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SCHOOL OF FAITH


                 (THE REAL MEANING, LIFE AND KINDS OF FAITH)


                                          CHAPTER 1


                                       FAITH IS NOT….


Before we look at what faith is, I would like us to look at what faith is not. This will help us

when we look at what faith actually is, because it will help us not to add it as another

definition of faith. It is the definition not another. Don‟t add, let it be fundamental.


Faith is not hope


Faith is not hope. Hope lives in the future but faith lives in the present, the now not later.

Hope is the assurance, surety or certainty that something will or will not (not may or may not)

be in the future but faith see things already done in the now. Hope makes you smile while the

boat is sinking but faith makes the boat afloat. Hope says „I know I will get it by God‟s

grace‟. So one who lives by hope will say „I know things will get well again‟ but does not see

those things as done in the now. Faith says „I have gotten it by God‟s grace‟. Faith therefore

sees things done and done well in the now, not later or near future. Many people pray in hope

and not in faith. When God revealed this to me I realized that I had been praying in hope for

so long a time. It changed my life. I changed from hope prayers to faith prayers. I used to say

„I know I will get it‟ after my prayers but now I say „thank you Jesus, I know you have given

it to me‟. Hope is an expectation for a thing desired, needed, or wanted. Faith lives beyond

expectation, desire and need. It sees things as already received not in expectation that it will

be given them but that it has really been delivered. They have it in the now and so their

actions are consistent with their faith. For example, if Abraham after hearing from God that

he should leave his country, kindred and father‟s household and go to a land that He will
show him, had said, Lord I believe in you absolutely but I will not go, his actions would had

been inconsistent with his faith. His faith would have been questionable because faith stirs up

one to act accordingly and in consistence to the specific word for it was that word he head

that generated the faith in him. Many people have a „faith hope‟. They think that they just

have to see their request granted in the now in the hope that God will grant it later. So in

reality, they do not have it or believe that they do have it in the now but they accept that they

have it in order that God will give it to them later. This is not faith; it is „faith hope‟. It is a

misconception of what faith is. The devil uses this to keep many believers miserable if he

fails to keep them in the realm of hope prayers. God answers faith prayers, not hope prayers

or „faith hope‟ prayers. He who prays in hope should not expect answers from God. Faith and

hope are two different principles and work differently though from the same Spirit.


Jesus said „when you pray, believe…‟ Mk. 11:24. „When‟, not „if‟ meaning you will definitely

pray. And when you are praying, believe! Not hope, but believe! The Bible in Basic English

(BBE) translation puts it this way, ‘…whatever you make a request in prayer, have faith’.

Note, it is „have faith,‟ not “have hope” or „faith hope‟. The lord answers faith, not hope.

They are different principles. Faith is not hope and hope is not faith, just as goats are goats

and sheep are sheep though they are all domestic animals. No cow is a goat; no mango is an

orange or fish a toad. In the same way, these two, faith and hope, function differently, though

from the same Spirit. I will like to reveal a truth in this scripture, it says ‘…whatever…’ and

God meant it when He was saying it because He is Omniscient, Omnipresent and

Omnipotent. „Whatever‟ means „Whatever‟ and nothing is left out of „whatever‟. Reader,

your present situation is included in that „whatever‟. All this while God has been waiting for

you to come to Him in faith not hope or „faith hope‟ and he will answer you immediately. Do

not have faith in God for some things but have faith in God for all things because whatever

you ask in faith will be given you. Scripture says, ‘And all things, whatever you make request
for in prayer, having faith, you will get’ Mt 21:22 (BBE). Nothing is left out of ‘And all

things…’ All situations are covered in it but in making the request in prayer, scripture says

make it „having faith’ not „having hope‟ or „faith hope‟. Notice also that it says „having

faith’, this is present continuous, so it is not one time or often nor regularly but always. It is

this faith that God answers and respond to and not hopes. Anybody can hope whether they

are born again or not but it takes faith to relate with God in prayer and in life. Faith is not

hope and hope is not faith just as a cow is not a monkey and a fish not a toad.


Faith is not believe


Believe is not faith. Faith surpasses the point of believe. Though used interchangeably, when

critically examined, believe is not faith. Many believe but may not have faith. Believe simply

means „to accept as true‟. You can accept a thing to be true but if you do not act on it, it will

not yield any result. Faith does what it believes. Faith is a doer not an accepter; it accepts the

thing said by God as true and does it. Faith is inside-out. Believe is outside-in. The word of

God (specifically, rhema) comes from outside and gets into contact with your spirit. Then

faith is imparted into your spirit. This faith then expresses itself from the inside otherwise

nobody will know that it is there. It is the works of faith that shows that faith is there. With no

expression, nobody will know you have faith. When believe becomes outward, then it is faith.

Believe accepts only, faith adds actions to what is accepted. He who believes only should not

expect results. You can‟t say „yes I believe I am healed but get me some paracetamol‟. It is

sick people who take paracetamol not healed people. No healthy person takes medicine; it is

for the sick. So after having received healing from the Lord in prayer, what is the medicine

coming to do? I am not against taking medical treatments but I am against drug abuse. If you

are healed as you claim you believe and still take medicine, then, it is drug abuse because you

are not sick yet you take drugs. It therefore implies that you believed but you did not have

faith. It is faith that heals not belief. For example, if a malaria patient has been given some
drugs to take in order to cure him/her and this person collects the drugs believes that if he

takes the drugs he/she will be healed but never takes the drug yet every time he/she keeps on

saying that I believe if I take the drugs will get well, will that heal him/her. The drug, yes, is

the cure or treatment for malaria, the patient‟s accepting this to be true (believing in the drug)

is good but that will not heal him/her, not even his/her confession that I know I will get well

if I take the drug. It is her taking in the drug that will heal her. Though this analogy is not

perfect when it comes to spiritual issues yet the principle remains true. Believe without action

can kill you but faith does not kill for scripture says the righteous shall live by faith.

