God’s Faith Walk is a Process, not just an event!
Scripture Reading - 1 Corinthians 5:7 KJV
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
As Children of God we believe in God’s awesome power to bless us. Indeed He is willing and able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think.-Ephesians 3:20 However, our very wise Father has already given us certain living principles to bring forth His blessings in this earth realm. The principles of God are more powerful than the works (actions) of God. The principles of God are essentially the Ways of God spiritually seen in His Word whereas the works of God are visible (naturally preceived) manifestations of His Word. It is always better to know how a thing works rather than just watching it work. For when you understand how a thing works you can build another one (reproduce) and you may be able to fix it if there is a problem. When you only know the results of a certain thing you are limited to the output of that one thing. The principles of God reveal His process, or we could say His procedure by which we bring His word into physical tangible manifestation.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 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 1:1,14 (KJV)
Did you notice that there was first The Word, then the process of The Word being made flesh was done based on key principles, after that we beheld His glory. The glory is the visible result of His Word in the natural. Usually when the Holy Bible refers to God’s Glory people saw some manifestation of God’s presence. Remember how the glory cloud filled the temple.-Exodus 40:34-38 The Glory of God shone round about them...-Luke 2:9 When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.-Psalm 102:16 The first principle we see is that we must have God’s Word first to set our desired foundation, then we must use the principle of faith. Romans 3:27 decrees the law of faith. Romans 4:17 explains that our Heavenly Father uses it by calling those things which be not as though they were. We apply it by using Mark 11:22-25 (KJV) as a guide.
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.
Believing those things (plural) which we are saying (consistantly) shall come to pass, understanding we shall have whatsoever we say. So when we pray with forgiving hearts we believe we received those things we desired and we shall have them. Also mixing with our prayer of faith with the chief principle of thanksgiving as instructed in Phillippians 4:6,7 - KJV
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
We noticed that to completely submit to the previous scripture in Phillippians 4:6 thanksgiving is mentioned in the same context with prayer. I like to think of thanksgiving as the period to end the sentence. Or liken it to the ENTER button on a computer keyboard which sends the commands to the brain of the computer for processing. In other words until you start giving thanks your prayer request is not complete. Started-yes, but finished-no! Thus our Father, Our Lord Jesus and all the Angelic forces of heaven wait for you to obey that specific prompting of Holy Spirit to give thanks to God, for He is worthy. Then the ministry of the Kingdom of God can perform the doing of the deed that needs to be done in your life. When you give God thanks you are acknowledging that you prayed in faith because you believe our Father heard your request and answered yes and Amen because you prayed God’s will for your life according to His Word.-1 John 5:14,15 & 2 Corinthians 1:20 That brings us to the next principle of major important which is obedience. According to Isaiah 1:15
If ye be willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land.
The good of the land implies the good things upon the earth. Physically blessed, financially blessed and materially blessed as well. Yes this step (or Principle) can be overlooked if not well understood by the believer, because many times we tend to think after I (As a Christian) have found the promise, spoken the desired result (exercised my faith on God’s word) and offered thanksgiving to God, then I am done with my part. However if that where truth all the time you would be standing on what you did in faith, rather than walking by faith each day. Now Faith Is!-Hebrews 11:1
This stand is truly apart of the process only after you have done all your walking by faith. Standing comes after you have done all your walking, in other words after you have obeyed (done) everything the Lord has told you to do (by the unction, witness, or prompting of Holy Spirit). We are instructed to walk by faith and not by sight in 2 Corinthians 5:7 Once you have walked by faith to place where God tells you to go, then stand there in confidence. Knowing that now you are ready to fulfill the scripture in Ephesians 6:13,14 which states having done all to stand, stand therefore. The part of that verse which states having done all to stand involves the process of walking by faith around your promise land of God’s Word and taking spiritual possession of it. After your faithful walking , stand in faith with peace on your ground to keep it and till it until harvest. Before Abraham stood on the mountain where God provided the ram sacrifice he first had to obey God and walk up it with his son. Before Jesus stood on the mount of Olives and was tranfigured he first had to walk up it. Before Jesus our Lord and Teacher preached to thousands he first was lead (walked) into the wilderness to gain personal victory over the flesh and devil. We are told in more witnesses than two that we are to walk in line with God’s Nature. By Walking by faith-2 Corinthians 5:7, walking in wisdom-Colossians 4:5, walking in the Spirit-Galations 5:6, walking in honesty - Romans 13:13 Walk in the same rules (principles)-Philippians 3:16 and most importantly we should walk in LOVE as dear children of God-Ephesians 5:2 Sometimes we will even need to run with patience the race that is set before us.-Hebrews 12:1 Please remember that both wisdom and patience are used daily to bring into manifestations the promises of God in our every day lives. Be ye Followers (not Standers only, but walkers too) of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.