Believe!

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Carl H. Stevens Jr. is pastor of Greater GraceWorld Outreach located in Baltimore, Maryland.Pastor Stevens is also chancellor of Maryland BibleCollege & Seminary and host of the internationalChristian radio program “The Grace Hour.” Thisbooklet was created from a message preached byPastor Stevens.

Pastor Stevens can be seen weekly on cabletelevision stations throughout the United States.Call us for information re g a rding programming inyour area.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from

the King James Version. Italics for emphasis are ours.

GRACE PUBLICATIONSP.O. BOX 18715

BALTIMORE, MD 21206

Printed in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Copyright © 2003

Grace Publications is a ministry of

Greater Grace World Outreach, Inc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

BELIEVE GOD, THE OBJECT OF OUR FAITH

Chapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU BELIEVE

Chapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT ETERNITY

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

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INTRODUCTION

The woman in Matthew 9:20-22 was desper-ate. Ostracized from the community because ofher disease, she had never met Jesus. Yet, she be-lieved that if she could just get to Him, Hewould heal her. With just a touch of His gar-ment, in the midst of the crowd, healing virtuewent out of Him. Jesus turned, looked at her,and said, “Daughter, take comfort. Your faithhas made you whole.”

Few believers really understand healing.They pray, and they are sincere, but so muchm o re is involved. Consider it. If that woman hadnot touched the hem of His garment, would shehave been healed? If Peter had not honore dJesus Christ when He bid him to come (Matthew14:28-29), would Peter have walked on thewater?

I believe that God wants to move and workto show us how deeply He loves us. He is re-sponsible for His children. You are His daugh-

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t e r. You are His son. He loves you dearly, and Hewants His grace to bless you freely.

I believe that as we place our faith in thatkind of God, virtue will go out of Him as it didt o w a rd that woman with the issue of blood. Ablessing will come into our souls as we touchHim with our trust and absolute faith.

This booklet reveals that believing in God isfar more than mental assent. It means that westand firm, depending wholly on Him, trustingHim implicitly, and remaining absolutely certainconcerning Him and His plan for our lives.

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Chapter One

BELIEVE GOD, THE OBJECTOF OUR FAITH

“ W h e re is boasting then? It is excluded. Bywhat law? Of works? Nay: but by the law offaith” (Romans 3:27).

“For the law of the Spirit of life in ChristJesus hath made me free from the law of sin anddeath” (Romans 8:2).

It is possible for everyone to be healed in-stantly in a meeting where the presence of Godis so real. Still, it is not that people should look attheir faith, but that they begin to understand thelaw of faith.

This is how healing works. In church, dur-ing the song service, we listen and respond byfaith to the words we sing. This starts to buildup our response in faith, and that faith contin-ues to build. Then the pastor speaks, bringing aspecific message that God appoints for thathour. We enter in to prayer for the sick, and by

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that time, without striving, the faith fields of in-dividual believers are established. Healing ispromoted through meekness of the soul, humil-ity of the heart, and concentration of the mindas we worship God in our human spirit.

In the healing process, just as there are phys-ical laws in place when God uses doctors, therea re spiritual laws to be exercised when it issupernatural. First, we are to think on the heal-ing we desire. Without striving, we must dwellon that faith vision, no matter what it is. If it isphysical, emotional, marital, or financial, wemust learn to build up our faith response, whichin turn will erect fields of faith around our soul.

Tuning In with the Law of Faith

Like fine-tuning radio frequencies to get abetter signal, the more we enter into faith fields,the more accurate the frequency is, and as a re-sult, the signal with God becomes clearer andmore precise.

The law of faith is recorded in Romans 3:27.With the law of faith, we have the spiritual lawof life, in Romans 8:2. These laws are just as realas the law of gravity, from the physical aspect ofscientific reality.

Some people teach, “Where is your faith?”

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They emphasize personal faith as the decidingfactor in God’s act of healing. We teach the im-portance of having a response system by the lawof faith, and there is a big difference. You see, ifmy faith is the issue, then that would mean thathealing is not by grace. But in fact, healing i s agift of grace.

My faith is not the issue; the issue is myfocus on the Object of my belief—that is, JesusChrist. My faith does not depend upon me be-lieving. My faith depends upon the One onwhom I am focused. He promotes my faith. Myfaith cannot heal me. It is He who heals me.

