The Spirit of Faith Newsletter - July 1982

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 half-heartedly 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.

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

Church name changes from "Word of Faith Fellowship" to "Healing Springs Faith Center"...  Tape offer from the Spirit of Faith Seminar in Winston-Salem at New Covenant Church... Announcement about starting Word of Faith Satellite Seminars... Spirit of Faith Broadcast invitation... Itinerary