«　WEEK 7　DAY 2　»

　　Mark 11:22 And Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God.

　　Rom. 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

　　Eph. 3:20 But to Him who is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us.

　　Our faith must be in God (Mark 11:22). God is real, living, present, and available. We need to have faith in Him.

　　We also should have faith in God’s heart… God’s heart toward us is always good. No matter what may happen to us or what kind of sufferings we may experience, we should always believe in the goodness of God’s heart (Rom. 8:31-39). God has no intention to punish us, to injure us, or to cause us to suffer loss. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3464)

　　Strictly, ask or think in Ephesians 3:20 is in regard to the spiritual things related to the church, not in regard to material things. Concerning these spiritual things, we need to think as well as to ask. We might think more than we ask. God fulfills not only what we ask for the church but also what we think concerning the church, and God is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that operates in us. (Eph. 3:20, footnote 2)

　　The inward power, referred to in Ephesians 1:19-20, is God’s resurrection power, not His creating power. God’s creating power produces the material things in our environment (Rom. 8:28), whereas God’s resurrection power accomplishes within our inward being the spiritual things for the church. (Eph. 3:20, footnote 3)

　　Along with faith in God’s heart, we should have faith in God’s faithfulness (1 Cor. 1:9; 1 John 1:9). We may change, but God does not change. As James 1:17 says, with God there is no variation or shadow cast by turning. Furthermore, God cannot lie (Titus 1:2) but is always faithful to His word.

　　God is not only faithful but also able. Therefore, we need to have faith in God’s ability. In Ephesians 3:20 Paul declares that God “is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think.”

　　Still another aspect of our faith is faith in God’s word. God is bound to fulfill all that He has spoken. The more He speaks, the more responsible He becomes to fulfill His own word. We can tell Him, “God, You have spoken, and Your written Word is in our hand. Lord, You are bound to fulfill Your word.” We should praise God for His faithful word.

　　We also need to have faith in God’s will. Because God is a God of purpose, He has a will (1:9,11). His will with respect to us is always positive. Hence, no matter what befalls us, we should not doubt God’s will, and we should not care for our happiness or our environment. Rather, we should have faith in and care for God’s will. Our environment may change, but God’s will never changes.

　　Furthermore, we must have faith in God’s sovereignty (Rom. 9:19-29). Because God is sovereign, He can never make a mistake. Under His sovereignty, even our mistakes work for good. If God did not sovereignly allow us to make mistakes, we could not possibly make them. When we are wrong, we need to repent. Yet there is no need for us to regret, for that means we lack faith that God is sovereign over our mistakes. After we repent for a mistake or shortcoming, we should exercise faith in God’s sovereignty. We could not have made that mistake if He had not sovereignly allowed us to do so.

　　We all need to have full faith in God, in God’s heart, in God’s faithfulness, in God’s ability, in God’s word, in God’s will, and in God’s sovereignty. If we have such faith, Satan’s flaming darts will not be able to damage us. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3464-3465)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 344