For the Body’s Sake

Amazing frequencies are happening allaround us. Air traffic controllers are continuallymonitoring certain frequencies on radar scre e n s ,constantly checking for anything out of the or-dinary that could disrupt the flow of air traffic.Split-second decisions must be made when in-compatible signals come into the picture.

Likewise, the Holy Spirit indwelling theChristian is responsible to quicken us to tru t hand alert us to anything that goes against thelaw of faith and the law of life. As much as thesea re spiritual laws, objective reality is involved.

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So when the Spirit of God begins to move, as ina healing service, it is vital that we do not becomedistracted from the Object of our attention anda ffection. Start right in believing God, becauseeven if you do not need a healing, you are goingto express something to others who do need tobe healed. You can promote the frequencies thatwill bring health to another believer. So let usbelieve God.

When a singing group is anointed and sen-sitive to the Holy Spirit and to the laws of faithand life, they will sing to the glory of God withall their heart. Pure and godly, they will sing thesongs that can release and neutralize a negativec a p a c i t y. They help us to worship in joy andpraise, which is so important at the beginning ofa service.

We depend upon Jesus Christ, the Object ofour faith, as we seek to understand the law offaith. Ask Him to bless the frequencies of our re-sponse patterns, because God designed everyperson to respond to faith frequencies. Maythere be an abundance of faith-field frequenciesto see cancer and every type of disease healedt h rough the grace of God, in the name of ourLord Jesus Christ.

We can believe God for divine reversals in fi-

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nances. We can believe God for marital revival.We can believe God for revival in local churc h e s .

If proper nutrition can heal certain diseases,so can God. By obeying practical physical laws(which include proper rest, exercise, and ahealthy diet) plus practical spiritual laws (whichinclude praying without ceasing and letting theWo rd of God dwell richly in your soul), youmight live to be very old—unless God wantsyou to go home as Enoch did (Genesis 5:24).

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Chapter Two

HOLD ON TO WHATYOU BELIEVE

“But after long abstinence Paul stood forthin the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye shouldhave hearkened unto me, and not have loosedf rom Crete, and to have gained this harm andloss.

“And now I exhort you to be of good cheer:for there shall be no loss of any man’s life amongyou, but of the ship.

“For there stood by me this night the angelof God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

“Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be bro u g h tb e f o re Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee allthem that sail with thee.

“Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I be-lieve God, that it shall be even as it was told me”(Acts 27:21-25).

Chapter 27 of the Book of Acts describes ah a r rowing high seas adventure from the view-

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point of Paul, who survived it. To put it simply,the apostle Paul was in trouble for preaching theGospel. Julius was a centurion, a member of thecohort responsible to King Agrippa, whosecourts heard Paul’s plea to be tried by Caesar.A p p a re n t l y, the centurian had been at the trialwith Paul. He liked Paul, and he was assignedto be in charge of the ship that would carry Paulto Rome.

They began to travel in three different shipson their way to Rome. They went up the coastof Asia Minor and arrived in the port of Sidon.The winds were increasing, and there was nolight of the sun in the day and no moon or starsat night. A c c o rding to Acts 27:4, “The windswere contrary.” They were in trouble.

Winter was coming, and as they continuedto travel, the winds increased. When they cameto Crete, the winds were fearful, taking themeverywhere, until they found relief. When theyreached Myra, a city in Lycia, Paul and the otherprisoners were transferred to a ship bound forItaly.

At that point, Paul warned the sailors (Acts27:9-10), “Do not go. The ship, the cargo, andeven lives may be lost if we set sail at this time.Do not go.” But the men listened to the pilot and

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to the captains of the boat, instead of takingheed to Paul, and they set sail anyway.

At first, there was a gentle wind, but soon itbecame so intense, they could not navigate theship. The Mediterranean Sea was a tempest.They were all in a panic, and the Bible makes itvery clear that no one expected to survive (Acts27:20).

Nevertheless, God had a plan, and Paul be-lieved God.

Change of Plans? Believe the Planner

Paul stood in their midst, determined to en-courage the cre w. He said, “Though the ship willbe destroyed, there will be no life lost on thisship.” He said, “This very night, an angel of theL o rd stood by me, whose I am, and whom Iserve. He said that I will indeed appear beforeC a e s a r. And not only that, but all that are withme shall arrive safely.”

Paul faced the group and said, “Sirs, be ofgood cheer. I believe God, and it shall be even asHe has told me.”

