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Welcome to Faith Builders. My name is Michelle Steele. I am so thankful that you tuned in today to this broadcast, and we are going to learn so much from the Word of God. We are talking about the established heart and how vital it is for you and I to establish the Word of God in our hearts and our hearts on the Word of God. It's not something that happens automatically, but it is something that will affect every aspect of your life. To have God's word as the structure that you're standing on will make every part of your life stable. And you'll see the success and the results that God wants you to have in your relationships, in your finances, and your health as the word of God takes root and becomes the structure that upholds and sustains your life. We are in this series. There's 12 parts, the established heart. This is a study guide, and it has all of the lessons, all of the notes, all of the different translations that we might use, so that you can use utilize this study guide for a small group, for a personal Bible study, whatever the case may be, you can become more um uh prolific and established in that truth. We also have it available in MP3 flash drive that you can uh have in your car to listen to the audio. On the flash drive, there is a PDF of the study guide as well, so you can partake of them both through that aspect. It's also available for free on our YouTube channel, so you can always go there and watch these videos again, as well as on our podcast. You can access the audio portion of that for free. So we're glad to have the opportunity to build your faith and frame your world today. Today we're going to enter into lesson three of the established heart, and it's titled United to the Promise. And it comes from the scripture in Hebrews chapter four, where it says they heard the gospel preached to them, but it didn't profit them. And a lot of times people have a misconception, and we kind of talked about that last week, about being a hearer of the word and not a doer of the word. And the Bible says in the book of James that that person deceives themselves because they've heard it, they think that's enough. Well, I've heard that, and and the doing is the purpose of the hearing. The hearing alone is not the end all, it's not the main objective. Hearing is the beginning, but the doing is the finish line. He God wants you to hear it so that you can do it. And I've used this example before, but I've told people directions, whether it be directions on how to get to a certain location or directions on how to do something. And I could tell by the way they were listening that they they didn't get it. They were not going to be able to complete the instructions I was giving them because they weren't giving attention to it. They weren't, they weren't really giving me their focus. And I knew you're gonna call me because you're gonna get halfway through this and you're gonna say, now what did she say? What was her instruction about this? And you're gonna be calling saying, Where was I supposed to turn? And so there are there are things that you and I need to set in place, especially where the word of God is concerned. The way we hear the word, the way we read the word needs to be a set apart way of hearing and and reading because the word is different than any other source of information you will ever receive. God's word is supernatural, it's alive, it's eternal, and God's word is already established in heaven as truth, absolute truth. It's not a truth among many truths that vary. God's word is the truth, absolute truth. And so any real truth gets its derivative, gets its root or origin from God's truth. God's word is truth. And Jesus said in John 17, 17, sanctify them by your truth, thy word is truth. So the word sets us apart. The word provides a setting under, an establishing for our lives so that we're not moved by what we see. We're not moved by the circumstance, the sit, the symptom that we have in our body. We're not moved by the sense-knowledge realm, but we're moved by the word of God. The word is what is holding us up. And so, how do we get to that place? How do we get to that point? You know, when I first got saved, I had been all my life living after the flesh. I had addiction in my life before Christ. I was living a life of crime. I did everything wrong. There wasn't anything I was doing that was right, and that's why my life was in such a mess. And so when I got saved, I had to relearn everything. I had to relearn how to deal with problems. I had to relearn how to spend money, save money. Um, I had to relearn everything. And a lot of people, when they hear my testimony and really hear what God brought me from, they're so shocked because they see who I am today. And they say, you don't look like what you've been through. And that's not because of me in that I did something or that I was so great in making the change. I am word-built. What you see today is is word-built, Michelle. You see the Michelle that the word of God has established, and it wasn't overnight, but it started immediately. The change took place. I became a new creature immediately. But there was a renewing of the mind, there was a getting established on the word of God, and that's what we want to do. Hebrews 4, let's start there. Verse 2 says, For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, and