How can you know that you are trusting God? What does it mean to have faith or to believe? How do you know if you really are believing God for healing or any other Bible promise? Jesus ministered healing to twenty-three individual cases. In the vast majority of these individual cases, you can see evidence of the person’s faith in connection with their healing. You may have had those times where you thought you believed God, and nothing happened. You were believing the Lord for some healing in your body, and you got no better fast. How do you know if you’ve connected? Everything is by faith. You know and expect by faith. If you want to connect with God, you have to speak in His domain. You have to speak His language. Otherwise, you won’t be heard. Heaven is a faith place. The domain of unbelief is not understood there. You will not connect with heaven’s power if you’re speaking in the wrong realm. So, how do you know if you really are trusting God? One way you can find out? Take the test. There are seven tests which you can apply, which we are going to go over. These are not all the tests there are. These are seven that I know about. In this podcast, we will talk about three of them. How do you know that you are trusting God? That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.
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[Tweet “You know you believe when no one can talk you out of it, even under pressure.”]
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Accept the Challenge
Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
This week’s call is:
Take the test. Bounce these thoughts off your heart and see how you come out. This is an open book test so if you’re not quite there, get in your Bible.
Join the Conversation
Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:
Question: Are there some other tests you know off to locate yourself in the area of believing God? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Episode Resources:
You can find additional information on the subject of faith in the resources listed below.
- #S2-033: How to Get Faith for Healing [Podcast]
- #S1-40: How to Grow in Faith: Five Questions to Ask [Podcast]
- #S3-004: Why It’s Important to Flow in Faith’s Domain [Podcast]
About Emery
Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.
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Podcast Notes
Romans 4:18–21 (NKJV) 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
Number One: Take the Baseball Bat Test
- What’s the baseball bat test?
- The baseball bat test goes toward the idea of being fully persuaded, fully convinced.
- If someone walks up to you with a baseball bat and says to you, “I’m going to beat the snot out of you with this bat unless you say you’re not healed, unless you say you don’t have the answer, unless you say God didn’t hear you, unless you say you don’t have the promise and God’s Word is not true, out whatever you’re believing for in this slot; unless you have the boldness go ahead and take your best swing man because I know I have the answer, I know I have believed, I know Jesus has delivered me, I believe I am healed, I believe I’m saved.
- If you can’t say, ‘Go ahead and take your best swing because I know I believe then you are not there yet.’
- Abraham was fully persuaded.
- He was fully convinced.
- The Greek word for ‘fully persuaded’ means to be fully convinced; it means to be completely confident and certain of something.
- The word is a verb.
- It’s not a passive thing.
- You know you believe when no, one, and I mean no one can talk you out of it, even if they put pressure on you.
- In close connection to that, we have the second test.
Number Two: Take the Gender Test
- The Gender test is simply this, can anyone talk you out of your gender?
- Can anyone convince you that you are not a man or that you are not a woman?
- Can anyone talk you out of your gender?
- When you know that you are healed, when you know you have the answer like you know that you are a man, like you know you are a woman, then you have arrived.
- You are believing God.
- Again this goes toward being fully persuaded and absolutely convinced.
- Do you think Moses, when he stretched out his rod over the Red Sea was fully persuaded?
- Do you think when they crucified Peter upside down for his position in Jesus, do you think he was fully persuaded?
- What about Elijah challenging the 850 prophets of Baal and calling down fire at Carmel?
- Do you think that at the moment he stepped forward to pray at the altar that he was fully persuaded that the God answered by fire was the God of the universe?
- The Bible says concerning Abraham that no unbelief made him waver.
- He grew strong in faith.
- He gave glory to God.
- Paul said these words.
Romans 8:38–39 (NKJV) 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- To Timothy, Paul’s young son, Paul declared.
2 Timothy 1:12 (ESV) 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
- Hebrews chapter eleven is another great portion of Scripture on the idea of being fully persuaded.
- Listen to verse thirteen.
Hebrews 11:13 (ESV) 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
- You know you believe when you are willing to die for what you believe.
- Take the baseball test.
- Take the gender test.
- Bounce these thoughts off your heart.
- If you can pass them, you know you are on your way, because being fully persuaded is part of what it means to really believe.
Number Three: Take the Acting Test
- You know you have arrived, you know you believe, you know you are there when you are willing to act on what you believe.
- Healed people act healed.
- Saved people act saved.
- Delivered people, people who believe they are delivered act delivered.
- Here is a testimony of a minister who was healed of a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease.
- He was bed-fast for sixteen months.
- He struggled to receive his healing.
- Doctor’s told him there was no hope.
- Preachers told him to stay in the middle of the road and be ready to die.
- He finally stumbled upon Mark 11:23-24 in his grandmother’s Methodist Bible.
