Is faith complicated? Or do we unnecessarily make it so? We often complicate our faith by thinking that faith is something so intricate and complex that we must work up to that high level of faith through a difficult mental reaching into some involved ethereal mystical realm. Actually that is not true at all. A walk with God begins by simply taking one step. The end of Israel’s slavery began by the simple act of catching a little lamb (Exodus 12:3–13). Everything that we receive from the Lord usually begins with just one little act—one act of faith that reaches in and “touches the hem of His garment” (Matthew 9:20–22).
It is interesting that the descriptions of faith in the books of Hebrews and James are so closely identical. James chapters 1 and 2 discuss faith in the same way that Hebrews chapter 11 discusses the men of faith. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews lists a number of men, each of whom is identified not by some way in which he exercised a mystical faith, but rather by the way in which he simply obeyed God (verses 4–11). Each was known by the way in which he stepped out to do exactly what God told him to do. That, of course, is the action required by faith. In the midst of describing these men, it was written, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). James 2 further develops this concept: What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? Verse 14. For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. Verse 26.
No doubt all the children of Israel really believed in their hearts that Canaan was theirs. For a moment the ten spies discouraged them to the extent that they said, “No, we cannot go against these giants” (Numbers 13:32). So the Lord gave the Word, “All right, now you will spend forty years in the wilderness” (Numbers 14:33–34). They reacted, “Oh, we made a mistake! We really should have been believing what God spoke. But we are here now; we’ll go up today” (Numbers 14:40). They missed it by one day. The action they took the day before was based on their fear of the giants; the action they took that day was based on fear and a realization of their unbelief. If the children of Israel had only stepped out when God told them to step out, they would have spared themselves much grief, for most of them subsequently perished in the wilderness (Numbers 14:29).
You must understand that faith comes by simply acting in your spirit upon something that God is speaking. It can happen whenever you assemble together to worship the Lord. It does not matter what service it is; you can reach in and touch the Lord. Eventually our meetings will be filled with people coming in from neighboring communities, because here they will meet God. By our faith, we take dominion over the fear that would hold people back. The Word will continue to uncover layers of unbelief, and thereby loose entire communities to walk with the Lord. We can exercise simple steps of faith that will open the door for many hungry families to meet the Lord.
Hearing the Word is not enough; it is possible to hear the Word and still be deceived. Consider this carefully: But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:22. Of the people in our country today who feel that they are believers, how many are really deceiving themselves because they are fearful and they refuse to step out upon what they believe? They are not really believers at all, if they are not actually walking in what they hear.
Be careful; do not delude yourself by being a hearer without being a doer of the Word. For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law (the beautiful principles of the Living Word of the Lord), the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer (literally, “a doer of a work”), this man shall be blessed in what he does. James 1:23–25.
Does traditional Christianity interpret this correctly?
When they talk about being a “doer” of the Word, they usually mean joining the church, giving money, and becoming a “good” church member doing “good works.” Weymouth’s translation in The New Testament in Modern Speech clarifies the meaning of this Scripture because it emphasizes that you believe and then you act upon your faith: He however who looks closely into the perfect law of freedom and continues looking, being not a hearer who forgets, but an obedient doer, will find blessing in the very act of obedience. James 1:25. He further emphasizes the importance of having our actions correspond with our faith in James 2:14: What good is it, my brethren, if a man professes to have faith, and yet his actions do not correspond? Can such faith save him? “Corresponding actions” is a very good phrase to describe the true meaning of this passage.
When Herod heard the Word of John the Baptist, he “heard him gladly” and did many good things (Mark 6:20). Yet he never did obey John’s Word to give up his adulterous relationship with his brother Philip’s wife (Mark 6:18). He continued to be disobedient; nonetheless he loved to hear John’s Word.
I have seen people who sit and thoroughly enjoy hell-fire sermons; yet their subsequent actions fail to correspond to that Word. It is not enough to hear the Word, and then with a religious conscience give enormous sums of money to some nonprofit organization, claiming, “See, I am doing something. I have faith!” That is not faith! Those actions are not corresponding to the Word of God. When God gives a Word, you must take a step based upon what He says. You take a step—one little step—believing that what He promises is yours.
