There are multiple kinds of faith. It takes faith to sit in a chair and believe it’s going to hold you. There is faith when one believes the sun will rise and set each day. There is faith present when I believe my heart will beat and my lungs will inhale and exhale daily.
But what exactly is faith? Dictionary.com defines faith as, “confidence or trust in a person or thing”. I’m going to trust that this chair is going to hold me up. It’s a simple faith.
According to the Bible, 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].” (Hebrews 11:1, Amplified Version).
David Guzik takes this definition a step further for us. He says, “Just as our physical eyesight is the sense that gives us evidence of the material world, faith is the “sense” that gives us evidence of the invisible, spiritual world.”
And according to Jon Courson, “The phrase “things not seen” is literally “things not yet seen.” Faith is the substance of what you know is coming your way, even though it is not yet seen. Faith isn’t wishful thinking. No, based upon the Word of God, faith says, “Whether I see it presently, understand it intellectually, or experience it immediately, I know what God says He’ll do, He will do.”
Faith in knowing God is going to do what God says He is going to do is a beautiful, life changing faith. It is alive and active. It moves and breathes…not on it’s own, but by the will of God Himself. It moves and breathes by the power of the Holy Spirit moving and breathing through us to do the will of the Almighty God. This faith is empowered by the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit working in us.
We get the word dynamite from the Greek word dunamis.
When Micah taught the ladies at Ladies Bible study, he asked, “What does dynamite do?” His simple answer, “It blows things up. It changes things.”
Think about it. We use dynamite in a mine. It moves the dirt out of the way. It opens the area and uncovers the hidden treasure beneath the earth.
We use dynamite to demolish buildings. We make way for empty lots or new buildings.
People have even been known to fish with dynamite. They change living fish to dead fish, underwater fish to floating fish, and hungry bellies to satisfied bellies.
- God’s dynamite power changes things.
- It’s what rolled the stone away and resurrected the dead body of Jesus.
- It’s what defeated death and Satan.
- It’s what allows me to live free from the bondage of sin.
- It’s what takes this broken and sinful body and creates a new life within.
Remember, when you feel defeated, broken, lifeless, or overwhelmed, you have the dunamis, resurrection power of the Holy Spirit living inside of you giving you all the strength and power you need to accomplish what He’s asked you to do today, this moment.
Do you believe you have that power? Do you live like you have that power?
It’s a mindset that you have to remember, to believe, to pray through while continually asking for this gift of the Spirit.
The other day, I was struggling with a case of the crankies. I had to stopped and remind myself of this amazing power. I’m a new creation. I’m not to live in bondage to this crankiness. What was it caused by? The Lord revealed that it was based in sin, selfishness, and unmet expectations. I’m not in bondage to that sin in my life and if I allow it to rule the way I live, react, and treat others, then I’m allowing it to be my master and I’m living in bondage to it. I confessed it and the crankies disappeared as I found myself rejoicing in the Lord instead!
Dunamis faith results in a changed life! Let’s put this kind of faith to action and allow the Spirit to work through us and change the world in which we live.
Blessings!
Valerie