FAITH FIESTA: What It Means To Have Faith( Part 2)

“And when even was come, He went out of the city. And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the root. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto Him, ‘Master, behold, the fig tree which thou curseth is withered away’. And Jesus answering, saith unto the ‘Have faith in God. For verily, I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain ‘Be thou removed and be 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’” (Mark 11:19-23).

“For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation”. (Romans 10:10).

The subject of faith has been taught, preached and discussed in the church but there still exists a misunderstanding, a lot of believers think they are walking in faith while they are not.

Faith is not a blind leap: it is hupostasis, an evidence of things not seen. In the previous post, we have established the difference between great and little faith. In great faith, actions abound, I step out and do what must be done. We saw from the example of the palsied man and his friends in Mark 2 that great faith pushes you to take risks that catches God’s attention. These men climbed the roof, broke through it and threw him down and when Jesus looked up He saw the broken roof, the sweaty men looking down and He saw their faith. Your faith can be seen.

Jesus saw a fig tree and cursed it because He found no fruit on it at the time, when His disciples saw the tree later they marvelled at it, astonished that the tree had actually withered and He said to them to have faith in God. How? By believing in your heart. We spoke earlier about the centurion who told Jesus to send His word to heal his servant, the moment Jesus spoke, his servant was healed, an action took place immediately those words went forth. Action is very important but where does it take place in us before it goes out into manifestation? In the heart. Every believer has a heart; it’s really important “word” as it affect the faith in every believer.

In the bible, the heart refers to much more than an organ. For instance, people often talk about “the heart of a matter” referring to the crux or true meaning of the issue in question, not just the surface, but the main point. This points us to the truth that the “heart” here is not the physical heart; it’s much more than the organ that pumps blood through our bodies. If it refers to the physical heart, then every living person can say that they have faith and are walking in it but that’s definitely not the case. The word “heart” in the scriptures refers is the very being of man, you have heard such thing as “the core of your being”, “the major part of the issue”, “the essence of a human being”, “the very being of the man”. In the Old Testament, the heart controlled what they said and did; their actions. In the New Testament, it talks about our very being that can get to God, our core essence. Your heart as a believer is the core of your being, the core of your being is a spirit. You are a spirit that lives in a body and you have a soul. I Thess 5:4

In 1 Corinthians 14:14 Paul says when I pray in an unknown tongue, it is my spirit that prays. He refers to himself as a spirit, when your spirit prays, that’s you, your core. That’s why the Bible says “Guard your heart because out of it flows the issues of life” (Prov.4:23), be vigilant and careful what you let in. The born again is born becomes of God when he gives his life to Christ, when a man receives Christ, he receives a new spirit, and he’s a new creature. 

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old thing are passed away; behold, all things are become new”. (2 Cor 5:17)

 The issues of faith are anchored to the core of your being. “If any man Be”, that’s the core of your being right there at the new creation, Adam was not a living soul until God breathed into him, and he became a living being. (Gen 2:7). God’s breath brought him alive; his spirit was the “real Adam” and not his clay body. The core of your being is what matters at the end of the day.

The outward man perishes, irrespective of how poor or how rich it is. The inward man, spirit, is alive forever as seen in the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-25. Lazarus was poor on earth but he went on to Abraham’s bosom and the rich man was in hell. What’s important here is that one is in hell and the other is in paradise but they were still talking to each other. Many believe that when we get to heaven, we’ll become senseless but the bible says that we are compassed about by a cloud of witnesses who are watching us. Apparently, they must possess a modicum of sense to watch us, so in heaven, our senses in the spirit are still active. The rich man began to ask Lazarus for water because where he was, Lazarus was not poor anymore. That’s why Paul says for this cause we perish, our inward man should be renewed daily. God wants our spirit nurtured because it’s our core. If you are not feeling good, get a word in your spirit because your core is what controls you. When you sow into your flesh, you reap corruption. Go for the word always. The word is the most precious gift. Lazarus was poor but his inward man was rich, nurtured by the word of God. When Jesus got to the fig tree “he answered and said” meaning the fig tree was questioning something. There are always things that don’t have hands and legs that question your faith. These situations and circumstances have ears and can be addressed with the word, it can penetrate through situations. The fig tree had a good reason to not bear fruit but Jesus cursed it because there’s no excuse for any situation to hold you down. There’s power of life and death in your tongue (Prov 18:21) and when you open your mouth, you obtain a good report.

