//Kenneth W. Hagin

If your employer told you that you were getting a raise of $200 a week, you would be overjoyed. In fact, you might immediately call your wife or husband and say, “Honey, my boss raised my salary $200 a week! Let’s go out and buy that car we’ve been wanting!”

Many of us react like that when we hear words we trust. We might not have the money in hand yet, but because we believe the words that were spoken to us, we operate in faith on them. Words such as these create excitement in us. And because we believe them, we act on them.

We trust other people’s words all the time. We trust people because of what they say or we mistrust them because of what they don’t say. But we usually take people at their word.

Numbers 23:19 (Amplified) says, “God is not a man, that He should tell or act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance or compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good?” If we can put our trust in people, how much more should we believe and trust the Word of the One Who created the universe?

We also read in Isaiah 55:11 (NIV 1984), “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” God’s Word is sure. If our Heavenly Father said it, we can count on it. God desires that His children have simple faith and trust in His Word.

One reason many Christians don’t receive from God is that they don’t take God at His Word! Or they never really put any pressure on His Word. By that I mean, they try to do things in their own strength. They haven’t learned just how trustworthy the Word of God
really is.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews encourages us to “hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise” (Heb. 10:23 NLT).

Jesus’ 12 disciples learned how reliable His Word was. They found out that they could believe and act upon His Word, even in the face of contradictory circumstances. Here’s an account in Luke chapter 5 of one time when Peter took Jesus at His word, even though what He said seemed to contradict what Peter believed to be true.

Peter and his partners had fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus asked to borrow Peter’s boat so he could speak to the crowd. After He had finished, He said to Peter, “ ‘Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish’ ”
(v. 4 NLT). Peter protested because it didn’t seem reasonable to go to all the trouble of lowering their nets again. Nevertheless, Peter recognized the authority in Jesus’ words. He acted on them, even though it seemed like a foolish thing to do.

When Peter and his partners obeyed Jesus’ words, they caught so many fish that their nets began to break. And the Bible says their boats were so full of fish that they were on the verge of sinking! (See Luke 5:4–9 NLT.) Jesus told Peter exactly where to fish, and when he followed His instructions, the result was God’s miraculous abundance and provision!

There is a biblical principle in this for us: As we obey the Word of the Living God, we will experience abundant provision in our lives too.

Oh, if only God’s people would put their trust in God’s infallible Word! What mighty exploits could be done on this earth to set people free—to get them saved, healed, and delivered to God’s glory.

We need to get to the place in our spiritual walk with the Lord that when we see something in His Word or when the Word of God speaks to our hearts, we immediately respond, “Lord, at Your Word, I will obey!” Daring to take God at His Word and act upon it is the kind of faith that pleases Him!

Faith Nugget

The Centurion’s Great Faith

Great faith is reliance on the Word of God apart from natural circumstances that contradict the Word. The words you speak determine whether you will receive from God. Why? Because your words indicate your faith.

In Matthew chapter 8, we see a marvelous example of faith. A centurion came to Jesus on behalf of his servant, saying, “Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented” (v. 6). Jesus immediately said to him, “I will come and heal him” (v. 7).

The centurion’s answer was full of faith. His words demonstrated his faith. He said to Jesus, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed” (v. 8).

The centurion spoke words in line with Jesus’ sayings. And Jesus called the words the centurion spoke great faith (v. 10)!

What is great faith? It is simply faith in God’s Word. It’s taking God at His Word. It’s speaking God’s Word in faith and acting like it’s so. God wants us to have the same great faith in His Word that the centurion had in Jesus’ words. God wants us to have confidence in the authority and integrity of His Word.

Because of the centurion’s great faith, Jesus said to him, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee” (v. 13). And the centurion’s servant was healed in the same hour.

-This has been adapted from Kenneth E. Hagin’s book God’s Word—A Never-Failing Remedy

 

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To learn more about God’s infallible Word, go to 
www.khm.com/6vgm and read the article “Forget Not!” by Kenneth W. Hagin.