Have you ever wondered why Jesus associates faith “with the heart” and not merely with the mind?

• Mark 11:23 "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says."

According to "Strong' s Concordance" the Greek word translated by "heart" is "kardia" and it means: the heart; mind, character, inner self, will, intention, center.

"Helps Word-Studies” says of 2588 kardía – heart; "the effective center of our being" and the capacity of moral preference (volitional desire, choice; see P. Hughs, 2 Cor, 354); and G. Archer says that heart is: "the desire-producer that makes us tick" i.e. our "desire-decisions" that establish who we really are.

The word "heart" is used more than 900 times in the Bible and it never refers to the physical organ that pumps the blood in our system; and not even once.

There are so many thoughts that pass through our minds. When we face hard times, some of us even struggle with our faith that God loves us, He is with us, for us and in it with us, having the right solution, no matter what. Sometimes, while we are around other believers of great faith, filled with the Holy Spirit, it can be easy to be strong and believe. But once we are alone the real battle begins and doubt tries to sneak into our mind.

Jesus is not talking about the doubtful thoughts that “pass through our minds” in the above verse. He is referring to the feelings of doubt in our hearts, that are the root of our decisions.

• Mark 9:23-24 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

In meditating and considering the situation, we might think that the child's father had no clue what he was talking about. How could he say that “he believes” and yet ask for help to believe? To our surprise, Jesus didn't say yes or no, He just set the boy free, by casting out the evil spirit that was tormenting him. Actually, the boy's father decided to believe in his mind, but he needed help to transfer that belief into his heart. Don't we do the same also?

• Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

We read or hear many messages about verses to stir up and build our faith. At first, faith is just in our head. If we don't keep on thinking about the Word, meditating on it and even repeating it, drinking it in until it pierces our inner man of the heart. Until the Word is concrete in us, any little doubt that passes through our minds has the ability to find its way to the heart and in short order become stronger than our faith that never went deeper than our mind. The "faith that moves the mountain" comes from the inner man of the heart, from our spirit, which is born again by the Holy Spirit. If we can wholly believe and eliminating doubt from the core of our being, deep in our heart, then, we will receive what we are asking for!

Doubt is the enemy of faith. The devil has thousands of years of experience in seeding doubt in people's minds. He knows that the first step (which many times is all that is needed to get the job done) is to make us doubt that we “deserve” to get from God what we are asking for. If we fall into his trap and accept the thoughts of doubt, repeating and adding to it and eventually we will get to the place where we will stop believing that God will meet our need, by answering yes to our prayer. So, what do we do?

By recognizing that whatever form the doubt is taking, doubt is not from God; and by fighting back with the truth and promises in God's Word, we can turn it around. Building up our faith may not be easy but it certainly is not impossible. God never asks us to do what we cannot do. And we know that "without faith, it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6)

• Ephesians 6:10-11 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

It is “up to us” to be strong in the Lord! We have to be willing: to ask and then allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of God's Word to us as we study; to pray and keep on praying, even when we don't feel like it; to worship God with sincere praise and thanksgiving, even when we would rather cry our eyes out in despair; to take the time to soak in the Lord's presence on daily basis. God's armor is at our disposal, but it is completely up to us to put it on and utilize it (the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, be ready with the good news of peace as shoes on our feet, the sword of the Holy Spirit and the helmet of salvation).

Life with Jesus is a journey, desiring and learning to know Him better. Those who search for God sincerely with their whole hearts, truly find Him.

• Matthew 21:21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done."

No wonder the enemy works so hard with doubt and lies to disarm our faith! He wants the mountains of our problems to remain unmovable in our path! If he can't cause us to doubt or fall for one of his lies, he works to keep us busy, so we do not take the time to grow in our relationship with the Lord and especially in spending “alone time with the Lord.” Why? Because when we take the time to enter into God's presence, there is no doubt! When there, the devil's attacks cannot work! As we turn away from the business of life and spend quality time in meditation, prayer, singing and or praising our Lord; when we do, all the other noises disappear! There, our tanks are refilled and our faith becomes firm!


