God has chosen to limit Himself to partnership with us on earth. God won’t violate our free will, and Satan can’t override it by force. It’s always up to us. Our choices either empower God to bless us, or empower the devil to destroy us. Our opening text declares this truth, so how can we limit God? In this Bible study series, we’ve looked at the problems we have with mouth mismanagement, unforgiveness, unconfessed sin, an unrenewed mind, uncontrolled flesh, disobedience and a lack of love. In this edition of Christian Soldier, we examine the lack of faith.  

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Hebrews 4:1,2

What we do with God’s word is not up to God, and it’s not up to the devil. It’s up to us. This verse passage indicated the people in the Old Testament cut God off because of their unbelief. They heard the word of God, and the promises of safety, deliverance and provision. But they didn’t mix faith with what they heard. The result? Continue reading the rest of Hebrews chapter four. They never entered into God’s rest. Instead of entering into the promised land, to enjoy all the blessings God had waiting for them, they wandered in the wilderness the rest of their lives. It’s a tragedy which repeats itself any time we believers choose not to mix faith with what God tells us in His word.  

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror, for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25. 

Hearing the word of God is the necessary first step because faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17). But the second step is choosing to become doers of the word we hear. I can’t believe God for you, and you can’t for me. Each person is responsible for what happens in their lives. We limit God to the degree we fail to mix faith with what He promises in His word.  

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But 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 are visible. Hebrews 11:1,3

We enable God when we become doers of His word. We do that when we mix faith with what we hear from Him. This is the difference between faith and believing. First of all, faith is called a substance - the substance of things hoped for. Do you remember English class back in elementary grade school? I do, because back then, if you didn’t learn the material you got your knuckles cracked with a ruler. So, to save my knuckles for future use, I learned the difference between nouns and verbs. A noun is a person, place or thing. A verb is an action word. 

Concerning the word of God, faith is a noun, and believing is a verb. Believing is the act of releasing faith, putting it to work to move mountains (Mark 11:22-25). When we choose to believe God, we are applying the substance of faith. We do that with the words we speak and the actions that correspond (James 2:12). This is the “mixing” the Old Testament saints failed to do, and which many fail to do today. When mixed, faith always goes to the root of the issue, and begins to effect change there. This is what happened when Jesus spoke to the fig tree on the road from Bethany to Jerusalem in Mark chapter eleven. He cursed it with His words, and a day later it had died from the root (Mark 11:12-14, 20-21). Faith is the substance that changes things from the root, but believing is the action that applies the faith. According to Hebrews chapter eleven, God used faith to create everything we now see in this dimension. The worlds were “framed”, or hung in place by what God said. You see this over and over in Genesis chapter one, when God spoke our present world into existence. Since we’re made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-28), we can (and we must) learn how to mix faith with the exceedingly great and precious promises of God (2 Peter 1:4). If we don’t, those promises will remain unfulfilled in our lives, and God will remain limited in what He can do for us. Jesus also encountered this problem in His early ministry.  

Now He could do no mighty work there [in his hometown of Nazareth], except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. Mark 6:5,6

Some erroneously think God can do anything He wants, but that’s not true. Of course, He has the power to do whatever He wants, but when He created this present world, He decided to give man the dominion (Genesis 1:26-28). That means we have the authority that God responds to. That’s why, in so many cases, God isn’t involved the way we think He should be – simply because no one is mixing faith with whatever promise covers our present set of circumstances. In short, God has chosen to limit His activity on earth to partnership with man. We have the dominion, and have had it from the very beginning. The fact that we’ve been very ignorant about this fact isn’t God’s fault. He’s given us His word, and told us to study to show ourselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15). Being “approved” simply means being “qualified” to partner with God. Notice that when Jesus encountered rank unbelief in the synagogues, He went around in a circuit teaching. He wasn’t preaching, He was teaching. He did this so the Jews could learn how to mix faith with what He was teaching, avoiding the sin of unbelief committed by their ancestors (Hebrews 3:18). 

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

Mixing faith with what God has promised is the only way we can please Him. Jesus was well-pleasing to God because He mixed faith with God’s word throughout out His entire life (Luke 3:22). On the other hand, many of the Jews in the Old Testament were not well-pleasing to the Lord because of their unbelief (1 Corinthians 10:5). And whatever happened to them because of unbelief is recorded for us to learn from – and avoid (1 Corinthians 10:6,11). Don’t limit God with unbelief! Trust God, and don’t lean to your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6/Isaiah 26:3). Cast all your cares over to Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)! 

Notice this in our opening passage from Psalms. The people of God didn’t just limit God occasionally. They did it again and again. Don’t be like them. When our faith is working by His love, no good thing will God ever withhold from us. Instead of failing God again and again with unbelief, you’ll be triumphant in Christ again and again. It’s your choice!  

Never forget this truth: without faith it is impossible to please God. Hebrews 11:6