Faith in Action!

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is...” Notice that. Faith is an action. Faith is not just a belief. It is a present condition. Faith is now! But, what is faith now? Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” So then, faith calls things that be not as though they were. Faith provides us with the evidence that the things which we believe for have come to pass. Too many times, we try to brush faith off as a mental thing. However, faith is the ability given by God to invoke change on the earth! Praise God!

Now, to prove that to you, look at Mark 11:12-14. “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.” So, Jesus went to this fig tree looking to eat. There was no fruit on it, so He spoke to the tree. (There should have been fruit on this particular tree, because of it having leaves, according to Bible scholars.) So, Jesus told the fig tree that no one would ever eat from it again. Then, He walked away. Jump down to verse 20. “Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.” I’m gonna pause here for a second. What a peculiar way for Jesus to answer him. Have faith in God. It seems like Jesus is telling Peter that the reason He could tell the fig tree that no one could eat from it ever again was because He had faith. So, speaking words in faith can change our circumstances! If this is true, then the next few verses should confirm what I said. Verse 23 “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

So then, Jesus just told us that faith was what allowed Him to speak to the fig tree and cause a result to happen. He also told us that we can do that in our own lives. Now, what is very interesting here, and the LORD has only shown this to me recently, is that there is a key phrase here. Whoever can have whatsoever, but, that depends upon not doubting in your heart. How did Jesus get to that point? He said that He only spoke what He heard His Father speak. God speaks words of faith. That is how He does things. It is His Method of Operation if you will. Since Jesus only said what He heard His Father say, no doubt or unbelief ever came out of His mouth. The Bible tells us that saltwater and freshwater cannot flow out of the same stream. In other words, the doubt or unbelief you speak will contaminate your faith. So, we need to check our mouths. What are we saying? “Well I’m just dying to go there!” Really? I hope not. “I don’t think that could ever happen to me.” It won’t now. You see, the words that you spoke contaminated your faith. If we want to get results like Jesus got results here on the earth, we need to learn to do things His way. He only spoke what He heard His Father say. So, the words we speak should be what He speaks to us. Those are words of blessing, not cursing, life and not death. In Deuteronomy 30:19 it says, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” God gave us the choice. We choose by the words that we say. So, you choose for yourself. Do you want to speak words of cursing, and death, and reap the same, and not see any results with your faith? Or do you want to speak words of life, and blessing, reap the same, and go from faith to faith and glory to glory? I chose faith and glory, Bless God! I want to produce results with my faith. If I don’t produce results, I am just like that fig tree. I am not producing fruit, and can be of no use to Master, and that is no place I want to be. If I speak words of faith, and get results by them, I can accomplish mighty acts (through the Holy Spirit) for the Kingdom! What a wonderful life that is, to be a blessing to others, and to point them to Jesus, our Savior, Messiah, Redeemer, and Friend! So then, purpose today what words you will speak. Make a quality decision to grow closer to God. Don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake, just get it under the Blood right away, and get right back on course, fighting the good fight of faith! For our weapons are not carnal, bless God, but mighty for the pulling down of strongholds! AMEN!

So then, Our faith is meant to produce a result. We need to make sure that only freshwater is flowing out of our spring. What do I mean by this? Well, in Proverbs it tells us that out of a man’s heart flow the issues, or wellspring, of life. Jesus tells us in Matthew that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So, out of our spring will flow the waters that are in us. If my spring has some saltwater and some freshwater, then the water that flows out will be all salty. In other words, you can’t contain the salt. Just like with doubt. You can’t speak doubt in one situation, and expect it not to affect the rest of your life. So, we must weed the doubt out. Like Jesse Duplantis says, “Doubt is a cancer growth in the spirit. It must be cut out by the scalpel of faith.” How do we get the doubt out? By using the sword of the spirit. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. We could say that that metaphor is used because one side of this sword cuts the devil, the other side cuts us, performing surgery, to get the doubt, and the unGodly things out of us.

You may think I got off track here, but I'm working on something, hear me out now.

Our faith is meant to produce a manifestation in our lives. The Bible tells us that. Our faith is used to produce Kingdom results in our lives. However, our faith cannot work if there is doubt mixed in. A little bit of doubt will contaminate the whole thing, much like a little bit of salt will contaminate the water, or a little yeast will leaven the whole loaf of bread. Doubt is dangerous, but the Word of God, which is alive and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, is there to cut the unGodly things out of our lives. Doubt included. When we allow the Word, or the scalpel of faith, to perform spiritual surgery, we cut the doubt out, and remove it, like you would a tumor. It is gone, not to return again. Then, our faith can produce results. I can be a producer for God in His system. I can use my faith to invoke change, and watch this faith change my situations from bad, to good. Bless God. We need to develop our faith, and watch Supernatural things come to pass. We use our faith to call things which be not as though they were. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! When you are standing for something, be it your healing, prosperity or just money to pay your bills. Whatever it is that you are believing God for, when the devil comes at you and tries to attack you, and he says, “You haven’t seen anything. You have been standing for a long time. If it was going to happen, you would have seen it already.” That is when you jump up, grab your Bible, turn to Hebrews 11:1, and tell the devil, “NO way Mr. devil! I have the evidence right here! My faith is the substance what I am hoping for! It is the evidence of what I cannot see! It is the title deed! (AMP) I have it, praise God, and you aren’t gonna convince me otherwise! Now, I’m just gonna start praising God for giving me my ... (whatever it is you need or are believing for).” Then you begin praising God, magnifying Him, and telling Him how awesome He is! You thank Him! That is faith in action! Hallelujah!