FAITH and HOPE
What
is Faith and Hope?
You may be wondering why we are talking about faith and hope together. That’s because one will not work without the other.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
According to God’s word,
faith is a substance. Something
tangible that you could actually see.
In other words if you were praying for a healing, faith will be the
substance of that healing. A healing
that you could both feel and see. Now
hope is required before faith can manifest itself into a healing. Hope as we will see is a “blueprint” based
on God’s Word. Faith will then manifest
a substance to match your hope, (the blueprint), in your spirit in every
detail, in this case a healing.
Before we go any further,
let’s look at an analogy of what we just talked about. Suppose you were going to build a home for
your family. You would need more than
just an idea that you wanted to build a house.
You would have to have a specific house in mind. More than that you would need an actual
blueprint, drawn by an architect showing exact details of your new house. You would also need carpenters that could
take that blueprint and manifest it
into a substance, your house. So
then the carpenters will create your house based on your blueprint. Now when it comes to God’s Word the
architect is God. The blueprint is your
hope based on the word of God. The carpenters would be your faith. Together the architect (God), the blueprint
(your hope) and the carpenters(your faith) would create a substance, such as a
healing! Sound easy? Well guess what,
it is! But there is a catch to all of
this though, and that is this. Just as
with building a house, you must first finish the blueprint. If you have a blueprint that is partially
finished, your home will also be partially finished. The only way to finish a blueprint is to stay at it until it is
completed. The same applies to your
hope. Faith cannot work on a partially finished hope. You must stay in the Word of God concerning the particular thing
you are seeking God for. In due time
the Word will complete your hope. Then your faith will begin to create a
substance that will match your hope perfectly.
So then your faith is the substance of what you are hoping
for.
I realize trying to
believe in something that you have not seen can be difficult at times. As Christians, this is something we must
do. Let’s face it we don’t seem to have
a problem believing for our next paycheck which we haven’t seen yet. We don’t
have a problem believing that we are saved by the
shed blood of Jesus Christ. I think we
all must admit that there are times when we don’t ‘feel’ or even ‘look’ like we
are saved. It makes no difference how
we may feel, or what we may see. If you
have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then you are saved, and that
is the end of that. It is not even open
for discussion. We must begin to take
that same approach by Faith and Hope with every promise of God!
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 2
Corinthians 5:7
Now the world must see it
before they believe it. God’s children
believe it before they see it.
God does not do things the way the world does. God was grieved with the Jews after he brought them out of
bondage, because they would not believe in his ways.
Forty years long was I grieved with this generation,
and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my
ways:
Psalms 95:10
We must realize that we
are serving a big God. He loves us so
much that he is ready to do anything to keep us from harm. We must believe by Faith and Hope that God
already has the answer to our problems however impossible that may seem. We may not be able to understand how our
problems can be solved, but God will find a way.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah
55:8,9
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not
unto thine own understanding. In all
thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the
LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow
to thy bones. Proverbs 3:5-8
So then your hope must be
based on the Word of God. Your faith
will manifest the word (your blueprint) into a substance. For example, if you need a healing. You can build your hope on God’s Word
concerning healing.
Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within
me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not
all his benefits: Who forgiveth all
thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with
lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who
satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the
eagle's.
Psalms 103:1-5
Your faith then will
manifest a substance from your hope, (based on the Word of God), and you will
be healed.
Can I be sure I have Faith and Hope?
We know by the Word of God
that one of the ‘fruit’ of the Holy Spirit is faith.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, Meekness, temperance:
against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22,23
We also know that when we
accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in
us.
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye
know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. John 14:16-17
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please
God. But ye are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he
is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because
of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Romans
8:8-11
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you . 1 Corinthians 3:16
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 1 Corinthians 6:19
So we can see by the above
scriptures that we not only have God’s Holy Spirit in us, we also have God’s
Faith in us. There is no need to go looking
for something that you already have.
God did not give us half of his Holy Spirit or a part of his Faith. God’s Salvation is a complete package. You get everything you need to overcome in
this world and in this life.
