As we continue our series looking at ‘How To Win In Life’, this week we see how we can Win By Faith. Faith in God is one of the main teachings of the Bible. Faith is the key that opens a world of unlimited possibilities to us. Faith in Jesus Christ is what frees us from sin and religious condemnation. Faith is what causes us to live above our circumstances not under them. Faith is so powerful that it can bring a total turnaround in your life, your family, your finances, your health and in the nations of the world.
Faith is essential to pleasing God. Hebrews 11:6 says: ‘without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him’. Hebrews 11 tells us repeatedly that faith is the reason the greatest leaders of the Bible were able to overcome their biggest challenges. One of the greatest heroes of faith mentioned in this chapter is Abraham in Hebrews 11:8-12. Verse 8 says ’By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.’
From the life of Abraham and Genesis 15:1-6, we see some important lessons about how we can develop in our faith:
1. Faith Sees (Genesis 15:1 & 5; Galatians 3:29; Mark 5:27-29)
2. Faith Believes (Genesis 15:6; Hebrews 11:1; 2 Corinthians 5:7; John 20:29; Romans 10:17; James 1:6-7; Mark 11:24)
3. Faith Acts (James 2:17; Genesis 12:1-5)
Apply
Are you really living every day by faith in God? Are you seeing things in a natural way or do you see what God can supernaturally do in your life? At the moment when Abraham received his promise from God (Genesis 15:1 & 6), he did not seem to have a great future. He was old and he and his wife Sarah were childless. But God said he would have so many offspring that he wouldn’t be able to count his descendants. In one moment, he went from a vision of limitation to limitless blessing. His mind conceived possibilities that he had never imagined before. He would not only be the father of Isaac, Jacob and the Israelites but also of everyone through the ages who put their faith in Christ through the generations. He no longer had fear or frustration because he had no children, because his vision of the sky full of stars filled him with great faith for the future. Pastor Cesar Castellanos defines Vision as ‘the idea of God revealed to the mind of man for him to execute.’ We too can receive God’s vision (Galatians 3:29). We need to visualise God’s blessings in our lives. We need to see by faith great numbers of people coming to faith in Christ. We need to visualise churches of many thousands not only of many hundreds. We need to picture God using us to lead many people and help change nations. We need to dream of having abundant finances not just enough finances. We need to have our minds focussed on miracles of healing not on illness (Mark 5:27-29). Faith comes by a revelation from God where we see who Jesus is and what He can do in our lives. Faith is seeing through spiritual eyes, not natural eyes, when the blindness of logic and natural perception is taken away and we see a new supernatural dimension where nothing is impossible with God
Do you believe that God will do the impossible in your life? Do you need to leave your doubts and natural thinking behind? It’s not enough to see possibilities; you must also believe in your heart that they will happen (Genesis 15:6 & Hebrews 11:1). Faith is to believe when you don’t yet see it (2 Corinthians 5:7 & John 20:29). We can have this faith through reading and believing God’s word (Romans 10:17). Faith is not a feeling. It is simply believing in the word of God and power of God to save us and to bless us. When we hold onto faith, we experience the power it has to change our lives completely. Perhaps you have received different promises and not yet seen their fulfilment, but you will if you continue to have faith. You can receive more than what you are asking for and it can happen suddenly as you stay focussed in your faith. Refuse to doubt. Believe that God will keep His word and answer prayer (James 1:6-7 & Mark 11:24). As Corrie Ten Boom said, 'Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible.' Today if you believe in God and have faith in his plans, you have no reason to be anxious or afraid. You must not be intimidated by your past or by your future. Just believe that God loves you and will walk with you and work everything out for good.
What actions of faith do you need to take right now? What do you need to do to see the dreams and visions God has given you fulfiled? What are you waiting for? Faith is not passive (James 2:17). Smith Wigglesworth often said; ‘faith is an act.’ In other words, you have to do something. Abraham took a number of actions. First, he decided to leave his place of security to receive all the blessing God promised (Genesis 12:1-5). Abraham was 75 but he knew that he could not settle down if he wanted his miracle: he had to go to a new place and move out of his comfort zone. To have the baby that God promised Abraham and Sarah at the ages of 100 and 90 also required them to act in faith. Actions of faith are not always easy (e.g. Peter letting down the nets for a big catch after a whole night when they had caught nothing, or going as a Jew to the house of the Gentile Cornelius to share the gospel with him and his family). To receive new blessings and possibilities we have to let go of prejudices, old ways of thinking, traditions, comfortable living, past experiences and logic and fears. Don’t just be a dreamer: take action to receive your miracle. Faith is how we can move to new levels of conquest. We win by faith. Today is your opportunity to receive the gift of Faith, to visualize your miracle and embrace the promises God has given to you, to confess your miracle and to receive your miracles by faith in God.
