Tending To The Faith Tree
I. The Law Of Life
A.
The Kingdom of God system is likened to the
system of natural farming (Mark 4:26)
1.
In the Kingdom of God, there is you spiritual
farmer, the word-seed, the heart-ground, faith is what grows like the tree, and
fruit comes off of faith
B.
If we don’t take this word-seed through the
process of seed-becoming faith and faith-becoming fully developed, then we’ll
never see the seed of this Word manifest in our lives – We have to take
the word from word to faith
1.
A failure to take the word from word to faith
will yield no harvest-Hebrews 4:2
a.
It’s possible to hear the word & it not
profit u if you don’t take it from word to faith
2.
Faith comes by hearing the word, the way a
tree comes by sowing seed-Rom 10:17
a.
As you saturate your heart with the word of
God continually concerning your area of need faith will grow and develop-Eph
5:26, Psalm 119:105
II.
Spiritual law says you can’t believe one thing in your heart & have
another in your life (You can’t have one kind of tree and another kind of
fruit)
A.
Your life is the fruit of what you believe
1.
Proverbs 27:19-The way water can only reflect
back to you what you are is the way your life can only reflect what’s growing
in your heart
a.
NIV-As water reflects the face, so one’s life
reflects the heart
b.
Life can’t be different than what’s in your
heart b/c it’s reflection of what’s in your heart
2.
Proverbs 23:7-If you change what you believe
in your heart, then your life is going to change and line up with what you
believe every time, no matter what
B.
Whatever beliefs (trees) we have growing in
our heart (garden) is going to determine what we get in life (eat)-Proverbs 4:23
1.
Life’s coming from what’s growing in your
heart
a.
Numbers 13-Their tree was a tree of “we can’t
do go in” and they got the fruit it
b.
Matthew 8:13-His tree was “Speak the Word
only and he’ll be healed” & he got it
c.
Matthew 9:18-Jairus’tree was “If you lay your
hand on her she will live” & he got it
d.
Matthew 9:22-Her tree was “If I touch the hem
of his garment I’ll be made whole”
e.
Matthew 15:28-Her tree was “Jesus can and
will cast the devil out of my daughter”
f.
Matthew 17:20-They didn’t get the fruit b/c they
didn’t have the tree
g.
Matthew 13:58-They didn’t believe and they
didn’t see mighty works
h.
Mark 9:20-Jesus is saying, If you can get the
tree, you can have the fruit
i.
Mark 10:46-His tree was “Jesus can heal me” &
he got the fruit of what he believed
j.
Daniel 3-The 3 Hebrews believed he will
deliver us and they got it
k.
Daniel 6-Daniel believed he wasn’t dying in
the lions den and he got it
l.
1 Samuel 17-David believed this day the Lord
will give you into my hand & he got it
m.
Numbers 14-Joshua and Caleb believed we are
able to possess it and they got it
n.
Romans 4-Abraham believed God would give him
a son and he go it
o.
Genesis 39-Joseph believed I’m going to be
he’d be in authority and he got it
p.
Genesis 26-Isaac believed God would take care
of him in famine and he got it
q.
Matthew 14-Peter believed he’d fall and he go
it
r.
Judges 6-Gideon believed they could win with
300 men and he got it
2.
Matthew 15:11-Every plant that God didn’t
plant has to be rooted up
3.
Proverbs 24:30-The slothful person’s life is
a mess b/c there heart is a mess
III.
This faith tree has power and life has to conform to what it says
A.
God has set the system up so that your life
has no choice but to line up with what you believe; Your life can’t say no to
what you believe
1.
Daniel 3-The three Hebrews-Their faith tree
was “Our God will deliver us”--They’ve set it up so that their life has no
choice, but to get in line with this
a.
Their belief is working & it won’t allow
life to be different than what they believe
b.
Life has not choice, but to be the fruit of
this tree called faith
c.
