Get to the Root

And Jesus answered and said unto [the fig tree], No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. . . . And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. —Mark 11:14, 20

Jesus spoke to a tree: “No fruit ever again.” Actually, He “answered” the tree. This means that the tree spoke to Him first! Lack will talk to you. Sickness will talk to you. The tree might have said, “You are going to starve.” Jesus used His faith and authority to answer the threat, the unbelief, the word that the situation brought Him. He spoke and answered the tree. The fig tree dried up from the roots. Faith goes to the root of the problem. It may not look on the outside that faith is at work, but faith will kill the root. When you were born again and confessed Jesus as Lord with your mouth, it killed the old nature (the problem) and changed your nature to God’s nature. The Word says that God wishes above all things that you prosper and be in health as your soul prospers (3 John 2). Faith will go to the root of your health problem, to the root of your wealth problem; it works from the inside out in your soul. The devil will try to steal your faith by conning you into thinking your faith is not working. The fig tree might have temporarily looked good on the outside, but it was killed at the root. It would eventually lose its leaves and prove outwardly to be dead. Jesus released faith toward the fig tree, and it died. Peter responded, “Wow, you spoke to that tree, and it died! That’s my Jesus. He can do that!” But Jesus responded, “Whosoever shall say.” Are you a “whosoever”? Then you can do this also—not only to a tree, but to a mountain as well.

Pastor Tom Kehres

The Believing Heart

I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak. —2 Corinthians 4:13

You have taken time to study and meditate on the Word of God. You have heard the Word and heard the Word, so your faith is strong and growing. You are no longer considering or seeing the problem, symptom, or situation, but you are seeing the promises of the Word of God. You are now believing with your heart. Since you believe with your heart, you will now speak what you believe. Out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth will now speak (Matthew 12:34)! You are now calling things that are not as though they are (Romans 4:17). You are releasing the force of faith with power! What is in you, in your heart (spirit and soul), is coming forth with total agreement. What you are speaking is a reality; what you are saying is fact! God said in the midst of darkness, chaos, and the void, “Let there be light,” or “Light in Me, be,” and light was (Genesis 1:3). If He had spoken about chaos, about the void, about darkness—light would have never been. But God has light in Him; He believed light in His heart, He spoke it with His mouth, and it became. If you believe in your heart, healing will become, abundance will become, victory will be in your life. It matters little what you see in the natural; what you believe in your heart will change it! Cooperate with the spirit of faith. Believe it in your heart and speak it with your mouth. This will put into operation the law of faith.

Pastor Tom Kehres

Faith Sight

We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak. —2 Corinthians 4:13

Faith is not only a spiritual law; it is a spirit—the spirit of faith. The spirit of faith is the Spirit of God, who supplies the supernatural power behind your faith. There is a spirit of faith and also a spirit of fear. What you say will activate one or the other. The spirit of fear is not of God, but of the devil (2 Timothy 1:7). The spirit of faith believes and therefore speaks. Notice the operation: he believes and then speaks. Believing is in the heart of man (soul and imagination), and speaking is with the mouth. In order for your words to be packed with faith and power, you must believe in your heart. This means you will see things in your heart, in your thought life, in your imagination, before you see them in the natural. In the natural, we see ourselves driving that new car before we actually find it. We have a blueprint of our new house before we see it built. Even before you break ground, you know how many bedrooms it will have, how big the kitchen is, and where the bathrooms are. The Word of God is the blueprint of our faith. It will paint a picture of you totally healed while you are sick, anointed before you feel like it, wealthy while your bank account is empty. When what you see in you is bigger than what you see in the natural—you are believing with your heart! Let the Word of God paint the picture of the truth in your heart. See the Word and not the problem. Believe in your heart.

Pastor Tom Kehres

Word Talk

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. —1 Corinthians 13:11

When you were born again, your spirit (or the real you) was instantly changed into the image and likeness of Christ. Your soul, which is your mind, will, emotions, and understanding, was not changed. Although you became a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), you still thought, understood, and talked like a child. God gave you His Word and Spirit so you would slowly put away childish thinking, understanding, and talking. He wants you to “desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). If you spend time in the Word and under the Word, it will change your thinking and your talk. As your talk is changed, you will soon start to agree with God and His Word, and the law of faith will go into operation. Childish, unbelieving talk will leave your life. Fear, complaining, and critical talk will be replaced by God’s Word. What you talk about, you will become full of. As you talk in line with power, you will be full of power; as you talk in line with faith, you will be full of faith. Soon situations and circumstances that are anti-Word will not change your faith thinking and faith talk. No matter what the challenge—you will continue to live like a mature person and put away childish things. You are now walking by faith, not by sight; you are now the just who lives by faith.

Pastor Tom Kehres