Dear Friends:
I'm so excited to share something truly significant about the “substance” of your faith today!
We are told:
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
What is substance?
And what does substance have to do with us developing strong, dynamic faith?
What is faith?
Faith in God means believing in the character, in the truthfulness, and in the integrity of God Almighty Himself. When you reach the place where you know that you know God’s character, His truthfulness, that He cannot lie, and His integrity, then everything you need in the Christian life is yours.
Substance is assurance. It’s knowing!
It says, “I have it.”
And it gives God great pleasure when our measure of faith grows.
But how do you get greater faith?
The Journey
We all begin with “the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3) that comes with salvation. That’s when the journey of faith truly begins. God desires that you develop that initial measure of faith.
A life of trust and belief is described this way:
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
The apostle Paul commended the Thessalonian church with these words:
“We always have to thank God for you, brothers and sisters. It’s right to do this because your faith is showing remarkable growth and your love for each other is increasing” (2 Thessalonians 1:3).
As faith grows, there are seven distinct destinations from Scripture where faith will take you and me:
1. Salvation
Faith brings salvation. You must first respond to the Holy Spirit’s conviction to receive Him:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
The moment faith is alive, you start living your salvation. Salvation activates and delivers us from evil, the past, and so much more.
2. Security
Faith brings you to confidence in Him. You know that you know that you know! We can trust in His safety:
“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).
You can know that He loves you and will never walk away from you. This is the security we can have, no matter what happens—“this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us” (1 John 5:14). This is blessed assurance!
3. Answered Prayer
As your faith is activated and begins to grow, you can know that your prayers will be answered. Jesus Himself promised:
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24).
Granted, God is not bound by our whims and timetables. We must pray according to His will, and we understand that He sometimes chooses to answer yes, no, or not yet. But you can know that your prayers will be answered!
4. Healing
Healing comes as a result of activated faith. Both the Old and New Testaments speak of this faith. Jesus Himself spent much of His ministry healing “every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:25). We are told:
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” (James 5:14-15).
5. Strong daily walk with Jesus
We are told, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). What a remarkable journey available to us. Before accepting God, we were cut off from Him. By nature, we turned our backs on Him. But at salvation, we make a commitment to walk a different direction. Instead of walking away, we walk toward. He welcomes us into His family of believers. He wants to spend time with us, to fellowship with us, throughout every day. In fact, Jesus says:
“I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
6. Victory
Faith overcomes! We are promised:
“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).
We can have victory over the world:
“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17).
We have a heritage of victory!
7. Holiness
Once we receive Christ as Savior and Lord, we are told to:
“Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).
Holiness means becoming like God. It means spending time with Him, becoming more and more like Him, “purifying their hearts by faith:” (Acts 15:9), and heeding His voice.
Moving toward a strong, dynamic faith is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. It is a lifetime journey. But you can do it!
How do you move into strong, consistent, dynamic faith?
Faith must be developed. Paul acknowledged this process in his second letter to the church in Thessalonica:
“We always have to thank God for you, brothers and sisters. It’s right to do this because your faith is showing remarkable growth and your love for each other is increasing” (2 Thessalonians 1:3).
How is it developed? Here are several important points to remember:
Faith has to first come into the mind, for the mind is the door to your soul. When you get the Word of God in you, you begin to meditate on it. You don’t meditate in your mind, however, but in your spirit. The heart and mouth are connected, for hope lives in the mind, yet faith lives in the heart. When you read the Word it gives you hope. You receive hope first mentally. Hope turns into faith when you begin to meditate on the Word. The heart is the spirit. You picture the Word in your mind.
When faith begins to grow, it begins in the heart: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). The word “Unto” means destination. When faith is the exercise of the heart, it moves to your mouth. You confess it. You can’t stop talking about it. You can’t stop discussing the Word of God.
The key to growing your faith comes through the Word of God! You need to get alone, if possible. You need to read the Word of God quietly, slowly. You need to shut off your phone. Don’t let anything or anyone distract you. As you read, stop and meditate. Try meditating by seeing it as pictures. See what you read, and see what God says. Take it slow. If you don’t understand it, don’t get discouraged, you will eventually with the help of the Holy Spirit! Don’t skip around the Bible from book to book. Start as it is written with Genesis and go straight through the Bible and then start over again beginning with Genesis, or begin by reading portions of the Old and New Testaments, going through both Genesis and Matthew each day, then forward. There are so many great Bible study plans that are available to you.
Allow the Word get into your spirit. Like chewing food benefits the physical part of your body, so “chewing” the Word by reading and meditation is spiritual nutrition. It brings life to your spirit. In your mind picture what you are reading. For instance, when you read in Matthew 17 where Jesus was coming down the mountain, seeing the crowd gathered around the man with a demoniac son, try to imagine Jesus healing the boy. God definitely saw everything before the beginning when He created the heavens, universe and everything in it. As a result, the Word will begin to trickle down inside you, moving into your spirit. This is the beginning toward the development of dynamic faith!
How do you move into the seven distinct destinations of dynamic faith—salvation, security, answered prayer, healing, a strong daily walk with Jesus, victory, and holiness? By reading, studying, and meditating on the Word of God. It comes through spending time with Him. It doesn’t happen accidentally.
Above all, it is a process!
For faith to become strong, dependable, and dynamic, it must grow from the inside out. Faith truly comes from hearing and receiving it, and that seed only grows through those nutrients in God’s Word (Romans 10:17).
This is what brings substance! It is what gives you that assurance. It is knowing that you know that you know! It in turn motivates you to trust God far beyond anything you ever thought, imagined or dreamed possible.
And that is my prayer for you today and every day in the future!
Now Is the Time
Allow me to share what God has placed on our hearts for this ministry…
We are growing. We are stronger than ever. Our Lord Jesus is giving us new opportunities that I couldn’t have imagined a few years ago.
We are continuing to fulfill the Lord’s mandate to love and encourage the hurting, the broken, the forgotten, the lost and the lonely. Amen!
We are told:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:36-37).
The captives must be set free, more than ever!
God is showing us, in no uncertain terms, that the clear-cut message of salvation must be given not only with intensity and focus, but with demonstrations of the Holy Spirit that will capture the attention of the hearers.
We truly believe that God is finding us faithful during this time of great hunger for the Gospel, and we cannot lose this moment!
We need your prayers and financial help to proceed with plans for massive building renovation during this prophetic hour.
Co-Laborers for the Cause of Christ
This is truly an exciting hour for this Ministry. The cry of the prisoner has gotten louder, but the cry for the Gospel is the loudest ever.
Will you prayerfully consider helping us set the prisoners free?
Will you help us seek to fulfill this mission together?
Will you help us tell the lost about our Lord Jesus Christ with effectiveness and power?
Will you help us fulfill God’s mandate on this Ministry now during this prophetic hour?
God is providing incredible open doors, and we want you to be part of this prophetic opportunity! We are asking you to give today toward what He is doing in our midst. Whatever He places on your heart to do, please obey Him!
We truly believe that your seed will bring you a great harvest and great protection for your financial tomorrow, as we are promised:
“Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth… In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good”(Ecclesiastes 11:1-2, 6).
Can we count on you today?
We are asking you, from the bottom of our hearts, to give generously today for this mighty work of God so we can continue to make preparations for all God has called us to do, taking the Good News of Jesus Christ through the awesome, unprecedented doors He is opening to us.
We would love to hear from you today as you give to the Lord your best seed. Then watch what He will do for you!
For the glorious and eternal cause of our precious Lord Jesus Christ,
