We have faith confused with magic and presumption.

Magical faith is like any other kind of magic. By faith you can make things appear or disappear. The idea is if you exert your soul sufficiently you can affect the physical realm. What power you then would possess! The Hindu masters can tell you all about this kind of faith and help you get started. You can make all kinds of money and get the desires of your heart.

When you die the demons will scratch and bite you and you will have hair soup for lunch. The demons hate hypocritical Christians and find endless delight in tormenting them.

While magical faith has become popular it is not nearly as prevalent as presumption.

To exercise presumption is to tempt God or test God. When Satan quoted the Ninety-first Psalm to Jesus, suggesting Jesus prove His faith by leaping from the gable of the Temple, Jesus also quoted Scripture: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God."

Not understanding how to respond to the timeless vision, Christians dare God to respond to their presumption.

Write a check for five thousand dollars, cash it, and believe God will put it in your bank account because "God shall supply all your needs." Our jail ministry team works with those who have done this sort of thing.

Buy a huge church building and believe God to send in the money. Then you have to beg people to give money because you are living "by faith."

Do great things for God. Step out in faith. God will meet you if you dare to believe. Nonsense. This kind of aggressive faith does not appear in the Bible. It is presumption, not faith.

A friend in Bible school, on the advice of a "healing evangelist," smashed her glasses on an anvil he provided. The next day in school her eyes were red. Pretty soon she had to buy another pair of glasses.

But she didn't have faith? Horsefeathers! She was trying to exercise magic. She was presumptuous. God had mercy on her and didn't heal her.

"But I know someone who did the same thing and God healed her." I'm sure you do. God does all kinds of things for His babies. But you can't get away with such presumption when you grow up.

If you want to exercise presumption, go ahead. But you will never come to know God that way.

Read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation if you want to know about true faith. You won't find anyone working miracles except those who were hearing from God. God spoke, they obeyed, the miracle took place.

"But God already has spoken in His Word!"

To try to do what the Word says apart from the guidance of the Holy Spirit is dead works. It is only when the Bible is made alive by the Spirit of God that the words become life. Otherwise the Bible is as dead as any other book.

I have heard well-intentioned people wave the Bible around and say "He sent His word and healed them." They need to read the context of the passage. It has nothing to do with waving your Bible around.

To be continued.