Operational Principle #4 - The BLESSING of the Lord is received with the God kind of faith

We are up to Operational Principle number three in our study on the Fundamentals of Faith - The BLESSING of the Lord is received with the God kind of faith!

What do we mean by the “God kind” of faith? In this particular instance, we are referring to the aspect of faith that can believe something without having to see it first!

Let’s look over at John chapter twenty and you can see two different types of faith.

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

John 20:24-29 KJV

The first thing I want to address about this passage is to not judge Thomas unfairly!

Thomas had no less faith than any of the other disciples! 

None of the other 10 disciples had any more faith in this area than Thomas! (Mark 16:10-11)

Jesus had to appear to them in exactly the same manner and show them His hands and His side and, the Scripture says, THEN were the disciples glad when they realized it was the Lord! (John 20:19-20)

But Thomas wasn’t with them!

So, when Thomas was with them, Jesus came and did the same thing for Thomas that He had done for the others. AND, now that they were all together, He went ahead and taught them something about faith.

Thomas (and the others) were operating in natural, earthly faith. The kind that is present because of what we can see, hear, smell, taste and feel as well as our past experiences. This is what we use when we look at a chair and then exercise this kind of faith by sitting down in it BELIEVING that it will hold us up.

Jesus acknowledged this faith when he said, “because you have seen me, you have believed.”

He went on to teach them, though, about the God kind of faith and why they needed to come on up to that level.

“blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

John 20:29b KJV

BLESSED! The BLESSING! Not A blessing, THE BLESSING!

We can see a description of the BLESSING when the Lord released it on mankind in the book of Genesis.

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Genesis 1:28 KJV

We see a more detailed description of it in Deuteronomy.

“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:”

Deuteronomy 28:1-4, 6-13 KJV

And, praise God, we are assured in the book of Galatians that Jesus made certain that the BLESSING is available to ALL of us!

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Galatians 3:13-14 KJV

BUT even though the Spirit of Grace Himself has provided it for us, we need to use the God kind of faith to receive it!

How do we come up to operating in that level of faith (it’s already on the inside of us) as Jesus instructed? Thomas gave us the first step - “I will . . .” We need to make the decision that we are to live by the God kind of faith!

Here are some of the primary steps to developing in the God kind of faith:

• Make the decision to do it!
• Immerse yourself in the Word of God. The Word is the source of the God kind of faith. (Romans 10:17)
• Walk in, exercise, and “put on” the love of God (Galatians 5:6)

As we do these things, we are well on our way to developing and living by the God kind of faith as Jesus instructed in order to live in THE BLESSING!