Still the storms threatened the ship. Thecrew continued to travel until they finally cameto a place where, by sight, there was absolutelyno hope. Pretending to deal with the anchors,

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several of the sailors tried to abandon ship. ButPaul stopped them, saying, “We need you.” Sothey hearkened to Paul.

Later on, he comforted them by telling themto break the fast. “It’s been fourteen days andyou have eaten nothing. This food is for yourhealth. And by the way, not only will your livesbe saved; you will not lose one hair of yourhead!” Then Paul prayed and gave thanks toGod, and they all were of good cheer—all twohundred and seventy-six of them!

At daybreak, the ship ran aground. Notknowing where they were, the centurion gaveo rders that everyone who could swim shouldswim. Those who could not swim took hold ofthe ruins of the ship, grabbing boards andplanks. The ship was demolished.

T h rough turbulent, tempestuous, ragingwinds, rain, cold, and darkness, there they were .They all believed that death was certain—exceptfor Paul who believed God when He said, “Youwill all survive.”

No loss of life—just the ship. Contrarywinds, tempestuous, turbulent, raging winds.Rain. No sunlight. No stars. Fourteen consecu-tive nights of traveling way off course. Nomeans of navigation. The boat completely de-

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stroyed.“But sirs, be of good cheer. I believe God, it

will be even as God has told me.” And all 276souls finally arrived on the island of Malita, safeand sound.

I Believe God

What I love about this story are those threew o rds: I believe God. It was not an obscure belief.It was a belief based on the Wo rd and thep romises of God. Furthermore, Paul declared, “Ibelieve it will be even as God has told me.”

When the Bible says in Romans 6:23, “Forthe wages of sin is death; but the gift of God iseternal life,” I believe that with God it has beenthat way all these years, and so it shall remain.

The Lord Jesus Christ said that if we con-tinue in sin and do not find the will of God, wewill be chastised. And I believe God it will be asGod has spoken. But God says, “If you re b o u n d ,and repent, and use recovery (1 John 1:9), youwill be forgiven and restored.”

The Wo rd of God says that we are to bringour tithes into the storehouse, and He will re b u k ethe devourer (Malachi 3:8-10). That word is forus today and for every age.

God never changes. He is the same yester-

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d a y, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Speak-ing of giving tithes, Jesus said in Matthew 23:23,“Do not leave it undone.” You do not have totithe, but if you do not, you may suff e r. You maythink it doesn’t matter. But I believe God, and Ibelieve it will be as He has said. When we tithe,God takes care of our needs. When we don’ttithe, the devourer seems to take even what wedo have.

Proclaim What You Believe

In Psalm 126:5-6, the Word of God says thathe who goes out sowing the seed of God—theGospel—weeping as he sows, he “shall doubt-less come again with rejoicing, bringing hissheaves with him.”

So many precious people have been faithfulsoul winners. Through ice storms, and snowstorms, and rain, you keep going. I commendyou, and I am so thankful for you. You havesown beside all waters, and you did not observethe wind nor re g a rd the clouds (Ecclesiastes 11 : 4 ) .

We sow the seeds of the Gospel when it is socold, you think you might freeze out there, andwhen it is so hot, you think you will faint. Butwe go, and we sow the precious seed, manytimes weeping as we go.

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Pertaining to the Great Commission of soulwinning, I believe God. I believe that if we justsow, and water, and invest while it is today, thesouls will come in. I believe God.

We were called to be witnesses in Jeru s a l e m ,Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of theearth, to go into all the world and preach theGospel. Before He went to heaven, Jesus said,“Go” (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke24:46-48; John 20:20-28; Acts 1:8). Therefore, wemust go. God sent the Holy Spirit, and now wemust go into all the world, into every countrywe can possibly reach.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:24, Paul said, “Faithfulis he who calleth you, who also will do it.” Wemust preach the Gospel, disciple people, and letthem re p roduce the life of Christ. Let them re-p roduce in Iran, in Tu r k e y. Go into Africa, Eu-rope, Asia, and South America. “Go!” He com-mands us. “Please go, and I will go with you,even to the end of the world. I will give youp o w e r, and peace, and joy, and wisdom. I willprotect you (Mark 16:15), but go.”

Every missionary, every servant, and everyb e l i e v e r-priest can say of the Great Commission,“It works.” We see the fruit of it all the time, andwe can say, “I believe God. It works.”