Therefore believe is not faith and faith is not believe because believe can kill but faith never

kills but rather it gives live. The woman with the blood issue who came to Jesus Christ

would not have been healed and probably die later in it if after believing that if she gets to

Jesus Christ and touch the herm of his garment she will be healed yet did it not. No matter

how many times she confessed her believe in this, if she had not done it she would have gone

home the same and probably die in it since medical treatment could not help her. Believe

initiates the process but faith implements it. Believe therefore is like an idea. Until that idea is

implemented it will not change the situation of the one it came from. In fact they are many

good ideas in the cemetery because the people who had those ideas never implemented them

or shared them. Assuming the one who invented the modern day computers never

implemented his idea and died with it, there would be no computers today unless another

person comes out with that same idea and implements it. Believe is like having an idea but

faith is having the result of the idea and the idea itself. Believe is limited and unnoticed but

faith is limitless and visible.


Faith takes God at his word but believe accepts God‟s word. Accepting, and accepting and

acting, are two different things. Do you make faith prayers or believe prayers? God answers

your faith not your believe. Begin to reposition yourself and relocate from believe prayers to
faith prayers and you will see and experience awesome things from the Lord. Every good gift

and every perfect gift is from the father of lights (James 1:17). It will be poured into your

bosom like rain pouring on dry fields. Let‟s look at this scripture:


¶5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the

greatest to the least of them.


6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his

robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.


7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the

king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not

let them eat, or drink water.


8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every

one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.


9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we

may not perish? (Jonah 3:5-9 NKJV)


The people did not only accept God‟s message from Jonah but they also demonstrated it.

They acted it out. Even animals partook in the fasting. Can you imagine a king sitting on

ashes with sack cloth if he didn‟t have faith? There was a sincere repentance by all, it was

deep and complete. Repentance is „a change in mind‟ resulting in a change in behavior,

attitude and direction. If one was moving towards the East and repents –changes his mind- he

does not only change his behavior and/or attitude and continues to move in the same direction

but there is a change in direction, he now has to move towards West. A repented soul acts

oppositely to the thing he/she repented from. It is a change in mind resulting in a change in
direction. There is always an action to show that one has changed. A change can not be

hidden; it will always show itself. So is faith.


In verse „10‟, scripture says ‘when God saw what they did’. There was a seeing of what had

been done by the people of Nineveh. God saw their demonstration of faith in him. Faith is

seeable. It will always show up. It will always express itself once it is there. They believed,

acted it out in the form of fasting compelling even animals to fast alongside with them, God

responded. God responds to only faith. If they had believed only and had not acted it out, God

would not have responded because He sees only faith and not believe. God hears and

understands only the voice of faith. Every belief that does not express itself is no belief at all.

Action must be on belief for God to see it. God saw and changed his mind. Hallelujah! God

changed his mind because Nineveh believed and acted it out. If only such faith is

demonstrated, there will be changes in the heavenly places. ‘When God saw…..’ Has God

seen your demonstration of faith? Act out what you believe. How can you say I am healed

and be in bed? Get out of the bed as normal and healthy people do and carryout your daily

activities as healthy people do. When God sees your faith, He will take away the symptoms

also. Let what you say be consistent with what you do. Many Christians live in the realm of

believe but that realm is miserable and full of frustrations because one lives apart from

reality. It does not yield any results. We are to come before God in faith not believe. Believe

is not enough, it is limited and invisible hence unreliable. It is faith that pleases God not

believe. They are different principles and therefore function differently. If the people of

Nineveh after hearing Jonah‟s prophecy had said thank you so much Jonah, we believe your

message but never implemented that believe, they would have perished because God would

have seen nothing. One must however not fake his action for God hates pretence.


Faith is not sensual
Faith is not a feeling. Faith is independent of one‟s feeling. That is, faith is not based on

feelings. I often hear people say, oh! I feel am healed. You are not. You don‟t really believe.

When people ask you, how do you know if you are saved? They often say, I feel changed,

happy or light. This means when you feel unhappy, heavy or when you have sinned, you are

not saved. You are healed because God said so and you believe him and so you live as he has

said. Healing is not a feeling; it is what God has said. You are saved because God had said;


‘…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has

raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto

righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’ (Romans 10:9-10

NKJV)


The word ‘believe’ from the scripture is translated from the Greek word, „pisteuo‟ which

means „to have faith‟ or „credit‟. And by implication, it means to entrust ones spiritual well-

being wholly to Christ. When you believe, you have just credited (deposited) truth into your

spirit, and that truth is what sets you free because when you know the truth, it brings freedom.

That is why you are saved when you believe. It is faith that does it. So faith is the thing not

feelings.


The BBE puts it this way, ‘… if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in

your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation’ Rom

10:9


So immediately you say with your mouth, „Jesus is Lord‟ and „have faith in your heart‟, you

are saved. It has nothing to do with feelings. Scripture didn‟t say and „feel in your heart‟ but

„have faith in your heart‟. Feelings are fruits of salvation, not an indication of salvation.

Good feelings may come when one is born again but that is not salvation. They may point to

something- salvation, but they are not necessarily the indicators of salvation. Salvation is
solely based on what God has said about you, not what you feel about yourself. Salvation is

not a thing of emotion; it does not dwell in that realm. Faith is not a feeling. Faith is eternal,

feelings are temporal and time bound.


Scripture also says in John 1:12-13 that:


‘But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those

who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the

will of man, but of God’.


The Greek word translated as „believe‟, is the same word used in Rom 10:9, „pisteuo‟. So you

are saved by faith. You are saved because God says so. He says if you believe in your heart

(not your head) and confess with your mouth (not your mind or head) the Lord Jesus, you are

saved. So if you do it sincerely you are saved as the word says. Just like that. The feelings are

a product of the salvation; not it but a product of it. Feelings are temporal. If you base your

healing or salvation on feeling, you will be loosing and gaining your salvation and health as

often as your feelings change. That is, you will be born again many times as often as your

feelings change or as regularly as your feelings change. But that is unscriptural. You are born

again once and for all. Feelings are temporal but faith is eternal. Feelings are bound to change

because that is their nature. Feelings are not meant to be permanent; therefore, faith cannot be

based on feelings. Faith is solid, pure and holy.


Life in Christ is a life of faith not a life of feelings. It is a spiritual life not a „soulish‟ life.

