The “Except”-tion

Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. —John 4:48

In a way Jesus was scolding this man because he would not believe unless he saw signs and wonders. Most of the Church lives on this level. “I will believe if . . . I see something in the natural.” “I will believe if . . . I feel like believing.” Seeing and then believing is a choice to live in the natural. Believing and then seeing is a choice to live in the supernatural. Notice the power of your will in the area of faith. I will not believe! Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. You can decide to believe whatever you want. You can say, “I will not believe except . . . ,” or you can say, “I will believe.” Your will is the starting point of your faith and your connection to God’s blessings. I may not feel good, I may have pain in my body, but I will believe I am healed in spite of how I feel and in spite of the pain. I choose to put God’s Word in first place, so I am healed! People will tell you that is crazy, but, no, that is faith. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20 nkjv). He has already made every provision for your life (2 Peter 1:3). They are past-tense facts. They are yours today! But there is contrary evidence in the natural to keep you from believing them. You are a new creation! You may not act like one, feel like one, or even look like one, but that does not change the fact that you are! Stay in the Word until you get convinced that all the promises are yours and take the “except” out of your believing.

Hook Up!

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. —John 20:29

Jesus told Thomas that the only reason he believed was because he saw. Jesus’s words before the crucifixion—“I will be raised on the third day”—had no place in Thomas, or in the other disciples. The disciples’ words—“We have seen the Lord!”—had no impact on Thomas’s belief. He made a decision of his will: “I will not believe, unless . . .” Many Christians will not believe “unless.” They will not believe they are healed unless they feel healed. They will not believe they are anointed unless they feel anointed. They will not simply trust in the Word with all their hearts. The result is: they miss the blessing, or the hookup to God’s supernatural ways. Jesus says not to be faithless but believing. Why? Because blessed, or empowered to prosper, are they who have not seen (or felt) and yet have believed. Believing the right thing will hook you up to God’s supernatural blessings. Believing the wrong thing will disconnect you from God’s blessings. You will be hooked, connected, and attached to what you believe, and you will receive what you believe. How did it happen at your new birth? You believed in Jesus as your Lord before He was your Lord; you believed in heaven without ever being there. Now expand your believing into health, wealth, power, authority, and victory, even if you do not see it. Blessed are you because you have not seen, but yet have believed!

Pastor Tom Kehres

Truth or Senses?

Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. —John 20:27

Here we see Jesus appearing to His disciples after His death and resurrection. He came through the wall of the upper room and in person showed them that He had been raised from the dead. He had told them many times before He was crucified that He would suffer, die, be buried, and be raised up on the third day, but they did not believe Him. Here was proof in person of His resurrection. Thomas was not present when He appeared to the disciples, so they told Thomas about Jesus’s visitation. But Thomas would not believe Jesus was alive unless he felt the wounds and touched the nail marks. Thomas’s only evidence was that he had seen Jesus on the cross, dead, and then buried. Jesus appeared a second time and went right to Thomas. He told him that to have to feel Him and touch Him in order to believe in Him was being faithless! “Faith . . . is the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, emphasis added), so to believe in only what you can see and feel is to be faithless. Thomas could have easily said, “I know He died, but if you say He is alive, then I will believe that.” But he still had too much confidence in his natural senses. Believe you are blessed because the Word says so, healed and anointed because the Word says so, on top and full of joy because the Word says so. Do not be controlled by feelings or circumstances—it is being faithless.

Pastor Tom Kehres

A Better Way of Walking

For we walk by faith, not by sight. —2 Corinthians 5:7

After the new birth, which brought you into a relationship with God, you will be challenged to live or walk in a new way. Before you were born again, you lived by what you saw and what you felt. If things were going good, you had a good day; if things were going bad, you had a bad day. If you felt healed, you were healed; if you had a symptom, you were sick. Feelings and emotions ruled your life. God’s desire, accomplished through His Word and His Spirit, is to slowly change your evidence in life from feelings and emotions to His Word. His Word never changes. It said the same thing yesterday that it says today, and it will say the same thing tomorrow. If His Word says I’m blessed, then I am going to believe His Word; yes, I’m blessed. If it says I am to rejoice, then I will, in spite of whether I feel like rejoicing or not. The more time you spend in the Word and make the commitment to believe it and obey it, the more you will see your walk, or daily life, change. Soon stability will come into your life, and instead of being up and down, hot and cold, you will remain constant in your everyday life. Feelings and emotions are not bad or evil, but they must be put in their right place: subject to the Word of God. We walk by faith and not by sight.

Pastor Tom Kehres