Seeing the Unseen It just sounds too good to be true. That’s what many people think when they hear me make a statement such as, “You don’t have to wait to get to heaven to prosper and have your needs met.” But the fact is, you don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to prosper and enjoy life. You can enjoy a world of good here and now! God has already done everything it takes for you to live the highest kind of life right here on earth. He created man to live in His limitless provision and care. Had Adam not sinned in the Garden, he never would have had to toil, struggle or sweat. And, thank God, the story doesn’t end with Adam! Everything Adam and Eve lost in the Fall, Jesus got back in redemption. He came so we could enjoy life…and not just a little. He came so we could have life in abundance—to the full, till it overflows (John 10:10). Jesus has done His part. Now it’s up to us to do our part and receive all the good He has in store for us. And, faith is the key to receiving. It takes faith to bring things from the unseen realm of the spirit into the seen realm—the here and now. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Whether we need a physical healing, a loved one’s salvation, more finances, a sound mind or anything else, we receive it one way—by faith. Now, if you’ve been listening to us very long, you already know faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). If you don’t know what God has promised in His Word, you don’t have any basis for faith. In order to bring the unseen (what you are believing for) into the seen realm, you must receive what God says in His Word, believe it and apply it to yourself personally. “That’s mine!” you say. “I receive it.” The Spirit of Faith Creates The Scripture tells us God created the universe in the same way, by using words of faith and power. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3). God said what He desired, and believed it, before He saw it manifest. When He wants something done, God doesn’t just think about it. He doesn’t complain about it either. He says it, by faith believing that what He says will come to pass. Notice at Creation God didn’t say anything about how dark it was. No. “God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3-4). God believes and He speaks. He says and then He sees. God Himself calls things “which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17). When He speaks, His words are alive and energized and effective. Hebrews 4:12 tells us there is power in His words to cause whatever He says to come to pass. You and I create a victorious life here on earth the same way God created and framed the worlds. That’s right. In fact, we have the same spirit of faith He does. It is imparted to us when we are born again. And, to bring His promises from the unseen realm into the seen realm, we must not only believe, but we also must speak His Word—just as He does (II Corinthians 4:13). First, faith must be stored up in our hearts by consistently taking in the Word through our eyes and ears. Then, as we meditate on those promises and they become more and more real to us, the spirit of faith within us becomes bold enough to speak that Word in power! When that happens, the words “By the stripes of Jesus, I am healed!” create healing. I want you to know that no matter what your situation is, or how serious it looks, that situation can change—if you’ll hear what God says about it, and put His promise in your heart and in your mouth until all doubt is crowded out. Be Transformed, Inside and Out Believe! Say! And see it by faith! That’s what it takes to live a life of victory on earth. Just being born again doesn’t guarantee you a victorious life. You are instantly transformed on the inside when you receive Jesus as your Savior, and you will go to heaven eventually. But for your outer life to be transformed, your mind has to be renewed and retrained with the Word of God. Romans 12:2 commands, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” What renews your mind—your soul—is finding out what God says about something and coming into agreement with it. Don’t agree with the world that insists, “You could never have that.” Don’t say, “That’s too good to be true!” If you refuse to receive the Word of God, you are hardening your heart just like the children of Israel did when they refused to believe God when He told them to take the Promised Land. And Hebrews 3:15 warns us, “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.” Unbelief kept the Israelites out of a land that seemed just too good to be true (verse 19). It can keep us out of our promised land too. So, retrain your soul: your mind—how to think; your will—what to choose; and your emotions. Make them come into line to agree with the Word of God. And make your words agree with the Word: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so…” (Psalms 107:2). Saying so is faith. Faith in Two Places The victory and freedom you walk in depend on how much of the Word goes in your eyes and ears on a continual basis. And you have to mix faith with that Word. Hebrews 4:2 says of the Israelites that “the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith” (The Amplified Bible). And remember, it kept them out! You can listen to tapes day and night, but until you mix faith with that Word—until you get it in your heart and believe it, and put it in your mouth, it won’t profit you. According to Romans 10:8, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.” Faith has to be in two places—in your heart and in your mouth. If you’re speaking negative words of doubt and unbelief, you have a heart problem. “For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34, The