Carmen Pușcaș

How do we know that the promises that God made to His chosen people, Israel, are valid for us, the Gentiles, too? Because in Jesus Christ, we become the children of promise, as Isaac was to Abraham. The apostle Paul explains in detail in Romans, chapter four, that God considered Abraham's faith as his righteousness, before being circumcised. In Abraham, we the Gentiles, inherit all the promises made by God to His children. God had called Abraham "the father of many nations.” In verse 11 we read, "Then he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness be imputed to them also” 

• Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

Those of us who were not born from Hebrew parents, are the branches grown from Isaac (Abraham's promised son), who by being "grafted" into Jesus Christ, become partakers of the "root and fatness" of the olive tree; If the root is holy and blessed, so are the branches. The "root" consists of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the patriarchs of Israel. God formed the Hebrews as a people, and are called "olive trees," we instead, come from nations that have been "wild olive trees." The Jews who did not keep the covenant with God, are cut branches. The warning written by Paul is very clear: we remain in the goodness of God, as long as we live in obedience to Him.

• Romans11:16-17 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree

 

• Romans11:20-21 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.

 

• Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.

Paul writes to the Christians of Ephesus, who were not Jews, but Gentiles, showing them how through Jesus Christ they received the same rights as the people of Israel.

• Ephesians 2:12-20 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone

The Corinthians were from Greece, so they too were also Gentiles.

• 2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

The Romans additionally were not Hebrews, but Paul also tells them that the promises are for them too, through Jesus Christ:

• Romans 15:8-9 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name."

Therefore the promises of the Old and New Testaments are valid for all of us that are in Christ Jesus. Let's take a look at some of them and ask the Holy Spirit to help us to believe and see how they apply to us each and all.

We need to strengthen our faith, believing and repeating the promises of Scripture that refer to the many difficult situations that we all face, until we are completely standing on the promises that the Lord will do the same for us. Only “faith” brings the fulfillment of God's promises.

• Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

• Mark 4:35-40 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"

A Christian's faith has to be based on God's Word. The disciples witnessed so many great miracles that we might say they should have had the strongest faith possible. And Jesus never gave them reason to doubt Him. So, if beforehand the Lord told them: “Let us cross over to the other side,” that should have been enough for them and know the storm would not be able to stop them. On the contrary, they should have fought against it, knowing in their hearts that if Jesus said they would cross over to the other side that nothing would be able to stop them.

But the storm caused them to doubt that they would make it. And in accepting the doubt, they they lost their faith and soon fear conquered their hearts, even to the point where they lost sight of their Lord's Word. That's why, Jesus had to calm the storm, in their place,. Then He pointed out why they failed: “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"

For Jesus, the storm was no surprise. He had an important lesson for His disciples and He decided to take a nap, staying out of their way, so that they would have the chance to act by faith. What if Jesus hadn't been in the same boat with them at the time? What would they have done? Despair might be the best teacher there is in many cases. But to face trials and succeed, we need to prepare ahead of time. We have to strengthen our faith while we sail on calm waters, to be able to face the storms and calm them down, instead of panicking.

Faith is not going to growing when we are despairing. While the waves were filling the boat in and the wind was tossing them violently around, the disciples were not remembering or standing on all that the Lord had taught them. At least they remembered that He could save them enough that they rushed to wake him up. However scolding Him that He would let them perish. It seems incredible to tell to the Lord of Life that He did not care for their lives. And, as a matter of fact, I doubt that their voices were calm and or very nice when they said it.

Now, I wonder how much we really believe what God's Word says and how determined we are also to fight against doubt? How often when doubt comes do we really keep on believing?

To be able to own and keep a firm faith in what the Bible says, doubt can have no place in our lives. Many times, our flesh doesn't even need the enemy's help to cause us to lose what we would receive by faith, as our own human natures do a pretty good job even by itself.

We need to recognize doubtful thoughts and block them before they give birth to more. We have to work build our faith, "brick by brick" with every trial and every test we face in our daily lives – no one else can do it for us. It is the personal challenge we all face that will determine what we build, walls of faith or walls of doubt. Or that will determine who wins: doubt or faith.

We overcome doubt by believing in our hearts and proclaiming the truth of the Scriptures, in all our challenges and trials and as often as it is needed, so that we can stand firm and stay strong in our faith, receiving what God's Word says we will in all the circumstances and challenges of life. We must choose and build a lifestyle of faith or without even trying, we will live a lifestyle of doubt.