-Hebrews 6:12 I’ll explain further to clarify this point. We see in the Holy Bible that the patriarchs of faith recorded in Hebrews chapter 11 not only confessed the promises of God but also obeyed God continuously to know the wisdom of God (The Mind of Christ-1 Corinthians 2:16) to do their part naturally to give God legal authority in this earth realm. Not God without man but God with man to have His Will done in the earth as it is in heaven.-Matthew 6:10 Remember faith without works (actions) is dead-James 2:17 I like to say faith without obedience is non-producing faith. Yes you have faith but if you believe in your heart and say with your mouth but then don’t do all the instructions God’s puts into your heart you will always stumble by not taking the next step. Always on the go, but going nowhere specific. Sometimes people are standing waiting for the bus in the middle of a street when they should be walking to the bus stop then stand patiently for the bus. If you are not in the correct place at the proper time, it is not God’s fault, it’s not the bus drivers fault, nor is it always the fault of the devil. Sometimes it is simply a lack of wisdom. The remedy of that problem is found in James 1:5-8 (KJV)
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Notice that the previous verse (verse 3) of James discusses the trying of your faith. This also shows us that wisdom is indeed needful when you walk by faith. Using God’s Word in love by obeying the next step in your faith walk will produce the Guidance of God (Holy Spirit) to bring into reality the promise of God’s Word. Disobedience to God’s Witness in your heart (keep a clear conscious) makes void God’s counsel through unbelief, ignorance, fear or hard heartedness. Either way you are unfruitful in that promise until you obey the Witness of God in your spirit. When your will doesn’t force your body to submit to the Word of God through obedience you become a house divided against itself. Any house divided against itself shall not stand, but fall.-Matthew 12:25 I didn’t say your body would like it, or the natural mind would understand it, but always remember that you have the mind of Christ.-1 Corinthians 2:16 A servent need not understanding everything to be profitable. When the servant submits and obeys his master he reaps good rewards. Paul said I keep under my body and bring it into subjection.-1 Corinthians 9:27 Inward submission to God’s revealed will must be followed by outward obedience to bring into fruitation God’s perfect will. We know it took Abraham’s faith in God to bring forth the promise child of Issac but the will of God didn’t stop there. It also took faith, patience and wisdom to raise him up to a young adult. The faith walk was still in operation when Abraham offered Issac back to God upon the alter. After that it took wisdom and obedience to know where to offer him and what to say to his son, Issac, and the others with them. Remember Abraham said, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come AGAIN TO YOU.-Genesis 22:5 Abraham spoke a word of wisdom concerning future events and what Abraham said then is exactly what came to pass later. Abraham was still obeying God when the Angel spoke to him and said Abraham slay not the child.-Genesis 22:11,12 Noah heard from God to build an ark but it still took faith, wisdom and patience to build the ark correctly. The building process was not a one day event but rather a process requiring diligence and wisdom. Didn’t Noah have to wait patiently in the ark until the waters abased? Certainly! Was Paul made an apostle overnight or by a process of continous obedience? Not over night, but by the prevailing process of continuous obedience! I have noticed in the lives of my wife and myself, searching God’s Word for a foundation starts the first principle of building upon God’s Word, then confessing the infaliable word of God with belief in our heart sets in motion the Principals of Faith and continuing with thanksgiving to quickly send our prayer request into the throne room of God. After that God’s Holy Spirit starts instructing us, guiding us, encouraging us and showing us how to inherit our confessions of promise. At His Words of guidence all we do is obey. Peter said, “Nevertheless, at thy word I will.... in Luke 5:5
Be ye follows of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. - Hebrews 6:12
When we have been faithful to obey the voice of the Lord by the witness of peace and God’s assuring knowing in our heart, then He abides faithful to fulfill all our prayer request in due season. We have concluded that if we stay full of God’s Word, we will speak His Word more easily, which in turns put our faith in motion and amplifies our sensitivity in the guidance of Holy Spirit. When He is come He will guide you (lead you) into all truth. - John 16:13 This brings us into a stronger walk of faith by producing the necessary confidence to settle our heart and mind. Cast not therefore away your confidence which has great recompense of reward.-Hebrews 10:35 Being reward for winning in the good fight of faith, is the Victory God ordained for all His children. For this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith.- 1 John 5:4 Therefore child of God be willing and obedient to God’s Word and you indeed shall eat the good of the land. -Isaiah 1:19 First know God’s Word, then pray in faith and thank God faithfully, after that obey the voice of the Lord your God.. For when you hear his voice harden not your heart so that you and your household can inherit the divine and natural blessing of God by entering into His rest (Hebrews 4:7-14). Remember our lord has already made the provisions we need in this life, now all we need to do is learn how to apply the pre-established principles of God to reap effectively and consistantly, now in this life at this time.
For now is the acceptable time and today is the acceptable day of salvation.-2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV)
For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God (obeyed His instructions), ye might (you shall) receive the promise. For yet a little while , and He shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith:-Hebrews 10:36-38
In His Love, Eric & Angela Foster