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Date: December 1, 2003

This word is submitted by Teresa Seputis (ts@godspeak.org)

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                       Experience My Faithfulness

Child of Mine, do you desire the faith that moves mountains?  I say
to you, that is a good thing to desire. And in response, I desire to 
give it to you.  

That type of faith comes only from experiencing My faithfulness. It is 
not something that you can work up in your own. It is not some state
of mind that you achieve through strenuous and anxious efforts.  It is 
not some alternate reality that you try to convince yourself can exist. 
It is not hoping for something hard enough that it finally becomes real 
to you.  Faith is not something that you can muster up on your own.  It 
is not possible for you to work yourself into a "state of faith."

Rather, faith is something that comes from Me.  It often arises out of
hope and trust, but not in the manner that you think.  For true faith
is when you put your hope in Me and I come through for you and then you
experience My faithfulness.  And that experience produces the certainty
in your spirit that I am faithful and good, and that you can trust Me.
And your experiential trust will not be disappointed, because that is 
Who I really am.

The first area where you moved in faith was in receiving My free gift of 
salvation.  This was easy for some of you.  You received it instantly and 
with great joy, and it was real to you. You knew your sins were forgiven, 
your innermost being understood that you were accepted in the beloved and 
you were able to come boldly before My presence because of what Jesus 
purchased for you on Calvary.  And in My presence, you experienced My love 
and My grace and My faithfulness.  You found that My promises to you in 
these areas were real indeed.  And that experience made it easier for you 
to believe other promises I made to you.  You could believe, not because 
of your ability to believe, but because you experienced My faithfulness.  
And the reality of Who I am and of how faithful I am became known to you.
You experienced it, so you did not need to convince your mind.  You did 
not need to gear up mentally.  You did not need to place your hope into
something that you had no idea whether or not it would take place. You
simply experienced it and you found that I am faithful. And that became
reality and life to you.

Others of you received My salvation more slowly, with great fear and 
doubt. The news sounded good to you and you desired it, so you approached 
Me.  But you were not sure if I really accepted you. You were not sure if 
your sins were really forgiven.  And you struggled with condemnation and 
fear and rejection.  And when you would fall into some sin or another, 
you allowed that sin to separate you from Me for some period of time.  You 
did not run immediately back to Me to receive My forgiveness and My 
transformation.  You did not believe I would say to you, "I do not condemn 
you. Go and sin no more."  So you were hindered in experiencing the 
fullness and the reality of My forgiveness. You did not know that I am 
indeed faithful to forgive your sin and shortcomings because the price 
was already paid for you when My Son died on Calvary and rose from the 
dead.  You believed with your mind, but not with your experience. And 
when tensions came to test the reality of My forgiveness, your mind fell 
short and your experience (or lack thereof) took over and caused you to 
pull away from Me in fear of condemnation rather than running to Me in 
repentance to receive My forgiveness.  And that pulling away from Me made 
it harder for Me to work My transformation in you, that you might be 
empowered to sin no more in that area.

To those of you who still struggle with the assuredness of your salvation
and of your forgiveness and right-standing before Me, I will come to you
and show Myself faithful. For when you experience My faithfulness over
and over again, it becomes real to you, and then you can believe with a
certainty.  I will come to you and I will help you to grow in your faith
by causing you to experience My faithfulness over and over again.  I
will make the forgiveness of sin real to you and I will break the power 
of condemnation and rejection off of you -- because I love you and I
desire for you to walk in the fullness of that which My Son purchased 
for you at a very great price.

To those who desire increased faith in other areas, I will work with you.
I will show you My faithfulness in that area. I will demonstrate it to you
and make it real to you.  But be aware that in order to experience My
faithfulness in a given area, you must first enter into a situation that 
requires My faithfulness.   You must be put into a situation where you
need Me to come through for you. Otherwise, how can you know that I am
faithful in that area.  If you are not pushed in an area, if you believe
you can meet the needs from your own resources, then how can you know that
I will come through for you?  You cannot experience My faithfulness in
an area that is under your control. For then you will rely on yourself,
and not on Me. 

So when you ask Me to increase your faith, expect that a difficult 
situation will come.  You will be in a situation that will have no
solution unless I intervene.  And then, when I intervene, you will 
see that I am faithful. You will experience My acting on your behalf.
But one experience is not enough to build faith.. it takes many.

As you experience My faithfulness over and over again, that certainty
of Who I am becomes real to you. And true faith arises out of that.
Come experience My faithfulness and know that I am good.