The Substantiation of Expectation

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb.11:1).
        As an avid student of those who have demonstrated faith, particularly in the areas of miracles and healings, I have found faith is best understood by those who have experienced and live faith as a lifestyle.  These faith folk understand the reality of Mk.16: 17-18 that miraculous signs follow them.  They don’t have to pray for signs; they just follow.  The reality of this truth has impacted me more in the last few weeks than ever before.  A dimension of faith exists where there is not a question of “if” the anointing will be there, but “when’ and “how” Holy Spirit will move.  Expectation precedes the miraculous. This expectation is scriptural “hope.”
        “Hope” can be defined as “white hot expectation.” Another description is “a man standing on tiptoes with an out-stretched neck scanning the horizon in anticipation of his answer coming to him.” Hope is the seed from which faith springs.  In this article I want to mention aspects of this seed of hope. 
·        Definition: The feature scripture above defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” Faith is the “substantiation of expectation,” the title deed to the not-yet-visible covenant promises of God.  Faith is a spiritual force which transports invisible promises of God from the spirit realm to the natural realm through a believer (2Cor.1:20). Faith is the currency of the Kingdom of God. Without an exchange of faith by a believer no supernatural transfer of heaven’s promises to the earth can occur.  Faith is a bridge anchored on the one end to the promises of God and on the other end to the messes of life.  Not only is faith the bridge but also the transporter of the promises of God which are “Yea and Amen” (2Cor.  1:20) from the eternal, spiritual realm to the natural, material realm.                    

• Necessity: Heb.11:6 declares that “without faith it is impossible to please God, for one must believe that God is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” It is vital to understand that faith is a spiritual force which demands fulfillment.  So is fear.  These two forces rule men’s lives.  Every man walks in one of these two camps.  Job3:25 describes the magnetic effect fear has, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.” Fear believes Satan’s report of death and destruction while faith believes God’s Word and acts on it! Faith is a requirement for believers, for whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom.14:23). 
• Authority: God has always dealt with men through covenant. In our modern world, we know very little about covenant. A covenant is an unbreakable contract between two parties in which each party is responsible to keep requirements detailed therein. The covenant lists both benefits (blessings) for keeping covenant and penalties (curses) for breaking them. I have found most believers to be woefully ignorant of God’s covenant promises, which are legally binding! Believers have a legal right to covenant promises such as freedom from guilt of sin, healing of our bodies, deliverance from demonic oppression, and freedom from lack, to name a few. Jesus ministered according to the covenant God made with Abraham, which was detailed through the law of the covenant and spelled out in Deuteronomy. As a Covenant Man, Jesus simply applied blessings (Deut.28:1-14) where He saw curses (Deut.28:15-68). Jesus walked by faith in God’s Word through the Holy Spirit’s power.  In his letter to the Galatians, Paul summarizes the whole of scripture most concisely in two verses: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal.3:13-14). Our authority as believers comes through covenant relationship through Jesus’ blood by faith, and is empowered by God’s Agent on earth, Holy Spirit living in us, operating through us, as us!
• Process: Faith is the result of three distinct spiritual laws operating in sequence: law of possibility (Mk.9:23), law of profession (Mk.11:22-24), and the law of eventuality (Mk.4:26-29, Gal.6:9, Heb.6:12). I became a believer during the charismatic renewal movement in the 70’s. I saw and heard what can only be called “goofy” teaching on faith by some very well-meaning believers.  From this came the demeaning monikers of “the Name It and Claim It Crowd”, or “the Gab It and Grab It Bunch.” Many thought if you “claimed” something you desired long enough, God would finally relent and give it to you. Others thought you should never give a “negative confession.” This led many believers who may have been deathly ill, to verbally deny anything was wrong even though it was obvious to all they were sick.  That is not faith; it is lying! Rom.  4:17 describes “faith talk” as calling those things which are not as though they are. The ill-informed do just the opposite calling things that are, like they didn’t exist, denying obvious facts of life. We are not to deny facts that exist, but call for our covenant promises to manifest. Then, by faith, Truth of God’s Word will supersede and over-ride facts of life through faith in God and His Word. This is where the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. Others who were prayed for would immediately throw their medicine away and “claim” their healing. Then when they needed to go to the doctor, they were criticized for lack of faith and came under self-condemnation. There is still a lot of this foolishness, not faith, practiced in some circles. All of these practices are diametrically opposed to scripture. Even through all this error, God moved mightily during the Charismatic Renewal Movement despite much ignorance of the scriptural process of faith. 2Cor.4:13 and Mk.11:22-24 detail the two hinges on the door of faith – believing then speaking. One who lives by faith does not speak in order to believe (Name It and Claim It) but speaks from having already believed God’s Word (covenant promises) first, and having received the title deed to what is yet unseen. Mk.4:26-28 relates directly to the process of faith with an illustration of a man sowing seed on the ground; the growth process of the blade, the head, and then the full grain on the head; and then the manifestation of harvest.  Yes, Holy Spirit can speed up the process to an immediate manifestation (miracle), but the normal sequence of faith is patient waiting for what you know is yours.  Paul says this best in Gal.6:9, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Scriptural “waiting” is expecting and preparing for the harvest, not just lying around doing nothing. 

       Believing God’s covenant promises, speaking those promises into the circumstances of life, then preparing for the inevitable divine result is the process by which the “substantiation of your expectation” will manifest.  Amen.