faith which worketh
by love (Galatians 5:6).
Abraham never
allowed the devil, self
or Sarah to persuade
him against God’s will.
That is divine faith in operation.
Abraham believed God
when He had said that through his seed, Isaac,
a great nation would come forth. He trusted
God so much that he knew if he did kill his son,
God would raise him to life again. However,
Abraham was still a human being, so obeying
such a request was not easy.
Testing Day
Abraham traveled for three days to reach the
mountain; and I’m sure the devil was working
on his mind each step of the way saying, “What
kind of God do you serve that He would tell you
to kill your son? What will you tell Sarah if you
kill him, and he does not come back to life? You
must be crazy to do such a thing to your son!”
By the time Abraham and Isaac started climbing
the mountain, Abraham had won the victory
within himself. When young Isaac asked,
My father...Behold the fire and the wood:
but where is the lamb for a burnt offering
(Genesis 22:7)? Abraham wisely and calmly
responded with love and faith saying, My son,
God will provide himself a lamb a sacrifice
for a burnt offering (Genesis 22:8).
Abraham knew in his heart that if he sacrificed
Isaac, God would raise him back to
life. Then they would make a sacrifice to God
together. By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had
received the promises offered up his only
begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in
Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting
that God was able to raise him up, even from
the dead; from whence also he received him
in a figure (Hebrews 11:17–19).
When Abraham raised the knife over his son,
he had completely obeyed God in his heart.
Then at that moment, the angel of the Lord
stepped in and stopped Abraham from actually
killing Isaac. When Abraham looked up, he saw
a ram caught in the thicket. God had indeed
provided the lamb.
Divine Faith Brings Miracles
When Jesus was on Earth, He displayed
all the powers of the divine blood as well as
the power of the Holy Ghost. He performed
miracles of all kinds and even raised the dead,
but that great power from On High operated
only according to the divine faith of the people
He ministered to. Jesus said unto him, If thou
canst believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth (Mark 9:23).
Consider these accounts where faith made
miracles possible: Then touched he Jesus
their eyes of two blind men, saying, According
to your faith be it unto you (Matthew
9:29). Then Jesus answered and said unto
her, O woman whose daughter was vexed
with devils, great is thy faith: be it unto thee
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was
made whole from that very hour (Matthew
15:28).
On the other hand, Jesus’ great power was
limited by a person’s lack of faith. And he
Jesus did not many mighty works there
because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:58).
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou
doubt (Matthew 14:31)? For Jesus to perform
the miraculous, He needs people’s cooperation;
and He needs their divine faith to be in
operation.
In Luke 5, the Bible tells us that Peter and the
other fisherman with him had fished all night
long and caught nothing. Then Jesus told them,
Launch out into the deep, and let down your
nets for a draught (Luke 5:4). In the natural,
Jesus’ request seemed foolish and impossible;
yet Peter humbled himself and decided not to
lean to his own understanding. He said, Nevertheless
at thy word I will let down the net
(Luke 5:5). Peter put his divine faith into operation,
and he trusted and obeyed Jesus. Then so
many fish filled the fishing nets that they broke.
Man Healed of Palsy
Later in that same chapter, Jesus was in a
certain house ministering to a crowd of people
when four men came carrying a man with palsy
on a bed. They wanted to get the sick man to
Jesus; but there were so many people there that
it seemed it would be impossible.
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