Today we continue our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume IV — The Wonder Twins”. As I continue to lay the foundation for this series, I am providing somewhat of a faith refresher. I will do the same for patience. We need both faith and patience in order to lay hold of the promises of God. I shared 8 things about faith and we have covered 6 of the 8 thus far. Here they are:
1) We are only pleasing to God when we operate in faith (Hebrews 11:6)
2) We are saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8,9)
3) We are called to live by faith (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38, Habakkuk 2:4, and Galatians 2:20)
4) We are commanded to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)
5) We are urged to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12)
6) We are supposed to pray the prayer of faith (James 5:15)
7) We must speak the language of faith (Matthew 8:8)
8) We ultimately overcome the world by faith (1 John 5:4)
For the last two days I covered #6. Today we will look at #7. Speaking the language of faith.
Let’s look at two key passages today.
(Romans 4:16-21)
“I have made you a father of many nations.” This is true before God, the one Abraham believed—the God who gives life to the dead and who calls those things that are not as though they are.
There was no hope that Abraham would have children, but Abraham believed God and continued to hope. And that is why he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “You will have many descendants.” Abraham was almost a hundred years old, so he was past the age for having children. Also, Sarah could not have children. Abraham was well aware of this, but his faith in God never became weak. He never doubted that God would do what he promised. He never stopped believing. In fact, he grew stronger in his faith and just praised God. Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he promised.”
(Ecclesiastes 3:15)
“That which is has already been, and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by [so that history repeats itself].” (Ecc 3:15).
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God calls the future from the present.
a) The Bible says that God calls those things that are not as though they are. My point for today is that we, as His children, are supposed to live the same way. We must develop the faith to be able to align our lips with what God enables us to see in the Spirit about our future. Even if what God is leading us to say is completely contrary to what we are seeing with our physical eyes. This is the language of faith.
b) God knows the end from the beginning. He has knowledge of everything that will ever happen on earth. So when He speaks to you, He does so informed by every decision you will ever make and every blessing He will ever release in your life. This is why it is easy for God to speak to your “to be” stage from your “right now” stage. God literally calls those things that are not (yet) as though they are (right now), because He has already seen them come to pass in eternity and He knows that for you, in the earth, it is only a matter of time.
c) The Holy Spirit reveals things to us about our future. These things are ‘future’ to us, but they are actually ‘past’ to God. Our future is God’s past. God has already seen it. God has already been to our future and He reveals things to us about it in our present. This is how God looked at a barren man (Abram) and called him a “Father of many nations.” This is how God looked at a scared farmer (Gideon) and called him a “mighty man of valor.” This is how Jesus looked at the lame and called them into their healing. Jesus even looked at the dead and called them back to life. In every case, Jesus was being led by the Holy Spirit to say things that did not line up with His physical eyes. His body (or eyes) were telling Him one thing, the Holy Spirit inside of Him was revealing something else, and to live by faith Jesus had to choose to say what He believed (on the inside) over what He was looking at (on the outside). As imitators of God, we are called to live the same way.
2. We are called to be imitators of God.
a) Since we are God’s children, the Bible teaches us to imitate God, the way children imitate their parents (Eph 5:1). God calls those things that be not as though they are. He literally calls the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). We are supposed to live the same way.
b) When God allows you to see what He already knows about your future it is called revelation, because God is literally revealing to you what He already planned. When God does this, what He is looking for from you is faith. If you align your lips (your words) and your legs (your actions) with what God revealed, even if it flies in the face of everything you can see with your natural eyes, then what you are doing is living by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). You are choosing to believe what God revealed to you in the spirit over what you can see with your physical eyes. The only way to truly get to this point is by meditating and medicating on what God said. If you meditate what God revealed long enough, it will become more real to you than what you see every day. It is then, and only then, that you will be able to say what God said, with conviction, even if it has not happened yet, and then keep saying what God said until you see what God said. Simply put, living by faith requires us to speak the language of faith… no matter how long it takes. Which is why we need faith and patience.
c) God is able to call those things that are not (yet) as though they are because He already knows what is going to happen. And since He wants us to imitate Him, as His children, He reveals things to us by His Spirit. When He reveals something to us, especially something that does not align with the current situations we are facing, He wants us to believe Him so much that we will SAY what He revealed, even in the face of what we are seeing with our natural eyes. He wants us to SAY what He revealed, even when we have no sense-realm evidence to support it. Now, if we do, and if we imitate Him in this way, clearly calling in the future from the present, God is truly pleased. He is pleased when we believe Him so much that we are willing to open up our mouths and say what He promised well before it happens. Anyone can give the testimony afterward. But those who are willing to SAY IT before they SEE IT with their natural eyes, are men and women of God who are willing to speak the language of faith!
3. Calling those things that be not (yet) as though they are should be an exercise in faith and not foolishness.
When Abram was 99 years old the Lord revealed to him that the time had come for him and his wife to have the promised child. At 99, Abram was past the human child-bearing age. Not only that but his wife Sarai, was 89 years old at the time and she had been barren all her life. But human limits mean nothing to God. God promised it and He wanted Abram to align his lips with it. So God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. Abraham means “Father of many nations”. God wanted Abram to go around and introduce himself as “Abraham, the Father of many nations”, 9 months before he actually became what he was saying. Abraham did it and sure enough, 9 months later he and his wife had the baby. This is how you call those things that be not as though they are. It simply boils down to saying in the present what God has revealed about the future; and saying it like it is already done.
Let me explain the difference between faith and foolishness. Some people don’t want to acknowledge their current situation, because supposedly they don’t want to “claim it”. Listen, you don’t need to claim it. You are already living in it. Abraham’s testimony was that he and his wife waited 25 years for the promised child, and even after they were past childbearing stage, God gave them the promise. At 100 years old Abraham’s body, from the waist down, was not working anymore. And back then, there were no ‘little blue pills’. So Abraham had to believe God, even though his body was not working anymore and Sarah’s womb had never worked. She could not have children at 18 years old, much less 90. But they both believed God and it came to pass. The real testimony is in the fact that their situation was a real situation. His body was not working. Her body had never worked. They were both old. But God did what He said He would do.
Abraham called those things which be not as though they were. He went around saying, “Hello, my name is Abraham,” fully aware that Abraham means “Father of many nations.” He said this by faith because he and Sarah did not have any children. And the testimony was that although he and his wife were barren, they received the promise. What some people do today is go around and say, “I’m not sick” (when they are), or “I’m not this” or “I’m not that”, when they clearly are. Abraham did not go around saying, “I’m not old” or “I’m not barren”, because that would be calling those things that ARE as though they ARE NOT. When God told us to call those things that ARE NOT as though they ARE. That’s the difference between faith and foolishness.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, You have taught me about the plans You already made for my life by grace, about the things You will do in my life in the future, and about Your ability to reveal those things to me in my present. As You do, I speak what I see. I declare what You reveal. In doing so, I am calling those things that be not as though they are. I am calling my future into my present by faith. But I never call those things that are as though they are not. I walk by faith and not foolishness. I live by what You reveal, not just by what I see with my natural eyes. I SAY what You SAID until I SEE what You SAID, because what You reveal to me is more real than what I see down here in this world. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
