Page 31 - The Divine Quest

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Genesis 12:1-4
Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives
and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you
a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be
a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will
curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." So Abram went forth
as Yahweh had spoken to him.

Hearing from God is a necessary part of a life of faith. Without hearing there can be
no true faith. Many are teaching a type of faith today that lacks this vital necessity of
hearing God give us direction. Many are teaching a false faith that originates in
man’s own mind and imagination. They encourage the saints to envision the things
they want and then stand in confidence, claiming that they have these things. Elwin
Roach wrote regarding this type of teaching:

Some have called this type of faith the “Prosperity Message,” although
in less favorable circles it has been called “Name it and Claim it,” “Bless
it and Confess it,” “Blab it and Grab it,” or “What the Heck, Write the
Check.”...

It is one thing to have the Faith of God as a result of an impregnation of
His anointed word, which will move mountains, but it is entirely
another matter when a man carves an image in his positive-thinking
mind and calls it faith, and then holds God ransom with the written
word which his carnal mind has little or no understanding of. This, dear
reader, is not faith, not even in the farthest stretch of the imagination.
It is presumption, and God is not obligated to pay up!

Many of the saints today have built upon the shifting sands of a false faith doctrine.
Its teachings rest upon a belief in a principle of faith. It is taught that if one can work
up enough confidence to believe something when they ask for it in prayer, then they
will be assured of having their request. The key to this type of faith is the ability of
man to believe something. The saints are told that if they can conceive something,
and believe in its fulfillment, then they can have it.

This is not the type of faith that Abraham demonstrated. Abraham did not think to
himself one day, “I sure am tired of this city of Ur. I would like to live somewhere far
away from here, so I think I will take my wife and hit the road, and I will trust God
to protect me and bless me in my journey.” No! Abraham did not initiate this
journey. We read where Yahweh spoke to him and gave him a command. So
Abraham’s faith began with hearing. The literal translation of Romans 10:17 is, “So