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and
this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 1 John
5:4
According as his divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that
hath called us to glory and virtue: 2 Peter 1:3
When I said that this was
a complete package, I mean COMPLETE!
The very presence of Jesus Christ himself is in you . We know that Jesus is the Word of God and
that he is our hope!
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as
of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory: Colossians 1:27
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of
God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope. 1 Timothy 1:1
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1
Peter 1:3
Right about now you should
be jumping up and down for joy! You
have the presence of Jesus Christ in you.
You have the Holy Spirit in you.
You have God’s Faith in you. You
have God’s Hope in you. You should be
saying, “look out world, here I come”!
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me.
Philippians 4:13
How does Faith and Hope work?
For some reason faith and hope
seem to be a mystery to many Christians.
It’s kinda like that computer sitting on your desk at work. You know it’s there, but try to figure out how
it works! It’s a mystery. God’s faith
and hope should not be that way. God
never intended for us to be confused over anything he has said to us in his
Word.
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace……. 1
Corinthians 14:33
The bible tells us exactly
how faith and hope work, and what to expect when we use our faith and hope.
And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he
was hungry: And seeing a fig tree far
off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when
he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not
yet. And Jesus answered and said unto
it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. and his disciples heard it. Mark
11:12-14
And when even was come, he went out of the city. And in the morning, as they passed by, they
saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig
tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever
shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;
and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he
saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever
ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have
them. And when ye stand praying,
forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven
may forgive you your trespasses. But if
ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your
trespasses. Mark 11:19-26
Now Jesus didn’t make a
habit of going around talking to trees just because he didn’t have anything
else to do. Rest assured that whenever
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does or says something, he does so because he has
something specific in mind. Notice what
happened to that fig tree when they saw it the following morning. It was dried up. The important thing here is that it dried up from the roots. This is exactly how faith works. Faith goes to the root of the problem
and destroys it! The leaves didn’t fall
off the tree immediately after Jesus spoke to it. It wasn’t until the following morning that they noticed that the
leaves had fallen off and the tree was dried up. The faith that God has given you does the job right the first
time. When Jesus spoke his ‘Word’, his
Faith didn’t knock the leaves off. It
killed the tree at the roots. There was
no way the leaves could hang on. The
tree was already dead. As soon as Peter
called this to every ones attention, Jesus used that opportunity to teach them
how faith works. Jesus made it very
clear. That when you stand praying, you
must believe that you have received the answer before you see it.
Jesus said that we should
not doubt in our hearts when we pray.
Your heart is your new born again spirit that God has given you. If you have filled your spirit with the Word
of God then you will not doubt. You
will be ‘fully persuaded’ just as Abraham was.
There is no way that your spirit could be full of the Word just by
hearing or reading the Word one or two days a week. Remember that your faith is going to work with your hope (which
is based on the Word of God). Very
little Word produces very little hope and not much for your faith to work
with. Remember a partially finished
blueprint produces a partially finished house.
Hindrances to Faith and Hope.
Now here comes the part
that I believe is the biggest reason why many of God’s children never see their
prayer’s answered, (Unforgiveness). Read the last part of the scripture above. If you have not forgiven someone then you
will not be forgiven by God! How could
you expect to receive anything from God with an unforgiving heart. God through
Jesus Christ has forgiven you and you in turn must do the same for others. If you have unforgiveness in your heart,
then get rid of it. If left to fester it will not only make your prayer life
ineffective but could also destroy you in the process. To learn more about this, see the article
entitled “forgiving” from the main page under “Study Reference”.
If you have unforgiveness
in your heart toward anyone, then you are not walking in the Love of God. Without love you cannot expect God’s faith
to work in your life, because faith works, or is activated by love, (God’s
Love).
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth
any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith
which worketh by love. Galatians 5:6
We must constantly keep
the Word of God in our hearts and walk in the Love of God. The Word is our hope and our faith will come
immediately when it hears the Word of God.
The result will be, the answer to our prayers.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God. Romans 10:17
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to
the Lord. Colossians 3:16