“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1, NKJV).
“faith” Strong’s #4102," from the Greek pistis, meaning: persuasion, credence, assurance, belief, conviction of the truth of anything; belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence)"
“substance” -- Strong’s #5287, "from the Greek hypostasis, meaning: a setting or place under, substructure, foundation; that which has foundation, is firm; that which has actual existence, a substance, a real being"
Faith, in and of itself, is very powerful because it is the building block and the foundation for what is created and comes into being. Faith is simply our firm conviction that what we believe to be true, is true, and we live and act accordingly, so that our life is a reflection of what we believe. Strong trust in our beliefs motivates and dictates how we live; it is the undergirding for what we create in our lives and in our spheres of influence, whether we are Christians, atheists, agnostics, or any other religion or philosophy. We all believe something. We all have some firm convictions about what is true. So we all have faith. The question is, Faith in what or whom?
For the Christian, faith is essential in our coming to Christ and in our walk with Him, “for without faith it is impossible to please Him…” But what faith specifically is the scripture referring to? The rest of the sentence explains, “for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” Hebrews 11:6, NKJV).
So what/whom does the Christian profess to have faith in? We have faith in God, the I AM THAT I AM, the only true God; we have faith in His goodness, in His love for us; that He is who He says He is, and He does what He says He will do. We have faith that we have been forgiven and redeemed for eternal life through the blood of Jesus Christ shed for our sins and by His resurrection from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit; we have faith that Jesus Christ thoroughly defeated satan and made a show of him openly; we have faith that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and ALL authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him by the Father, and He has made us more than overcomers through Him.
That is our statement of faith. That is what we say we believe. But does the way we live back it up? Do we really have faith, that firm conviction, that Jesus has defeated Satan and overcome the world? Do we really believe that Jesus has delegated His “All Authority” to His governing body on the earth, the Ekklesia—us? Do we really believe that we have the power to bind and loose and bring God’s kingdom to the earth? Do we really believe that we have the spiritual weapons to bring down strongholds?
The ungodliness, perversion, and rebellion in our nation suggests there has been serious incongruence in what we American Christians have said we believe and what we actually believe and have lived out. Based on my own experience, I have become painfully aware that I need a personal faith/action checkup on a regular basis. We can one hundred per cent mentally agree with statements of faith, and yet not realize that they are not experiential in our own lives.
Are we limited by fear? Do we remain silent when we should speak up? Does discouragement cause us to neglect prayer and time in the Word, because the unspoken and maybe unacknowledged attitude is, It won’t do any good, anyway? Does it seem like satan is winning the battle for the hearts and minds of our children and our nation? Does it seem like things are so bad, it’s hopeless to change them?
Satan is certainly going to make sure those thoughts come into our minds, but the question is, what do we do with them? Accept them or reject them? Surrender to them or fight them? Whom do we really believe, Jesus or satan? Whom do we believe really has the power and authority on earth, Jesus or satan? Do we really believe Jesus has given us His authority and power to save the lost, heal the sick, raise the dead, and be the salt and light to preserve righteousness in the nation, or do we secretly believe satan’s lie that we can do none of those things, so we don’t even try?
These are important questions for us to honestly confront. What do we really believe? Whom and what do we have so much faith in that it motivates and defines the way we live? If we find that our faith needs some work, that’s OK, because God already has the prescription for that, and we will explore it in our next post.
Do not be afraid to let God shine His light on areas where we need correction, instruction, or revelation. He already knows about them, and He still loves us! But He wants us to know about them, so He can bring us into wholeness and our walk is in agreement with our talk.
Love, Hugs, and Blessings,
Syandra
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