WHAT IS FAITH???

Hebrews 11:1
KJV "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
NIV "Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
GNT "To have faith is to be sure of things we hope for, to be certain of the things we can not see."
AMP "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation; the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

If faith is believing in things that are unseen, then where do our limits lie? I can "not see" just about anything! The only limitations to faith are between our ears! The mind is the only battlefield for the born again Christian! Let's break off some of those lies and "limitations" today, shall we?! I have italicized the blockers I hear on a regular basis.
"What about spiritual warfare?"
The Truth is...there is no war! Revelation has been written, the war is over, we won! Just because we are still walking out time, does not change the outcome! We see that Jesus told us in Luke 10 that we have been given ALL authority to overcome the enemy! If we have all the authority, then the enemy obviously has none! The only way the enemy gets any power what-so-ever is when we give it to him! When Jesus died on the cross He said, "It is finished!" He did not say, "To be continued" or "We're almost there"! He said it's finished! Well, what does "it" mean? EVERYTHING!!! He died to take our sin, our shame, our guilt, our condemnation, our works, our sickness, our disease, our pain, even our death! He tacked everything that wasn't part of the original, Garden of Eden, plan for our lives, and destroyed it! He destroyed the works of the devil! He payed our ransom! He set us free! Free from the world, free from the enemy, and free from ourselves!
"So then why am I not living in total victory?" 
Because you don't believe that you can! The Lord told us that in order to receive the kingdom, we have to be child-like! Read the Word, and believe what it says, the way it says it! No interpretations! No breaking it down! No analyzing! Children read, and they believe! If I read a fantasy book about fairies or superheroes to a small child, they would immediately start picturing it in their mind, creating vivid descriptions of what it would be like, and begin acting it out! They instantly believe that it can be real in their lives too! So why is it when we read the bible, we suppress the modern day reality of it? The gospel is the living Word! It is not meant to merely encourage or entertain us, it is meant to instruct and define us!
"Yeah, well I've tried that before." 
So when did our experiences become the authority? When did our circumstances become our god? The validity of the Word is not determined by our life's experiences! Rather, our identity is determined by the Word, and out of true identity comes victorious life experiences! The Word says we are children of God! We are pure, righteous, holy, sinless, Christ-like, supernatural, powerful, spotless, blameless, free from guilt,shame,and condemnation, perfect (not lacking anything), confident, patient, kind, generous, loving, gentle, humble, compassionate, honoring, selfless, trusting, hopeful, determined, justified, glorified, worthy, chosen, and on, and on, and on! If God says that we are all these things, who are we to argue with Him?!
"No one is righteous, not even one...blah blah blah...why do I do what I don't want to do...ugh ugh ugh...if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves...yap yap yap..."
Do not mistake this for being disrespectful to the Word! I live and breathe Jesus, and have no existence outside of Him! My mockery is toward the religious spirit that keeps believers in unbelief! Romans 3, Romans 7, and 1 John 1 are the most misquoted chapters of the bible, in my experiences with struggling Christians! I'm not even gonna get started on Job! That's a whole separate blog! Let's kill these lies starting with Romans 3. Verse 10 starts out with "As it is written.." and goes on to quote from Psalms and Ecclesiastes. Then in verse 19 it says, "...whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law..."! WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW! Alright, one life sucking lie broken off... next! Romans 7. The entire chapter is talking about man's state under the law and why we were in desperate need of a Savior! Verse 1, "...the law has authority over someone, only as long as that person lives...". Verse 4, "...you also died to the law through the body of Christ...". Verse 5, "For when we WERE in the realm of the flesh...the sinful passions...WERE at work in us...". Verse 14-25, " ...I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin...what I want to do I do not do...sin living in me...good itself does not dwell...in my sinful nature...I want to do good, evil is right there with me...I delight in God's law...law of sin at work in me...wretched man...WHO WILL RESCUE ME?...THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO DELIVERS ME THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD! To finish making "my" point I will continue into Romans 8, because after all, Paul did not write to the church of Rome in chapter and verse, but one whole letter. Romans 8:2, "...through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." Verse 5, "Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." Verse 9, "You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ." Any questions? This is so rock solid! The religious spirit is gonna kick rocks with this one! LOL!
Last one I mentioned was 1 John 1, verses 5-10, "...God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all...if we walk in the light...His Son, purifies us from ALL sin....if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves...If we confess....He is faithful...and WILL...purify us from ALL unrighteousness. If we claim to HAVE NOT sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His Word is not in us." Continuing on to chapter 2, because once again John wrote this as one solid letter without chapter and verse. 1 John 2:1-2, "...I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin..." John would not say, "...so that you will not sin." if it wasn't possible, and "But if..." if it was a given! We have had a blood transfusion with Christ, people! We, by our new nature, do not have to sin!...at all! ...ever! Isn't that fantastic? Jesus is Lord!
"If signs and miracles are for today, why isn't everyone healed?"
With faith as small as a mustard seed we can move mountains! It doesn't require great amounts of faith! The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds on earth, yet grows to be huge! Here's the dilemma...it must be planted to grow! People aren't all getting healed because believers aren't all stepping out in faith to release the healing! If more Christians would get over themselves (myself included at times), and love like Christ, everyone would be healed!
"I do pray for people, but they're not all getting healed."
#1. Awesome! Great job! Keep going! Don't give up!
#2. Do not, I repeat, do not, for any reason, make up theologies or excuses for why someone didn't get healed! Jesus is Lord! He wishes for all to be saved and live abundantly! The enemy is a jerk, and sometimes we have to stomp his face several times! I don't know why...just do it! If someone that we pray for does not get healed, they need to leave us feeling as though they just had an amazing encounter with our loving Father, and not feel worse than when we found them! (Do not make yourself feel better at another's expense...their eternal destiny may depend on this one chance encounter!)
Here are some related lies...
A. It is never about the other person's lack of faith! (Lazarus had no faith to be raised from the dead!)
B. It's not about the amount of faith you have! (All it takes is a mustard seed, and you wouldn't have stepped out to pray if you didn't at least think maybe this could work!)
C. It's not about God's timing! ( He lives outside of time, and today is the day of salvation!)
D. It's not part of God's plan that they suffer to learn a lesson! (Yuck! How could anyone love a Father that would inflict them to teach them. Matthew 7:11 If you who are wicked know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him.)
E. It is not like Paul's thorn in the flesh! (Jesus did not tell the disciples to heal the sick, unless of course their ailment is a thorn they have been denied removal! The thorn was a messenger of Satan, not God! In verse 10 Paul explains in detail what his weaknesses were...insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties! Throughout the Word we see that we are all promised these things as believers! God wants us all healed...period!)
F. It's not about the way you prayed! (Be healed, Get up, Open, Go Wash....These are all the words that Jesus and the disciples used, and they all worked! It doesn't matter what you say as long it's in love and in Jesus' name! You could say Shaka baba in Jesus' name, and someone could get healed! *I know, I've done it!* It's not us doing the healing anyways, it's Holy Spirit! Step out and make straight paths for the Lord aka a landing strip for Holy Spirit! LOL!)
"It's too hard to have faith."
My only answer for this is...NO IT'S NOT! IT'S FUN!!! I spent my entire life trying to be cool and fit in, and it was exhausting! Just be who you were created to be...be yourself! Get loose, have fun, and....
Run with me church!
*purusamor.com*