God is revealed through your human spirit not your flesh; anyone that must worship God must do it in spirit and in truth. (Jn.4:23). The word of God in your spirit produces faith; God has to be in your spirit for you to operate faith. It is the power of God in your spirit (God himself) that overcomes situations, God is the word. God and His word cannot be separated, so when you need God, go for His word. The highest intelligence that created the world is wrapped up in your spirit the moment you meditate on the word. An intelligent Christian is one who is consistently found with a word in his spirit. “For I delight in the law/word of God after the inward man” (Romans 7:22). The word of God is nurtured in the inward man and produces faith. The man of faith delights in the word of God not just going to church, giving tithe and lifting your hands but he wants to find out what the word of God says about tithing, healing and so on.

The intelligence of your human spirit is the word of God. You can operate the super intelligence that created the world by going for the word. By Him, all things were made; the word of God creates all things. Faith is the reaction of your human spirit to the word of God, precipitating results. There are natural and supernatural hopes: natural hope is placed in a man, a job, a car etc. Supernatural hope is in the word of God; put your hope in the word.

Faith is the release of God’s word in your spirit that causes you to step from doubt into action. It is purely predicated on God’s word but you are not a man of faith until it’s released. Jeremiah said when he saw God’s word, he ate it. Food is for the belly and it gets you to grow, that’s the same way the spirit needs the word to grow. You come alive in your spirit when God’s word is in it. Faith is the supplier of God’s word (food/nutrients) in your spirit which strengthens you in the assurance of His word. The greatest yield of God’s word in your human spirit is called faith. It’s like a seed. Some believers have long-standing issues because they've prayed with their lips and have believed the wrong things. For instance, I met a lady on the healing line who wanted me to pray for her, she said, “sir pray for me I believes I have a lump”; why should I pray for you if you already believe in the wrong thing instead of in the Word and power of God? What you believe is empowered to control you and what you do not honor cannot be a blessing to you. You have to rise out of clichéd Christianity- “Have you prayed about it? I've prayed and God will do it”. God will not do anything for you if you don’t do something. When Jesus was walking on the sea in the midst of the storm, he wouldn't go to his disciples, He told Peter to “come”. Action word, right? Peter had to believe and walk (action) towards Jesus.

The word is near you, it’s not far from you, hold fast the divine expectations. Faith is giving your hope a logo- substance. The bible says “have faith in God” and not “put your faith in God”. Faith is your possession which is in God; the bible says “…God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). You are already blessed with faith but it’s in God. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:4 “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God”. Paul had to say this so that their faith can rest on the right thing- the word of God. What he teaches and preaches is what they eat and feast upon and it causes them to grow and mature. Hence, the truth is spoken among them that are mature even though it may seem bitter but that’s where the nutrients needed are found. Sometimes, the word of God does not manifest at the time you desire, there’s no other option than to keep acting and confessing what He says. Believing doesn’t empower manifestation; you’ve got to put it into action. The intelligence of the Holy Spirit is revealed in our spirit not the body. When you are nurtured by the word of God daily your spirit man becomes healthier, stronger and strengthened. The body is fed by bread and the spirit feeds on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. People give up easily when they fail because they have not invested in feeding their spirit daily with the word. A strengthened spirit pushes you to the realm of action and refuses to give up.

When your spirit is not fed with the word of God, you become spiritually malnourished and dumb because you do not allow the word of God to settle in your spirit. When your natural man responds to the word of God, it’s called “mental accent” or “blind faith”. A natural man walking in blind faith says what he sees with his natural eyes in spite of what the word of God says. Fear is the only power that the devil has because you are scared of the end if you cannot see with your eyes of faith. Faith is evidence that cannot be denied; when you deny it, you delay your manifestation in the realm of the spirit. Don’t change the evidence, leave it the way God said it, He’s going to come through for you. David said in Ps 119:11 “Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you”. Anything that is done out of faith is sin, so when you deny His word based on your reality and fear, you’re committing sin. Fear should not be in your vocabulary as a child of God. You have to live beyond where you are, trust in faith and rise above fear. The Spirit of the fear of the Lord that you carry should address fear because it is not of the Lord. You have to tell every thought and imagination that raises itself above the word of God in your life to “shut up”. It’s time to tell all your numerous phobias to keep quiet because they are just imaginations trying to control your life. You have to have an assurance that transcends any feelings in your life.

