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’ 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 of “We have seen the Lord!” had no impact on Thomas’ believing.  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 that they miss the blessing, or the hook-up to God’s supernatural.  Jesus says to not be faithless but believing.  Why?  Because blessed, or empowered to prosper, are they that 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, 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 believed!

Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

— John 4:48

Jesus was, in a way, 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 in my life, so I am healed!  People will tell you that is crazy, but, no, that is faith.  All the promises and provisions of God are yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20).  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 it 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.

Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth.  And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.

— John 4:50

This man came to Jesus, desiring Him to come to his house and heal his son.  He said to Jesus, “Come down or my son will die.”  The only evidence this man had was a dying son, and that he had heard about Jesus healing others.  Jesus told him, “Go your way, your son lives.”  Notice--the man had no more natural evidence of his son living.  His son was still sick, at the point of death.  Jesus had not gone with him, touched the boy, or healed him with any outward act.  The father only had the word of Jesus!  But he believed the word!  He believed it above the symptoms in his boy, above the fear of a dead son, above seeing Jesus physically touch and heal the boy-–he believed the word!  This is walking by faith and not by sight.  This is believing the evidence of things not seen.  This is hooking up to the blessings of God.  This is putting the Word on the throne of your life.  You may say, “If Jesus would appear to me and tell me I’m healed, blessed, anointed, I would believe it too!”  That is why He left you His Word.  The Word is just as sure as Jesus personally coming to you and saying “Go your way, your son lives.”  Simply believe the Word!  In spite of physical evidence–-believe the Word.  Do not let feelings and emotions change the Word–-allow the Word to change feelings and emotions.

Now the just shall live by faith:

—  Hebrews 10:38a

The day that you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior you were justified by the Blood (Rom. 5:9).  You were made righteous and just before God.  Sin is no longer separating you from an intimate relationship with God; you have been made just or innocent in His sight.  The born-again person or the just person should now live in a different way.  The just shall live, or have his life sustained, by faith.  Faith is simply putting God and His Word in first place in your life.  Believing what God has said about you, others, and circumstances will take you to a place of living beyond the natural, beyond the ordinary.  So if we are to live by faith and not just try it out, we need to study about faith and learn about it every day of our lives.  The just can live in many ways, but in order to live on top, to live in victory, to live pleasing to God-–the just shall live by faith.  Start to study about faith; learn to live God’s way.  The old way of life will no longer work for you.  God has made a new way of life available to the believer-–His way, the higher way, the best way.  The just shall live by faith!