FAITH – Part 1
An amazing year has begun! This is God’s season for you to rise to a new place in God. I mentioned in my last letter that 2019 speaks of faith and the completion of the task that will take you to a new beginning. Then the Holy Spirit began saying to me “this kind of faith is not a faith unto salvation.” A few weeks ago, I found an interesting article on the implication of Hebrew numbers and also discovered that number 19 not only speaks of faith but “faith and hearing.”
The article displays this picture for number 19 and saying, “God reaching down to man by speaking to him, the second pictures man responding to God by faith. This is the force behind the number 19. It has two parts to it: God’s voice and faith. Hence, it requires God to make a declaration before man can respond to His voice.” The article mentioned all the 19 heroes of faith found in Hebrews 11 heard the voice of God, and this produced faith in them, by which they preached the Word and even suffered for it at the hands of those who could not hear. I love the significance of numbers because they offer revelatory presentation and insights that can provide prophetic perspective, direction and encouragement.
FAITH AND HEARING
Paul wrote in Romans 10:17, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. He is not referring to the logos (which is God’s written Word in the Bible) but to the rhema of God. According to the Thayer Greek Lexicon, the Greek meaning for word in this verse is rhema, which mean “a spoken word, made by the living voice. Rhema is commonly used in the NT for the Lord speaking His dynamic, living word in a believer to birth faith. Any sound produced by the voice and having definite meaning, utterances or declaration in which God through someone declares his mind. The word by which something is commanded, directed, and enjoined.” Both logos and rhema are the Word of God, but the rhema of God is spoken to us at a specific occasion.
This kind of faith the Lord is pointing out is from an ongoing lifestyle of responding to God’s Voice to us. We have to be the one to bring ourselves into alignment with what God is saying. Doing our part is the key to opening the windows of heaven and set the mark for future action to reflect His kingdom on the earth.
Jesus wondered, when the Son of Man comes, would He really find faith in the earth. Faith is a confession, a declaration of what God said to us. Jesus did it before He ever started His ministry. He declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, [Luke 4:18] He was declaring these realms in God belong to Him. He’s inviting us into that same relationship.
Lets go on this journey of faith together believing and declaring what He is saying about our lives, community and nations, until we see the full manifestation of God’s spoken word fulfilled.
Danyele
Danyele Bloom Holtner
President & Team Leader
Aglow International Canada