The Learner I - Becoming A Disciple

Amazing grace how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me!, I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see, Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved, How precious did that grace appear, The hour I first believed Thru many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come, Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home., When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise, Then when we first begun.

This is about believing, we must believe that we can recover, we must believe that we need help, and we must believe that Jesus is able to help us!

Recovery, like all good things requires some effort on our part, but when we believe all the effort rest with Jesus, we are then justified by our faith, and through faith in Jesus, although we have the light burden of believing, we will get to watch Jesus as he works out this change in us, all through believing! One might say well it’s just not that easy to believe, I argue it is easy to believe if you will hear what Jesus has to say, as we read, “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing of the word of God.” Romans 10:17 Are you willing to hear what Jesus has said and in hearing are you sincere in your hearing enough to allow Jesus to work? In other words, do you really want Jesus to heal you? If you are sincere, then you will be listening closely to all that Jesus says, and in listening closely, drawing near to him, you will begin a new relationship with a true friend that cares for you!

Now listen closely friend and let faith build in your heart, because as it is written, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it will be impossible to recover!

Now we come here to believe that God, through Jesus Christ, can restore us, our lives, our minds to sanity, and to wholeness.

Listen closely friend,

“For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Philippians 2:13

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2Timothy 1:7

“He replied, Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, If you have faith as small as a grain of a mustard seed, you can say unto this mountain, ‘move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Mathew 17:20

“It is impossible to please God without faith.” Hebrews 11:6

I ask you to listen closely, to read closely, and to get this in you, because as we read this chapter we need to believe that God, that power that is greater than we are, can restore us!

When we say, we came to believe, we are saying, we came to a faith, the definition for faith being, belief, therefore in this chapter we have come to a faith that God who is greater than us, is able to restore us to the person we should be.

Ok so here are some chapters that we need to read and comment on;

Hebrews 11:1-16 This is known as the Faith Chapter

1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

2. For by it the Elders obtained a good report.

3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

4. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead, yet speaketh.

5. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

6. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he isa rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

7. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness, which is by faith.

8. By faith Abraham, when he was called to do out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing where he went.

9. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

10. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11.Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

12. Therefore sprang there even of one, of him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable.

13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

14. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

15. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

16. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

After reading this do you have any questions?

Answer the following questions:

What is faith?

What is the purpose of having faith?

Can we please God without faith?

Read Romans 10:8-11

8. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.

9. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

After reading this do you have any questions?

Answer the following question:

What happens when we believe in God and confess with our mouth that he is able?

Hearing/Reading/Seeing

“Faith cometh by hearing the word of God” Romans 10:17

Hearing/Reading/Seeing the word of God brings us to belief(faith) in the one who is able to heal us, if you take medicine to cure a sickness, of course you won’t take it if you don’t believe that it will heal your sickness, in the same way we must Take the GodsPill of Jesus as our medicine, believing always that it will heal us!

Read closely,

Hebrews 3:7-19

7. Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice,

8. Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9. When your Fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

10. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, they do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

11. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.

12. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

13. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you be harden through deceitfulness of sin.

14. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.

15. While it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

16. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

17. But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?

18. And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?

19. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Twice we see here that God says, “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart” God knows that with a hardened heart a person cannot believe, and when a person cannot believe, they will not be healed. What is a hardened heart? It is a heart that refuses to listen, refuses to believe that God can do what he says, and a heart that is stony towards truth, always rejecting what is good, and accepting what they know is bad, claiming that they are not able to do what is good.

The truth is, no one is able in themselves to do good, but through Jesus all is possible!

Also we see that no one can enter into heaven if they have unbelief, or are without the faith in Jesus that is required to get in!

After reading this do you have any questions?

Answer the following questions:

Who was speaking in this passage of scripture?

How many years did God prove himself to the Israelites?

What was the problem with their hearts?

What might have caused their hearts to become hardened?

Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “It is impossible to please God without faith” we need God, with his favor and his power we can overcome our difficulties.

Memory Verse:

“For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: And this is the victory that overcomes the world, EVEN OUR FAITH!”1 John 5:4

Our faith will overcome all addiction, when you believe God, then you are able to have the faith that you need to draw from the only source of power that is able, Jesus Christ!

Chapter Three: God Is In Charge!