It seems that sometimes God has complicated His miracles by not permitting people to do things that are really noble and sensible. Instead, they are required to do something foolish, like the blind man in John 9:1–7. Jesus put a mudpack of clay and spittle on his eyes and sent him feeling his way through the streets to the city reservoir (the pool of Siloam) to wash it off. He came back seeing. It should not be too difficult to think up a better, more dignified miracle than that! In the Old Testament, Isaiah gave orders to apply a fig poultice to King Hezekiah when he was mortally ill (II Kings 20:1, 7). It seems unlikely that a few ripe figs placed on a dying man could do much to completely heal him. However, God intends that our actions are always to be a step to obey Him, no matter how ridiculous or humiliating they seem to be.
God always has a way of shrouding obedience with reproach. Obedience always looks foolish. But when God gives you a Word, He is also implying, “Act on it.” You may not want to become associated with some of the people who are believing for God’s Word to be manifested in the earth. Yet you will never walk in His promises until you realize that you must associate with the reproach that is on the Word. At some point we too must say, as young Mary did, “Be it done unto me according to Thy Word” (Luke 1:38). She knew that she would bear a reproach. For an unmarried girl, perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old, to bear a child in that day meant that she would be put under a severe reproach. Yet she said, “Be it done unto me according to Thy Word” (Luke 1:38).
When you believe a Word from the Lord, have faith with a corresponding action. That is all it takes—just one step. Do you want to walk with God? Take one step. You know that you cannot leap from here to the top of a mountain all at once, but you can take it one step at a time, with each step leading in the direction that God’s Word specifies.
Sometimes taking a particular step of faith does not seem to have much reason, but it does have one thing in its favor; it has an unshakable belief in the Lord and His Word, because it is acting upon that Word. For instance, consider the woman who had been hemorrhaging for so many years. In her own thinking, all she had to do was touch the hem of Jesus’ garment to be healed. She touched Him (Matthew 9:20–22). The beginning of a miracle was simply a touch. The beginning of deliverance is simply a reaching out to God. It is a faith that says, “Yes, it can be mine,” and takes one simple little step. Faith makes one move, one gesture toward God.
This is not the way some people think it is to be done, because they would like to make it much more complicated than that. Let us not make it complicated. When the children of Israel were dying of snakebites in the wilderness, the Lord told Moses, “Make a serpent of brass and set it on a pole, and whoever looks at it shall live.” All they had to do to be healed was take one look at the serpent of brass (Numbers 21:6–9). Jesus later said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life.” John 3:14–15. It is so simple. Since the Scripture says, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17), does this mean that you have to work many great works? No; just take a look. Glance up and say, “Yes, I believe!” That is all it takes. As you make one move toward God which is based upon faith in your heart, you will see how much He enables you to complete the step.
Do you want deliverance? It is very simple. When you hear that Jesus is passing by, cry out to Him as the blind men did. They may have been anxiously thinking they ought to be doing something more; but what else could they do other than simply plead, “Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy!” (Matthew 9:27–29.) That is all it took. They cried out to the Lord for a deliverance.
Sometimes God may ask you to do something so simple that you stumble at it. Surely the prophet Elisha knew what he was doing when he told Naaman the leper, “You go down to the Jordan and dip seven times in that river.” Naaman responded, “We have better places to swim in than that! What I need is something from God!” (II Kings 5:10–14.)
When you come into a service desperate and hungry, do you wonder what to do? Simply put out your hands and worship the Lord! What good will that do? You “draw nigh to Him and He will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8). It is that simple. Sometimes we complicate faith to the extent that we do not realize that we will be helped by taking only a simple step of faith in the Word that God has given. What should you do to fulfill the promises which God has shown you about His will for your life? File them away in a drawer until He sovereignly brings them to pass? No; review carefully what God has made real to you. Perhaps there is a large disparity between what He has shown you, and your present circumstances. Then open your heart to the Lord and say, “We need a big miracle here, Lord; what should I do now?” Even then you will be shown how to take one simple little step. Do not complicate it or make a big project out of it.
At the wedding of Cana, recorded in John 2, Jesus’ mother told the servants, “Listen, and whatever He tells you to do, do it.” After the servants filled six large waterpots with water, as Jesus had instructed them, He said, “Bear it out now to the head governor of the feast” (John 2:5–9). Those waterpots yielded between 120 and 180 gallons of wine. If I were the Lord and I wanted my first miracle to be something that would deeply stir people’s religious sentiments, the very last thing I would want to do is make enough wine to intoxicate my disciples for the next three and a half years! Yet the Lord’s first miracle had to be something done very simply. The Lord is so wonderful! People get very religious about Him, but most of them would not repeat the things that He did for anything! It might ruin their religious image.
That miracle at the wedding was accomplished by one simple little act. Believe Him, then act on it; that’s all. Take one little action; just do it. But be careful not to do anything stupid, like wandering around with a mudpack made with spittle on your eyes! (John 9:6–7.) And do not allow Someone to put His fingers in your ears, then pull out your tongue and spit on it! (Mark 7:32–35.) Certainly you would not want to do anything foolish like that! (I am sure you sense the sarcasm in this.) In truth, the only thing you must be cautious about is that you do not do something religious. Rather, do something that is an act of faith! God will honor any symbolic act if it is an expression of faith. For example, you could take your Bible and simply open it up, and in so doing, say, “I open the Word to my heart.” But if that symbolic action is a form of religious expression, nothing will happen. You can “cross” yourself seven times, and it will do no good; or you can simply submit to the work of the cross, surrendering to the Lord with uplifted hands, and everything will happen! Not much is required—only an act of faith.
Are you unhappy? Would you like to be happier? Appropriate a little joy. Reach up to the Lord for it. Do you need deliverance or victory for a difficult situation or problem? Remember what the Lord said: In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33b. Appropriate His overcoming the world. Take that deliverance. Take that victory. Reach for it right now!
If you are acting upon the Word of the Lord, it does not take much to start a miracle. What is the first thing you should do if you would like the Lord to bless you financially? Get into the Word and read the promises. “Give and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:38). You have nothing to give? Then find something, borrow something.
I purpose to give by faith, and God honors it. Start giving. Even when you have little or nothing to give, give anyway. The Lord will bless you in it.
Simply take a little step corresponding to the promise you want to believe. Are you sick? Call for the elders of the church. If they do not come, keep calling until they do come! Ask them to bring some oil with them, and “pray over you and anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord.” You have the promise, “The prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:14–15).
One step was taken toward a promise, can open the door for God to fulfill it.
Performance is not what God is looking for; He is looking for that first gesture of faith. He looks for someone to “touch the hem of His garment” (Matthew 9:20–22). God does not wait to see what kind of ritual you go through to get an answer; He wants to see your hunger. Take a step toward God, and He will “draw nigh” to you (James 4:8).
It is impossible for us to instantly fulfill most of the things that God tells us to do. For instance, if God has called you to a ministry, you worry, tied up in knots emotionally, trying to perform that ministry in its fullness. But if you simply take one step, and then another, and then another, you will be surprised at how the Lord will start opening the door. Confusion comes because we do not realize how simple obedient faith really is.
In the final analysis, what was really required to bring down Jericho? Mortars and cannons blasting away at the walls? No—God said, “Just take a little walk. Then tomorrow take another little walk. Do that for seven days.” Then what great thing should they do at the end of those seven days? “Just stand there and shout” (Joshua 6:1–20). That seems like a ridiculous way to bring down a city, but it was the only effective way that God would honor. When He gives you a promise, He will not allow you to fulfill it in such a way that you can receive any glory (Jeremiah 9:23–24).
Instead, God says, “Believe that I am God. Then I will use you to bring My Word to pass, and all you have to do is stand there and shout. Just one shout!” In your walk with God have you encountered a “wall” in your path? Are you ready for the shout? The wall will fall!
Archeological evidence confirms that the walls of Jericho fell down flat, so that every man could go forward, straight ahead. They shouted, the wall fell, and they moved right in. They had completely surrounded that city, so without delay they went in and did what God had told them to do (Joshua 6:20–21). God hovers over His Word, and when a man hears the Word and takes a step—a corresponding action (James 2:14)—something will happen!
It is not really complicated to get into the land of promise. Simply relax, have your bags packed, and watch the cloud or the pillar of fire above you. When it starts moving, then start walking (Exodus 13:21). Just take a step. When you see the slightest indication that you are to move, then move!
This is so simple to grasp; it is not at all complicated. Simply reach into the Lord. This is how David conquered the Philistines. He said, “Lord, what will we do? There are Philistines all around this place!” He was told to sit down in the ravine, relax and take it easy, and after a while he would hear “a sound in the tops of the mulberry trees.” The treetops would be bending under the breeze that would be blowing. That was the signal from above that the Lord had gone out before him to strike the Philistine army. The Philistines were just as good as defeated at that moment. David had only to wait for this little indication that God was fulfilling His promises; then he moved out to conquer (II Samuel 5:22–25). God has obligated Himself, and all that He asks of you is that you step out and position yourself so that He can work a miracle.
Have you been disappointed? I do not believe in disappointment. People are disappointed only because they have a great deal of faith that they will be disappointed! What is unbelief? Isn’t it negative faith, or faith in reverse? What is fear? Believing that something bad will happen to you, rather than believing that “all things work together for the good of them who love God” (Romans 8:28). Entertaining disappointment and fear is simply exercising a negative faith. How do you counteract that? Take a step of positive faith—just one little step. Reach out your hand to the Lord. Touch Him (Mark 3:10; 5:28–30; Luke 6:19).
Many years ago while I was still a part of the denominational system, I traveled conducting revivals. I often preached a sermon about the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment (Luke 8:43–48). I told the congregations, “All you have to do is reach up in an act of faith, just as she did, and touch the Lord.” Not one more thing had to be done. Many people were healed during those services. Afterwards they gave testimony of healings that had taken place because they had made one simple reach toward God, one effort to touch Him.
You do not know how close to the Lord you are. You do not realize how close you are—only one touch away. You may think you are so far away, but that does not matter; take a step. Just “draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). Do you understand this? The veil between God and man is pierced because we believe what He has done for us (Hebrews 10:19–22). You may set about to improve or to reform yourself. You may have many resolutions in mind, determining that when you finally are ready, you can really approach God! You are not likely to ever make it that way. There is only one thing that makes it happen: believe that He made the provision, and then reach for it with that absolute faith in your heart (Hebrews 10:22–23). Even though you may feel as though you have wandered from the right course, that you have missed it so many times, still reach! The principles and provisions of God are not nullified by your failure. You may have failed ten thousand times, but that one time when you reach out and touch Him makes all the difference.
What is the key of Pentecost in this day? How did the first one come about? (Acts 2.) By waiting on the Lord—expectant, faith-filled waiting. What is faith? Start with one simple step, and you are in it. This is faith. What magic brought about Pentecost? Only expectant waiting, which said, in essence, “Here we are.” I think we tend to complicate it too much. As we go deeper and deeper into the marvelous depths of wisdom that God has revealed, what do we find? A simple Word which becomes progressively simpler and less complicated.
Every time you fall on your face, open your eyes; you will see God. Underneath you are His “everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). You can be sure that all things will work out, because they have already been worked out by the Lord. He has already “ordered all things according to the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11). He is only waiting for you to be a participant with Him (II Peter 1:4), having merely a little faith, like a grain of mustard seed (Matthew 17:20).
When I was a child, I had a little dog. That dog had faith! He would sit at my feet at the dinner table, and he really knew about “waiting” on his “lord”! He did not sit there all during the meal merely wondering if he would receive something. He knew me! He knew I would slip him a bite the first chance I had. The moment he saw my hand secretly descend, he would dart for the food, and with one gulp it was gone—and he was waiting, ready to grab another bite. Wouldn’t you like to have that same quality of expectant waiting? Expect God to meet you at every service! Expect every word you sing to be a move toward God. Expect that every time you lift your hands in worship, it will not be a form; instead, you will touch the promises of God. Expect right then and there that you will touch Him, and it will happen to you “according to His Word” (Luke 1:38).