#Illuminare - ON FAITH PART 9: HOW FAITH WORKS Begins now 👇

1. So, here’s how the faith thing works. It’s like a machine. Think of a car engine with three gears or cogs that are all held together by a fan belt. That’s what the machinery looks like. #Illuminare

2. The first gear is the provisions made by God. The Bible says God has blessed us with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:3 KJV. #Illuminare

3. Everything you’ll ever need in life - every joy, every piece of peace, every deliverance from evil, every healing, every forgiveness of sin, every promotion, every success, every item of prosperity - #Illuminare

4. – your car, your house, your kids, everything has been provided through the sacrifice of Jesus. No blessing is left out. But here’s the challenge: the blessings are located in heavenly vaults, not on earth, and for good reason. #Illuminare

5. Remember Jesus telling his disciples to store up their treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt? Matthew 6:19-20. There’s value instability on earth. Moth and rust are metaphors for inflation and deflation. #Illuminare

6. Because the blessings are located outside of time, they’re not subject to depreciation or devaluation. There’s no devaluation in heaven. But the challenge is and has always been how to bring down the blessings. #Illuminare

7. It’s like those planets made of diamond. 55 Cancri e is an example. It’s twice the size of earth but who’s going to mine it? It’s 40 light years away. A light year is 9 trillion kilometers. #Illuminare

8. The second gear of our engine is power. Because the blessings are heavy duty stuff you need power to haul them down. What God did was to deposit power inside of us so we’re less dependent on him and don’t have to trouble him for everything. #Illuminare

9. The Bible says the power that raised up Jesus from the dead is inside of us, in our spirits, and it’s active. Ephesians 1:19. And so we have the provision and the power dynamo of our engine. There’s one more cog. #Illuminare

10. The third gear of our engine is faith. What faith does is convert those spiritual blessings into tangible stuff. The power in us brings it down but faith does the conversion. Faith substantiates spiritual blessing, gives it substance, makes it tangible. #Illuminare

11. It’s why the Bible says faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. NO FAITH NO MANIFESTATION. #Illuminare

12. Now, as mere humans we don’t have industrial strength faith. Industrial strength faith can raise the dead, cast out demons, demolish imaginations, break the power of sin, gain access to millennia old data, function in predictive capacity and control natural phenomena.

13. We saw Jesus display those capacities. So, God gave us the faith of Jesus. It’s how we got born again. By grace you were saved through faith and that faith is not of yourself it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8-9. #Illuminare

14. If God provided the blessing, generated the power and gave us faith how come the blessings are not automatic? Well, it’s because we have a role to play. We were given control of that third gear, faith. Our job is activation. #Illuminare

15. But to activate the third gear you need knowledge about the laws regulating faith. Faith is regulated by certain laws. Surprisingly it’s just two laws. All that’s required of us is that we master those two laws. #Illuminare

16. The first law of faith is the law of advance possession. The second law of faith is the law of pronouncement. #Illuminare

17. Let’s take the first law of faith – the law of advance possession. Jesus said, “Whatever you pray and ask for, believe you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24. #Illuminare

18. In other words, at the point of making your request to God believe you already have what you’re asking for and it will manifest. Faith says you have what you’re asking for in advance of manifestation. #Illuminare

19. Manifestation is not proof of acquisition it’s just a progression. It is for this reason you ignore contra reality. Why? Because you already have what you’re asking for, so what other reality? You already possess it. #Illuminare

20. Abraham understood the principle well. It’s why he invented a device called ignominy. He simply ignored reality, including biological laws. God had told him he was going to have a kid at almost a hundred years of age. By physical laws that’s just impossible. #Illuminare

21. Besides, Sarah was ninety and had struggled with infertility all her life. Abraham ignored all those facts and focused on God’s integrity. God’s capability was not in issue. He has capacity to overwrite any reality. Romans 4:18-21. #Illuminare

22. It’s because of the law of advance possession that Abraham agreed to change his name. God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. Abraham means father of many nations. Imagine the mockery behind his back, the gist going on at Country Club. #Illuminare

23. Of course some people thought he was senile. But faith calls those things which be not as though they were. Romans 4:17. #Illuminare

24. If you want to exercise faith you have to ignore reality. Always remember, what we call reality is dynamic. It’s not only changeable, it’s interchangeable. It can be overwritten. Blind eyes can open. #Illuminare

25. The second law of faith is the law of pronouncement. You have to make pronouncements, speak to things. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea and does not doubt in his heart - #Illuminare

26. - but believes what he says will take place, it will be done for him.” Mark 11:23. To exercise faith you have to speak to things, speak to situations, speak to circumstances. You will of course sound like a madman but who cares. Jesus spoke to a fig tree. Mark 11:12-25.

