The Pivotal Point: What do you Believe? (Mark 11:22-24)

 Mark 11:22 - 24 says, "...and Jesus, answering, said to them, 'Have faith in God. For truly,[most assuredly; you can absolutely rely on this statement], I say to you, whoever shall say to this mountain, be removed, and you be cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass, he shall have whatever he says. Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive (them), and you shall have (them)' ".

This is an often quoted, often misunderstood passage of scripture, by those seeking to walk and live by faith. Many sermons and many books have been written on the subject of faith, and not intending to be just one more "theory" or opinion, this is, hopefully, a practical examination, of what actually works.

LITERAL MOUNTAIN

The first thing is to lay down some ground rules: Jesus was speaking about a literal mountain, just like there was a literal fig tree that withered away, after being spoken to, there was a literal mountain, that the disciples could actually physically see. To be fair, the scribes and Pharisees of the day, had an expression, in teaching, about moving a mountain, referring to overcoming insurmountable obstacles, but the scriptures are very literal, and there is no reason to assume that Jesus was asking the disciples to imagine a mountain; or figuratively, conjure up some supposed problem that needed dealt with. Jesus didn't say, "Just imagine you have a mountain of a problem in your life..."

CREATIVE POWER

The whole point, is that, if a literal mountain will move, by speaking to it, than that is obviously a miracle, and that is obviously God! The scriptures reaffirm this fact in 1 Corinthians 13:2, speaking of having all faith, so that we can remove mountains. Obviously, no one is probably interested in moving mountains, by speaking to them, unless they are in the road construction business or something, but just like God speaking, formed and brought the worlds into existence, so that same creative power is available to us (Heb.11:3).

NORMAL

The real issue, as some would say, is "Why doesn't this work for me?", or "Why does it seem to work for some, but not all". It is quite evident, to any who would give it serious consideration, that there are, and have been, many men and women "of faith", who, for example, like Kenneth E Hagin, walked in divine health, or Smith Wigglesworth, who regularly experienced the power of God, with at least 22 documented cases of persons raised from the dead, not to mention numerous other supernatural manifestations of power, or Heidi Baker, who regularly has seen powerful supernatural workings; as well as a number of other Believers, who have ventured beyond the mundane of Christianity, into the "normal" Christ life.

TRADITION

We can passively accept the fact that we are not living the Mark 11:22-24 life; or explain it away, in our theological seminaries, as something that has passed away with the last apostle, making the word of God of none effect, with our tradition; or we can not give up, until the reality of the scriptures, is evident and working, in our lives. It's our choice.

SUPERNATURAL

The fact is, many people have had supernatural spiritual gifts, from the Holy Spirit, that produced amazing manifestations of healings, like Jack Coe; A.A. Allan; Kathryn Kuhlman; and William

Branham, but this passage of scripture isn't speaking of spiritual giftings, as it clearly states, "...whoever shall say...". The question, then, becomes, "How do I make this work in my life and the lives of other Believers?".

CONSTANTLY

First of all, the text isn't speaking of a one time event of "having faith in God". The tense of the verb, in the Greek, actually says, "...be CONSTANTLY HAVING faith in God", similar to Abraham, where the KJV says, "...he believed in YHWH, and He counted it to him for righteousness" (Gen.15:6). Genesis 15:6 is a commentary on Abraham's life stating, in the Hebrew tense of the verb, Abraham, "...CONSTANTLY believed in YHWH...". It is obvious that there is more to this text than we have been traditionally taught, and just maybe, as we delve into understanding the scriptures more, then we will also experience the reality of their declarations more.

STEP ONE is to recognize this passage is for "...whoever...".

STEP TWO is to not let tradition explain away why it is not working in our lives, but to pursue the truth, to experience the reality of the active word of God in us.

BELONGS TO US

Before we explore any further study of this passage, we must accept the reality that this passage of scripture belongs to us. Jesus meant for the announcement of His word to permeate and dictate His will in our lives, and we are to make this passage ours, just as much as salvation, through the Lord Jesus Christ is a reality in our lives. If the "...whoever..." of Mark 11:23 does not apply to us, than neither does the "...who ever.." of John 3:16, offering us eternal salvation.

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours.