The Character of Faith

by Paul Jason Wilhelm

http://www.pauljasonwilhelm.com 

First edition January 2019

All scripture used herein is either quoted or paraphrased from the King James Version of the Bible.

Photography by Rich Voorhees

Voorhees Studio Inc.

http://www.voorheesstudio.com 

ISBN-13: 978-1-7336144-0-5

ISBN-10: 1-7336144-0-0

Published by Guardian of Truth

Foreword by Michael Van Vlymen

http://www.michaelvanvlymen.com

Endorsement of Terri Savelle Foy Ministries

included with permission.

http://www.terri.com 

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank everyone who supported me throughout the process of writing this. Most have chosen to remain anonymous, so I won’t mention any names at all. They know who they are. The proofreading and theological oversight each of you provided was integral to the completion of this project. Your friendship means the world to me and I thank God for each of you every day.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all of those who have ever cried out to God from the depths of despair and asked Him why their faith doesn’t work. I have felt your pain, and I pray this book helps you find the answers you seek.

Foreword

This book by Paul Wilhelm is a seed to grow in faith, but so much more. It is a catalyst for change, and much like Paul himself this book is engaging and powerful yet down to earth and easy to read and to learn from. I know that those who read this book will see their own situations and issues of faith that they may have thought about or even wrestled with. Paul addresses many of these issues and brings guidance through the word of God, allowing His wisdom to be manifest and be the changing force that causes faith to grow. Paul’s ability to write and relay things in a warm and engaging way makes this a real pleasure to read. The things we live through but cannot quite articulate, Paul has a way of seeing these things and bringing them into the light. By taking us through the characteristics of faith, Paul allows us to evaluate our own lives and see the areas in which we need to grow.

Michael Van Vlymen

Preamble

Chapter 1: Before We Begin

People have said that necessity is the mother of invention. That must be true because I wrote this book out of my own need to understand faith. Having failed so many times to see the manifestation of my prayers, I wondered, like so many, what I was doing wrong. Frustrated, I began to search for answers and the truth that would set me free. Since every person on the face of the earth is fallible, I chose to look instead at the example of our Heavenly Father and I found that truth in Him.

This book is meant to serve as a diagnostic tool so that we can take an honest look at ourselves and repent of our ways. Only then can we grow in our walk with our Creator, through His Son, by the Holy Spirit. In the following pages I will outline the characteristics I see revealed in God’s example and how their presence in our hearts is reflected in action. You are the only one who can analyze your faith. Do not follow anyone else’s pattern or expectations because you will both be disappointed with the results. This is between you and God; no one else.

I want to emphasize that faith cannot be condensed to an action or series thereof. It is not a formula. The principles outlined herein are outward reflections of our inner-man. Faith is not the result of action. Action is the result of faith. If we treat this like a procedure, it will fail. Every time. Guaranteed.

Mark 11:22, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.”

He didn’t say to have faith in faith, have faith in action, or even to have faith in a promise. Have faith in God. Period. God’s word and the promises therein inspire faith in Him, but any divergence from this is a misunderstanding of the word.

Matthew 7:14, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

This book is also not about the acquisition of things. We believe the promises for one simple reason: God spoke them. When we have true faith, we believe that God will be faithful to His promises. That means we trust that He’ll do what He said He’d do, no questions asked. He gets the glory, not our faith.

Having said all that, faith does, however, follow a plan that lay hidden in the first five verses of Genesis Chapter 1. In them, we will see nine characteristics that God and His work displayed on the first day of creation.

For us, each of these characteristics is a state of being (a testimony in action, if you will) that must be born in our hearts from a relationship with the Almighty before our works are a true reflection of faith. We must let God’s word transform our spirits by practicing what was demonstrated by the Creator Himself. When (not if) we fall short of God’s example, His grace is sufficient, but we will discuss that later.

Ready? Let’s begin.

Section 1: Faith

Chapter 2: What Faith Sees

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Characteristic #1: Begin with an image of the finished work.

Isaiah 46:9-10 “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” (Emphasis added)

Everything created by God or man begins with an idea born of need or desire, which in turn determines the fit, form, and function of the finished work. From there the details are effectuated until a working vision is achieved. Simply put, creation begins with conception, not production.

For example, let’s say we want to build a house and we think we’ve done our due diligence. We’ve already purchased, surveyed, and staked out the land. We’ve retained an architect and interior designer who are leaders in their fields. We’ve selected an award-winning contractor who has access to the best materials at the best prices. We may even have secured the services of the most sought after landscape professional available, but it’s all for nothing if we don’t know how we want the house to look. We can’t just say, “Build a house,” and not give them direction as to style, aesthetic, features, options, and layout. They will lose patience with us and our dream of a custom-built home will never happen. Construction projects need blueprints and faith needs a clearly defined vision.

Habakkuk 2:2 “And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”

Give the architect of your dreams (Jesus) something to work with.