“I know you’re saying we’re supposed to die,
but my faith tree is saying God will deliver me” --- They can’t die, they
believe this
2.
Daniel 6-Daniel was supposed to die in that
lions den, but he had a faith tree in him and his life had no choice, but to
line up with what he believed even if that meant getting thrown into a den of
lions, and them not eating him
3.
Romans 4:16-21-Life is telling them you can’t
have a baby, but they had a tree of faith & their lives had no choice, but
line up with what they believed.
Even if that meant a 100 year-old man & a 90 year old woman w/ a
dead womb having a baby
B.
There’s no thing in this world order that
faith cannot overcome-1 John 5:4
1.
It doesn’t matter how impossible the situation
my seem, if you can get a faith tree in you, your life has to choice but to
change from what it is, to what you believe
2.
My belief is working and it won’t allow my
life to be different than what I believe
a.
Don’t give life the any the choice to be made;
make it good
3.
The power of this faith tree is that it will
override natural law
4.
Our means of success is our faith (tree)
C.
Faith may start as a small measure, but it
can grow to a remarkable size and when it does nothing will be impossible unto
you-Matthew 17:20
1.
The point is not that small faith will get a
lot down b/c it won’t; it caused Peter to fall
2.
When your faith gets big your problems get
small
IV.
Making the tree Good
A.
Matthew 12:33-Jesus didn’t say make life God,
he said make your faith tree good
1.
The fruit matches the tree, the results match
the belief
a.
There’s no sense in dealing with the fruit,
just fix the tree and the fruit will be fixed
2.
Jesus puts focus on the tree, not the fruit;
he puts focus on belief not the results
a.
We need to be focused on making the tree good
b.
Whatever you make the tree, the fruit will be
3.
Don’t be results-minded,
be process-minded. If you mind the process of making the
tree good, the results will be there
a.
Don’t be distracted away from the process of
making the tree good, by what’s not happening in the natural
b. We have to stop being so focused on
what’s not happening on the outside and start being focused on what should be
happening inside
c. Be so consumed w/ the process that
you don’t pay attention to the current circumstances
B.
In the Kingdom of God system if we want
change outside in life, then we must first of all start that process by
changing what we believe in our hearts-Matthew 23:25-26
1.
We have to acknowledge that in the KOG the
process of change works inside out
2.
You don’t qualify for change outside if you aren’t willing to engage the process of changing what’s inside
3.
We’ve made the outside faith, but inside is
unbelief (say right things, right faces)
C.
Your battle is not a physical battle (2
Corinthians 10:3)
1.
You don’t have to make it happen (Mark
4:26-28)
a.
The farmer’s battle was not to figure out how
a harvest was going to come or to even make the harvest come. His battle was to take the seed out of
the bag, put it in the ground, develop it, and if he did that he would see the
harvest.
2.
Our battle is in the realm of the spirit and
it’s to make the tree good
a.
David’s battle with Goliath wasn’t about
slingshots, rocks, and swords
3.
Your fight is the fight of faith and that
fight takes place in the heart (1 Timothy 6:12)
a.
Satan’s trying to stop you from making the
tree good
V.
Tending the fig tree
A.
We have to keep our tree of faith so that we
can see the results we desire-Prov 27:18
1.
Faith like a tree must grow, must develop and
although it begins with a decision to believe you have to continue in the
activity necessary to cultivated that belief
B.
Just saying that you believe something does
not prove that you believe
1.
Real belief/faith is faith that has been developed,
faith that has been tried, and faith that has been proven. It’s
that kind of belief/faith that will come to pass in your life
2.
Questioning your belief?
a.
What word did God speak that is the basis for
my belief
b.
Faith has to be fully persuaded (James 1:6-8)
1)
You can’t cross-pollinate your tree of faith
with a tree of unbelief
c.
How much time have you spent with that word
to develop your faith
d.
When your faith was tried did you pass the
test?