now we're going to find out why, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. So they heard the word preached, but it did not profit them because they did not mix the word with faith. They heard it. So it's possible to hear it and not mix faith with it. And that's what we want to avoid. We want to make sure if I'm hearing it, I'm mixing faith with it, I'm receiving it, I'm continuing in it. And then it tells us in Hebrews 4.11, let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest. And that's the rest of receiving. That's the rest of the entering into the provision that God had made available. Let us labor to enter that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. So 411 is referring back to that unbelief in verse 2 that was caused by the fact that they did not mix faith with the hearing. They heard it, but they didn't believe it. They didn't mix faith with it. And because of their unbelief, they said, and it's referring to the children of Israel not entering into the promised land, they said, We be not able. We are not able to enter in. We are like giants in our own sight. We those grass, we're like grasshoppers in the and those giants in the land, we are like grasshoppers in our own sight. There's no way we can defeat the giants that are there in the land. And so God had told them something completely different. His report was different. He said, I've I've given you this land. I've given it to you, and it's a good land. It's a land that flows with milk and honey. And you remember what happened in the book of Numbers. It says they came back with the evidence that surely it was the land that flows with milk and honey. And they started out with that. They say, Well, we've seen the land, and it is a land that is abundant in milk and honey, but we be not, nevertheless, we be not able. And so they mixed unbelief. They took unbelief and shut off the power of God, the ability of God, the provision of God by their unbelief. The Amplified says this: Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest, that rest of believing, that rest of faith, that rest of God said it, I trust God. God said by his stripes I'm healed, I shall not die but live. I God said it, God and entering into that place where I'm not only hearing it and acknowledging, yeah, that's in the Bible, but now I'm I'm uh I'm continuing therein. I'm letting it get into my heart where the believing action takes place. Entering that rest. So it says, exert yourself, strive diligently to enter that rest. And then it says to know and experience it for ourselves. So this is effort on our part to believe God. Effort. And it's not hard, it's not like you scrunching up your face and you're saying, I'm believing, I'm believing, I'm trying so hard to believe God. If you when you move over into those tears, stop, stop, stop, and wait, wait, wait, because that's evidence. Rejoice, faith rejoices, gives thanks, and is glad. That's what the Holy Spirit said to one minister. Faith rejoices, gives thanks, and is glad. Doubt despairs, complains, and is sad. If you're despairing, if you're if you're feeling the pain and the desperation, it's here, but it's not here. Faith of the heart believes God. Faith is confident. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It's the confidence, the title deed. And so faith rejoices. So we've got to be busy about that work of believing. John chapter 6, Jesus describes this. They said to him in verse 28, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? What do we do to work the work of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God that you believe on him whom he has sent. The word work in this verse means business, employment, doing, labor, or enterprise. So it's what I'm doing, it's my work, my labor. What is my labor? It's not a physical labor, it's not an emotional labor, it's not where I'm feeling it in my emotions. I'm trying so hard. No, it's a labor of the heart, it's a spiritual labor. And so believing is of the heart. It's something, it's a business, an employment, a doing, a labor, an enterprise I do with my spirit, my heart. And I'm I'm believing based on the word of God. So I don't have to produce the faith outside of the word of God. I've got to take the word, it's like fuel, gasoline in your engine. Your engine is what's necessary to produce the speed, the forward momentum of your car. But it's the fuel that provides the engine what it see, the engine takes the fuel, and it does something with the fuel. Without the fuel, you can have a perfectly good engine and a perfectly good transmission and perfectly good tires, and everything else can be working, but the fuel is what comes through the engine and provides the necessary combustion to produce the forward momentum. And the word of God is the fuel. And so faith is not hard. Faith is put the fuel in the tank. The tank is the heart. As long as you've got a full tank, you can drive as long as you need to drive. Just keep the tank full. And and and the word of God is the fuel to your faith. And so believing God requires the word of God. There's no believing without the word. There's no faith without the word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word. Now we're hearing, but hearing isn't the only thing that we're doing. We're acting on the word of God, we're believing it. So, but this is our work. This is