Here’s another way to think about it. When a black belt stands before a pile of bricks or boards with the intent to break through them, he or she isn’t concentrating on the surface. Their focus is on a point in space beyond them. When the force of their strike is brought down, it naturally travels to that predetermined spot before pulling back. It is important to note that the black belt isn’t ignoring the obstacle, they are intentionally concentrating on the completed task. For faith, hope serves as the expected end point.

I don’t know how many times I’ve prayed for something to happen only to feel my spirit pulling back before the words even left my mouth. Have you ever felt that way? This is where the force of our faith begins. If we can’t see past our circumstance to the manifestation of God’s promise, there’s a good chance we will be stuck until we can.

Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”

In this passage we not only see the results of failing to envision a result, but it directly ties the success of our plan to the acknowledgment of God and His ways. This further emphasizes that it isn’t the process of faith that accomplishes the work, it’s God.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

He is our source for everything from inspiration to completion.

Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

When the disciples failed to cast out a demon, the father of a deaf and mute child asked Jesus to deliver his son. Jesus said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible…” (Mark 9:23) The father knew his faith wasn’t perfect, so through tears he cried, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)

This man acknowledged the weakness in his own faith, but he had a clear vision of what he wanted Jesus to do. Jesus, as the author (inspiration for) and finisher (the one who stands in the gap) of his faith connected this father’s vision with the power of the Almighty and his son was delivered that very moment.

Terri Savelle Foy Ministries has an extensive collection of materials to help you develop your vision and stay motivated. Her mastery of this subject and an overcoming testimony have been a constant source of inspiration to me. I highly recommend utilizing as many of her resources as you can to keep your vision alive.

When we have a vision of the end result, it not only drives us, but it enables us to identify the obstacles and dangers in the way. Which leads us to the next characteristic of faith.

Chapter 3: What Faith Knows

Genesis 1:2a “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”

Characteristic #2: Know what you are up against – Assess the situation.

God didn’t deny the shapeless, emptiness of time, space, and matter. He fully acknowledged what He saw before Him. He didn’t worry about it. He didn’t expound upon it. He didn’t fear it.

Let me rephrase this passage of scripture to reflect something the Holy Spirit revealed to me as I was writing this chapter. “[Even though it] was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep, [the earth was].” God showed me this to emphasize the point that creation begins with an idea, not the manifestation of one.

Before I typed the first word of this book, I saw what it was going to be. I then began filling empty pages with that goal in mind. You do the same thing with your plans and goals. You get an idea in your head, formulate a strategy, and work past the obstacles until you’ve achieved it. We got that from God. Doesn’t it stand to reason that our faith operates the same way?

Jesus demonstrated the same thing by acknowledging the shame, pain, and inevitability of the cross. By doing so, He accomplished His goal of redeeming mankind to the Father. Sin’s demand for blood was an obstacle on the road to completing God’s plan. Revelation 13:8 tells us that the crucifixion of Christ was part of God’s plan before He created the world. That means God saw the opposition to His vision of human companionship beforehand and devised a strategy to eliminate those hindrances ahead of time.

Proverbs 24:27 “Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.”

Preparation for work was integral to the success of His plan. God only put His plan into action after He took an accurate assessment of the situation.

Luke 14:28 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?”

Now, on the surface this passage from Luke looks like it’s just talking about money, but there’s more to it than that. This question starts off with the intention of the builder. Before anything is even started, the builder assess the situation. A survey is completed wherein the layout and stability of the land is evaluated and plotted out. The foundational needs are estimated and the hazards are identified. Only after planning accordingly could the builder then know exactly what the financial costs would be.

In terms of a personal health issue, that means we consult with a doctor to diagnose the problem and prescribe treatment. It is not contrary to faith to take medicine. God created Adam to be a gardener, right? Well, if we are treating the root of a diseased tree, it may take a while. In the meantime, we still need to rake the leaves and gather the fallen fruit or else the root will get worse. While our faith treats the root of the problem, we may need to take medicine or go to therapy to tend to the symptoms we experience. Through it all, we put our faith in God, not the treatment.

Every single incident of healing recorded in the bible began with an individual who knew exactly what they were up against. The madman of Gadara, the blind man who threw away his cloak, the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, the woman with an issue of blood, Simon the leper, and even Lazarus; all knew their condition or were buried because of it.

We have to know what we are facing so that we can more effectively enforce Christ’s victory over it. Everything that is named must bow to Him.

It is important to reiterate that God did not ignore the problems he saw. He either obliterated them (creating something from nothing and thereby eliminating the nothingness), or he devised countermeasures that nullified them (the redemption of man through Christ’s sacrifice). Should we be any different?

Acknowledging the existence of the problems we face is not a negative confession. It is an integral part of the action and character of faith as exemplified by the Creator Himself. This is also reflected in the life of Jesus, whether he ministered to the blind, lame, deaf, mute, poor, sick, possessed, or dead, he did so by first recognizing the problem. Only in so doing can we then see the true need and minister to it affectively.

When God took an impartial appraisal of what laid between Him and His goal, it would forever serve as a posthumous witness to His power and authority. This takes us to the next characteristic of faith.

Chapter 4: What Faith Has

Genesis 1:2b “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

Characteristic #3: You must have the witness of the Holy Spirit.

1 John 5:8 “And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”

2 Corinthians 13:1b “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”

Before anything else, the Holy Spirit must bear witness with what we are saying. The Holy Spirit will always attest to the word of God, and He is anxiously waiting for us to align ourselves with it.

Note, however, that we won’t have that witness in our spirit if the motivation of our heart is wrong. If we are just out to get stuff, therein lies the issue.

James 4:3 “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

Be aware. The devil will speak all manner of confusion and lies to our mind in an effort to make us waver. It would behoove us to learn to discern between the thoughts in our head and those of our heart.

Second, having a human witness for posterity’s sake doesn’t hurt, and it can serve as a test of our mettle. If we aren’t bold enough to pray the prayer of agreement with someone practiced in faith, then maybe we don’t believe what we think we do.

When He was out ministering to people, Jesus didn’t take notes about a person’s infirmity or problem and pray about it later in private. He dealt with things head-on in front of many witnesses. In doing this, His Father received glory.

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

The ultimate goal of answered prayer is to bring glory to the Father. That’s why we give Him the credit before, during, and after. And that brings us to the next characteristic of faith.

Section 2: Hope

Chapter 5: What Hope Speaks

Genesis 1:3a “And God said, …”

Characteristic #4: Speak the promise found in God’s word.

More specifically, speak the promise that most reflects God’s character toward the situation.

Ephesians 6:14 “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.”

I used to read this scripture and wonder why we are instructed to protect our genitalia with truth. Have you? It doesn’t seem like it would be a good piece of armor for such a sensitive area, does it? Well, truth be told (pun intended), it is a great piece of armor once we understand what it is really covering.

Our loins house our reproductive organs. Another way to describe reproduction is, procreation. Since we are fashioned after our Father, and He created the world by speaking them into existence, then our spiritual procreative power is also in the words we speak.

The mechanism of reproduction that must be girt about with truth is our mouth. Have you ever noticed how many times the bible warns us about the power of the words we speak?

Matthew 12:37 “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned.”

Proverbs 6:2 “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.”

Psalms 34:13 “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.”

These are but a sampling of the scriptures that warn us about how we talk. I chose these three because they were composed by different authors at different times, but they all agree. And, as we’ve already read in 2 Corinthians 13:1 “…In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”

Granted, people have taken this to extremes (myself included) that are not reflected in the Word, so let me explain it another way. When we say things that, if taken in the most literal sense, are not true (sarcasm & figures of speech), then what we are doing is teaching ourselves that we can’t trust or believe what we say. It isn’t that the stupid things we say will come to pass at some point, nor is it that speaking negative will immediately create bad things in our lives (although both are possible depending on how strongly you believe it). It really does boil down to the fact that when we speak words contrary to our faith, we are destroying what little we have.

If we get in the habit of placing a watch over the words we speak, we will develop stronger and stronger faith. Speak the truth to your situation. Jesus prayed to His Father and said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

His words sanctify us. They purge us of the hindrances within us.

Have you ever read the parable of the sower (Mark 4:1-20) and wondered how one goes about transitioning from shallow, stony, and thorny ground to good ground? This is how we do it! We stop saying things that starve, choke, and destroy our faith and start speaking words that give it life! This takes time and the devil will try to make us feel like we are lying, but we have to do this to develop our faith. There is no other way. This is how we cultivate and water (Ephesians 5:26) the garden of our hearts to make it good ground for growing that mustard seed of faith.

Proverbs 24:15-16 “Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place: For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”

We are going to fall. The circumstances of life may knock us down, but no matter how many times that happens, we must get back up again. God’s grace enables us to do it. And as long as we keep getting up after stumbling, God doesn’t hold our failures to account and guards our prayers from spoil.

Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”

If we have the same resolve, that God’s word will not pass away from our lives, regardless of what we see to the contrary, our faith will never fail. God’s word is the eternal truth. Nothing can change it. By implication, anything to the contrary is either temporary or a bald-faced lie. As such, they will pass away.

Whether in life or death, everything will eventually align with God’s word. And knowing the end result leads us to the next characteristic of faith.

Chapter 6: What Hope Does

Genesis 1:3b “…let there be light:…” (Emphasis added)

Characteristic #5: Yield to His leading.

It’s one thing to speak the Word in order to gain and exercise faith, it’s another thing to allow its truth to change how you act in spite of what we see.

Hebrews 11:17-19 “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”

Romans 4:17-22 “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.”

For Abraham, it was a done deal. Abraham was so convinced that God would fulfill His promise that even the thought of sacrificing and burning Isaac to ashes didn’t shake his faith. There was no question; no doubt; no hesitation, and he acted as if the promise was impossible to break. In Abraham’s heart and mind, there was no way that he wasn’t going to be the father of many nations. It wasn’t even a possibility. He didn’t entertain the likelihood of failure because he was convinced that what God had promised, He was capable of doing. End of story.

All of Abraham’s natural senses and reasonings would have been telling him that the death of Isaac would be the end of his lineage through Sarah and thereby the breaking of God’s promise. And God was the one asking him to do it!

Never had one man been tested in such a manner. There was no precedent for him to lean upon, no scripture to reference, no testimony to boost his faith, just the promise from a God whom his fathers never knew. And Abraham yielded to God’s word to such a degree that it changed the way he acted.

When we look at God as the reliable, dependable source of life-changing power that He is, then letting go of our tangible goods is easy. They lose their value because we value Him more.

2 Peter 1:19 tells us that we have “…a more sure word of prophecy…” We can lean on precedent. We have scriptures to build our faith upon, and there are countless testimonies of God working in the lives of others in real and tangible ways to encourage us when we feel weak. In short, we have every reason to believe and no excuse to doubt.

Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

This scripture may seem out of place, but there is something about it that I haven’t heard anyone mention before. It’s a subtle difference, but it is a powerful revelation. Let me explain it by paraphrasing that scripture.

They overcame because the blood of Jesus Christ enabled them to testify of the victory before it happened without regard for the enemy’s desire to steal, kill, and destroy them.

Not loving our lives unto death is exactly what Abraham did with Isaac and is reminiscent of another momentous example of faith stretched to the limit.

Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

No matter how biblical our justification is for having asked for them, the meeting of our needs or desires should be secondary to our steadfast resolve in God. He will do what He said He would do. He watches over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). The Apostle Paul said that “…to live is Christ and to die is gain,” (Philippians 1:21). Meaning God will receive Glory either way.

Be careful not to adopt a fatalistic approach to faith, however. Having a “Whatever will be, will be” or “God is sovereign and He can do whatever He wants” attitude is not faith, it’s lazy. The devil will do everything he can to make sure we pay attention to him and the circumstances he presents instead of on God manifesting His promise. We must look beyond the natural and focus on an image of the completed work in order to keep our faith balanced and neither radical, nor cynical. This brings us to our next characteristic of faith.

Chapter 7: What Hope Sees

Genesis 1:3c “…and there was light.”

Characteristic #6: Look for the immediate manifestation of His word.

To explain the profound nature of this portion of scripture, allow me to take you down a rabbit trail. You’ve probably noticed that God spoke light into existence on day one, but the light from the sun, moon, and stars wasn’t created until the fourth day. Ever wonder why that seems like a contradiction?

Well, you see, light exists in two simultaneous states; as a particle and as a wave. The Hebrew word translated as “light” in verse 3 (Strong’s H0216) has a concrete connotation, meaning it refers to an object (a particle – the photon). When He created lights in the firmament in verse 14, the Hebrew word (Strong’s H03974) has an abstract connotation, meaning that it refers to an idea or something intangible (a wave). At the end of verse 15, when He says that its purpose is to give light upon the earth, that word (Strong’s H0215) carries both an abstract and a concrete connotation (the particle and the wave working together).

God saw the photons in the invisible spectrum. Some may think that is a stretch of my imagination, but it’s the truth. Photons can and do exist everywhere, even in a dark room and the deep voids of space. All matter, unless it is frozen at absolute zero (-459.67°F), constantly emits photons in the form of infrared light. Visible light is a very narrow spectrum. My point in going down that path was to show that even if we can’t see something with our natural eyes, it doesn’t mean that the manifestation isn’t being formed. Sometimes it’s a process that must be accomplished.

God’s ultimate goal was to have fellowship with man, but He didn’t just create us in the vacuum of space. We needed a support structure. Light, heat, water, food, and everything that sustains them had to be in place before He made us. Maybe our prayer requests need a healthy environment in which to thrive before they can be made manifest. Otherwise we’d be praying for the same thing over and over again. God is all powerful, but He’s never wasteful.

Hope, according to Strong’s (G1680), means to expect or anticipate with pleasure. So, when we anticipate the manifestation of our prayers with pleasure in spite of what we see, we become truly thankful to God for His great work in us. With this kind of perspective, we can better understand 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Psalm 100:1-5 “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

Thanksgiving, praise, and worship are integral to faith and are a natural byproduct of seeing our prayers come to pass (even before it happens). This leads us to the next characteristic we will explore.

Section 3: Love

Chapter 8: What Love Does

Genesis 1:4a “And God saw the light, that it was good: …”

Characteristic #7: Acknowledge the goodness of His work (Praise & Thanksgiving).

Hebrews 13:15 “By [Jesus] therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

I want us to take a minute and imagine how we would feel if we had the manifestation of our prayers. Would we still be anxious? Would we continue to think about the problem? Would the fear of what might have happened haunt us? No; we would be relieved and grateful; satisfied and happy; enjoying the gift we had received for as long as we could. This characteristic is simply living our lives from a position of having already received from God and offering our gratitude to Him for His graciousness in advance of actually obtaining it. This is a reflection of our love for the Father and an expression of our trust that He will perform His word, no questions asked because He loves us.

Psalms 95:1-3 “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.”

Despite how this passage sounds, praise and worship isn’t about how we feel. Sometimes it must be done despite our emotions. King David wrote most, if not all his Psalms in the midst of trouble. He knew that the key to victory was praise to the Almighty. The praises we offer in the depths of natural sorrow are a sweet smelling sacrifice and they will change our hearts, minds, and circumstances if exercised consistently so that we may experience real joy.

How long or how often are we to do this? To that I would ask; Is there ever a time in our lives when God doesn’t deserve to be thanked or praised? Remember, these are characteristics we are trying to develop. We must exercise these spiritual muscles in order for them to grow strong and powerful. Eventually this will become our natural reaction to life’s challenges.

When we finally receive the answers we seek, our praise continues. Joy will pour from our hearts every time we are reminded of this breakthrough.

John 16:24 “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

Jesus was letting us know that God gives us the answer to our prayers, not to fulfill a need or desire, but so that our joy may be full! I think of all the times I have given someone something, as I am sure you can too, and I remember relishing the joy that it brought them. That was my favorite part of the gift. When I saw them enjoying it, it brought me joy as well. This leads us to the next characteristic of faith.

Chapter 9: How Love Acts

Genesis 1:4b-5 “… and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

Characteristic #8: God’s blessing must have purpose to be enjoyed.

1 Timothy 6:17 “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;”

The Greek word “apolausis” (Strong’s G619) is only used twice in the Bible and I believe it is to show the two extremes of this grace. The first mention is the one above, and it is an honorable one. Meaning glory is given to the source, not the things we possess. The latter is the following:

Hebrews 11:24-25 “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;” (Emphasis added)

Now, there can be no doubt that the grace of God put Moses in Pharaoh’s house to save his life, but He was not the one receiving glory for the life lived therein. Just like the rich young ruler spoken of in Matthew 19 and Mark 10, we will all be confronted with the choice of these two extremes. Will we bring glory to God by thanking Him for the blessings we enjoy, or will we take pride in them and forsake the God who bestowed them upon us?

God is not against us having nice things as long as they have a purpose and it brings Glory to Him.

Matthew 6:9-13 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

Jesus told us to pray for heaven to manifest around us. Some may feel this is an abstraction of what He said, but it’s plain English. Unless it’s God’s will for heaven to be full of earth’s woes, then it must be His will for earth to be inhabited by heaven’s blessing because there is no middle ground in this prayer.

We are supposed to enjoy the blessings of the Father and not be ashamed of them or let condemnation come upon us for enjoying what God granted.

Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

To put it another way, God neither wants, nor makes you to feel bad about receiving His blessings. He wants you to enjoy His goodness. Not only for your own benefit but also of those around you.

1 Peter 4:10-11 “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

Receiving from God brings glory to Him through Jesus, because through the Son, all may receive redemption to the Father. It also enables us to help and bless those around us so that we may all serve as living testaments to God’s goodness. And that leads us to the next characteristic of faith.

Chapter 10: How Love Speaks

Characteristic #9: Make a record of His accomplishments (Testify).

I did not include a scriptural reference to begin this chapter because the bible in its entirety is evidence of this principle. Had Moses not written the Torah (the first five books of the bible), we would not know of the wonders of God’s work. Had the four gospels not been penned for others to share, then the wondrous works of Christ and His sacrifice would have faded to the sands of time as mere legend.

All scripture is inspired of God, but not all inspired words are scripture. When we record and share our testimonies of what God has done for us, we are not adding anything to the Bible. We are verifying its truth with our own experience. Record the works of the Lord. Tell people of His influence in your life. If mighty works have been wrought by His hands in your life or the lives of those you love, tell somebody! Testify in church. Post to social media. Start a blog. Write a book!

Deuteronomy 32:3 “…I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.”

Psalms 26:7 “That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”

Mark 5:19-20 “Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, ‘Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.’ And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.”

Faith doesn’t fight the good fight alone, though. It needs help to stay strong. That leads us to our next characteristics.

Section 4: Cast of Supporting Characteristics

Chapter 11: Patience

James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Patience is the one thing in this process that forces us to grow. Patience develops endurance and endurance helps us outlast the circumstance.

When Jesus explained the meaning of the parable of the sower to His disciples, he closed by saying, “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15)

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;” (Emphasis added)

In his benediction to the Thessalonians, whether knowingly or not, Paul pens the perfect picture of the self-sustaining cycle of faith. Faith, hope, love, and patience. He does it again in Galatians.

Galatians 5:5-6 “For we through the Spirit wait (patience) for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” (Emphasis added)

Faith, hope, love, and patience are a self-sustaining cycle of Heaven’s authoritative power.

Faith works by love. Loving the Father gives us the energy to sustain faith. Showing affection for Him because of His benevolence to us is the true expression of the plurality of agape love.

Faith builds from the image of the completed work that hope expects. Hope fuels the outpouring of love to the Father which in turn produces the stabilizing force of patience while we wait for the manifestation of our prayers.

Patience is an active verb, not a passive one. We aren’t meant to be idle. Waiting – the passage of time – is what happens while we are actively engaging our spirit to focus our thoughts and intentions on God working on our behalf. Just like a child who stares at a wrapped present with wonder, eagerly anticipating the enjoyment that awaits her, so must we be with our patience of faith.

We can see in our mind’s eye what we want. We must allow the joy of its anticipated receipt to fill our hearts and minds until it bursts forth in praise to the Father who wrought it in our lives. Can you see the true character of faith? How it acts, what it sees, how it speaks?

Can you see the cycle?

Faith paints a picture.

Hope expects what Faith believes.

Love of the Father fuels our faith.

Patience holds it all together until the manifestation.

Chapter 12: Grace

What I have just outlined is an important process, but nothing God has ever done or will ever do could ever be reduced to a formula. Having said that, it is also true that everything God has ever done has a plan, and all plans require adherence to them in order for them to work. For that, we need grace.

Grace has been given a lot of bad press lately, and for good reason. Like all revelations or moves of God, we humans insist on pushing the pendulum of sanity to extremes once we take hold of a word and decide to run with it. For a time, being saved by grace wasn’t even in the vocabulary of most Christians. Then Martin Luther came along and told everyone that doing penance and earning your salvation was a farce. Today, that message has swung so far past sane that it’s said to excuse all sin without the need for repentance. This, of course, is another lie.

The fact of the matter is that there is no such thing as hyper-grace. Before you burn this book and call me a heretic, let me explain. I say that because of the rule of opposites. If there is an up, there is a down; a left, then right; an in, then an out.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, God told the Apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for [you].” Well, if it’s sufficient, then it can’t be insufficient. If it can’t be less than we need, then it can’t be more than we need. It is exactly what we need, when we need it, and not a fraction more. Sticking with the rule of opposites, that means there is only true grace and false grace.

In his opening salutation to the Romans, Paul says that we receive grace for the purpose of being obedient to the gospel of faith. He later shows us the other side of that statement in chapter 6:1-2, when he says, “What…shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.” Paul clearly shows us what grace is and what it isn’t; what it’s for, and how it is abused. The true and the false.

Grace is God’s way of enabling us to live within the gospel. It is not a license to sin. Some say that mentality is bondage and that we have been made free from the law of sin and death, but this is a twisted view of scripture. Without the law (and a healthy respect for it), we wouldn’t know what grace is.

Picture a vast, featureless landscape for as far as the eye can see. You look around and see no distinguishable landmarks, borders, or unique features to help you determine your location. Are you on your property? If not, how do you know which way to go to get back? How can you tell others how to find you? You can’t. Now, imagine the same area with a fence and a gate. Now you know where you are and can navigate to any location with the absolute certainty that you could get to where you need to be.

The law is the fence, Jesus is the gate, repentance is the passport that gets us inside the fence, and grace is what stays God’s hand from revoking our citizenship when we decide to wander outside of His kingdom.

Okay, so how does grace enable us to be obedient to the gospel of faith? When I think about this question, God is showing me a scene wherein a parent is teaching a child how to walk. First, I see the parent demonstrating how to walk with the child standing on the parent’s feet. Then I see the parent walk behind the child while holding their arms up to stabilize them as they take steps. Next, I see the parent across the room motioning the child to walk to them as it holds on to the furniture. Finally, I see the child walking on their own.

God takes us through similar stages in our Christian walk. You would never chastise a child for falling while learning to walk and neither does God discipline us for trying. He will correct us when we fail, but He never chastises us for it. And know this: we are in a constant state of learning.

He knows the Law is hard, but He needed us to understand how hard it was, too. The Law and the Prophets were not meant to be a practical means of getting right with Him, that’s why He also instituted the blood sacrifice. This, of course, was a foreshadowing of the Cross that redeemed humanity to Him, but it also served to reveal the nature of His grace because, without the law, it’s meaningless.

The Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. That means God knew that we would screw up and created a plan that incorporated it. Before He said, “Let there be light,” He knew what humanity would do, and he created us anyway, knowing ahead of time that He would have to sacrifice His only son to set things right again.

He did it anyway!

That is the perfect image of the heart of grace.

Grace empowers us to try and fail at doing so because that is how we learn. Repetition of a task leads to ability, ability leads to proficiency, and proficiency leads to mastery. In like manner, The Law reveals the depth of grace, grace enables us to walk in holiness (by faith, not works), and holiness is the living embodiment of the Law. It comes back around, full circle.

