“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground. And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” (Mark 4:26-29)
Let’s zero in on the twenty-ninth verse, “But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle.” When you have a full manifestation of the mature fruit, then the harvest is ready to be reaped. You cannot reap corn until it is mature and fully developed.
Many people get excited about faith. Excitement is good, but what is important is to learn how to operate in the principles of faith. Sometimes those who get excited without a foundation, go out beyond their level of development.
That happened to Peter when he jumped out of the boat to walk on the water. (Matthew 14:22-28) He was not developed to that point. But he saw Jesus walking on the water. I am sure they were saying, “If Jesus was here, things would be different.” They looked up and saw Jesus walking on the water. Peter in his excitement said, “Lord, if it be you, bid me come.”
Now, Peter was not ready for water walking, but he was excited. Many Christians are not ready for water walking either. They have been to a few seminars but they aren’t developed in the principles of faith and foundation in the Word. It just sounds good, what Peter said sounded good to him. Peter forced Jesus into calling him out of the boat. He said, “If it’s really you, bid me come.”
What could Jesus say? “He couldn’t say, “No, it’s not me. Forget it, Peter, You’re not developed yet.” Anything He said other than “come” was going to be a lie. Even if he didn’t answer at all, it would still be a lie, for it was Jesus. All Jesus did was answer his question when he said, “Come.
Peter did walk on the water, but he was not developed to the point that he was able to hold fast to that Word. He became too involved with the circumstances, took his eyes off the Word and became fearful. Thank God when he cried out, Jesus reached out and took him back to the boat where he was safe. Peter had faith for being in the boat, but was not quite ready to walk on the water in a storm.
What happened to Peter is that he got excited and tried to operate beyond his level of faith. Jesus didn’t intend for that to happen. Peter forced Him into it by the way he said it. Some of you have done the same thing. You said, “Lord, if it’s Your will for me to do this, then let this other thing happen to prove your will.”
It was God’s will for you to do the thing you were considering, but it wasn’t God’s will for the other thing to happen that you asked for to confirm it. You forced God into a bad situation.
Excited About Faith or Leading of the Spirit
As in Peter’s case, excitement, rather than the leading of the Spirit, will sometimes cause people to do things they aren’t ready for. They want to copy what someone else did. Here is an illustration of what I’m talking about. Several years ago, I went into a certain church. I told how God supernaturally supplied the gasoline for my airplane. I was lost out in the northwest part of the country and had flown for five hours and twenty-five minutes. The airplane only held four hours and thirty minutes of fuel. When I landed, I still had seventeen gallons of fuel in the airplane.
A man in the church heard my testimony and got excited. After the service that night, he and his wife got in their car and started home. His wife said, “We’d better get some gas in the car.”
He said, “No – God put gas in Brother Capps’ airplane, He’ll put gas in my car.” He drove five miles out in the country and ran out of gas and called the pastor. The pastor had to go get him some gas.
I have learned when I give that testimony to tell them, “Now remember, this was an emergency.” And it certainly was a miracle of Divine intervention. God is not going to put gas in your car after you have passed two gas stations with money in your pocket. If it were an emergency situation, then all of Heaven’s resources are available to you.
God’s Word Heals
Let’s look at corresponding action in divine healing and health. You can develop yourself for divine healing, because healing is a fact in the Bible. Psalm 107:20 says, “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” It is His Word that healed us. Some say, “Why do you confess God’s Word for healing every day?” Well, I explain it this way; it’s like a farmer who needs thirty thousand dollars to pay a note. He says, “I can make a hundred dollars an acre off of wheat.”
So he plants wheat, but he only plants one acre and says, “I’ve planted my wheat – I’m going to get thirty thousand dollars.”
But he isn’t. He is going to make one hundred dollars. He didn’t plant enough wheat. When you plant the crop of healing and health for your body, you need to plant plenty of seed. If you plant too small, you may reap a partial or incomplete healing. So, that doesn’t mean healing doesn’t work. It means you need to plant more seeds!
A farmer couldn’t receive the manifestation of his total need met when he didn’t plant enough seed to produce it.
Jesus said the kingdom of God is as if a man cast seed into the ground. Casting your seed is a process. The more you sow, the greater the harvest. Confession of the Word is a process of eliminating the negative in your life and sowing the promises of God.
Confession is a process. You need to start confessing your needs met well in advance – especially finances when you can project your need, and you know when you need it. But with sickness and disease you won’t know in advance. Some people make the mistake of waiting to confess that they are healed after they get sick. The Word will heal you and it will also keep you from getting sick.
You should confess the promise of God concerning healing, health, and life daily. Confess that every disease germ and every virus that touches your body dies instantly. Say, “I am healed, well, delivered from the curse of the law.” Say it while you are well. Use your faith on the front end. If those who are confessing healing after they are sick, had confessed health daily before they got sick, they probably never would have gotten sick.
What was that old saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Use your faith on the front end and refuse to allow sickness and disease in your body.
Don’t Go Whole Hog When Half Ready
There was a man in a certain city who got born again and turned on to faith. He thought this was the greatest thing he had ever heard. He learned that he was redeemed from the curse, from sickness and disease, and that God was his Healer. (Galatians 3:13, Exodus 15:26, Psalm 103:3) He had been raised in a church that didn’t believe these things. He just grabbed it, and began to run with it, so to speak. He wasn’t developed in it, but he had mental assent to these Bible truths. He had diabetes and five other things wrong with him. Any of them was enough to kill him.
