W e ' r e m o r e t h a n j u s t a C h u r c h . . . W e ' r e a F A M I L Y !
Pastor Carter addresses Questions on
FAITH
According to Scripture, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. In your words please define faith?
Well, let's examine that Scripture, word by word, to define just exactly what the Scripture is referring to in regards to the subject of "Faith." First, to determine what faith is, we have to define all the words which follow it in that Scripture. So, "faith"...
- "Is" - a word that gives the implication of being 'factual'
- "Substance" - a real, tangible material
- "of" - implies that the preceding word is the result of, or, came out of, or is is superior to whatever follows the word 'of'
- "things" - anything you want or need, materially, emotionally, spiritually, etc.
- "hoped for" - having had a favorable, confident expectation of good
- "the evidence" - the undeniable truth; a tangible fact; unarguable proof
- "of" - again, implies that the preceding word is the result of, or, came out of, or is, is superior to whatever follows the word 'of'
- "things" - again, anything you want or need, materially, emotionally, spiritually, etc.
- "not seen" - something your physical senses can't or haven't been able to lay hold of.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit reveals this meaning of 'faith':
- Faith is the factual, real, tangible material of anything you want or need (materially, emotionally, spiritually, etc.) and have favorable, confident expectations of, and is the undeniable truth and tangible fact that anything you want or need is already there, even though your physical senses haven't layed hold of.
What does that say to us? It says I don't have to see it, feel it, hear it, taste it, or touch it to know that it's already mine in Jesus' name! The fact that I can believe God for it is the factual proof (evidence) in and of itself that what I'm believing Him for is already there! Praise God!
Can I see it? No... but His Word simply declares that If I believe, I have the material necessary to bring what I can't see out of the supernatural and into the natural where I can lay hold on it! Then what is not seen will have become whatever it is that I was using the substance of faith for!
Amen! You're about to get me happy here, talking about the creative capability of the Word of God that He has deposited within us and given us the ability to use! Praise God for making us in His image and empowering us with the same creative capability of words that He has.
After all...think about this...it was His word that was substance. When He spoke it in the beginning, it happened. His words, literally, were the substance of that which He was speaking. That's the "Debar" of God. ...that His Word is the very thing. His Word is not just a word, but it is the vehicle on which His creative power rode. As He spoke a thing, it happened.
...And He has given us the understanding that we, too, being made in His image, have that same creative capability to speak a word and understand it's not just a form of communication, but a vehicle on which the Spirit of God rides and carries out that thing which we have declared!
Oh, what a God we serve! ...To give us the ability to simply have faith...believe in Him... and then speak hopes, and dreams, and prayers, and desires, and needs out of our mouths... knowing that we can't see them with our natural eyes... but telling us that if we will believe, we will see manifest in the natural what wasn't there before. WOW! What a God!
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Where is God when we cannot hear Him and it seems like He is far away?
I remember a time a few years ago when my wife and I were under a severe spiritual assault of the enemy. It started by our willingness to visit a denominational church that we used to be associated with. In that service, the guest minister (in a round-about way) proceeded to verbally slaughter our church, our pastor, and us. It tore us up because we thought we were among friends. Light was shown that day and true colors were seen. We saw who served the Lord and who served man. We left that place in tears, and shook the dust from our feet.
For two weeks we questioned God about why that happened... but the scary thing was, He never said anything. You see, we were used to hearing the Lord speak to us. But He remained silent. I begged God, and cried and plead with Him every single day, often working my way through my work-day wiping the tears from my eyes. My wife and I, literally, lived for fourteen days through continuous weeping and crying before the Lord. The pain was terrible. "Why is He not speaking?" I often wondered.
Finally, one day at work I was carrying a tiny $10,000 piece of equipment. As I was walking, it slid right out of my hands toward the concrete floor. In reflex action, I reached down and, surprisingly caught it, tightly, in the palm of my hand just before it smashed onto the floor.
As soon as I grabbed that tiny, expensive piece of equipment, it happened.... He finally broke His silence. He finally spoke! He said to me, "Son, just as tightly as you're holding to that tool, I am holding onto you. You are in the palm of my hand and you will not fall."
WOW! That was all I needed - just that one word from the Lord made all the difference in the world! I told my wife what happened and we rejoiced together.
Then the next day (Sunday), our Pastor, a great man of God, preached a message that targeted our healing of that wound. He knew nothing of the pain we had been suffering for the previous two weeks straight. He didn't know what they had said about us. He didn't know what they said about our church... He didn't even know what they had said about him, yet his words (actually the words of the Lord uttered across his lips) specifically targeted our situation, in ironically pin-pointed ways (I believe He was preaching through the gift of the word of knowledge).
His ministry to us that day set us totally free from that bondage, and then some! We wept all through this service as well, but by the end of the service, our tears of mourning became tears of joy and healing as they streamed down our smiling and delivered faces! That morning, our night was turned to day. Weeping endured for that night (that season of 14 days), but joy came in the morning!
It was a Sunday morning we'll never forget! God set us free that morning from more than that temporal pain. He delivered us from things I don't even have time to share. Suffice it to say, He fine-tuned our ears to be dependent only on His voice. What a glorious day of healing and refreshing it was.
But the big question? Where was God when we could not hear Him and it seemed like He was far away?
The Answer: He was right there all along. Loving us. Holding us. Healing us. He knew we could not fail and would not fall.
If a God like that can have that kind of faith in us, surely we can live by faith in Him. He will never let you go! He'll never let you slide out of His hand! He's got you right where He wants you and He'll set you down right where you need to be!
Be encouraged - Have FAITH in God... He has faith in you!
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Do we live by emotions, feelings, or circumstances?
Do we live by feelings, emotions, and circumstances? More often than not, the answer is yes.
Should we live by feelings, emotions, and circumstances? The answer is no. We should live by faith. Faith does not deny what we see in the physical... it just denies its right to remain contrary to the Word.
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What do you do when you're going through a situation and you pray, and pray, and pray and it seems like the deliverance you're praying for is never going to come?
Hold on -- help is on the way! God is faithful! He knows those who are His and He will surely see you through.
Sometimes we want Him to supernaturally deliver us so bad, but sometimes deliverance doesn't come till we walk through the fire and come out the other side. But regardless of whether we experience supernatural deliverance or have to work our way through the mess till we reach the end, we must continue to have faith... He is still there all along the way and deliverance will surely come.
Contact FHC with your questions and Pastor Carter will answer them here.
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Copyright © Pastor Chad Carter • Family Harvest Church Global Ministries
FAMILY HARVEST CHURCH
PASTOR CHAD CARTER
P.O. Box 512
Salem, IN 47167
812-883-2523
www.ChadCarter.org
info@ChadCarter.org
