IN my hand I was holding a letter from the real estate valuer. I had just read his assessment of the value of our block of land. "Value of property: NIHIL" All of our savings had been spent on site preparation. The foundations had just been completed. We were stuck.
What do believers do when they face the impossible?
Early in my Christian walk it dawned on me that a life of FAITH could not be that complicated if God required everyone to live by it. The principles of faith should work for a child the same as they do for the most brilliant mind. When Faith is ill-defined, it becomes illusive, mystical, something only available to an elite group.
Hebrews 11 is labelled as the 'faith chapter'. It defines WHAT faith is, but doesn't really show you how to get it to work.
The chapter starts like this: "Faith is the SUBSTANCE of the things hoped for..." Substance speaks of the 'raw materials'. All the things we use on a daily basis were made with raw materials. Imagine a car dealer delivering the raw materials on your door step, instead of the car you picked in the showroom!
You see, that is what God did when He gave you a 'measure of Faith' (Romans 12:3). You didn't get the finished product, just the raw materials. You didn't receive healing, forgiveness of sins, baptism in the Ho;y Spirit just like that, but you did receive the faith to get you all those things and the abundant life Jesus promised to all. (John 10:10)
Here is a shortlist of the two 'faith-ingredients':
1. Understanding of the Will of God
What does God WANT for you? There is little value in what God is able to do for me, if He is unwilling to do it. His Word, the Bible, contains the detailed promises of who He wants you to be and what He wants you to have.
2. Speaking His promises to yourself out loud
Speaking God's Word to yourself daily pulls out the weeds of unbelief that are often deeply rooted in your thought life. Believing and speaking God's Word to yourself sets you up for the next step. (Read Romans 10)
So you have the raw materials, but where do you go from here? This is where many Christians become frustrated and disillusioned. There is something that needs to happen with the raw materials, for you to get to the 'finished product'.
Action is required. Just as your body without your spirit is just a lump of meat, so also faith without the right course of action remains an unfulfilled promise. (James 2:26)
Actions can only come as the result of hearing. Faith never acts independently from what the Holy Spirit says. Without hearing God NO action must be taken. Acting without first hearing is called presumption. It looks like faith, but is always rewarded with disappointment.
The hearing part may come as a witness; you know deep inside it is the right thing to do. You just know it. Other times it may come as a clear thought in your mind. This is where what faith IS, becomes what faith CAN DO.
As I stood in front of my unfinished 'dream house', the Holy Spirit showed us an amazing solution to our problem. We took action. It wasn't something we could not do, but certainly not something we had considered. The end of the story? We built a beautiful home, that in time returned a healthy profit!
Once you understand that faith depends on your ability to hear, you are well on your way to living by faith.
