Good morning everyone. This weeks Bible Study on on Chapter 4 of the book Sharper then a Two-Edged Sword, You've Already Got It. I am so happy to have you with me this week. If you have not yet purchased the book, I have posted a link to Amazon.com for you to be able to buy the book. I hope that you are going to join us in our Bible study this week, or anytime that you happen to read this blog. I am happy to have people join anytime. I am always ready to answer question, or learn something new from you. Let's start the Bible study.
You've Already Got It
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen
Hebrews 11:1
I love this verse, because to me it says it all, but we will talk about this more in Question 2.
Question 1: If God has already given me everything I need, then where is it?
- In the last lesson we talked about what happens when we receive the Holy Spirit. We learned that when we receive the spirit we become a new creature like Jesus. We learned that we can not feel what is happening in our spirit, only in our body and soul.
- Jesus could do all things. He could heal, save. deliver, prosper, or give us joy and peace, so those were gifts given to us when we became born again and received the Holy Spirit
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:17
- So when God gave us everything, we received it in our spirit, and we know from the last lesson that we can not feel what is in our spirit, the only way to know what gifts we have received is through the Word of God.
- We must know his word in order to know what we have received.
- When we have faith that we have received these gifts from God, then the gifts can become a reality.
- So in conclusion, we received all gifts from God when we were born again. All of these gifts came to us in our Spirit.
Question 2:
What does the "substance" of what I'm hoping for mean, and what does the "evidence" of things I can't see mean? Can you give me a practical example?
- The Hebrews 11:1 scripture that I gave is the beginning is from my NKJV bible, but other bibles have different translations. I am going to give a few of those, and maybe they will help with understanding.
Now faith is the realization of what is hoped for, the proof of things not seen.
Lexham English Bible Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the essence of things being hoped, the evidence of things not having been seen.
Literal Translation of the Holy Bible Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the persuasion of the things that are in hope, as if they were in act; and [it is] the manifestness of the things not seen.
James Murdock New Testament Hebrews 11:1
- As you can see, there are several different versions and I feel some of these translations give us a different understanding of what "substance" and "evidence" mean.
- Substance can mean the realization of what is hoped for, the essence of things hoped for, or the persuasion of things hoped for.
- Evidence can mean the proof of things not seen, the evidence of things not having been seen, or it is] the manifestness of the things not seen.
- I also like this version:
Faith is the confidence that we hope for will actually happen; it gives us
assurance about things we can not see.
The New Living Translation Hebrews 11:1
- So the "substance" can mean that we have the confidence that what we need will actually happen.
- The "evidence" gives us the assurance about things that we can not see, will happen.
- God has given us all of the things we need in our spirit. IE: healing, prosperity, joy, peace, and deliverance, but in order to use these powers, we have to believe that God has given them to us, even we can not see or feel it. Even if there is no evidence.
Question 3:
I know God has already paid for my sins, but what about the ones I haven't committed yet?
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world
1 John 2:2
- When God became a man and died on the cross and gave us the Holy Spirit, all sin in the world was forgiven, for us, for others, past, present, and future. He gave us the gift of salvation.
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Hebrews 9:12
- When Jesus died on the cross he reconciled all sin for us forever, even the ones we have not yet committed.
- It says this over and over in the Bible. You can find more in Hebrews 10:10 and 10:12, for more reading on this subject.
Question 4: How can I already have healing if my body is sick?
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins,
should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1 Peter 2:24
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:
yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:4-5
- These verses above state that God has given us the power to heal not only ourselves, but also others.
- God has placed within every born again believer the same power that raised Christ from the Dead. That power is already inside all of us.
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mark 9:23
- The Bible, God's Word, clearly states that all things are possible for those who believe. If we thank God for healing us, and know that he has already done it for us then the healing can manifest from our Spirits to our bodies.
- When God says that it is already done, we need to have faith that it has been done. I am again referring to
Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law?
of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Romans 3:27
- It isn't dependent on God, it is dependent on you believing that God has already done the healing for you, by your faith.
- These things do not always happen immediately. Remember in the book of Exodus, the story about Moses. God told Moses to go to the Pharaoh and say "Let my people go" and Pharaoh told "no". Moses went back to God and asked what he should do, and God told Moses to go back and again say "Let my people go". Pharaoh's response was the same as before. This happened 10 times. After the 11th time Pharaoh let the Jews go, but then chased after them, and God closed the Red Sea over the Egyptians. Darkness will come against the Light of God, so we must be persistent in our belief that it is done, even if it we do not see immediate results. We just need to keep thanking God for doing whatever it is we need.
- I would love to hear from all of you as to what you think.
Question 5: What is the advantage to already having healing, prosperity, etc., in my spirit versus just asking God to give them to me when I am in need?
- The advantage to having healing, prosperity, joy, and peace in our spirits is that we do not have to ask for those things and then wait for them to happen.
- Since we already have them in our Spirit, we just need to thank God for doing what we needed done, and have faith that he has done it.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Ephesians 1:3
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ,
when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand
in the heavenly places,
Ephesians 1:19-20
- Faith works not by asking God for something that you already have, but by thank him and acknowledging him for what you already have.
- He has already given us anything we will ever need in our spirit, we just need to know his word, acknowledge what he has done for us, and then thank him.
Question 6:
Why can't I feel how much God loves me all of the time?
- We have discussed that we can not feel what is in our Spirit, we can only feel what is in our bodies and souls.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law
Romans 13:10
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
- To know what is in our Spirit we must know the word of God. It is the only way to know that he loves us without question.
- We can not make God love us, he has already done that. There are no work or deeds to earn God's love. He gives it to us unconditionally and freely.
- Jesus tells us:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also:
and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
John 14:6
- Whether we can sense God's love, we must have faith and believe that he love us.
- Our bodies and souls can not know his love for us, it is our spirit that knows his love. Our bodies and souls are our flesh, and our flesh does not know God. Our Spirit knows God's love for us and so even if we can not sense his love, we have to believe what God says about his love for us, above how we are feeling.
Question 7:
Why don't things that God has already manifest automatically? Why do I have to do something to receive from God?
- All of the gifts from God are readily available through our Spirit.
- The act of believing that these gifts can come from the Spirit and manifest themselves in our lives is the act that we play in receiving these gifts from God.
- Our part of receiving God's gifts is the act of believing, and we can only know what gifts we have received through his Word.
- So the one thing that you must do to receive blessings from God is to believe.
