it a correct directive to tell someone "believe in God!?" Of course! It just means "let go of your unbelief." He will meet you and replace it with true faith.
"Oh Lord, we believe...but help our unbelief!"
If we refuse to eat of the tree of knowledge and choose to eat of the tree of faith, which is the cross, we shall see healing, restoration, power & provision!
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