Scriptures that have been fed into your spirit are remembered and brought back to you at the time when they are most needed. Don’t just remember scriptures, theyjump out to address the situations in your life. You have to use the word to create your world, wake up every morning and speak faith into your day, put faith into your spirit. John G. Lake’s little nephew had been listening and watching his uncle minister healing to people all his life and the words he uses had become engraved in his spirit. On a certain day, a woman with fibroid came to their house and was waiting to be ministered to by John G. Lake when the little boy walked up to her and said “Do you believe you can be healed?”The woman, in desperate need of respite from the pain replied “yes”. The boy told the woman that his uncle alwayslays hands and say “In the name of Jesus, go!” when he’s ministering healing. The boy spoke the same words and put his hand on the woman’s belly and the fibroid disappeared immediately. When told, John G. Lake was amazed and said “Even I have not seen such”. When you have a need, faith should stir up the word of God deposited in your spirit into action.

You must understand that God will always come through for you in the storms and let your faith rise above any phobia you face. In the Old Testament, 12 spies were sent out to the Promised Land, 10 of them came back talking  fear but the bible says “Caleb stilled the people before Moses and said let us go up at once….for we are well able” (Numbers13:30). These 10 spies are like those that preach fear even from the word of God; they had imagined themselvesto be the size of grasshoppers in the sight of the giants. Elijah said to Elisha “they that are with us are greater than they that are with them”, apart from the army seen there were also the forces that couldn’t be seen behind each group meaning a battle that did not even concern them would take place. This is the case of every believer; you always win in those scary situations, see the revelation first in the word and trust in the Lord. The Hebrew writer emphasises this when he says “we should give more earnest heed to the things we’ve heard lest they slip and not neglect so great salvation”; (Heb 2:1-5) the word of God we hear is this salvation. The word of God is precious, do anything to get the word in your spirit. Let the word of God you hear be mixed with faith in your heart, let it come alive in you. How shall we neglect these words of healing, of peace? This is the same peace that Paul talks about that surpasses all understanding, peace is the symptom you find in the life of those that have faith.Desperation to get ahead is not peace, comparing yourself with others is not walking in faith either. Your thought life is also important where nurturing faith is concerned. “Finally brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just…think on these things” (Phil 4:8). The moment you begin to think on the negative things, faith is taken out. Step over doubts, greater is He that is he is you. The God that can’t lie has spoken, receive it. “Study to show yourself approved, a work man that needs not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). The best acquaintance with God is through His word. “For ever Oh Lord, your word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).

Be a faith man/woman, not a feeling man/woman. When you “feel” sick, be certain that God has given you something to deal with it. “He sends forth His word and healeth them” (Ps. 119:107).

“My son, keep attention to My words... For they are life to those who find it and health to their flesh” (Prov. 4:20-22). Instead of running to go get the drugs, you can just speak the word of God and get your healing. Your best acquaintance with God is not your position in church but your fellowship with His word. You’ve seen too many testimonies around you to disbelieve what God has said. Use the faith and testimonies of the people around you to stir yourself. God’s word is settled in your life and when you believe that, it brings you to a place of peace. The young lion suffers and begs for bread but the righteous can never be forsaken. Don’t change your mind, get a word and keep saying it. 

Faith is not a denial of fact; it is the yielded realm of your human spirit to the promise. Look beyond the pain and embrace the promise. Sometimes, it doesn’t happen on the first, the second or third day, you have to be persistent and keep saying it. You have to speak to seek the kingdom of God. It’s a kingdom of words. Go for the word of God, that’s when faith is manifested in your life.

‘Bowale Abrahams

Visionary Pastor, The Burning Church.

NOTE: All scriptures are taken from the Authorised King James Version.