Faith Fundamentals

As I mentioned yesterday, faith is to be a way of life for the Christian. Living by faith means living by acting as though the Word of God were true! Some have mentioned faith in a way that makes it look like faith is a shot in the dark. But faith is an educated step on the Word of God!

Here are some basic fundamentals of how to live by faith. When we are born again God gives us a measure of faith to use against the circumstances of life, and we are to use our faith for the rest of our lives (Romans 12:3). Then we daily build our faith by feeding on the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Faith must be exercised just like a muscle if it is to grow and become strong. So we must begin to exercise our faith in the Word of God on a daily basis against life’s circumstances.

Faith accompanies knowledge. The more knowledge of the Word that a person has, the greater the capacity they have for faith. But faith must be put into action to be real faith. Living by faith is being a doer of God’s Word.

Faith is for what God has promised us but we don’t yet posses in physical form. Faith takes a hope that we have and makes it tangible. Hope is a desire that has no basis of reality. Hope is like a dream. You may hope for a physical healing one day in a diseased part of your body, but faith takes that hope and believes that God has healed before any physical changes occur.

You may hope for a change in some life circumstance, or for finances to meet a need, but faith goes a step beyond hope and believes that the need is met and the circumstance is changed before any change can be seen. Faith calls those things that be not as though they were.

Jesus said it this way, Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them (Mark 11:24).

New Century Version of Hebrews 11:1 puts it this way: Faith means being sure of what we hope for, and faith means knowing that something is real even before we see it.

If you have a need, exercising faith and believing you receive works every time, if you’ll simply act! I’ve been living this way for over 32 years now, and it’s amazing to see how God has been faithful to His Word!

Let me give you as simple illustration of how faith is exercised. Back in 1981, I noticed that warts had appeared on both of my hands. I counted twenty one warts! I had tried to dissolve them with various medications, but they were stubborn and seemed to continue to thrive. I decided that if God’s Word were true, then certainly He would heal me of these unsightly warts!

So I prayed one day according to Mark 11:24, asking the Lord to heal me of the twenty one warts, and I began to believe that I receive healing for the warts. I knew that faith takes the place of what I don’t see, but what God promises, until it manifests. So after I prayed I began to praise and thank God for healing me of warts. I didn’t look to see if they were gone, because I had all the evidence I needed, the Word of God in Mark 11:24. I could tell that there was no physical change however, because I could feel them on my hands as I went through the day’s duties.

I continued daily to thank God for healing me, and vocalized my thanksgiving for the healing throughout the day. Several weeks later, I noticed that all of the warts had disappeared. I had no idea when they left because I was so taken up with praising God for healing me!

I have this kind of thing happen over and over again through the years. I encourage you to exercise you God-given faith and believe you receive what God has promised you in His Word. Faith never fails!