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God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). It is impossible forHim to lie (Hebrews 6:18). He is not a man, thatHe can lie (Numbers 23:19). Whatsoever Hesays, He will do (Ezekiel 12:25). Not one of Hisp romises will fall to the ground (1 Kings 8:56).All of His promises are yea, and none of thema re nay (2 Corinthians 1:19). I want to tell yousomething, and here it is: I believe God.

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Chapter Three

BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT ETERNITY

Jesus Christ said, “It is appointed unto manonce to die, but after this, the judgment” (He-b rews 9:27), and I have not seen anyone beatdeath yet (except for Enoch). But for the believer,we can say as Paul did, “For to me to live isChrist, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

When a Christian dies, the angels take himto heaven. When that day comes, we will enterinto the portals of glory, never to be confrontedwith sin, with death, with disease, with failureor with any type of evil again. And glory to God,“we believe it will be as God has said.”

I thank God for the golden streets of heaven.I can hardly wait to see the New Jeru s a l e m ,above the mountains of Zion (Isaiah 2:2 andRevelation 21). The Lamb of God will be there ,and we will rejoice, because we have made our-selves ready for the Bridegroom through His

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own righteousness. His bride fore v e r, we will beh o n o red at the marriage supper of the Lamb(Revelation 19:7-10).

We will come back to the earth with Him onwhite horses, and we will land on Mount Olivetas He ends the great battle of Armageddon inthe Valley of Jehoshaphat. He will end it byspeaking words and without weapons. Then, wewill enter into the Millennial Reign: one thou-sand years with Christ, the King of kings, reign-ing over the earth.

Believe What God Says about Heaven

May I say this about heaven? Thank Godthat we will not spend a moment in the grave.The beggar died in Luke 16, and was carried bythe angels into Abraham’s bosom. His physicalb o d y went into the grave, but his soul-bodywent up to be with God instantly (Ecclesiastes3:21). Up through time, up through space, andstill today, there he is, present with the Lord. Nosickness, no disease, no hospitals, no sin, no fail-ure, no aging, no end. Just love, happiness, joy,worship, serving God with the angels.

Heaven! Oh, I believe, God. Heaven is sop recious. With all my heart, I believe it will bejust as He said. We believe God.

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We believe what the Wo rd of God says aboutthe Bema Seat evaluation, which will happenwhile the Tribulation is happening on earth. Webelieve that every saved person must appearalone before the Father (2 Corinthians 5:9 and 10,and Romans 14:10 and 11). He will test ourworks by the fire of the Holy Spirit, and then wewill receive rewards.

Maybe we will receive the crown of right-eousness (2 Timothy 4:8), or the crown of life(James 2:10). Or perhaps it will be the incorru p t-ible crown because we overcame sensual lust( 1 Corinthians 9:26, 27). It could be a crown ofrejoicing (1 Thessalonians 2:18,2:19) because wewere soul winners.

P e rhaps your re w a rd will be the MorningStar Order (Numbers 24:17; Matthew 2:2; 2 Peter1:19-21). You may have suff e red because youp roclaimed the Wo rd of God and identified withthe Body of Christ, but you overcame victori-o u s l y. This is the re w a rd of the Morning StarO rd e r, which means, “You suff e red with Me,therefore you will reign with Me.”

In Romans 8:18, degrees of glory are addedto your soul-body to shine throughout eternitybecause you chose to stay in the will of God, inthe ways of God, in the provision of God, and in

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the power of God. Even when you suff e re dgreatly for it, you believed God.

A Solemn Truth

“I believe God.” Declare it! We believe thatit will be as God has said. But there is one morething, and I say this with a solemn fear andtrembling:

I believe God that there is a literal hell.M o re o v e r, I believe God that in hell, the con-science never dies and the fire is not quenched(Mark 9:43-47). I believe that whoever rejects thegrace of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ,whoever is not truly saved, that soul will go intohell. What’s more, the unsaved will face theWhite Throne Judgment of God in a body pre-p a red for hell, and they will be in hell fore v e rand ever and ever.

I believe that hell is a bottomless pit (Reve-lation 9:2), a place of unending torment, even asthe Bible says. Revelation 19:20 says that thebeast and the false prophet will be cast alive intohell, and in Revelation 20, they will have beentormented day and night for a thousand yearsbefore Satan himself is bound and cast into hell.They will continue to be tormented day andnight, forever. Imagine it—day and night, forever!

