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The Spirit of Faith Newsletter - June 1981

Bill Bailey Ministries was the
name of Dr. Bill's ministry before Word of Faith
Ministries. This was the month we
transitioned over to Word of Faith Ministries as
our ministry name. |
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Main
Article
"Receiving the Word!"
You've heard a lot of good
teaching about the fact that the Word of God is
the answer to your problems and contains the
power to solve your problems. (Rom. 1:16) This
is sound teaching, however, many folks say,
"Well, it doesn't seem to work for me!" There
are many reasons that people don't receive the
provisions that God has made available, but the
most basic one is a failure to receive from
God's Word properly.
"So then, faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. " (Rom.
10:17) If the faith that you need comes from the
Word of God, then you had better be receiving it
properly or you will have no basic foundation to
begin with. For instance, many folks believe
that all they need do is listen halfheartedly to
tapes of the Word of God and this will give them
strong faith. Now, there's nothing wrong with
Bible tapes, don't get me wrong! But that is not
what Romans 10:17 is talking about.
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If you check it out in the Greek
it says, "Faith comes by continually hearing
sound teaching from the Word of God with more
than the mere sense of hearing, but rather,
hearing and receiving the teaching." This is a paraphrase based on the meaning of
this verse. It is so important to properly
receive teaching. How does the Word say we
should do this?
James 1:21 tells us: "... receive
with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able
to save your souls. " The word "soul" here is
the Greek word "psuche," meaning "the
animal sentient principle only, the mind, will
and emotions" Thayer describes it as "the seat
of feelings, desires, affections and aversions,"
in other words, it is the mental realm of man.
An expanded paraphrase of this verse would be:
"... receive the Word as a seed implanted in
your human spirit (Mark 4:14, Luke 8:11) with
meekness, which contains the power to save,
deliver, heal and protect your mind. " Praise
the Lord! The key to this verse is to receive
with meekness. What is meekness?
The word translated "meekness" in
the King James literally means (according to
Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament
Words) "... that temper of the spirit in which
we accept His dealings with us as good (James
1:16-17), and therefore without disputing or
resisting... it is closely linked with the word
'humility'... (it) does not fight against God
and more or less struggle and contend with
Him... it does not suggest weakness
as the English does. " When we think of meekness
we think of "meek as a mouse". This is not what
the Greek says! To be Biblically meek is to
receive from God with the right attitude. That
of, "What God says is true, is true, despite
what I may think, what man may think, what any
denomination or theologian says!" With this
attitude you will receive from God's
Word!
Items of Interest in This Issue
Radio Coverage Map...
Encouragement to pray for the upcoming Jamaica
Missions Trip... Itinerary... Letter to Friends
and Partners about moving into traveling
ministry and leaving the pastorate.
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