You can not believe with your soul- will, intellect, and emotions. In fact, it is impossible to

believe with your soul because faith is of the spirit, not the soul! In scriptures, the word

„heart‟ does not refer to the biological heart but your „you‟. That is your spirit. If not, then

when a born again, tongue speaking, anointed man or woman of God is about to die, we can

just transplant their hearts to unbelievers and they will go to heaven. Know that you are a
spirit. That spirit- the real „you‟- has emotions, intellect, and a will- thus, has a soul which

can think, feel and will. You are however not a soul but a spirit. I have a mobile phone but I

am not a mobile phone, so you have a soul (will, intellect and emotions) but you are not a

soul. You as a spirit live in a body. You are not a body but you live in there. I live in a house

at Bolga-Soe but I am not a house. Hence, man is a spirit, has a soul and lives in a body. That

is why you are a human being. That is a „being‟ in a body. This means there are other beings

without the human aspect. Now getting back to Romans 10:10 and other scriptures, the

expressions; „heart‟, „inner man‟ and „inward man‟ all refer to the actual you- your spirit. So

we believe with our spirit not soul or body. Never base your salvation or healing on feelings

but on the sure word of Christ Jesus.


Faith is not what you see


Faith is independent of seeing for it is not based on sight. It functions in a higher level. The

realm of sight or appearance is not where faith dwells; instead, faith determines this realm.

Faith is not perceived by sight; faith is spiritual. It is what is spiritual that determines what is

seen physically. In fact, most of the time, they are mutually exclusive and are often

contradictory. People often say „seeing is believing‟; even some Christians affirm this saying.

But that is a lie. It is a serious lie from the pit of hell designed to strategically shift and equate

faith to sight. Believing is seeing! Not the reverse. Scripture reveals this clearly in 2Cor 5:7

(For we walk by faith, not by sight) (KJV). The Greek word translated as walk is „peripateo‟.

„Peripateo‟ means to tread all around, i.e. walk at large (especially as proof of ability);

figuratively, to live, follow (as a companion or votary):--go, be occupied with. I like the last

aspect. It says „be occupied with‟. Inserting this in place of walk in the above scripture gives

an interesting revealing. It reads this way; „For we are occupied with faith, not by sight‟. This

is wonderful. „We...’ refers to us, Christians, the verb „are…’ is present continuous meaning

we are always, not often or regularly or even most of the time but always. Then it says „…
occupied with faith‟, we are filled with faith, we are occupied. There is no room for sight, we

are occupied. This is our normal state; we are occupied with faith always. Then it says, „…

not sight‟. This means there is the possibility of being occupied with sight just that we are not

supposed to. Being occupied with faith simply means that our lives are lived on faith and by

faith, and being occupied with sight simply means our lives are lived on sight and by sight;

that is, what we see physically determines our next move. Therefore faith and sight are

different rules of life. Sight makes you out of sight but faith gives you insight. The Bible in

Basic English translation put it this way „For we are walking by faith, not by seeing’ 2Cor

5:7. The Holy Spirit through St. Paul is exhorting us not to walk by seeing but faith. Look

carefully at Mk 11:24 and you will see this truth;


"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive

them, and you will have them’.


Jesus said you believe before you receive. Meaning you believe before you see, „…when you

pray, believe…‟ it is after the believing that „you will have them’, not the other way round.

But after praying, I often hear many say „I don‟t see any change‟. I still have pains and

headaches, toothache and they go on and on. They want to see before they believe because

they believe „seeing is believing‟. But that is a lie. Faith ignores sight. It does not deny them

but true faith ignores them. Sight strangles faith. It makes things appear untrue, introduces

doubt which gives birth to fear and fear kills faith. The word says;


25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when

the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And

they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It

is I; do not be afraid." 28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command

me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down
out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was

boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" 31

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of

little faith, why did you doubt?" Matt 14:25-31


‘30 but when he saw…..’ It was the seeing that strangled the faith with which he was

walking on the water. And he sank. As long as he did not see the waves of the sea, he walked

on the water. When he walked by faith, he walked on the water but when he walked by sight,

he began to walk in water. Faith makes you walk on your problems and limitations but sight

makes you walk in problems and limitations. The Greek word translated as „saw‟ is ‘blepo’

which means to be aware, perceive, regard or take heed. It is only when he regarded or took

heed of the wind that he began to sink. Faith in Christ disregards all but Christ. When you

take heed of your sickness or its symptoms or regard them, you will sink. But as long as you

regard scripture which is the truth and take heed of it, you will walk on sicknesses and

diseases and nothing will harm you. I choose to walk on problems and not in problems. Faith

walk is an „on‟ walk which is victory, not an „in‟ walk which defeats. Never say or believe

that „seeing is believing‟. It is a „killer lie‟, thus, it will kill your faith if you allow it. Let there

be relocation from sight life to faith life. Then you will be victorious in all you do. Scripture

is clear on this when it said;


‘For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome

the world--our faith’ 1 John 5:4 NKJV.


It says ‘For whatever …,‟ that includes you and me, reader! „Whatever‟ means „whatever‟

and that leaves no one out. The question however is; are you born of God? Once you are born

of God there are no options, you are an over-comer. It does not matter what is happening

around you or in your life for that thing cannot change who you are, an over-comer! After all,
you became an over-comer by being born of God, not by the presence or absence of

happenings or difficulties. What happens around us should never determine our next move in

life. Faith life is an „over-comer‟ life but sight life is an „over-comed‟ life- a life that has been

defeated and made meaningless. You are born of God by faith and once you are born of God,

you have over-comed the world. It is the born of God that overcomes the world. You are not

trying to overcome. You have done it already. It is a done deal. Faith overcomes all, sight is

overwhelmed by all. Choose one. Notice the tense „overcomes‟ which is present continues;

meaning the overcoming is at infinitum. Everyday you are a victor, why, because you are

born of God. It is faith that puts you in this position. Refuse to let what you see deceive you;

do not let it entangle you either, but live by faith. It is not what you are seeing but what you

believe that determines what you will get.


Faith is not as you hear


Though faith comes by hearing, not every hearing is of the ability to impart faith into ones

spirit. The hearing that produces faith must be of the word-the rhema. It is not just any

hearing but a hearing that is of the truth. Any hearing different from this kills faith. Faith and

what you hear are two different things and may even be contradictory. God is telling you one

thing through his word and the environment is giving you a different message altogether. If

some one says to me „I hear they have given the job to another person but God also told me it

is mine‟. I will tell him, your problem is the hearing. Why did you hear it? In 1John 5:14, it is

written;


„And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will,

he heareth us: (KJV)


God does not hear us when we pray not according to his will. So if what you heard is not in

accordance with God‟s will, why accept it as true. Why hear it? Just behave like your father-
God, for He does not hear us when it is not his will. So also don‟t hear anything that is not

God‟s will. You may say what is, and how do we know God‟s will? It is very simple, we

know his will already; His word is his will. Every situation has a scriptural solution. Give

yourself to the word. Let the word dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Search it diligently and

when you find it, get hold of it. Hear it! Do it! And live by it.