He just went whole hog. He threw all his medicine away and almost died. I counseled with him, and some other ministers counseled with him. I said, “The insulin will keep the symptoms down. Is it easier to believe you are healed when you feel well, or when you are hurting and about to die? All the medicine does is keep the symptoms down and make you able to function. It’s not going to heal you. No one ever got healed by taking insulin. Then on the other hand, it won’t keep you from getting healed. So, every time you take insulin say, ‘Thank God, I believe I received my healing.’ Mix your faith with the Word of God.”
So he took our advice. He confessed his healing and confessed the Word over his body daily. Among other things he had cancer in the lungs, an enlarged heart, and high blood pressure. The doctor said he had the highest blood pressure he had ever seen any man have and live.
After ninety days I saw the doctor’s report. The doctor said, “You must quit taking insulin – you don’t need it anymore. Your heart is perfectly normal, and your blood pressure is normal. There is no sign or spot in one lung, and just a very small spot in the other, and it’s much smaller than it was.”
The man got almost a totally clear bill of health in ninety days. I am convinced that he would have died if he had not gotten back on his medicine. He was a young Christian with more zeal than knowledge.
You won’t get healed just because you stay away from doctors or medicine. You get healed by believing the Word and planting seeds of healing by confessing Jesus as Your Healer and Physician daily. Proverbs 4:22 tells us that God’s Word is, “life to those who find them and healing to their whole body.” (NLT) Read God’s Word, confess it out loud. Declare your health! Then follow the Holy Spirit and He will lead you into the appropriate corresponding action for your level of faith.
Quiet Corresponding Action
Let’s look at another form of corresponding action. In the case of Jairus in Mark 5:22-43, after Jesus agreed to go to his house and heal his little daughter, a woman with an issue of blood came along. She received her healing and testified, telling them all the truth. It probably took them an hour or so for all that to happen. A runner came to them and said, “Your little daughter is already dead.”
Jairus had done all that he could do. He released his faith that if Jesus laid his hands on his daughter, she would be healed. He has done all he knew to do. When Jesus heard the bad news he said, “Fear not, only believe.”
Believe what? Believe what he had established with his own faith.
That is not the time, especially in Jairus’ situation, to start making faith confessions. If he had, he would have gotten into fear and unbelief. He probably would have said, “If you hadn’t stopped and healed this lady, you would have gotten there in time to heal my daughter.”
Jesus had said, “Don’t do anything but believe.” He had gone as far as he could go. His corresponding action was to just be quiet. Psalm 37:7 says, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” There is a time to rest in the Lord. Sometimes, corresponding action is to just rest in what you have already said. Rest in what you have done in faith. When you don’t know anything else to do, rest in the Lord.
Paul said in Ephesians 6:13, “…and having done all, to Stand.” Stand! If there is nothing else you can do in faith rest. Corresponding action is to say, “I know what I will do – rest in the Lord, because I have done all that I know to do.”
Sometimes when people are in a problem and their faith is low, they start trying to make faith confessions, and they make them out of fear. You can say all the right things, and say them in fear instead of faith. You can confess the Word of God in fear. It can be done. Some people are doing it. That is why we hear of someone who said all the right things, but they died. That is why you can’t judge things just because of what happens. It looked like they were operating perfectly in faith. You don’t know if they were. You don’t know what they were really believing. Sometimes they were just saying those things because they really believed the opposite was coming. Sometimes they were too late saying them.
Corresponding action is necessary in every situation. Sometimes it’s something that you do by faith, and sometimes it’s something that you don’t do.
Copyright © Capps Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Charles Capps is a retired farmer, land developer, and Bible teacher who has traveled extensively throughout the United States and several foreign countries sharing the truths of God's Word. He has taught Bible seminars for over 35 years, emphasizing the authority of the believer, faith and the power of words.
Charles and Peggy both have their roots in the rich farmland of Lonoke County, Arkansas. Having been raised by parents who were farmers, Charles began farming cotton, soybeans, and rice immediately after graduating from high school and marrying in 1951.
Peggy, being 3 1/2 months older than Charles had to sign as the adult on his behalf when he wanted to begin flying lessons at the age of 17. They joined an organization known as the Flying Farmers and gained experience going to "fly-ins" and national meetings across the United States. Neither knew that this skill of flying would be such an asset later when Charles began teaching personal evangelism in the 1960's. He spoke on the subject of soulwinning in churches not only in the US, but flew his twin engine Piper Comanche to the Bahamas to teach students of Youth With a Mission how to share Christ with others.
After reading a book by Kenneth E. Hagin entitled, "Authority of the Believer", Charles and Peggy's life took on a new dimension of travel and ministry as Charles became known for his teaching gift and insight on the subjects of faith and confession. Invitations to minister to the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International (FGBMFI) began to pour in, eventually leading to the publication of his teachings in book form. "The Tongue a Creative Force" and "God's Creative Power(r) Will Work for You" became bestsellers after Buddy Harrison, Kenneth Hagin's son in law, launched his publishing company with these two classics. These two books have sold millions (the God's Creative Power(r) series has sold over 5 million copies) and are still much in demand today.
We celebrated Charles' promotion to heaven at 5:15 pm Sunday, February 23, 2014. He informed the family and close friends on Friday that he would be going home to heaven in 3 days. After having some final words with family and friends on Saturday, he went to bed, went to sleep and never awoke. (He kept saying, "I want to go in my sleep.") His wife and daughters had the privilege of being with him as he finally got that glorified body he always talked about. Charles Capps was a man of integrity, a man of his word and he got what he said. He called those things that be not as though they were.
Charles Capps broadcast called, "Concepts of Faith", continues a daily national radio broadcast and a weekly television broadcast aired over several networks, satellite, and the internet. Click on the Radio or TV link to find the broadcast in your area.
Peggy continues to reside in Arkansas. Both Charles' and Peggy's daughters, Annette and Beverly are involved in the ministry.