what our employment is: the employment of believing. So that's how we enter into the provision of God. That's how we enter, that's how we receive everything. God's made ours. It's ours now. But some people who have it in their account don't have it in manifestation in their life. And um, Pastor Calwell used to he describes it this way. He's like, there's a legal side of redemption, and there's a vital side of redemption. And I'm using my hands because I want you to see. It's possible for you to see this is the legal side. All of these things belong to me, but this is how much of them are in manifestation in my life. I can see all of this. It belongs to me, but I don't have it. Healing belongs to me, but sickness is still in my body. Uh financial security belongs to me. God, God promised me that I would be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, that I'd I would uh have abundance and no lack. But I can see it's legally mine, but I don't see it in vital manifestation where I can use it. The difference between here and here is your faith. Believing brings this up, and that's why you need to pray for the boldness in the ministers of God so that we preach what is needed to bring you up to what you have legally matches what's in manifestation in your life. And the promise is the fuel. The promise of God, the word of God, the scripture provides the fuel necessary to produce that manifestation, that forward momentum in your life. Psalm 27, 13 is one of my favorite verses. It says this that it says, I would have lost heart except I had believed, unless I had believed. The Amplified says, What would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living? What would have become of me had I not believed? The King James said, I would have fainted, except I have believed. If I had not believed, if it wasn't for faith, I would have fainted. I would have lost heart, the new King James says. The amplified says, uh, what would have become of me had I not believed? The new living says, I would have been without hope if I had not believed. So believing is what's going to give me the ability to stand. And Romans 11, 20 says it this way. It says, they were broken off because of their unbelief. The Amplified goes on to say their lack of real faith. You are established through faith. Uh the King James says, you stand. Through faith, you stand. The Amplified says, you are established through faith because you do believe. You're established by faith. It's what you believe that that allows the legal entry of the power of God into your life. And I'll use my example again. You may not have an electrical outlet in your closet because when they built that house, they didn't see any need for that room to be wired with power, for that little closet space to be wired with power. But in your in your life, in your real life, you need every part of your life wired for the power of God. And faith is what wires your life for the power of God. If if there's no if you don't believe it, God can't do it. People say, Well, I don't believe God heals today. Well, don't worry about it. He's not going to violate your unbelief. He's not going to force a healing on you and make you be healed against against your desire, against your belief system. He's he's if you say, Well, I don't believe God heals today, he can't. He's like, so we've seen examples of how unbelief stops the flow of God. It says here, because of their unbelief, their lack of real faith, they were broken off or cut off. And you are established through faith because you do believe. Let's look at some examples of faith. Let's take the centurion. Jesus stopped in his tracks and said, That's what I'm talking about, boys, right there. That's faith. He marveled at the centurion's faith. But let's see what the centurion said. I'm going to read Matthew 8, 5. When Jesus entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him and saying, Lord, my servant lies at home, sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. Notice he didn't deny what the situation was. He didn't say, My servant's not sick, my servant's not sick. He told the master, he told Jesus, My servant lies at home, sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus said, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers unto me. And I say to this man, go and he goes, to another come and he comes, and to my servant, do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said to them that followed, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. What was it that caused Jesus to marvel at this man's faith? Can you even see faith in what he said? He said, If you'll speak the word, my servant shall be healed. I'm not requiring you to enter my house. I'm not requiring you to put your hands on him. I'm not requiring any other proof of healing. All I need is for your word. So Jesus called that faith. If you speak the word, my servant shall be healed. I'll receive his healing at your word. That's all I need as evidence is your word. And Jesus said, That's faith. To take God at his word is faith. To take God at his word without any sense knowledge evidence, without any other provided uh proof that it's happening, that I've got it. Just God's word. Hallelujah. And so the promise, the word of God, the word of God is what we've got to anchor to. That's what we've got to connect to. We've got to wire into that