Faith Is Not Imagination

Chapter 1

What Is Faith?

Faith is not imagination. Faith is based on tangible realities, albeit spiritual in its origin and form. Faith goes beyond hoping for something to happen. It also transcends and  imagining something has happened or is about to happen. Faith is believing in the existence of something with certainty and not hoping that the thing exists. Faith is based on certainty and not on hope.

The traditional exercise of faith appears to be based more on hope than certainty. This is exhibited with statements like I’m believing God to heal me. That is a statement of hope. A statement of faith should say - I thank God for my healing or by His stripes I am healed. These are clearly statements of certainty. The certainty is based on an established truth and reality. 

What is the reality? The reality is that you are already healed in Christ Jesus, even though you may be experiencing the symptoms of sickness as you make the statement of faith. The presence of symptoms does not invalidate the truth that you are perfectly healthy in Christ Jesus. According to Scripture, Jesus has taken sickness away from us (1 Peter 2:24). That is the reality that gives rise to certainty. So you are not hoping to be healed or imagining things when you claim you are healed.

In the exercise of faith, everything, including healing has ALREADY been established, and is not about to happen. That is the difference between faith and hope. It’s important we make this distinction. There is nothing wrong in hoping for something. It can even be argued that the exercise of faith begins with hope. But when we hope for something let’s not call it faith. 

If faith is based on established realities, we can also describe the exercise of faith as the mechanism by which we command spiritual realities into physical manifestation on earth.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for

The evidence of things not seen

Substance refers to tangible or material things, in other words things that exist. For that reason when you exercise faith you're not just making empty and meaningless declarations. You exercise faith for, things that are material and not imagined; .things that already exist.

I've heard people use the word imagination when talking about faith. They ask people to imagine what they're exercising faith about exists. They probably use the word ‘imagine’ because faith is based on spiritual realities that can’t be physically seen. unseen realities. I don't suppose anybody is told to imagine God exists because He is a Spirit. Those who believe in Him don't imagine He exists, they KNOW He exists, even though they can’t physically relate to Him.

Many in the Body of Christ don't associate faith with certainty. Their faith has been reduced to ‘expectation without guarantee’. Consequently the expression of faith has become an  exercise of hope and imagination without fulfillment. They exercise faith without any assurance of manifestation or reaping the investment of expectation.

 So when such people exercise faith, what they end up doing is engaging in an exercise of imagination for desires that fail to be fulfilled. Ultimately many give up in frustration and lose faith in faith. Faith is based on God and on His Word, which are one and the same.

John 1:1 

In the beginning was the Word

And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

God exists in reality and so does His Word. Consequently faith is exercised for things that exist in reality. Faith isn't exercised for things we imagine and hope to come into existence. Your inability to physically see the things you exercise faith about doesn't nullify their existence. Faith is the manifestation of realities that are not physically visible prior to their manifestation.

Conforming To The Image Of Christ

The exercise of faith can also be described as the process of conforming to your godly image in Christ. For example if you exercise faith for healing, you're exercising faith to conform to your ‘sickness free’ nature in Christ. Divine health is a ‘spiritual reality that exists in Christ. Therefore when you exercise faith for healing you appropriate the spiritual reality of divine health located in Christ for yourself.

The circumstances of New Testament believers are supposed to mirror the circumstances of the resurrected Christ because they've become one spirit and body with Him. Whatever the state of Jesus is in heaven, is exactly the state in which you ought to find yourself on earth. If Jesus is healthy and prosperous, then you ought to be healthy and prosperous. The process put in place by God to ensure your circumstances conform to this truth is the mechanism of faith.

Chapter 2

Spiritual Realities

Spiritual realities encompass all the biblical truths and spiritual blessings reserved in Christ Jesus.  These are the certainties and tangibles contained in the Word of God such as healing and fruitfulness. These realities exist in a spiritual form because of the nature of its source. God is real and He exists, but in the form of a Spirit. 

Therefore His Word is also spiritual in nature. He is a spiritual reality and as He is, so is His Word. The Word can't exist in any other form. Consequently the Word of God is replete with spiritual realities and certainties. To be physically enjoyed, these realities must be acknowledged by faith.

If you declare  a desired outcome not based on the spiritual realities that make up the Word, you're not exercising faith. Faith is based on  outcomes already determined by Christ. Hallelujah!

The spiritual realities that make up the Word are as alive as you are. They're eternal and don't expire or go into hibernation. You need to develop the mindset that every word of faith you declare is a spiritual reality that is alive and real. Jesus described the Gospel as ‘spirit’ and filled with life and that's how you ought to regard the Word.

John 6:63

It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing

The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life

Spiritual realities are biblical truths in spiritual form. They encompass all the spiritual blessings reserved for you in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. God and His Word are one. Therefore when you declare His Word, you petition and mobilize God into action. 