- This minister said, “I began to act upon the Word and say, “Now according to Mark 11:24, ‘When you pray, believe you receive, and you shall have it, ‘I believe I receive my healing.”
- So, I started saying out loud, “I believe I receive healing for the deformed heart.
- I believe I receive healing for the paralysis.
- I believe I receive healing for the incurable blood disease.”
- Then an inward voice spoke up on the inside of him, that voice inspired by the Holy Spirit in his spirit said these words
- “Now you believe you are well?”
- I said, “I sure do believe I am well, replied the man.”
- “Get up then. Well people ought to be up at 10:30 in the morning.”
- What was the Spirit of God saying to this man about faith and about believing for healing?
- What is the lesson we should see?
- If you do not get anything today, get this.
- Well people ought to be up at 10:30 AM.
- Which means this, after you believe, after you release your faith, it’s time to act on your faith.
- It’s time to do your normal ‘not sick’ routine.
- What would you do at the exact time you believed you received?
- If you looked at the clock, what would you be doing at that of time?
- Would you be at work?
- Then get up and work.
- Would you be cleaning?
- Then get up and clean.
- Would you be mowing your yard?
- Then get the mower out and get going.
- Well people are up at 10:30 in the morning.
- What would you be doing?
- Think about it, ask yourself.
- Would you be cooking, doing the bills, working on the house?
- Then rise up and act because people who believe they are healed should act the way they believe.
- Let’s take things out of a ‘commandment’ form and put in another way because when you say it like this, first thing people is to try thing of the exceptions to the rule.
- Think about the general principle here.
- Let us put this into a question form.
- If you believe you are healed, why would you alter your routine?
- Well people are up at 10:30 in the morning!
- Why would you not do what you normally do?
The ‘Acting Test’ in the Bible
- Here is this ‘acting test’ in the Bible.
John 4:46–52 (NKJV) 46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” 49 The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!” 52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”
- Notice Jesus commandment.
- It was simple.
- Go your way.
- Notice what He didn’t say.
- He didn’t say, ‘Be healed in my Name.’
- He didn’t rebuke anything in the boy.
- He didn’t command it to leave.
- He never addressed the sickness.
- Jesus just got this man to act like his boy was healed.
- No special power flowed out of Jesus into the Nobleman’s son.
- This man connected to the power when he simply walked away from Jesus and headed toward home.
- Where else would he have gone?
- He believed and he went.
- Notice what he didn’t do.
- The Nobel man did not go and try to find someone else to pray for his son.
- Why pray a second time if you have believed the first time?
- He believed and he acted like he believed by going home.
- What’s the importance of the word ‘go’ in the phrase ‘Go your way’?
- That’s what Jesus told this man.
- The word ‘Go’ means ‘I’m not looking for healing anymore.’
- ‘Go’ means I’m going back to normal life.
- Normal life for this man was being home with his son.
- Some people just jump from one healing line to the next.
- They’re calling up one person to pray for them and then they’re calling the next.
- Is your faith in God or in the number of people you have praying?
- There’s power in believing you receive and going your way.
Luke 17:12–14 (NKJV) 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
- He said something similar to the ten lepers.
- He said to them, ‘Go show yourself to the priest.’
- Notice what He didn’t say.
- He didn’t say, ‘Be healed in my Name.’
- He didn’t rebuke anything in the lepers.
- He didn’t command leprosy to leave.
- He never addressed the sickness. He just got these men to act healed.
- No special power flowed out of Jesus into these leprous men.
- They connected to the power when they acted healed.
- You act healed because you believe you are according to God’s Word.
- There are times as you walk this out that your body is going to scream at you for attention.
- It’s going to tell you to act sick.
- To go and lay down.
- Healed people don’t need to lay down.
- Well people are up at 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon.
- Lester Sumrall asked Smith Wigglesworth how he felt – you know he met him with a normal greeting.
- Wigglesworth replied with these words.
I never ask Smith Wigglesworth how he feels. I tell him how he feels.
- This is not the glamorous side of divine healing.
- Everybody wants everything to be instant and without struggle.
- Sometimes you have to tell your body how it feels.
- Where God’s Word is concerned, it’s irrelevant how you feel.
- The only relevant thing is what you believe about how you feel.
- There are some who will never be healed because they like the attention that sickness brings them.
- And so, they want to tell you how they feel.
- Sometimes they want to tell you in great detail with an Oscar-winning performance about how they feel.
- Remember that sometimes to get someone’s attention, you have to stop giving them yours.
- If you are believing God to be well, you have a problem, a disease, a sickness, a pain, diagnosed or undiagnosed, watch how you answer this question because it comes up all the time.
- Train yourself to tell people what you believe about God’s Word not what you actually have going on in your body.
- This only works if you REALLY BELIEVE YOU HAVE RECEIVED YOUR HEALING.
- It doesn’t work just by saying it.
- It works by believing it and saying it.
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