Now, circling back around to our rule of opposites, the flip-side of this true grace is that religion tells us that performing the law makes us holy, being holy earns grace, and grace gives us license to abuse the law. That is what the world teaches, and it is the essence of the hyper-grace message, thus revealing it as false.

As long as we are breathing air, we are going to mess up – big time. Sometimes even on purpose. I’ve done it many times. Even the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans about grace and said in 7:19, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” He knew what was right, and chose to do the opposite, so there is grace even for when we abuse grace, but it must be acknowledged as such and repented of before we find ourselves back on solid ground.

God isn’t looking for perfection, but he does want us to believe that He will work it in us when we yield to His leading. That is how grace enables us to be obedient to the gospel of faith. He is our loving Father, and He isn’t looking for an excuse to kick us out of His house. He is looking for the smallest of reasons to believe that we’ll trust Him with our lives. The token effort we put into yielding our will is the “+1” at the end of a string of exponentially multiplied work that God has already put into the goal of conforming us to His image.

Chapter 13: Forgiveness

Continuing with the rule of opposites, if God is graceful to us, we must be graceful to others in turn. We must forgive those who have sinned against us (whether they are alive or dead) or it will serve as a hindrance to receiving God’s blessing.

Mark 11:24-26 “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

Jesus ties unanswered prayer directly to our unforgiveness.

Matthew 18:21-35 “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”

This was a long passage to share, but it conveys an important message: Forgive or you won’t be forgiven. Also notice that even though the unforgiving servant was initially pardoned and his debt written off, his actions caused his own debt to be demanded of him again.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my sins to come back demanding my blood after having been washed of them. This is a hard lesson to accept, I know. It wasn’t easy for me either. I still struggle with it, but the alternative isn’t an option. Are the things we hold against one another really worth it? I think not. I pray we all let God take even the smallest unforgiveness from our hearts and minds that they never hinder us again.

In Conclusion

Chapter 14: Practice Makes Perfect

So, how do we apply this knowledge?

We exercise.

Someone who desires to get in shape may go to a gym. They may be intimidated by the equipment and various movements at first, but through continued use, strength and conditioning develop. They then move on to heavier weights and more diverse ranges of motion to balance out their physique until they have become the person they envisioned when they joined.

So it is with learning to use our faith effectively. We first parrot the words and methods of our Father, then the understanding of them comes, followed by proper application and mastery. Remember, we are supposed to be learning to be like Him and the only way we can do that is if we think His thoughts (meditate on what He said), speak His words, and mimic the actions in His word. Not as an attempt to fool anyone (including ourselves) or God into believing that we have faith, but to learn from the doing. Call it on-the-job training. Experience only comes from repeating what we have learned.

When we do this, we begin to know and understand His voice and His heart. If we disagree with the methodology of meditating on His recorded thoughts, speaking His recorded words, and emulating His recorded actions, we will never be more than we currently are. It’s like starting a new job and refusing to do what we were told to do the way we were told to do it. The job won’t get done and we will be let go.

Again, we aren’t doing these things to deceive. We do this as an act of our will to change who we are. Do you remember the scenes from The Karate Kid where Mr. Miyagi has Daniel do all of these chores around his house in very specific ways? Daniel eventually got frustrated with doing them because he thought he wasn’t learning to defend himself until Mr. Miyagi revealed the purpose for the repetitive motion.

That is how this may feel at first. It may seem like we aren’t getting anywhere, learning, or accomplishing anything, but God has a very specific reason for doing things this way. And it is for our benefit if we just stick with it.

We, like the Godhead, are a triune being. We are a spirit who has a soul that lives in a body. Our soul houses our mind, will, and emotions and it is the one thing designed to choose between our two means of input: our spirit and our body. Our bodies are tuned to the world in which we live. Our spirits are tied directly to God. In order for the body to come in to alignment with the spirit, our will must yield to God’s.

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed for another way to redeem mankind. His body was fighting His spirit to the point of drawing blood. But when Jesus said, “not my will, but thine be done” that ended it. Jesus purposely aligned His will to God’s and His body obeyed.

This is what we must do in order to walk in the fullness of God’s will and power. That is what we are doing when we choose to say what He said, think what He said, and do what He did. We are not pretending so that we can appear to be something we are not. We are practicing what we want to be so that we will become it.

No matter if we flip burgers, fix machines, or fly airplanes, we have to train to become the thing we are supposed to be. It doesn’t just happen. So it is with faith.

When we mess up, we must remember His grace. We aren’t going to get this right every time. At the time of this writing, I am 49 years old and even though I have been walking for decades, I still trip over my own feet sometimes. I may get embarrassed, but I have never felt condemned, ashamed, or unworthy of the ability to walk when it happens. I get back up and continue on my way. Jesus covers us in His blood, so God doesn’t hold our mistakes against us when we miss it. That would be an insult to His Son’s sacrifice.

Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto death.”

This scripture lends credence to what I said in earlier chapters. A clear image of the victory before the battle begins is key to applying our faith. Our reliance upon the blood of the Lamb is crucial in everything we do and can never be forgotten or taken for granted.