Because God is a Spirit, the spirit realm represents the seat of power and the source from which everything that physically exists emanates. The spirit realm is parent to the physical world and remotely controls everything that happens in it. All things physical were first spiritual at inception.

It's quite easy to consider the physical world as the real world and the source of all things. However the physical world is actually under spiritual control and not governed by physical elements like it appears. Things don't exist in the form they're perceived by our physical senses.

It's in the spiritual arena that you exercise dominion over your circumstances as a child of God. He who reigns in the spirit realm will reign in the physical world. Consequently your mastery of spiritual realities is crucial. God has purposed it this way. Because we are subject to spiritual realities, living by faith is the only way to exercise your dominion mandate as prescribed by the Creator.

Romans 1:16-17

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ

For it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes

For the Jew first and also for the Greek

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith

As it is written the Just shall live by faith

The Gospel of Christ is the embodiment of spiritual realities and represents the power of God to save and restore one to good standing with Him. God is a Spirit and that makes you a spirit being because you are His child. Spirit beings that are born of God (the just) live by faith– Meaning justified or godly spirit beings can't live without faith. Therefore those justified by God following their acceptance of Christ shall only live by appropriating spiritual realities embodied in the Gospel of Christ.

Acts 17:28

For in Him we live and move and have our being… 

It stands to reason that ignorance of spiritual realities can negatively impact on your ability to effectively exercise faith. It can cause you to forfeit what is rightfully yours through Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:12). Exercising faith, which isn’t based on spiritual realities, is synonymous with groping in the dark in search for something. But exercising faith shouldn't feel like groping in the dark.

Faith is the mechanism put in place by God for us, His children, to obtain the spiritual realities He's made available.. God has declared you righteous, and as a result, you qualify to be a partaker of the riches of God in Christ Jesus.

The blessings of God exist in a spiritual form and on account of its spiritual nature can't be experienced here on earth. Therefore God designed a mechanism called faith by which ‘qualified partakers’ can acquire and experience His spiritual blessings. Faith is the means by which these spiritual blessings are transformed into a tangible form that can be enjoyed by its beneficiaries.

Your exercise of faith is an affirmation of your confidence in God's commitment to meet your needs as a ‘qualified partaker’ of His blessings. Believers who struggle to live by faith are likely those ignorant of spiritual realities. When you lack awareness of spiritual realities the exercise of faith can seem like engaging in a game of imagination. 

In the exercise of faith, you’re likely to experience ridicule and accused of being in denial of your circumstances. You may be mocked at for claiming to be healed according to the Word (1 Peter 2:24) even though you exhibit physical symptoms of sickness. Or they may scoff at you for claiming to be wealthy in Christ when your circumstances say something else. But their ignorance is their problem and not yours.

Faith declarations made by children of God may seem ridiculous by those who are ignorant of spiritual realities. In reality you're healthy, strong and rich in spite of any physical evidence to the contrary. If you believe God exists,  then you should also believe in the existence of spiritual realities.

God and His Word are one and the same. By extension God and spiritual realities are one and the same. They are real because God is real. The reality of God’s existence is what you must always fall back on when your belief in spiritual realities is challenged.

For the person without revelation spiritual realities may seem delusional. But your reality is founded on Christ Jesus - the source and enforcer of spiritual realities. That's why you see life when your mockers see sickness and death. Once you're able to accept the reality of the Biblical truths in your spirit, their physical manifestation is only a matter of time.

2 Corinthians 4:18

While we do not look at the things which are seen

But at the things which are not seen

For the things which are seen are temporary

But the things which are not seen are eternal

The lying symptoms of sickness are temporary and can't last forever. But your divine heath is eternal and established. You can't be denied what God has blessed you with. The only caveat is you must know what you are entitled to with certainty. You can't claim it with just hopeful expectation. You don't hope to be a man or woman. You know your gender with certainty.

What has God said about you? Has He said you were born in Christ to be sick, poor or barren? If He hasn't said so then you must know with certainty you're not supposed to suffer any of those circumstances. Refuse to accept contrary circumstances when the devil persuades you to accept them. Your day-to-day reality should be what God has declared about your life and not what the devil tries to determine for you.

Spiritual realities are real and tangible. They are based on material evidence and on the established eternal truths of the Word of God. They're not the figment of someone's imagination.

You Are Complete In Christ

A child of God is a new creation complete with the nature of God and the spiritual blessings God promises in His Word to those who accept His gift of salvation.

There are manifold blessings God promises in His Word to those who become His children on accepting Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour; God’s bouquet of blessings to His children is fulfilled in Christ Jesus. You cannot qualify to become a child of God and a partaker of His blessings without first accepting Christ. You are a complete beneficiary of God’s blessings only in Christ.

The blessings that come to a child of God are ‘released’ by grace and not earned. When you receive the gift of salvation you also receive the fullness of the grace of Christ. Therefore if blessings are made available by grace, then every blessing from God is available to the child