The “Madness” of Faith (I)

When you see success where others see failure; victory where others see defeat; and prosperity where others see poverty, it means you are not seeing them with your physical eyes. If you are seeing with your physical eyes, all you can see are failures, defeat, and poverty.

What you need to have in order to see beyond failure, defeat, and poverty is FAITH. “Faith,” the Bible says, “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb. 11:2)

In other words, faith means a display of what you are hoping for. You have not got it yet, but based on the assurance of God’s promise, you already believe you have got it. Your actions, behaviour, conduct, and confession display that you have got it, even though you are yet to see the physical manifestation.

The “substance” and the “evidence” of things you are hoping for are your actions, behaviour, conduct, and confession.

Now, faith is at variance with our senses. That is why when you live, walk, and see by faith, you operate beyond the realm of the physical.

In his book, The Fourth Dimension, David (formerly Paul) Yonggi Chou explained how he started his ministry without congregation. He kept preaching into the air and empty seats until gradually worshippers started trooping in. Today, he is having one of the largest single congregational churches in the world.

  

When you walk by faith and not by sight, you will get outstanding results that will confound those that walk by sight.

There is no way you walk by faith that someone out there will reckon with you as a sensible, reasonable or normal person. This is because when you walk by faith, you don’t see or perceive things with your senses, but by the way you want things to be.

Faith is no pretence. Faith is not hypocritical. The Bible says, “For we walk by faith and not by sight.´2 or. 5:7) Victorious living entails seeing, walking, and living by faith. It is those who are not walking by faith that are pretentious and hypocritical.

Faith says, “Even though my senses perceive defeat, failure, and poverty, I choose victory, success, and prosperity. By faith I am victorious, successful, and prosperous.

The problem we usually have with walking by faith is that we want to see the physical manifestation before we believe. That is not the way Jesus operated. Jesus did not wait for things to happen before he believed. He acted based on His belief. Waiting for things to happen before you believe runs contrary to the life of faith.

IT IS THE STEP OF FAITH YOU TAKE THAT MAKES THINGS TO HAPPEN. Bemoaning your failure and defeat is not an act of faith, and it will not take you anywhere.

But when you “Call those thing which be not as though they were,” and you hold unto your belief, that is when great and mighty things will start to happen.

Faith is not a product of events and circumstances; events and circumstances are the products of your faith. IT IS YOUR FAITH THAT USHERS IN THE EVENTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES YOU DESIRE.

Below are three steps you can take to activate your faith:

a)   Believe in God’s Promises

The reason things happen for your good is because of God. That is why you must anchor your faith in God’s promises. You must believe that God is not man that should promise and will not fulfil it.

Stop believing in what your senses tell you. Stop believing in what your physical eyes see. Believe only in what God says. If you want to prosper, you must beleve that it is God’s will that you should prosper, and that He will prosper you as He promised you in His Word, the Bible.

b)   Confess and Speak into Existence What You Are Hoping to Get

For your faith to be established, you must not only believe in God’s promises, you must start confessing and speaking into existence the things you want to have which you have not got. 

That is what faith is all about. You are weak, but you confess that you are strong; you are poor, but you confess that you are rich; you concede defeat, but you confess that you are victorious.

What you say is what you get. You don’t have to get it before you say it. That is like putting the cart before the horse and you may not be able to move the horse. The way to get it is to speak it into existence.

c)   Act as if You Have Got it

Many years ago, in a drought-hit region of a country, a group of concerned Christians gathered to pray for rain. The prayer leader observed that the other member of the prayer group did not come with their umbrellas.

Your action, behaviour, conduct, confession and plan should show that you have got what you have been yearning for, though you are yet to see the physical manifestation.

The faith that produces great results is the faith that acts as if you have got it, even though you have not yet got it actually.

d)   Hold Unto Your Faith

Hold unto your faith even though your physical senses tall you different stories. There will always be conflict between your faith and your senses, but if you must be victorious, you have to ignore your senses and hold unto your faith.

Holding unto your faith means you keep believing, confessing, and acting as if you have got it.

The faith that conquers is the faith that refuses to bow to defeat, failure, and poverty.

Till I come your way very soon, hold unto your faith and remain victorious!

 

Please watch out for the second part of this article. Don’t miss it!