Will It Work... or not?

I’ve learned a lot about faith over the past forty years.  My wife and I have taught faith to various generations of youth and children in the local church throughout the seventies, eighties, nineties and into the twenty-first century!  But you know… in many respects, I still feel like I have just been scratching the surface in my experiential knowledge of God’s love, His power, His will and His ways and how they all incorporate into my daily life.

Along the way I have met many who have proposed to us what they felt was the ONLY way for us to live our lives as they understand the Word.  This was especially prevalent with the initial diagnosis of the attack on my wife’s health.  This journey has forced me to dive head first into and examine just about everything I have ever learned in my Christian walk so that I could have the personal solid foundation and understanding of His Word required for us to make it through this dry valley.

A quick review of Colossians 3:17 sent me off into another investigation of my beliefs this morning.  As I switched between a few translations I noticed that the King James Version speaks of “…whatsoever ye do in WORD or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”  I had been studying the verse in some of the modern translations that talk about the things we “SAY” instead of what we do in “WORD.”

When I took a peek at the Greek definition of “WORD” I sat back a bit amazed as it is referring to the “Logos” word of God.  It is not just any words that we speak, but is specifically referencing the things we do with, in or through the power and anointing of the Word of God!  It is talking about the stands of faith that we take that we base on His Word in our prayerful requests for wisdom, needs met, healing for ourselves or for others and/or calling forth the signs and wonders inherent in the name of Jesus for an intervention into the destructive lifestyle of a loved one or to make a positive change in an impossible situation or negative report.

This section of Colossians 3:17 is written in direct reference to the previous verse where the Apostle is encouraging us to “Let the word of the Christ dwell in you in abundance…”  (Jubilee Bible)  And it is challenging the believer to understand how strong his or her faith in the Word based action they are about to take is!  In simple terms… it is forcing us to ask ourselves if we are REALLY EXPECTING the WORD ACTION we are about to initiate…to work… or not!

The verse tells us that every Word based action of faith we take “should be done in (the power, authority, and anointing of) the name of the Lord Jesus” (God’s Word ©) that we’ve been talking about in this blog.  I can honestly say that I am not sure that I have always been that confident or EXPECTANT when I have stepped out in (what I thought was) faith!

I remember an incident many years ago just before we left the Baptist church that my wife was raised in, when a group of us got together after a special service to pray for the son of one of the leaders in the church.  I really don’t remember the circumstances of the boy’s situation except that something had happened where he was left as what seemed to be a hopeless case, unresponsive to most stimuli and in a wheelchair.  As we gathered around the boy and stood in agreement as the new regional supervisor for our denomination prayed for him, I recall wondering how many of the individuals in that room really believed for that prayer to work.

I left the Pastor’s study where we had gathered that afternoon with more questions than I had answers.  But I was determined to seek out and discover God’s will for such situations as stated in His Word… and I have been learning ever since then!  I will also say that since then I have seen an individual who was told that she would never walk again rise out of a wheelchair and walk, and many other miraculous moves of God!  Each one of those times has strengthened my resolve to make real sure that my faith is strong and my EXPECTORS high before I take a stand of faith that is based on the infallible Word of God!

As far as I am concerned… God’s Word is either true or it is not… AND I BELIEVE IT IS TRUE!  Would YOU agree?

Have a great day.  Stay true to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “Am I REALLY EXPECTING my faith in God’s Word to work for me today?”