Whose report will we believe, God’s or Satan’s?
Whatever we are concerned about today, faith and discernment are key components of our prayers. Without spiritual sensitivity, we do not understand God’s will, and faith is what empowers and activates our communication with him.
We believe in miracles because we know that God listens and is the only one who has the authority to restore and provide. If someone is having a health crisis, the Bible declares that he is the Great Physician and our healer. This is exciting truth until doubt and fear sneak in the back door and Satan repeats the same strategy to deceive as he did with Adam and Eve in the garden. His favorite temptation is to plant seeds of uncertainty and confusion in our minds to question whether faith is real or our imagination. In our times of trouble, we are bombarded with speculations and opinions, but we must become unmovable in knowing that the report of the Lord cannot fail.
Nashville-based pastor Joshua Christmas once said, “I do not believe what I see, but I see what I believe.” Basically, it means that followers of God are not to place their trust in what others say or how things appear. Since we are filled and guided by God’s Spirit, we place our confidence in him alone.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, which means the answers are ready to be manifested but conditional on us knowing his plans and believing with all of our hearts. For example, when a doctor says there is no hope, we must realize this is not the final decision because God is more than able to accomplish his plans.
Our daughter and our daughter-in-law were both told by the experts they would never have a child. This was not true, as God always has the final word. Today, our daughter-in-law has an amazing son, and our daughter just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. My wife and I prayed about this for years, and we know that he is our source for everything. My new book about healing and miracles contains true accounts of God miraculously intervening.
When Lazarus was dead for four days, Jesus told the people to remove him from his tomb and unwrap his grave garments. They said his body was starting to smell and, according to natural thinking, this was disrespectful and even insane. However, they were not understanding the reality of who God is. Christ commanded Lazarus to live again, and he did.
Ezekiel describes a valley of dry bones, and God asked the prophet if he believed the bones could live. The Lord told Ezekiel to speak to the bones, and the flesh came back upon them and they were restored back to life. The reason these stories are recorded in the Bible is to teach us to not always accept what we see in the natural world as being impossible to change. Christians are to live with an expectation of the supernatural, to walk in the constant awareness of God’s power as they listen and obey his voice.
It’s common for the average person to build their worldviews on what they have been told instead of researching for themselves. Beware of listening and trusting the world’s opinions more than listening to God. If we absorb what the culture tells us, we are vulnerable to being brainwashed to believe what society wants us to embrace.
Who do you suppose decides what is broadcast as truth and what is censored as disinformation? Satan is the father of all lies and just so happens to control the airwaves. Our decision to seek God and know what he is saying or to believe the report of this natural realm is the difference between thinking clearly and falling into a delusion.
You see, faith is not limited to only being activated in positive thinking; it also can enforce negative attitudes. If we believe and accept the worst, we are joining forces with dark energy that will make the problem worse. I assume we all know where this dark energy originates.
The Bible says that we must not be conformed to the pessimistic way the natural world lives but be transformed by the renewing of our mind in Christ, which means we know he is who he says he is. Every moment we are faced with the choice to absorb the light and life of God or the deception and hopelessness of a fallen world. What we perceive is our reality.