Martins Schmaltz, D.C.

Things are not always as they seem. One day, I was following my wife in a separate vehicle when we came upon an apparent accident. When we arrived at our destination she commented; “Did you see that police car that was in an accident?” I responded; “I saw a white car that looked like it had been in an accident with blue lights flashing behind it.” The point - we both saw the same thing, yet we each saw

something different.

The diagram to the right is one you

may have seen before. To one person it

is a picture of an old woman, to another

it is a young woman. Once again, two

individuals looking at the same thing can

each see something different.

In Mark 11:11-22, Jesus makes a powerful statement of how we are to view life and its situations. As they were leaving Jerusalem, Peter comments on the withered fig tree that Jesus had cursed. The Lord then responded  by saying: “Have faith in God.” KJV Young’s Literal Translation states: “Have faith of God;” In the original text, “in God” is one word, which is theos. So Jesus is telling the disciples, to have or exercise the faith of God.

This is a powerful truth of operating in apostolic authority; we are to operate with His faith. Is short, we should see situations from His view and then act on them as He would.

Hebrews 11:1 gives us the definition and operation of faith: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is stated here that faith is two things; “substance of things hoped for” & “the evidence of things not seen.”

• Substance means the "reality, substance, existence." The word here has reference to something which imparts reality in the view of the mind to those things which are not seen.

• Evidence means “proof, or means of proving.”

Having the faith of God is not seeing just the natural view, but it is seeing from His perspective. It’s seeing beyond the present reality into the kingdom realm, what He has already accomplished. This empowers us to feel, act and speak as if we are in possession of the answer right now.  This is the evidence part.

The story of the death of Lazarus in John 11 is another powerful demonstration of having the faith of God. Once Jesus had heard of Lazarus sickness, He delayed their departure for two days. When they did leave, Jesus spoke with faith that Lazarus was asleep and they were going to wake him. The disciples responded from the natural view, expressing that it was good that Lazarus was sleeping.  In verse 14, Jesus states, “Lazarus is dead.” He follows this up with “I am glad for your sakes that I was not there...” Why? “To the intent that ye may believe.” (vs 15)

While Lazarus was physically dead, Jesus was seeing through the eyes of faith. He knew what He could and would do, to Him Lazarus was   just asleep. Even more, He was glad they waited because he wanted the disciples to see this demonstration and believe.

Operating with the faith of God is looking at our situations, finding the will of God and then we act and speak as if the answer has been accomplished. This is the demonstration or proof of our faith.  Paul reveals this understanding in James 2:18 when he states “I will show you my faith by my works." NASB

This is the faith of God - Seeing what He has accomplished in the Spirit, then demonstrating its reality in the here and now.

Food for thought - How do I view the situations of life that I encounter? God’s way or my way?

Till next time -

                                                             Martin