word. And we've got to connect to that word. And Jesus goes on to say to him in verse 13 of Matthew 8, as you have believed, so be it done to you. And then the Bible tells us his servant was healed in that same hour. As you have believed, what did he believe? The word alone. If you'll say the word, my servant shall be healed. The woman of Cana was another, uh, Canaan was another example of. Of uh great faith that Jesus said was great faith. And she said, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It's not meat that I take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. She said, Truth, you Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said to her, Woman, great is your faith. Be it unto you as you will, as you want. And her daughter was made whole from that hour. Glory to God. Again, he said, Great is your faith. Well, where is her faith? She said, I don't need the whole loaf. I just, I can get it off a crumb. If you just I she said, The dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table. And he called her response great faith. That she was so convinced that if if that he that he that so convinced of his mercy, so convinced of his healing power, so convinced, she said, just a crumb will do. I don't need the whole loaf, just the crumb, just a crumb off the master's table. And he said, Woman, great is your faith, be it to you as you will. And so she received what she had believed. What does she believe? That Jesus would heal her daughter. J. Iris is found in Mark chapter 5. And J. Iris said it to uh, he said, If you will come and lay your hands on my daughter, she lies at the point of death, I ask you to come and lay your hands on her that she may be healed, and she shall live. And along the way, there was an interruption. The woman who uh had the issue of blood, she uh interrupted the the procession to J. Iris's house, and along the way they came and told J. Iris, it's too late, your daughter's already gone. And Jesus, overhearing what they said, responds to him as it says, as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, why troublest thou the master any further? Your daughter is dead. As soon as he heard that, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid, only believe. Only believe. What was what was his faith connected to? If you'll lay hands on her, she shall live. She shall live. That's what he believed. And Jesus said, Do not be afraid, only believe. Stay with your faith. So believing is connecting to the promise, it's connecting to the provision of God, connecting to what God has established in his word. And our believing, that connection is bringing the power that's in that promise into play into our situation. It's our believing that that that connects and provides the wiring to for the power to flow. Remember, Jesus went into his hometown, and because of their unbelief, he could there do no mighty works. Why? Because nobody was wired for power. But when he walks into your life, he's going to find you're wired for power. You're believing God. You're believing, you're taking God at his word over everything you can see, everything you feel. You are united to the promise. I'm so glad you tuned in today. We've got so much to cover in this session. I feel like these are flying by. The Established Heart. Go to lifeoffaith.net, get your copy or connect to our free versions on our YouTube or our podcast. There are plenty of resources for all the different aspects of your faith to be built. Remember to build your faith and to frame your world. By the word of God, I look forward to being you with uh being again with you next week as we continue in part four of the established heart. I'll see you next week. The key to a stable life is to establish your heart on the word of God. In this 12-part series, Pastor Philip Steele and I explain how to establish your heart in faith on God's Word. God's plan for the believer is to have their heart fixed, trusting in the Lord. Psalm 112, verse 8 says, His heart is established. You shall not be afraid. While this is available for you, it's not automatic. You have a responsibility to set the Word of God as the foundation of your thoughts, actions, and decisions. This insightful 12-part series is available in digital or physical format, including a comprehensive study guide with the sermon outlines, the Bible verses, and study points to help you internalize these truths and apply these revelations on a daily basis. The 12-part series, the established part, will help you strengthen your position in God and live victoriously over the situations you face in life. You can watch these videos through our YouTube channel at Life of Faith Church in Little Rock or Life of Faith Church, Kansas. Also, you can order these resources by calling 501-4877 or visiting lifeoffaith.net. Call or go online now. You are invited to Life of Faith Church in Little Rock, where we are building people's faith, producing life, city, state, nation, and world. Our address is 116-20 Rainwood Road, just one block off Rodney Parham, near Green Mountain Drive. Our Sunday service begins at 10 a.m. and offers classes for children and youth, in addition to the adult service in the main sanctuary. On Wednesdays, we have an hour of power as we dive into Bible study. We have a place reserved for you and your family at Life of Faith Church. For more information, visit lifeoffaith.net.