Jesus said „as I see my father do so I do‟. Faith life is never based on what you hear

especially when it contradicts what God has said. Don‟t hear it! God has assured you that you

will get the job and that is his will. Then you later heard, probably from a reliable source (but

not from God), that the job has been given to another person and you choose to believe that

when God has not given you any contrary message. It is a serious mistake; therefore hear

only what God says. Don‟t hear anything outside his will no matter how true it may appear.

His will is his word and once you know it, hold unto it, and never doubt it. What you hear, if

you don‟t subject it to scripture can kill your faith. Note that what you hear varies because it

is temporal but the word of God is constant; it is dependable, reliable, delivers what it

promises and is eternal. Faith is of the constant- the eternal- not the variable. Faith is not a

variable but a constant; it does not vary from place to place or from time to time. Scripture

says faith is eternal, not temporal! It endures forever; it is an everlasting, ever living

relationship with God. Faith is not a momentary character or something you resort to when in

need. It is the life of every believer and abides forever. Scripture says;


‘And now abide faith’ 1 Cor. 13:13.


„Now‟ is present continues, meaning infinitum; this implies faith is outside time and space.

That is changes in times and seasons do not affect faith, it is independent on time, it is above

time. We can grow old but faith, though it grows, does not become old. Have you ever seen

an old faith before? The answer is emphatically no!!! But have you seen an old man or
woman before? Sure!!! You may be living with one even now. We grow old because we are

limited by space and time. Time is above us. We cannot tell what will happen next except it is

revealed to us but the realm of faith is above the realm of time and space.


Faith is one of the things that will remain; it has no end. When we get to heaven, faith will be

there just like love, because faith is eternal. There will be love in heaven because love will

remain, so is faith and hope. So when you hear his voice, do not harden your heart (Heb 4:7).

Abraham heard from his environment, his own body and his soul- you are old- but chose to

believe the voice of God (Rom 4:17-21). Today choose to hear only God! Faith is not what

you hear from the environment! Before you accept something as true make sure that it is

coming from God apart from this no matter the source of a message never believe it; do not

hear it.


Faith is not intellect


Faith is not „what you think‟ but „what is‟. It is not „a thinking‟ but the „thing‟. It is not like

the thing but the thing itself, it is the substance, the title deed itself. It has passed from

thinking to the thing. Faith is not intellectual; it is not an idea, an option or opinion nor a

concept of the mind. Faith is neither a rational thing nor irrational thing. It has nothing to do

with man‟s intelligence but everything to do with God‟s wisdom. Geniuses do not have more

faith than any other person. It is not ingenuity but supernatural impartation. Faith is not a

concept of the mind, something brought up by man. It is not a mental activity. Faith is beyond

the mind‟s capacity. If faith were an intellectual activity, then all the Bible scholars should

have been devout believers. All professors would have gone to heaven and illiterates to hell.

But as we know, most of them are unbelievers, sometimes even busy fighting God. Faith is

far from logic. Logic is a thing of the soul whereas faith is a thing of the spirit. Faith goes

beyond ones mind. Your head is not capable of believing in God because it was designed to
house thoughts drawn from faith; for this reason, people struggle to understand God. They

use logic, a thing of the soul but God is beyond logic. How do you use logic to explain what

is beyond logic? Scripture says,


„…by faith we understand…..‟ Heb. 11:3


Understanding is a product of faith. Understanding God is a thing of faith, not the mind. It is

by faith that we understand not by logic or the mind. But by faith, understanding is made

perfect. That is why Christians do not struggle when they read Gen. 1 and 2. They understand

by faith that God created the world and everything in it, for by faith we understand. It is

impossible to understand God without faith. Scientists and philosophers use logic, a thing of

the mind; if God created the world, then where was God? But they fail to understand that God

does not need the world or anything in it to exist but that everything-the world and all that is

in it- rather need God to exist. „Intellectuality‟ will pass away but faith lives forever (1 Cor.

13:13). Faith is not a mental assent, agreement or power. One cannot just mentally accept

something and think that it is faith, faith always expresses itself in the things it does. For

example, if you believe in prayer, it will always be the first resort when you are in need. If

any other thing comes before prayer, your faith is in that thing not prayer. If you are sick and

the first thing you do is go to the hospital or see a physician then you do not really believe in

prayer, it is mental assent. I am not saying one should not go to the hospital or seek the help

of a physician but that should be a direction you received in prayer. If God is your last resort

or one of your resorts, then you are living in mental assent not faith. To put it clearly, what or

the one you consult first when you are in need is your god/God. It does not matter what or

who you say you are, if the first thing you do when you are in need is not prayer or something

of God‟s direction, you are living in mental assent. You agree mentally with God but not

spiritually and we do not relate with God in/with the mind but with the spirit.
The things you believe may be facts, but facts are not realities. Facts are not eternal; they too

will pass away but faith will remain. Faith is the reality. Hence, it brings one into reality.

Reality is truth. Truth is what the thing is, not what it is like or what it may be. So never say I

think I am healed for it is unscriptural. Healing is not a „thinking‟, but a reality. You are

healed because God had said in scripture „by my stripes you are healed‟ (Isa. 53:5, emphasis

added). Note that it did not say „you will be healed‟ or „you may be healed‟ but that you are

healed. It is the now; you are healed. That is, before the feelings of sickness came, God had

healed you already. He had paid the full price for you to be totally healthy. So when

sicknesses come near you, you just tell them wrong direction and they will vanish because it

is illegal for you to be sick. Christ has saved you from both sin and sicknesses. He bore both

on the cross. When he said „it is finished‟, he meant it. Total health is as free as salvation is.

This is a reality. It is independent of what you think. You believing or not believing do not

change its reality. I will like to reveal an insight that God gave me. He told me one day, son

why don‟t you live in divine health rather than divine healing? Immediately, I realized that

divine health surpasses that of divine healing because divine healing means you may get sick

but recover by grace. But divine health means you will never get sick. It was a hard truth but

I got hold of it and believed it. This may appear ridiculous but it is the truth. Only what God

has said is the truth, even if it does not make sense. After all we walk by faith and not by

sense.


