The Faith that Enforces Satan’s Defeat (3)

And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.  - Mark 11:12-14

Jesus in His earthly ministry taught His disciples how to operate their faith to meet their daily needs. He saw a fig tree and wanted to see if there was fruit on it:Let’s look at Mark 11:12- “And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: and seeing a fig tree a far off having leaves, He came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, no man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And His disciples heard it”.

He spoke these verses out to be heard so He could teach a great lesson on faith.In the morning as they were returning on their journey, Peter called Jesus to remembrance saying that the cursed tree has withered away. Jesus started a good discussion on what the faith of God is and how it works. Hear Jesus in Mark 11:22-23:And Jesus answering saith unto them, have faith In God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever  shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and Be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in His heart, but shall believe that those things which He saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever He saith.Jesus mentioned ‘’say’’ thrice in verse 23; when it relates to having your expectation: (1) say unto this mountain (2) believe these things he saith (3) shall have what he saith. Believe comes up only once in that verse but saying or confessing comes up thrice.From this verse, we can see the foundation of faith. They are “believing in your heart” and “confessing with your mouth”. That was what Jesus was trying to teach us by the issue of the fig tree. And we need to have this noted in our Christian walk with the Lord if we desire the progress that God has destined for us. Jesus went further to lay the foundation for faith in the twenty fourth verse of the eleventh chapter.Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,And ye shall have them.

Some want to have them before they will believe they have received them. But faith is believing that you have received what you ask from God before you will see them manifested as testimonies. In other word you will never see in your life what you don’t believe you have received with the eyes of faith. People who don’t know how it works in their sincerity think that is falsehood or lying. Confessing that you received what you have not obtained is unreasonable to them. God is not asking us to deny the problem but only ask us to affirm and confess what we believe we have received.Without it, we cannot please God or appropriate His blessings to our personal lives.