Finally, our willingness to favor our eternal spirit over our temporal flesh also plays an important role and indicates our depth of commitment. Our physical flesh may fail, but dying to self is really what’s at the heart of this passage because that is what’s required for our daily development in Christ. When we refuse to let our talents, reasonings, and resources take precedence over Him and what He has accomplished for us, then they become the inexhaustible tools God intended them to be instead of something we horde for ourselves.

In Matthew 19:16-26, when Jesus was questioned by the rich, young ruler, Jesus told him to sell all that he had and give to the poor. When the man went away disheartened, Jesus told the disciples, “…It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Considering the fact that there are a plethora of scriptures throughout the bible that talk about God blessing His people with wealth, the deeper meaning of this scripture isn’t that the guy had money.

To put it in modern terms, his problem was that he was self-reliant and his possessions were a source of pride, comfort, and security. While it is true that when you have great wealth, it is easier to settle into the depths of that deception, there are people without a penny to their name who harbor that same spirit.

That is what we must lay down; our reliance upon our own power, provisions, and processes. God is our source and supply. He is our provider. Relying on earthly resources is akin to idolatry, and God is a jealous God. We won’t enter into the authority and treasures of the kingdom on this earth if we are dependent upon our own wits to do it. We must rely on Christ and the sacrifice He made on our behalf. Our feeble attempts to live up to God’s standard is noble, but it is still pride. Trying to earn grace can easily become our motive if we aren’t diligent.

If we let love motivate us, pride can’t enter into our lives. If we are always praising God for His work, thanking Him for His provision, and bragging about what He has done (and will do) for us to others, then we will always see self-reliance as the delusion that it is.

In conclusion, I would like to remind everyone that Romans 12:3 says, “…God has dealt to every man, the measure of faith.” We all have faith, but not everyone has taken the time to develop it well as others may have.

Think of it this way. A healthy newborn baby has the same muscles as Arnold Schwarzenegger. Faith is our spiritual muscle. We need to develop it through repeated use. As our faith grows, the challenges we face will too, but that is no excuse to let it remain underdeveloped and atrophied. I assure you, the trials are coming whether we’re prepared for them or not.

Like Mr. Schwarzenegger, we need to develop each muscle group individually in order to balance out our spiritual physiques. The faith we use for finances may not be as strong as it is for healing or vice versa. If we aren’t sure what to work on next, the devil will do us a favor and attack us where we are weakest. Don’t get upset though. Just praise God for His provision in the matter and begin to build those muscles, too.

Chapter 15: Review

So, let’s look back at what we’ve learned:

1) Start with an image of the completed work.

2) Assess the situation.

3) Seek the witness of the Holy Spirit and those of like precious faith.

4) Speak what God says about the situation.

5) Yield to God’s leading.

6) Look for the immediate manifestation of God’s promise.

7) Give thanks and praise to God always.

8) Enjoy the blessing by bringing glory to God and blessing others with it.

9) Testify of God’s goodness to inspire faith in others.

10) Be patient in the process.

11) Live in the grace of God.

12) Forgive others and yourself.

13) Practice. Practice. Practice.

Finally, brothers and sisters, let me reiterate that faith is not a formula. We cannot fake this and expect results. We can, however, exercise these traits in order to develop them in our lives. Just as Jesus aligned His will with God’s in the Garden of Gethsemane, so too must we choose to train ourselves to emulate our Father’s example.

Ephesians 5:1 “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;”

That word that is translated as “followers” is the Greek word, “mimetes” (Strong’s G3402), and it literally means to imitate. He wants us to act like Him as a means of becoming like Him. It brings Him great pleasure and it is a natural byproduct of a relationship with Him. Apple trees produce apples. Orange trees produce oranges. And God’s children act like Him.

Thank you, and God bless!

About the Author

Including this bit at the end feels awkward. I don’t like talking about myself. I don’t mind sharing experiences, revelations, and opinions with those whom I know, but it takes a while for me to get to that place. I can’t help but be reminded of the scripture where Jesus said in John 5:31 “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.” But then He continued in verse 32 with, “There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.”

That is my prayer for you: that God bears witness to you of the words in this book.

I’ve spent my career in the blue-collar trades. For over thirty years, it was my job to analyze problems (mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, & programming) to determine the who, what, where, when, why, and how of process failures, then remedy them. I drew upon that experience to troubleshoot the problems I experienced with faith.

Like any system on which I have worked over the years, being able to do an accurate root-cause analysis begins with a complete understanding of how something should work. The Holy Trinity is the only source of a perfect example of how faith should work. I don’t care how much success anyone else has had, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have cast the only mold in which we should form our faith.

While I appreciate a person’s desire to want to know more about me, I wrote this book to help people develop their relationships with the Almighty, not me. I am just one of a countless number of people working in the background to help clear up the signal between the body of Christ and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is my heart in this, and it is the most important thing you need to know about me.