In the same vein, one is born again because God said so. You are more than a conqueror
because God said so. You are an ambassador because God said so. Stop thinking and start
living reality. Faith cannot be limited to what the mind can comprehend. The mind is too
small to contain faith. Logic and intellect, though good, are of the soul. Live the „faith life‟
and not the „think life‟!

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SCHOOL OF FAITH

  • 1. SCHOOL OF FAITH (THE REAL MEANING, LIFE AND KINDS OF FAITH) CHAPTER 1 FAITH IS NOT…. Before we look at what faith is, I would like us to look at what faith is not. This will help us when we look at what faith actually is, because it will help us not to add it as another definition of faith. It is the definition not another. Don‟t add, let it be fundamental. Faith is not hope Faith is not hope. Hope lives in the future but faith lives in the present, the now not later. Hope is the assurance, surety or certainty that something will or will not (not may or may not) be in the future but faith see things already done in the now. Hope makes you smile while the boat is sinking but faith makes the boat afloat. Hope says „I know I will get it by God‟s grace‟. So one who lives by hope will say „I know things will get well again‟ but does not see those things as done in the now. Faith says „I have gotten it by God‟s grace‟. Faith therefore sees things done and done well in the now, not later or near future. Many people pray in hope and not in faith. When God revealed this to me I realized that I had been praying in hope for so long a time. It changed my life. I changed from hope prayers to faith prayers. I used to say „I know I will get it‟ after my prayers but now I say „thank you Jesus, I know you have given it to me‟. Hope is an expectation for a thing desired, needed, or wanted. Faith lives beyond expectation, desire and need. It sees things as already received not in expectation that it will be given them but that it has really been delivered. They have it in the now and so their actions are consistent with their faith. For example, if Abraham after hearing from God that he should leave his country, kindred and father‟s household and go to a land that He will
  • 2. show him, had said, Lord I believe in you absolutely but I will not go, his actions would had been inconsistent with his faith. His faith would have been questionable because faith stirs up one to act accordingly and in consistence to the specific word for it was that word he head that generated the faith in him. Many people have a „faith hope‟. They think that they just have to see their request granted in the now in the hope that God will grant it later. So in reality, they do not have it or believe that they do have it in the now but they accept that they have it in order that God will give it to them later. This is not faith; it is „faith hope‟. It is a misconception of what faith is. The devil uses this to keep many believers miserable if he fails to keep them in the realm of hope prayers. God answers faith prayers, not hope prayers or „faith hope‟ prayers. He who prays in hope should not expect answers from God. Faith and hope are two different principles and work differently though from the same Spirit. Jesus said „when you pray, believe…‟ Mk. 11:24. „When‟, not „if‟ meaning you will definitely pray. And when you are praying, believe! Not hope, but believe! The Bible in Basic English (BBE) translation puts it this way, ‘…whatever you make a request in prayer, have faith’. Note, it is „have faith,‟ not “have hope” or „faith hope‟. The lord answers faith, not hope. They are different principles. Faith is not hope and hope is not faith, just as goats are goats and sheep are sheep though they are all domestic animals. No cow is a goat; no mango is an orange or fish a toad. In the same way, these two, faith and hope, function differently, though from the same Spirit. I will like to reveal a truth in this scripture, it says ‘…whatever…’ and God meant it when He was saying it because He is Omniscient, Omnipresent and Omnipotent. „Whatever‟ means „Whatever‟ and nothing is left out of „whatever‟. Reader, your present situation is included in that „whatever‟. All this while God has been waiting for you to come to Him in faith not hope or „faith hope‟ and he will answer you immediately. Do not have faith in God for some things but have faith in God for all things because whatever you ask in faith will be given you. Scripture says, ‘And all things, whatever you make request
  • 3. for in prayer, having faith, you will get’ Mt 21:22 (BBE). Nothing is left out of ‘And all things…’ All situations are covered in it but in making the request in prayer, scripture says make it „having faith’ not „having hope‟ or „faith hope‟. Notice also that it says „having faith’, this is present continuous, so it is not one time or often nor regularly but always. It is this faith that God answers and respond to and not hopes. Anybody can hope whether they are born again or not but it takes faith to relate with God in prayer and in life. Faith is not hope and hope is not faith just as a cow is not a monkey and a fish not a toad. Faith is not believe Believe is not faith. Faith surpasses the point of believe. Though used interchangeably, when critically examined, believe is not faith. Many believe but may not have faith. Believe simply means „to accept as true‟. You can accept a thing to be true but if you do not act on it, it will not yield any result. Faith does what it believes. Faith is a doer not an accepter; it accepts the thing said by God as true and does it. Faith is inside-out. Believe is outside-in. The word of God (specifically, rhema) comes from outside and gets into contact with your spirit. Then faith is imparted into your spirit. This faith then expresses itself from the inside otherwise nobody will know that it is there. It is the works of faith that shows that faith is there. With no expression, nobody will know you have faith. When believe becomes outward, then it is faith. Believe accepts only, faith adds actions to what is accepted. He who believes only should not expect results. You can‟t say „yes I believe I am healed but get me some paracetamol‟. It is sick people who take paracetamol not healed people. No healthy person takes medicine; it is for the sick. So after having received healing from the Lord in prayer, what is the medicine coming to do? I am not against taking medical treatments but I am against drug abuse. If you are healed as you claim you believe and still take medicine, then, it is drug abuse because you are not sick yet you take drugs. It therefore implies that you believed but you did not have faith. It is faith that heals not belief. For example, if a malaria patient has been given some
  • 4. drugs to take in order to cure him/her and this person collects the drugs believes that if he takes the drugs he/she will be healed but never takes the drug yet every time he/she keeps on saying that I believe if I take the drugs will get well, will that heal him/her. The drug, yes, is the cure or treatment for malaria, the patient‟s accepting this to be true (believing in the drug) is good but that will not heal him/her, not even his/her confession that I know I will get well if I take the drug. It is her taking in the drug that will heal her. Though this analogy is not perfect when it comes to spiritual issues yet the principle remains true. Believe without action can kill you but faith does not kill for scripture says the righteous shall live by faith. Therefore believe is not faith and faith is not believe because believe can kill but faith never kills but rather it gives live. The woman with the blood issue who came to Jesus Christ would not have been healed and probably die later in it if after believing that if she gets to Jesus Christ and touch the herm of his garment she will be healed yet did it not. No matter how many times she confessed her believe in this, if she had not done it she would have gone home the same and probably die in it since medical treatment could not help her. Believe initiates the process but faith implements it. Believe therefore is like an idea. Until that idea is implemented it will not change the situation of the one it came from. In fact they are many good ideas in the cemetery because the people who had those ideas never implemented them or shared them. Assuming the one who invented the modern day computers never implemented his idea and died with it, there would be no computers today unless another person comes out with that same idea and implements it. Believe is like having an idea but faith is having the result of the idea and the idea itself. Believe is limited and unnoticed but faith is limitless and visible. Faith takes God at his word but believe accepts God‟s word. Accepting, and accepting and acting, are two different things. Do you make faith prayers or believe prayers? God answers your faith not your believe. Begin to reposition yourself and relocate from believe prayers to