Amplified Bible). Your future is literally stored up in your heart. Make sure it’s full of the Word. Faith comes by hearing the Word, and faith goes by saying the Word. You release your faith in words that come from your heart. What you say is what you are calling into your life. Holy Spirit Power Now, apart from being born again and renewing your mind to the Word, nothing can change your life more than being filled with the Holy Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit swept into this atmosphere in a new way. Instead of hovering over the face of the deep and waiting for God to speak as He did at the time of Creation, He came to indwell God’s children. Why? So when believers would speak the Word of God, the power in that Word would cause itself to come to pass. That’s not His only function though. The Holy Spirit also teaches us, guides us and gives us revelation of all the good God has in store for us: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit…. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth… (I Corinthians 2:9-10, 12-13). We can be empowered by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. He will reveal the unseen things God has for us and teach us to talk faith. That’s important because our words give either God or the devil authority to move in our lives. We Decide We cannot be talkers of problems, unless we want to be like the world and join them in their problems. We can talk the problem and keep the problem, or we can talk the answer (the Word of God) and have the answer. It’s our choice. In the Name of Jesus we can take authority over adverse situations in our lives and see them change. We’ve been empowered by the Holy Spirit and the words of God Himself to do just that. You can let the indwelling Holy Spirit teach you how to speak into the atmosphere words that will change things. Become Like Little Children Ken and I were Spirit-filled about five years after we were born again, but we didn’t know anything about the Word. It was like when the Holy Spirit was hovering over the face of the deep before God spoke—nothing was happening! We didn’t know how to turn our faith loose. We didn’t even know what to believe. We had a lot to learn. And we had to become like little children and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us. Galatians 3:23 sums up our life at that time: “Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed” (New International Version). We didn’t know what the Word of God said, so we couldn’t believe for anything. We were locked up in lack and unbelief, with no future and no hope. But after we moved to Tulsa and Ken became a student at Oral Roberts University, we began hearing the Word of God from Oral Roberts and Kenneth E. Hagin. We learned that faith comes by hearing, believing and saying the Word. We learned this same faith made us overcomers. Next, we began to change our words. Even though we didn’t understand it all, we didn’t harden our hearts or argue with the truth. We just took what we learned and began to walk in it. Little by little, our lives began to change for the better. Finding out what God said so we could receive His promises became serious for us. We’re still serious. Whatever we see in the Word, we believe it and receive it. We don’t say, “That’s too good to be true.” We don’t harden our hearts. We just take it by faith—now. Not sometime in the future. Faith is now (Hebrews 11:1). The Eye of Faith Sees the Unseen If you need something from God, you have to stand in faith on the Word of God. Hold on to the promise. Believe it until it manifests. You’ll have lots of opportunity to be moved by what you see. But don’t! Instead be moved by what you believe. What you believe will take over the seen realm. The unseen will swallow up the seen. Years ago Kenneth E. Hagin taught us that the “eye of faith” is what looks at the unseen realm. The eye of faith is the eye of believing the Word of God. In the time between when you believe you receive a promise from the Word, and the time it manifests in your life, keep looking at what the Word says, not at the circumstances. “Walk by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7). Don’t focus on afflictions or lack. If you’re believing for a new car, don’t focus on the old jalopy that won’t start. Faith lives in the promise. So “look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (II Corinthians 4:18). When you have a pain in your body, see it through the Word which says Jesus bore your pain and “with his stripes [you] are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5). You walk healed by believing and speaking the Word about healing, by putting it in your heart, and letting it become bigger than any sickness. Through the eye of faith, see yourself healed and whole—and say so! No matter what you need today, find a promise from God’s Word and believe it. Put it in your heart and in your mouth, and it will begin to work for you—that’s faith. There’s no getting around that process. Why? Because faith is a law. Jesus said, “According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29). So start calling things that be not as though they were. What are you calling your body? Your family? Your bank account? Say what God says about those things. Speak the answer you desire. By the eye of faith, keep seeing what you’re believing for until it becomes seen in the natural realm. Making substance of the unseen will surely bring you days of heaven on earth. People will look at you and say, “Why, your life is just too good to be true!”
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 22:33:58 +0000
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