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I believe that hell is more terrible than any-one can imagine. There will be memories ofwhat could have been, memories of opportuni-ties missed, memories of time that was given topeople to know the glorious Gospel of grace,memories of privileges rejected. And I believethat hell is just as Jesus said it is. I believe Godthat it will be even as He has told us—and as Hehas warned those who reject Him.

Believe in His Goodness

I believe that God loves you and me with aneternal love, just as He loves Israel (Jere m i a h31:3). I believe that His love is precious and un-conditional, and that His grace is based uponHis character. The prophet Jeremiah believed inGod’s goodness: “Heal me, O LORD, and I shallbe healed; save me, and I shall be saved: forthou art my praise” (Jeremiah 17:14).

Jesus wept when He said to Israel, “Howmany times I would have gathered you togetherunder my wings, but you would not come” (seeLuke 13:34). The Bible says that He sent HisWo rd to heal them and to deliver them fro mtheir destructions (Psalm 107:20). What morecould God do? He loved them perfectly. He sentwarnings and He gave them provisions to be

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saved. Yet, Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70.It happened just as God said in Luke 19:41-44.

I believe that God wants not only to heal themind, the emotions, and the body, but also tobless marriages, businesses, and our health. I be-lieve this with all my heart, and soul, and mind.

I believe that God wants to heal cancer, liverdisease, kidneys, eyes, and ears. I believe thatJesus Christ not only wants to bless the soul andedify it, but to take away secret drinking amongbelievers and to remove impure fantasies thatcan cause so many problems in relationships.

Practice Believing

Set apart times when you just quietly closeyour eyes, and say, “I believe God.” Just say it.“I believe God.” You do not have to strive. Any-thing He has said, claim it.

Every place the sole of your foot shall touchshall be yours. That is a promise God has al-ready given to us (see Deuteronomy 11:24). Hehas already promised it to us; it is not just forCanaan. It was all for us, for today (Romans15:4), and it is for our pro fit (2 Timothy 3:17). A l lthat is left for us to do is to believe God.

Whatever you need is between you and yourGod. You do not have to reveal the problem to a

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soul. Remember that woman with the issue ofblood, in Matthew 9: 21: “For she said withinherself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall bewhole.” She did not even speak aloud.

In Hosea 11:3, Ephraim was healed and didnot know it. Can you imagine being healed andnot knowing it because you did not think to be-lieve it? This society is conditioned not to be-lieve in real biblical miracles. We want to do itGod’s way. We want to glorify God and Hiswork. We want to believe Him.

Believe God, for it will be even as He hassaid.

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CONCLUSION

Draw near to the Lord as if this is the firsttime you have ever asked Him for anything.Sense His presence. Ye s t e rday is gone fore v e r.Now just passed by. To m o r row doesn’t exist.This is how we must approach the Lord: in thef reshness of the moment, in the Eternal Is ofGod.

Heavenly Father, we come to you with specific re -quests—for ourselves, for loved ones, and for peoplewe only know because they have a need. May thistime be a beginning of divine healing through thewisdom of Your love and compassion.

May Your power deal with every ailment, what -ever kind it is. Heal any cancer—whatever kind andwhatever the cause. Heal people from the soles of theirfeet through their entire bodies.

And Father, we pray for marriages, that theywould do more than just survive. May they be glori -ous, and may they enter into harmony, and unity,and compatibility, filled with divine oneness.

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We pray for pastors. We thank You for them.Bless each one of them, and bless their ministries.Bless every servant here and abroad, and send forthreapers into the harvest field, into those 220 countrieswe have a vision to reach. Bless each one, in the pre -cious name of Jesus Christ.

We are asking You to meet the needs of everybeliever with resources that come from the wisdom ofheaven. Protect us from accidents; bless us withhealth. May we keep our healing and receive it in -s t a n t l y. May we expect to be blessed spiritually, phys -i c a l l y, and fin a n c i a l l y. Protect precious people fro mdemonic activity that tries to remove them from thecall of God through rationalization. Make us re a d yfor the onslaught, if it comes.

Heavenly Father, We believe You, and we believeYou have heard us. We trust Your Word. You delightin us (Proverbs 8:30), and it will be even as You havesaid. Jesus, thank You. Praise You, dear God. Amen.

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