  • 5. faith prayers and you will see and experience awesome things from the Lord. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from the father of lights (James 1:17). It will be poured into your bosom like rain pouring on dry fields. Let‟s look at this scripture: ¶5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? (Jonah 3:5-9 NKJV) The people did not only accept God‟s message from Jonah but they also demonstrated it. They acted it out. Even animals partook in the fasting. Can you imagine a king sitting on ashes with sack cloth if he didn‟t have faith? There was a sincere repentance by all, it was deep and complete. Repentance is „a change in mind‟ resulting in a change in behavior, attitude and direction. If one was moving towards the East and repents –changes his mind- he does not only change his behavior and/or attitude and continues to move in the same direction but there is a change in direction, he now has to move towards West. A repented soul acts oppositely to the thing he/she repented from. It is a change in mind resulting in a change in
  • 6. direction. There is always an action to show that one has changed. A change can not be hidden; it will always show itself. So is faith. In verse „10‟, scripture says ‘when God saw what they did’. There was a seeing of what had been done by the people of Nineveh. God saw their demonstration of faith in him. Faith is seeable. It will always show up. It will always express itself once it is there. They believed, acted it out in the form of fasting compelling even animals to fast alongside with them, God responded. God responds to only faith. If they had believed only and had not acted it out, God would not have responded because He sees only faith and not believe. God hears and understands only the voice of faith. Every belief that does not express itself is no belief at all. Action must be on belief for God to see it. God saw and changed his mind. Hallelujah! God changed his mind because Nineveh believed and acted it out. If only such faith is demonstrated, there will be changes in the heavenly places. ‘When God saw…..’ Has God seen your demonstration of faith? Act out what you believe. How can you say I am healed and be in bed? Get out of the bed as normal and healthy people do and carryout your daily activities as healthy people do. When God sees your faith, He will take away the symptoms also. Let what you say be consistent with what you do. Many Christians live in the realm of believe but that realm is miserable and full of frustrations because one lives apart from reality. It does not yield any results. We are to come before God in faith not believe. Believe is not enough, it is limited and invisible hence unreliable. It is faith that pleases God not believe. They are different principles and therefore function differently. If the people of Nineveh after hearing Jonah‟s prophecy had said thank you so much Jonah, we believe your message but never implemented that believe, they would have perished because God would have seen nothing. One must however not fake his action for God hates pretence. Faith is not sensual
  • 7. Faith is not a feeling. Faith is independent of one‟s feeling. That is, faith is not based on feelings. I often hear people say, oh! I feel am healed. You are not. You don‟t really believe. When people ask you, how do you know if you are saved? They often say, I feel changed, happy or light. This means when you feel unhappy, heavy or when you have sinned, you are not saved. You are healed because God said so and you believe him and so you live as he has said. Healing is not a feeling; it is what God has said. You are saved because God had said; ‘…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’ (Romans 10:9-10 NKJV) The word ‘believe’ from the scripture is translated from the Greek word, „pisteuo‟ which means „to have faith‟ or „credit‟. And by implication, it means to entrust ones spiritual well- being wholly to Christ. When you believe, you have just credited (deposited) truth into your spirit, and that truth is what sets you free because when you know the truth, it brings freedom. That is why you are saved when you believe. It is faith that does it. So faith is the thing not feelings. The BBE puts it this way, ‘… if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation’ Rom 10:9 So immediately you say with your mouth, „Jesus is Lord‟ and „have faith in your heart‟, you are saved. It has nothing to do with feelings. Scripture didn‟t say and „feel in your heart‟ but „have faith in your heart‟. Feelings are fruits of salvation, not an indication of salvation. Good feelings may come when one is born again but that is not salvation. They may point to something- salvation, but they are not necessarily the indicators of salvation. Salvation is
  • 8. solely based on what God has said about you, not what you feel about yourself. Salvation is not a thing of emotion; it does not dwell in that realm. Faith is not a feeling. Faith is eternal, feelings are temporal and time bound. Scripture also says in John 1:12-13 that: ‘But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God’. The Greek word translated as „believe‟, is the same word used in Rom 10:9, „pisteuo‟. So you are saved by faith. You are saved because God says so. He says if you believe in your heart (not your head) and confess with your mouth (not your mind or head) the Lord Jesus, you are saved. So if you do it sincerely you are saved as the word says. Just like that. The feelings are a product of the salvation; not it but a product of it. Feelings are temporal. If you base your healing or salvation on feeling, you will be loosing and gaining your salvation and health as often as your feelings change. That is, you will be born again many times as often as your feelings change or as regularly as your feelings change. But that is unscriptural. You are born again once and for all. Feelings are temporal but faith is eternal. Feelings are bound to change because that is their nature. Feelings are not meant to be permanent; therefore, faith cannot be based on feelings. Faith is solid, pure and holy. Life in Christ is a life of faith not a life of feelings. It is a spiritual life not a „soulish‟ life. You can not believe with your soul- will, intellect, and emotions. In fact, it is impossible to believe with your soul because faith is of the spirit, not the soul! In scriptures, the word „heart‟ does not refer to the biological heart but your „you‟. That is your spirit. If not, then when a born again, tongue speaking, anointed man or woman of God is about to die, we can just transplant their hearts to unbelievers and they will go to heaven. Know that you are a
