Faith Footstool

Just for starters. . .

"FOOTSTOOL" 16 times total: twice in Matthew, in Acts, and in Hebrews: once in Mk Lk Jas - 7 times in O.T

Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. Psalm 99:5

> Ps110:1 (Melchisedek psalm) also Matt 22:44 -- The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Isaiah 66:1 -- Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me?. . .

Be it unto you according to your faith, Mt9:29 Chewing the cud

Without faith it's IMPOSSIBLE
to please God! Heb 11:6

ANOTHER INSTANCE OF TWO -- ("By two it's established", Gen41:32.)

In the Old Testament, the word "Faith" is found only twice. The first place is by Moses in Deut 32:20 when he speaks of the Children in whom was "no faith". That was in reference to those who had turned to new gods, to strange gods, instead of the Rock of Ages. Like today, when the leaders of this nation no longer recognize the God of the Bible, but are accepting any old god who submits the proper paperwork or gets past customs with their dumb(stupid) idols.

The second place the word 'faith' occurs is in Habakkuk 2. The Lord says: "write the vision and make it plain...that he may run that reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry...but the the just shall live by his faith".

Living by faith is a primary emphasis of the curriculum where my wife and I attended: at Rhema Bible Training Center in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma: founded by the late Kenneth E. Hagin.

The Christian Faith-walk.

Just in the natural we recognize people at a distance by their "walk" -- that is, those we know well from many observations. It's true spiritually too -- we recognize true Christians by their adherence to the principles of Christ; that they speak the truth in love , and are not accusers of the brethren, and they don't forsake the assembling of themselves together with those of like faith.

In the New Testament we walk "in faith and not by sight". We tend to think of those Old Testament saints as super-spiritual, but 'No', they were simply obeying orders. They would move whenever the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire indicated.

The "walk", according to scripture, is a kind of adhesive for all the books of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

walk in INTEGRITY - Ps26:11 - walk UPRIGHTLY - Ps84:11 - walk in TRUTH - Ps86:11 - walk in LIGHT - Isa2:5 - walk in THE WAY - Isa30:21 - walk after the SPIRIT - Rom8:4 -

walk HONESTLY - Rom13:13 - walk by FAITH - 2Cor5:7 - walk in the SPIRIT - Gal 5:25 - walk WORTHY - Eph4:1 - walk in LOVE - Eph5:2 - walk in WISDOM - Col 4:5 - walk in the LIGHT - 1Jn1:7 - walk in WHITE - Rev3:4

The ultimate walk, of course, is when Jesus walked on water! Having your feet washed by Jesus, and Walking on the water of The Word is what we all need to do!

Enoch and Noah "walked with God"; ..Isaiah "walked naked and barefoot", and Jacob's WALK would surely have been changed after he wrestled the 'angel'(epiphany or precept) and had his thighbone 'touched'. But, of course those were the times before the scripture was completed, and Isaiah wouldn't have known to put on the spiritual armor or shoes of the preparation of the gospel. Eph6:17.
If you've made bad decisions in the past and are suffering the consequences, the secularists will say "you made your bed and you'll have to lie in it". Bible scholars will say "the way of the transgressor is hard", but Jesus says: "Take up your bed and WALK", Jn5:8. You CAN become a new creature in Christ Jesus!

"For we walk by faith, not by sight", 2Cor5:7

One intriguing aspect of the phrase "the just shall live by faith" is how we find it repeated in three (3) books of the New Testament.

Romans 1:17 "The just shall live by faith".

Galatians 3:11 "The just shall live by faith".

Hebrews 10:38 "The just shall live by faith".

Just these three (3) books, and no others!.

Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, have something else in common--something having to do with the definition of faith. What is it, and how do you get it, and how does it work? Folks today sometime misuse the Bible definition of faith by asking "What faith are you?", wanting to know what denomination the other person is, or what church they attend.

Romans 10:17 "..Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". (Not by reading the opinions of mortal men.)

Galatians 5:6 "..Faith works by love". (Without love, faith doesn't work!).

Hebrews 11:1 "NOW Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (You don't have to listen to those who tell you there's no hope--ONLY BELIEVE! The Bible is true!)
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have HOPE". Rom15:4
"For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" Rom8:24.
Hope is NOT Faith -- Hope is future, but faith is NOW. Believe it NOW, though the manifestation may not happen right away.
"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is". Jer17:7
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ". Titus2:13

Salvation is by Faith and Confession

"The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart: that is, the Word of Faith which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Rom10:8,9

The heart and the mouth are both involved. So it's not enough just to parrot the name of Jesus, and it follows logically that when you believe in the Resurrection and final Judgment, you'll be conducting yourself accordingly. "DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU" is the traditional way we remember Matthew7:12 and Luke 6:31. If you want your prayers answered double-quick so you can return to living the same old sorry way that's been your custom; well, lotsa luck.

The Faith Footstool is like the old 3 legged milking stool -- the Apostle Peter wrote: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby, .if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious". 1Pet2:2. Everyone knows the value of Mother's Milk to the newborn babe, and those who are truly born-again must have this special Father's Milk! Don't accept any surrogate milk!
(In jest, perhaps: Father's Milk?) In the OT it was Isaiah who planted a clue about this: "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts". Isa28:9 Also, it may help to remember how "Almighty God" (El Shaddai) is known as 'the breasty one', from Gen49:25.

