“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NLT)
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV)
“Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20 NKJV)
“Having looked on them, Jesus says, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27 BSB)
“For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Mark 1:37 NKJV)
We are talking about living in Faith’s Playground (the Land of Impossible). I have learned through the years that I have professed to believe in the supernatural power of God for the impossible, but have held back in living in a way that would take me out of my comfort zone. Since my personal reawakening in 2018 I have been asking myself, “Self, why aren’t you experiencing the supernatural aspects of the Bible?” The Holy Spirit has revealed to me that even though I rejected theology and doctrine that removes the supernatural power of God from the Gospel (signs, wonders, miracles, healing, spiritual gifts, etc.) many years ago, I have not been willing to step out of the boat, or boldly enter in to the promised land. I have “talked the talk,” but rarely “walked the walk.” Let me share what that means (maybe someone reading this will relate to what I am saying).
I was raised in a wonderful Chrisrian family. I praise the Lord for each and every one of them. We attended a Church that emphasized living a “good moral life” based on the teachings of the Bible. I was taught how to get to Heaven by accepting Jesus as my Savior, and what was expected for me to live a godly lifestyle that avoided sin and worldliness. However, I don’t remember being taught anything about expecting the supernatural to occur in my life.
As an adult, when I went to school to prepare for ministry, I was actually taught that while God still had the ability to perform miracles, most of the supernatural aspects of the New Testament Church were no longer for today. As with my upbringing, I praise the Lord for my education as in many areas it gave me a solid foundation on which to build.
After school, while serving as a Youth Pastor, the Holy Spirit began stretching me beyond what I had been taught. In total dependence on His leading and teaching, He step by step rewrote my personal theology and doctrinal statement. That was when I moved to a different part of the Body of Christ (Church) where all aspects of the New Testament Church as revealed in Scripture were believed to be for today.
For 27 years I have believed the Words of Jesus recorded in John 14:12 “assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” I believe those words to be true FOR my life, yet they have not yet been true OF my life. The Holy Spirit has revealed to me why that is.
Years ago, I discovered that there was much more available now. The Holy Spirit showed me that I didn’t have to wait for Heaven to experience all of the benefits of my salvation. He gave me a glimpse of the Land of Impossible, and I was excited to invite everyone I knew (especially family) to join me in Faith’s Playground. I made the mistake of rushing back to my family with a whole lot of zeal, but very little wisdom. As can be expected, my new found beliefs were not exactly welcomed with open arms. When my mom was dying from ALS, I prayed for her fully expecting her to be healed, and she died. (Praise the Lord that she has been fully healed since 1998 when she stepped out of her disease riddled body and entered into the presence of the Lord!) I did not yet understand the Land of Mystery. Between the lack of receptivity by my family, and the heartbreak of Mom’s death, I went back home in confusion and discouragement. After this, a few other things happened that led to my stepping back from visibly living, and proclaiming, what I believed outside of the comfort zone of those who were of like mind.
It’s easy to talk and walk with faith when I am in the boat. It’s a whole other thing when walking on the water. It’s easy to proclaim truth to those who already embrace that truth. It’s a whole different thing to proclaim truth in love with those who don’t see it the same way. My life up until 2018 was a roller coaster ride due to my inconsistency in living each and every day according to the truth the Holy Spirit had revealed to me. I allowed fear and peer pressure to hold me back from living boldly as a New Testament believer.
The days of shrinking back are over. Praise the Lord, He has called me to get out of the boat and join Him on the water. This time I am going to keep on walking regardless of what others say, or whatever circumstances come in to my life. I have moved out of the Land of Possible into the Land of Impossible.
Care to join me? If so, let’s boldly live in…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 62: “Living in the Land of ‘Mystery’ (Faith’s Treasure-House) and ‘Impossible’ (Faith’s Playground).” Part 9: Impossible – Tag you’re it!