  • 9. spirit. That spirit- the real „you‟- has emotions, intellect, and a will- thus, has a soul which can think, feel and will. You are however not a soul but a spirit. I have a mobile phone but I am not a mobile phone, so you have a soul (will, intellect and emotions) but you are not a soul. You as a spirit live in a body. You are not a body but you live in there. I live in a house at Bolga-Soe but I am not a house. Hence, man is a spirit, has a soul and lives in a body. That is why you are a human being. That is a „being‟ in a body. This means there are other beings without the human aspect. Now getting back to Romans 10:10 and other scriptures, the expressions; „heart‟, „inner man‟ and „inward man‟ all refer to the actual you- your spirit. So we believe with our spirit not soul or body. Never base your salvation or healing on feelings but on the sure word of Christ Jesus. Faith is not what you see Faith is independent of seeing for it is not based on sight. It functions in a higher level. The realm of sight or appearance is not where faith dwells; instead, faith determines this realm. Faith is not perceived by sight; faith is spiritual. It is what is spiritual that determines what is seen physically. In fact, most of the time, they are mutually exclusive and are often contradictory. People often say „seeing is believing‟; even some Christians affirm this saying. But that is a lie. It is a serious lie from the pit of hell designed to strategically shift and equate faith to sight. Believing is seeing! Not the reverse. Scripture reveals this clearly in 2Cor 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight) (KJV). The Greek word translated as walk is „peripateo‟. „Peripateo‟ means to tread all around, i.e. walk at large (especially as proof of ability); figuratively, to live, follow (as a companion or votary):--go, be occupied with. I like the last aspect. It says „be occupied with‟. Inserting this in place of walk in the above scripture gives an interesting revealing. It reads this way; „For we are occupied with faith, not by sight‟. This is wonderful. „We...’ refers to us, Christians, the verb „are…’ is present continuous meaning we are always, not often or regularly or even most of the time but always. Then it says „…
  • 10. occupied with faith‟, we are filled with faith, we are occupied. There is no room for sight, we are occupied. This is our normal state; we are occupied with faith always. Then it says, „… not sight‟. This means there is the possibility of being occupied with sight just that we are not supposed to. Being occupied with faith simply means that our lives are lived on faith and by faith, and being occupied with sight simply means our lives are lived on sight and by sight; that is, what we see physically determines our next move. Therefore faith and sight are different rules of life. Sight makes you out of sight but faith gives you insight. The Bible in Basic English translation put it this way „For we are walking by faith, not by seeing’ 2Cor 5:7. The Holy Spirit through St. Paul is exhorting us not to walk by seeing but faith. Look carefully at Mk 11:24 and you will see this truth; "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them’. Jesus said you believe before you receive. Meaning you believe before you see, „…when you pray, believe…‟ it is after the believing that „you will have them’, not the other way round. But after praying, I often hear many say „I don‟t see any change‟. I still have pains and headaches, toothache and they go on and on. They want to see before they believe because they believe „seeing is believing‟. But that is a lie. Faith ignores sight. It does not deny them but true faith ignores them. Sight strangles faith. It makes things appear untrue, introduces doubt which gives birth to fear and fear kills faith. The word says; 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." 28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down
  • 11. out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matt 14:25-31 ‘30 but when he saw…..’ It was the seeing that strangled the faith with which he was walking on the water. And he sank. As long as he did not see the waves of the sea, he walked on the water. When he walked by faith, he walked on the water but when he walked by sight, he began to walk in water. Faith makes you walk on your problems and limitations but sight makes you walk in problems and limitations. The Greek word translated as „saw‟ is ‘blepo’ which means to be aware, perceive, regard or take heed. It is only when he regarded or took heed of the wind that he began to sink. Faith in Christ disregards all but Christ. When you take heed of your sickness or its symptoms or regard them, you will sink. But as long as you regard scripture which is the truth and take heed of it, you will walk on sicknesses and diseases and nothing will harm you. I choose to walk on problems and not in problems. Faith walk is an „on‟ walk which is victory, not an „in‟ walk which defeats. Never say or believe that „seeing is believing‟. It is a „killer lie‟, thus, it will kill your faith if you allow it. Let there be relocation from sight life to faith life. Then you will be victorious in all you do. Scripture is clear on this when it said; ‘For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith’ 1 John 5:4 NKJV. It says ‘For whatever …,‟ that includes you and me, reader! „Whatever‟ means „whatever‟ and that leaves no one out. The question however is; are you born of God? Once you are born of God there are no options, you are an over-comer. It does not matter what is happening around you or in your life for that thing cannot change who you are, an over-comer! After all,
  • 12. you became an over-comer by being born of God, not by the presence or absence of happenings or difficulties. What happens around us should never determine our next move in life. Faith life is an „over-comer‟ life but sight life is an „over-comed‟ life- a life that has been defeated and made meaningless. You are born of God by faith and once you are born of God, you have over-comed the world. It is the born of God that overcomes the world. You are not trying to overcome. You have done it already. It is a done deal. Faith overcomes all, sight is overwhelmed by all. Choose one. Notice the tense „overcomes‟ which is present continues; meaning the overcoming is at infinitum. Everyday you are a victor, why, because you are born of God. It is faith that puts you in this position. Refuse to let what you see deceive you; do not let it entangle you either, but live by faith. It is not what you are seeing but what you believe that determines what you will get. Faith is not as you hear Though faith comes by hearing, not every hearing is of the ability to impart faith into ones spirit. The hearing that produces faith must be of the word-the rhema. It is not just any hearing but a hearing that is of the truth. Any hearing different from this kills faith. Faith and what you hear are two different things and may even be contradictory. God is telling you one thing through his word and the environment is giving you a different message altogether. If some one says to me „I hear they have given the job to another person but God also told me it is mine‟. I will tell him, your problem is the hearing. Why did you hear it? In 1John 5:14, it is written; „And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: (KJV) God does not hear us when we pray not according to his will. So if what you heard is not in accordance with God‟s will, why accept it as true. Why hear it? Just behave like your father-
