Good Morning Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Do you feel some days of your life are a greater struggle than others? Some days do you feel distant from God, even though the day prior was a wonderful day in The Lord? Do you have times where you feel nothing seems to be going in your favor, that it seems everything is against you? If you share this with the unsaved or the natural Believer, they will say, “welcome to the real world!” Yes, I added the exclamation point because the unsaved and natural Believer will say this to you with emphasis. There are two problems with what I just wrote. The question our Father has for us is do we identify with both?
The first problem is the “do you feel.” The second problem is “the real world.” Before we address the two problems, let’s look at our cornerstone verse of this message, Hebrews 11:1.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Let’s break this verse down in the Greek so we gain a better understanding of what The Holy Spirit is saying through Paul.
“Faith” is the Greek word, “pistis,” which means, “faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.” A more detailed and thorough explanation from Strong’s is, “Faith is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. In short, “faith” for the Believer is “God’s divine persuasion” – and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence) yet involving it. The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded Believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the persuasion of His will (1 Jn 5:4).”
“Substance” is the Greek Word, “hypostasis,” which means, hypó, “under” and hístēmi, “to stand.” Strong’s provides a deeper understanding: “(to possess) standing under a guaranteed agreement (“title-deed”); (figuratively) “title” to a promise or property, i.e. a legitimate claim (because it literally is, “under a legal-standing”) – entitling someone to what is guaranteed under the particular agreement.”
Please note the end of the definition of hypostasis is “entitling someone to what is guaranteed under the particular agreement.” What particular agreement do with have with our Father God? Yes, the New Covenant through the agreement between God and Jesus Christ. We are the benefactors of the agreement through both parties: God as an heir and Jesus as a joint heir (Romans 8:17).
“Hoped’ is the Greek word, “elpizo,” which means, “to expect or a certainty.”
Please note the word, “elpizo,” infers we are to have an expectation or a certainty, based in Truth, that God will do His part without fail. God will uphold His end of the agreement, the blood covenant, with Jesus Christ. You stand beside Jesus as a joint heir.
“Evidence” is the Greek word, “elegchos,” which means, “an inner conviction which focuses on God confirming His inbirthing of faith (“the internal persuasion from Him”) in us.”
Please note the words, “inner conviction.” When we are convicted, or convinced, of something, we are assured of what we believe and the outcome of our belief.
So, if I do a “Larry” summarization of what Hebrews 11:1 means to me from the explanations above, Hebrews 11:1 reads:
“Now trust in God is the title deed to expect with certainty that which God has convicted, or convinced, me of from His Word through His covenant with Jesus Christ.”
Simply put, I have a guarantee, or a title deed, with God through Jesus Christ about any one or all of His promises to me. Having a title deed means “I own it. It belongs to me. It is mine! I take possession.”
How do we strengthen God’s faith, one of the fruits of The Spirit within us (Galatians 5:22-23)? Romans 10:17 gives us the answer.
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by The Word of God.
Faith comes by our ears hearing our mouth meditate and confess The Word of God over and over. We’ve spoken before about the difference between “listening” and “hearing.” “Listening” is receiving, “hearing” is believing. Many Believers listen, but they don’t hear. Why? Because they have no problem sitting in church on Sundays, Wednesdays, etc., and listening, but ask them to find time to devote to regular, diligent study of God’s Word, or hearing, and they have little or none. The Holy Spirit has made clear to me the first thing I spend any time on in the morning when I awake is where my heart is focused. If it’s email, social media, tabloids, phone conversations, money, the ministry, etc., that’s where my heart or my focus is. God is not second, He is first. He will not accept being second or even less in our lives. We either put God first, or we spiritually go in reverse. God loves us dearly, but He will not be second fiddle to anyone or anything in our lives. This also means your cell phone.
Romans 10:17 is the New Testament equivalent of Joshua 1:8.
Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
No secrets here. No magical formulas or shortcuts. We are to put God’s Word in our mouth, meditate (mutter, chew, confess) in it day AND night so we may do what it tells us to do. If we do this, we will experience the promise of God’s Word: prosperity and good success in all areas of our life. It is a process. We don’t go from being a newborn to an infant overnight just like we don’t go from being an infant to an adult overnight. It is a process of growth. Luke 2:52 tells us that even Jesus had to grow in wisdom and in stature (physical). He was not born as an adult.
Let’s go back to the two problems originally identified at the start of this message: “do you feel” and “the real world.” Feelings are not faith and faith is not feelings. Faith and feelings are diametrically opposed to one another. Feelings are of the family of “fear.” There are only two states of spiritual consciousness in this world: faith and fear. These two states are the root of all other outcomes in our lives. We either walk and live in faith or walk and live in fear. We can vacillate between the two states as well (i.e. we may believe in divine healing, but we don’t believe in divine prosperity). God’s will for us is to walk in faith. We walk in trust of the title deed He gave to us for all of His promises. If God said it, it is so. Our “feelings” may be a physical fact, but they are not the Spiritual Truth. Live by our feelings, and we will live a miserable Believer’s life in this earth. And we will be a terrible testimony to the world of how loving, gracious, compassionate, and merciful our Father is to all mankind if they turn to Him.
Before I go further, I quickly want to say God did NOT create fear. Fear came into this world through the curse which was ushered into this world by Adam. Yes, Adam. Many want to say satan. Sorry, you’re wrong. satan was not the god of this world at that time. Adam was. satan did not have the power to usher in fear. Adam did. When Adam gave away the title deed to his power and his authority and dominion over the earth to satan, now the curse was loosed in the earth and fear came with it. Religion will say otherwise, and religion is, and always will be, wrong. It is simply a tool of satan to attack The Word of God.
“The real world” is satan’s system of which he is the god. All of his gifts are temporary to lure one into it (the system) and trap them in bondage experiencing spiritual and/or physical decay and death. As a Believer who is diligent in studying God’s Word, we should know “the real world.” The real world is The Kingdom of God, which is in a Believer (Luke 17:21). Live and operate from it, you will be prosperous and a success in The Kingdom – anywhere you take it in this world. Live in the world’s system, and you will experience the ways of the world. The perfect example for us in The Scriptures is the man named “Lot” in Genesis. Hebrews tells us Lot was a righteous man who was vexed by the world. Why? Because he chose to live and operate in it. Read about how he ended up. What a terrible testimony for God. Then, take a look at Abraham, another righteous man that overcame the world. Why? Because he chose to worship and obey God. How did he end up? A father of many nations and a Friend of God. A wonderful testimony for God in this world. The choice is strictly and entirely up to us. We can’t blame anyone or anything else.
The Father’s encouragement to us is “don’t quit, don’t give up, don’t give in, and don’t worry.” Why? Because God has forgiven, and God has blessed (empowered us to prosper) us. We just have to exercise His faith which we have in us as a fruit of The Spirit. We’ll talk more about this next week. Start this week by focusing on God The Father and Jesus The Son as first in your life and the first thing in your life each day. And don’t worry if you make mistakes during each day. We have an advocate with God through Jesus Christ. Just repent and keep moving forward. If we do this, God will finish the work He has started in us.
“No Small Plans Made Here.” Oral Roberts.
In Christ,
Larry