​Carmen Pușcaș

There really is a war between God and the devil. The devil started it but God will finish it. The devil was created good; he was beautiful to behold and high ranking in heaven but he made the grave mistake of trying to usurp God. He not only is the father of lies but he is also the father of rebellion and mutiny.

No human on earth knows all the details, but we do know that Satan decided he wanted to be like God in his heart. He sold the same lie to a third of the angels in heaven. He entered the Garden, to purposely try to usurp the Lord there too with Adam and Eve.

Everyone who sins, no matter what particular sin, commits sin against God. Everyone who sins, buys into the lie from the father of lies, the father of mutiny in that: You can be like God. You can do what you want, when you want, how you want. You do not have to listen to God. Be your own god. That is “the lie.”

The truth is: God is #1. He made everything including the rules. Rule # 1 is God is God. Not you or I, and certainly not the devil. Disobedience is expensive; no one can afford it, as it separates us from what we were made for and that is wonderful fellowship with our Father God.

So how does “the war” work since the devil was cast out of heaven to earth and did his dirty-work in the Garden?

There is a constant battle for our souls. God wants us to make heaven and tries to help us while the devil seeks to kill and destroy humans. Every person that falls for the lie that God does not have to be honored and obeyed is a soul for the devil.

Where Christians are, there is Light. Where the lost are, there is darkness. Demonic forces use humans. Demonic forces are empowered by using humans. The devil wants to rid the earth of Christians and as more people choose against God, the earth will grow darker and the devil will be more empowered. We as humans cannot normally see in the spirit, but we sure see the results. The situation is real. Once before, the whole earth grew spiritually dark and had to be cleansed with a Flood and God did a “re-start” with Noah and his family. Today, we are near the End of this Age. This is it. We are approaching final curtain call.

If we choose God and obedience to Him, we are empowered in the Light. If we choose the lie, rooted from the master liar and mutineer, then we belong to darkness.

Righteous decisions and actions empower heaven to work. Disobedience to God empowers evil to work. One might say, I choose neither. To not choose, is still disobedience to God.

The more darkness the devil can develop in people of disobedience, the more power he has. God is all-powerful. But He gave us the option of free will (though the consequences of sin is death, He offers a pardon to those who repent and accept and follow Jesus Christ). So until the “time of choice” is over, God allows a certain amount of choice, even against Him. But there will come a day of reckoning.

The goal of Satan is the end of Christianity on earth and to take heaven by force. He is still full of his rebellious and mutinous self. And the end is still clear. God wins. Even if Christians get caught in the devil's cross hairs, the worst he can do is take our bodies. When handling the thoughts of extreme persecution and possibly death, we need to combat fear by remembering the words of our Lord, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

And take total heart in: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

Take heart, hold fast and press in close to the Lord, for the final countdown is approaching fast, ready or not.


E. Cockrell

​

• Psalms 91:9-13 For you have made the LORD, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

What a tremendous blessing it is in knowing that as long as we live for God, He will command His angels to guard us all the time, He is with us in every hard situation to get us through it and He is ready to answer us when we call upon His Name. Why? God tells us why: "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name."

In loving God we do ourselves the greatest favor. Sincere love of God is followed by obedience, because we want to please the One we love. We know as humans we hurt when we hurt the ones we love. If we are like this with each other, why would we think that it is any different with God, who is Love Himself!

God's will for us is the best! For Him, it is more important to get us ready for Heaven, to be with Him for eternity, than to have successful lives from the human point of view. For our eternal benefit, our carnal nature, has to die and that can certainly be a painful process. Our Heavenly Father suffers with us, because He loves us and He never allows more pain then we can handle. Now, let's admit that we feel way better when we the carnal nature is in submission to the Lord and selfishness, meanness, revenge, criticism etc no longer has its way. But we can't be free from all the ugliness, without a sincere desire to change and without asking the help of the Holy Spirit and following His direction daily. Praise God, that all things are possible with Him!

• Psalms 121:3-8 He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.

Many consider themselves as invincible, as they trust their own power. But, without God's protection over the hand that holds the weapon, there is never certain victory. Goliath was sure that no one could win against him. But David, who was only a young man at the time, with prayer and his slingshot as a weapon, defeated Goliath, because He fought in the Name of the Almighty God! -  1 Samuel 17:42-50

Carmen Pușcaș

For more information, see the message, "Jehovah  Jireh - God Will Provide.”