  • 13. God, for He does not hear us when it is not his will. So also don‟t hear anything that is not God‟s will. You may say what is, and how do we know God‟s will? It is very simple, we know his will already; His word is his will. Every situation has a scriptural solution. Give yourself to the word. Let the word dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Search it diligently and when you find it, get hold of it. Hear it! Do it! And live by it. Jesus said „as I see my father do so I do‟. Faith life is never based on what you hear especially when it contradicts what God has said. Don‟t hear it! God has assured you that you will get the job and that is his will. Then you later heard, probably from a reliable source (but not from God), that the job has been given to another person and you choose to believe that when God has not given you any contrary message. It is a serious mistake; therefore hear only what God says. Don‟t hear anything outside his will no matter how true it may appear. His will is his word and once you know it, hold unto it, and never doubt it. What you hear, if you don‟t subject it to scripture can kill your faith. Note that what you hear varies because it is temporal but the word of God is constant; it is dependable, reliable, delivers what it promises and is eternal. Faith is of the constant- the eternal- not the variable. Faith is not a variable but a constant; it does not vary from place to place or from time to time. Scripture says faith is eternal, not temporal! It endures forever; it is an everlasting, ever living relationship with God. Faith is not a momentary character or something you resort to when in need. It is the life of every believer and abides forever. Scripture says; ‘And now abide faith’ 1 Cor. 13:13. „Now‟ is present continues, meaning infinitum; this implies faith is outside time and space. That is changes in times and seasons do not affect faith, it is independent on time, it is above time. We can grow old but faith, though it grows, does not become old. Have you ever seen an old faith before? The answer is emphatically no!!! But have you seen an old man or
  • 14. woman before? Sure!!! You may be living with one even now. We grow old because we are limited by space and time. Time is above us. We cannot tell what will happen next except it is revealed to us but the realm of faith is above the realm of time and space. Faith is one of the things that will remain; it has no end. When we get to heaven, faith will be there just like love, because faith is eternal. There will be love in heaven because love will remain, so is faith and hope. So when you hear his voice, do not harden your heart (Heb 4:7). Abraham heard from his environment, his own body and his soul- you are old- but chose to believe the voice of God (Rom 4:17-21). Today choose to hear only God! Faith is not what you hear from the environment! Before you accept something as true make sure that it is coming from God apart from this no matter the source of a message never believe it; do not hear it. Faith is not intellect Faith is not „what you think‟ but „what is‟. It is not „a thinking‟ but the „thing‟. It is not like the thing but the thing itself, it is the substance, the title deed itself. It has passed from thinking to the thing. Faith is not intellectual; it is not an idea, an option or opinion nor a concept of the mind. Faith is neither a rational thing nor irrational thing. It has nothing to do with man‟s intelligence but everything to do with God‟s wisdom. Geniuses do not have more faith than any other person. It is not ingenuity but supernatural impartation. Faith is not a concept of the mind, something brought up by man. It is not a mental activity. Faith is beyond the mind‟s capacity. If faith were an intellectual activity, then all the Bible scholars should have been devout believers. All professors would have gone to heaven and illiterates to hell. But as we know, most of them are unbelievers, sometimes even busy fighting God. Faith is far from logic. Logic is a thing of the soul whereas faith is a thing of the spirit. Faith goes beyond ones mind. Your head is not capable of believing in God because it was designed to
  • 15. house thoughts drawn from faith; for this reason, people struggle to understand God. They use logic, a thing of the soul but God is beyond logic. How do you use logic to explain what is beyond logic? Scripture says, „…by faith we understand…..‟ Heb. 11:3 Understanding is a product of faith. Understanding God is a thing of faith, not the mind. It is by faith that we understand not by logic or the mind. But by faith, understanding is made perfect. That is why Christians do not struggle when they read Gen. 1 and 2. They understand by faith that God created the world and everything in it, for by faith we understand. It is impossible to understand God without faith. Scientists and philosophers use logic, a thing of the mind; if God created the world, then where was God? But they fail to understand that God does not need the world or anything in it to exist but that everything-the world and all that is in it- rather need God to exist. „Intellectuality‟ will pass away but faith lives forever (1 Cor. 13:13). Faith is not a mental assent, agreement or power. One cannot just mentally accept something and think that it is faith, faith always expresses itself in the things it does. For example, if you believe in prayer, it will always be the first resort when you are in need. If any other thing comes before prayer, your faith is in that thing not prayer. If you are sick and the first thing you do is go to the hospital or see a physician then you do not really believe in prayer, it is mental assent. I am not saying one should not go to the hospital or seek the help of a physician but that should be a direction you received in prayer. If God is your last resort or one of your resorts, then you are living in mental assent not faith. To put it clearly, what or the one you consult first when you are in need is your god/God. It does not matter what or who you say you are, if the first thing you do when you are in need is not prayer or something of God‟s direction, you are living in mental assent. You agree mentally with God but not spiritually and we do not relate with God in/with the mind but with the spirit.
  • 16. The things you believe may be facts, but facts are not realities. Facts are not eternal; they too will pass away but faith will remain. Faith is the reality. Hence, it brings one into reality. Reality is truth. Truth is what the thing is, not what it is like or what it may be. So never say I think I am healed for it is unscriptural. Healing is not a „thinking‟, but a reality. You are healed because God had said in scripture „by my stripes you are healed‟ (Isa. 53:5, emphasis added). Note that it did not say „you will be healed‟ or „you may be healed‟ but that you are healed. It is the now; you are healed. That is, before the feelings of sickness came, God had healed you already. He had paid the full price for you to be totally healthy. So when sicknesses come near you, you just tell them wrong direction and they will vanish because it is illegal for you to be sick. Christ has saved you from both sin and sicknesses. He bore both on the cross. When he said „it is finished‟, he meant it. Total health is as free as salvation is. This is a reality. It is independent of what you think. You believing or not believing do not change its reality. I will like to reveal an insight that God gave me. He told me one day, son why don‟t you live in divine health rather than divine healing? Immediately, I realized that divine health surpasses that of divine healing because divine healing means you may get sick but recover by grace. But divine health means you will never get sick. It was a hard truth but I got hold of it and believed it. This may appear ridiculous but it is the truth. Only what God has said is the truth, even if it does not make sense. After all we walk by faith and not by sense. In the same vein, one is born again because God said so. You are more than a conqueror because God said so. You are an ambassador because God said so. Stop thinking and start living reality. Faith cannot be limited to what the mind can comprehend. The mind is too small to contain faith. Logic and intellect, though good, are of the soul. Live the „faith life‟ and not the „think life‟!