"..Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk"., Ex23:19, is used by Jews to justify the separation of the cheese from the burger (meat from dairy products), but you rarely hear how the "Milk of the Word" has been given to us by GOD in the book we call the Bible. Isa28:9, Heb5:12.
You don't often hear it told that both of the goats taken into the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement were 'types' of Jesus, and how He died on the Cross with his mother Mary watching. He was our 'Firstfruit From The Dead', and the word seethe is also translated as boiled,roasted, baked, and 'brought forth'. (Strong's H2310). Firstfruits was a part of the harvest feast, aka Feast of Weeks or Pentecost.
"But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 1Cor15:23.

Exodus 34:26 - The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk".

In the Old Testament it's the Shunammite woman, 2K4, who exemplifies "faith" without the word actually being used, when she maintains her statement "It is well", despite the terrible circumstance of the death of her son. She's the very one who had a special chamber with table, stool, and bed, for the prophet Elisha to use -- have YOU made room in your heart for the Son of God?
Elisha had occasion to prophesy the "miracle birth of a son", and both he and Elijah were instrumental in resurrecting sons from death in a similar body-to-body manner. Of course that miracle birth of Jesus is what the Bible is all about, and in the New Testament it's the "Body of Christ", the Church, awaiting the "Head" of that Body.

Are there MOUNTAINS in your life?
The Mountain of Blessing (Gerizim) and the Mountain of Curses (Ebal) were where the sons of Jacob were required to SPEAK with a loud voice. Deut 11:26 and 27:12. Yes, they spoke the curses and the blessings of Deut28 right out loud! It's an Old Testament precept which leads us to the New Testament truth spoken by Jesus: "...say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done". Mk11:23, Mt21:21.

Gerizim and Ebal are a precept and parallel to (blessed) Mount Zion and (cursed) Mount Seir.

"But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions". Obad1:17
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate". Ezek35:3.

There's a difference between actual, literal, physical mountains, and poetic or figurative ones. Don't allow molehills to become mountains in your life, whether it be smoking or over-eating, or temper tantrums, or whatever: those are the mountains of curses in our life. On the other hand, strive to be an achiever and accept the challenges of life as exemplified by David going up against Goliath, or Caleb saying "Give me the mountain".Josh14:12.

PATIENCE IS THE HANDLE. "Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises". Heb6:12. You'll have to have the handle of PATIENCE on the Faith Footstool, and being lazy won't do. "He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap". Ecc 11:4.

The Apostle Paul wrote: "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it..". 1Cor3:2. He echoes the words of Jesus in John16:12 -- "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. (Makes me wonder whether they ever got any of the meat? Or was it reserved for the end times we're in now?)

Figuratively, those who step up on the footstool will be able to take hold of the promises in Scripture, and those promises will be out of reach of those who have no hope, or no love, or who've never heard the Word. Never heard Jesus' words.

Scripture calls them the "lost", the "unsaved" -- drowning in the Sea of Life after growing up without God. Or maybe just leaving to spend time with the pigs. .. Let's throw them a life-ring, shall we?

Tell them about the Prince of Peace! Nobody, but nobody gets excluded because we know that EVERY man has been given "the measure of faith", Rom12:3. Anyone who is a 'person of his word' is bound to have a certain respect for the GOD OF HIS WORD, no matter what part of the world they were born into.

It isn't "Mind over Matter" --
It's God's Word that matters !

"The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool". Ps110:1 (The Melchizedek Psalm).

LET THERE BE LIGHT ! ... It all begins with the words of your mouth--you have to say it! Notice the emphasis on "saying" in this verse from Mark 11:23... "Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."

"Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him". Lk12:5
I will not fear what MAN can do to me Heb13:6-- they are only able to destroy my body, but not my spirit. Absent from the body is to be present with my LORD, which is "far better". Phil 1:23, 2Cor5:8.

"Death and Life are in the power of the tongue", PR18:21. "I believed, and therefore have I spoken", 2Cor4:13, Ps116:10.

IT'S ONLY WHEN YOU SAY IT, THAT YOU'RE STANDING ON THE FOOTSTOOL! Standing upon faith -- able to reach and take hold of rewards through fundamental faith in the God of the Bible, that others can only wish for!
Maybe you don't want rewards? "Without faith it is impossible to please him [GOD]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him". Heb 11:6.

Watch your tongue! Don't get snared by the words of your mouth! "Death & Life are in the power of the tongue!" When in doubt, zip the lip! Pray!

WHAT DO I SAY ??

Start by quoting and agreeing with Scripture:You'll be hearing your own vocal cords!

"It is well" -- 2Kings4:26

"By His stripes I am healed" -- 1 Pet 2:24

God supplies all my need -- Phil 4:19

I serve the God who healeth ME -- Ex15:26

I press for the prize of high calling of God in Christ Jesus -- Phil 3:14

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me -- Phil 4:13
We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Rom8:28

I may wind up in the fiery furnace, but I'll come out NOT smelling like smoke -- Dan 3:27 These days we'd say "smelling like a rose.."

I run the race with patience -- Heb 12:1

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Scripture Mountains: Abarim, Ararat, Baalah, Baalhermon, Bethel, Carmel, Ebal, Ephraim, Ephron, Gerizim, Gilboa, Gilead, Halack, Hermon (Sion), Heres, Hor, Horeb, Jearim, Lebanon, Moriah, Naphtali, Nebo, Olivet, Paran, Parazim, Seir, Sephar, Shapher, Sinai, Tabor, Zalmon, Zemaraim, Zion
Mount of Olives - Many mountains, mostly unnamed, in the New Testament.

The Christian Faith-walk.

The "walk", according to scripture, is a kind of adhesive for all the books of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

Are there MOUNTAINS in your life?

It isn't "Mind over Matter" -- It's God's Word that matters !

Return to Table of Contents

It isn't "Mind over Matter" --
It's God's Word that matters !