27. - Imagine what that looked like. We’re used to talking to animals but if you talk to trees you’ll likely be considered in need of psychiatric evaluation. Yet Jesus said to talk to nature and circumstances. It is this speaking to circumstances we technically refer to as -

28. - confession of faith. If you’re ill you have to speak to your disease, speak to your body. Quote God’s word, personalize it - By the stripes of Jesus I am healed. Isaiah 53:5. If things are tough speak to lack - The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. Psalm 23. #Illuminare

29. Even in a time of disaster God watches over me, and I will always have more than enough no matter what happens. Psalm 37:19 TPT. You can speak to unruly situations - Peace be still. Mark 4:35-41. Make pronouncements and declarations. #Illuminare

30. There’s one other law that regulates faith but it’s tangentially. It regulates everything on earth so it’s an omnibus law. It’s the law of sowing and reaping. The Bible says as long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest will never cease. Genesis 8:22. #Illuminare

31. Here’s how that affects faith. The law says what you sow is what you reap. You can’t sow maize and reap guava for instance. It’s against the law. But Paul lets us in on something. He says that law can be modified by God’s sovereignty. #Illuminare

32. In teaching about resurrection, he says the mortal body we put into the ground is not what resurrects. A mortal body is sown but a supernatural body is raised. We’re raised immortal. 1Corinthians 15:42-44. #Illuminare

33. Advancing the argument further, he says concerning seed sown that “there’s no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato will look like by looking at a tomato seed.” 1 Corinthians 15:35-38 MSG. #Illuminare

34. “God gives to it the new body he wants it to have.” 1 Corinthians 15:38 NLT. In order words, God is able to alter the natural outcomes of the law of sowing and reaping. There’s a huge principle here. #Illuminare

35. It means you can sow money for example and ask God to intervene to produce a different type of output. Since money answereth all things you can practically use money as a means of exchange to access different outcomes. Ecclesiastes 10:19. #Illuminare

36. If you’re ill for instance, you can sow a seed towards someone’s school fees, or pay for someone’s house rent as seed for your healing. It’s a progression of faith. #Illuminare

37. What can disturb faith? As it turns out faith has an opposing force. If you’re interested in quantum mechanics or cosmology like I am you’ll probably have heard of antimatter. #Illuminare

38. They’re identical to matter except that they carry the opposite charge and spin… Never mind. Please ignore that. It’s just enough for you to know antimatter is the opposite of matter, and as matter has antimatter, so faith has antifaith. #Illuminare

39. The biblical term for antifaith is unbelief. It’s an opposing force and can actually coexist with faith in the same human. It’s why that gentleman said, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Mark 9:23. #Illuminare

40. You can have faith and unbelief at the same time. The question is, which will overwhelm the other? They’re always at war. #Illuminare

41. How can faith and unbelief coexist in us? It’s quite easy. God has given every believer the measure of faith, so you have faith. Romans 12:3. And yet while believing God, we sometimes have flights of fancy that run contrary to our faith. #Illuminare

42. Some think foolish heroism, planning their burial in their head, imagining how people will remember them, yet at the same time believing God for their healing. If they persist with those thoughts, unbelief will overwhelm their faith. #Illuminare

43. The Bible says to cast down imaginations and fit “every loose thought and emotions and impulse into the structure of a life shaped by Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV, MSG. In other words, control your thoughts, emotions and impulses with God’s word. #Illuminare

44. Confess God’s word, control your intake. Stop listening to stuff that strengthen antifaith. Nothing strengthens unbelief like negativism. Faith comes by hearing God’s word, but unbelief comes through negativism. #Illuminare

45. Stop consuming bad data – terrible news from TV, newspapers, magazines and social media. Avoid negative emotions. Don’t get into fights. Forgive those that offend you. Jesus said unforgiveness hinders prayers. Mark 11:25. #Illuminare

46. Well, that’s how faith works. That’s the mechanics of faith. #Illuminare

47. I want you to give your life to Jesus. Please pray this prayer: “Father I come to you in the name of Jesus. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead. I am saved. Amen.” #Illuminare

48. To read “On Faith Part 9: How faith works”, go to https://t.co/SdGAiN1mHA #Illuminare

49. To understand the Christian walk from a contemporary perspective, read my book, Conversations of a 21st Century Saint. Order at https://t.co/AqMO38sntS. #Illuminare