Many people are not experiencing the manifestations of the promises of God in their lives today because they are ignorant of the only way to receive anything from God – FAITH!
It is an established fact that every dealing with God is by faith. So, today, we are going to look at the meaning of FAITH. To experience the manifestation of the promises of God in any area of your life, you MUST have faith in God (Mk. 11:12-14, 19-22). Faith in God is faith in His Word.
To emphasize the importance of faith, the Bible repeatedly said, “…the just shall live by faith…” (Gal. 3:11; Rom. 1:17).
By whose faith should the just live? Habakkuk 2:4 says, “...the just shall live by his faith.”
Why? “…for it is by your own faith that you stand firm” (1 Cor. 1:24b).
When will the just live by faith? Now! Hebrews 10:38 says, “Now the just shall live by faith…”
Why must the just live by faith? Because without faith you cannot please God (Heb. 11:6).
Just as Naira is the currency of Nigeria, Faith is the currency of the Kingdom of God. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world (1 Jn. 5:4).
Faith is the most potent force in the universe. How? because faith confers divinity on humanity.
In Mark 9:23 Jesus said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” So, faith empowers you to operate in the very class of God. In other words, “Faith empowers you to handle what only God can handle.”
Here is the point: God has made all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, available to all His children by grace (Eph. 1:3; 2 Pet. 1:3).
The question is: How can one access the provisions God has already made available to us by His grace. These provisions can be accessed only by grace. And grace can be accessed only by faith. It takes FAITH to lay hold on what grace has made available to us (Eph. 2:8-9).
What then is FAITH?
1. Faith is simply taking God at His Word. And the promises of God are Yea and Amen. That is to say that the promises of God are “Yes! It is true!” (2 Cor. 1:18-20; Num. 23:19)
2. Faith is not just a mere biblical principle; faith is our only access to the power of God. When faith is at work, power is released direct from Jesus, and this power destroys yokes and brings about positive changes in the life of the recipient. So, faith draws on the power of God to destroy the yokes of bondage in your life.
Example is the case of the woman with the issue of blood. Jesus said to the woman, “Thy faith has drawn power from Me, and that power has made thee whole, that power has destroyed the yoke of bondage in your life” (Mk. 5:25-34).
3. Faith empowers you to command results. Every time your faith comes alive, power flows from Christ to make you whole. For instance, when Paul perceived that the cripple in Lystra had gotten the faith to be healed, he said to him, “Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked” (Acts 14:7-11).
4. Faith is not a story. Faith is a mystery of the Kingdom (1 Tim. 3:9).
5. Faith is not hope. As long as you are only hoping, you won’t receive anything from God because you receive from Him by faith only, not by hope. For instance: If you say, “I am believing” God for my healing, you will not receive any healing from God because you are still putting it in the future and that is hope. Your statement should be, “I believe” God for my healing, and I receive it right now, IJN.
The only type of faith that receives from God is the Bible-kind of faith. This type of faith believes God and acts on what it believes. Jesus said, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, BELIEVE (not keep believing) that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mk. 11:24).
How do you know whether you really believe God or you are just hoping? Hope is always future tense, because hope always looks to the future, but believing (faith) is ‘now’ (present tense).
Because faith is present tense, you must get your believing in the present tense for things to work for you. The promise of God will not work for you until you get it in the right tense.
As long as you are hoping to receive healing, for example, and you believe you are going to get it sometime in the future, you are not in faith, because this is hope and not faith.
If you are seeking healing, it is not in the future that you want to be healed. You want to be healed right now – that is the Bible-kind of FAITH. As long as you put off believing, the blessing will be in the future, and will stay in the future until you believe. But now is when you want whatever God has promised you in His Word.
6. Faith is believing God for what He has said in His Word. Faith is strictly based on the Word of God and not on philosophies, personal opinions, or whatsoever your five senses are telling you (2 Chron. 20:20; Isa. 7:9).
The Bible tells us how to put our faith into action. You put your faith into action by confessing what you believe. Faith can’t be released out of your heart towards God without your saying what you believe. Faith that is only in your heart will never bring any healing to your body. But faith in your heart released through your lips will give you the miracle you desire (Rom. 10:10; Mk. 11:23).
By faith you can receive right now the breakthrough God has promised you in His Word. I therefore, challenge you to believe and act on God’s Word today and you will be a recipient of your expected miracle.
Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!
- Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor) Mar. 16th, 2025
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