"If the substance of your faith is not located in the right place, that faith cannot work."

Lara Gboyega Adedeji

 

There is such a thing as walking by faith or walking in the realm of faith. Another word for 'realm' is 'sphere', or to better put it, jurisdiction. Once your faith is not within that jurisdiction, then you are outside of faith already. Faith does not work within the jurisdiction of emotion or common sense. Once you find yourself being emotional or applying common sense, then your faith realm is suspended. The realm of faith is that jurisdiction of faith where faith is most potent. Once you are outside of that realm, your faith becomes not effective.

 

Listen to Podcast: WALKING IN THE REALM OF FAITH

 

See what apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian folks in the Scripture below. It says:

 

Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as [committed] believers. Examine yourselves [not me]! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit?

2 Corinthians 13:5 (AMP)

 

If it was not possible to live outside of the faith, I believe apostle Paul would not really have any cause to write that portion of the Bible to the Corinthian believers. One thing I have realized about faith is that it requires some greater level of commitment. It is either you are committed to faith or you are committed to making whatever it is that you are trusting God for happen by yourself. There are certain things that your efforts can make happen for you, and there are certain things that it is absolute faith that can make it happen.

 

For example, it was not effort that made Abraham and Sarah conceived at age 100 and 90 respectively because as at that time, the Bible says "There bodies were already dead." To Sarah, it was her first and last child, even though Abraham had other children before and after Isaac. But Isaac, according to the promise of God for them, was going to inherit the blessing and through whom other descendants of Abraham would come.

 

At a point in the life of Abraham and Sarah, while waiting on God for the promised child, Sarah was no longer comfortable with staying committed to faith. She said to Abraham in Genesis 16:2: “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai." Sarah was already tired waiting on God and so, she made happen what God was going to make happen.

 

So, apostle Paul said "examine yourselves" and not me! The reason for your lack of faith or not walking in the realm of faith is not anybody's fault, but your fault. It is easier to blame everyone else for your own unpalatable circumstances other than yourself. It is easier to test and examined others, but have you have yourself also tested? You have been a Christian for 15 years or more and still, there is no proof or result to show for it; whose fault is it? So, apostle wrote to them to examine themselves whether they are still in the faith.

 

Most times, it is easier and more convenient to walk in doubt or unbelief than to walk in faith. The reason is because the sense realm (we assume) is a more safer place to dwell than the realm of faith. We feel it is more better to believe things when we see it than believing to see. We prefer to develop our confidence on the things we can see, feel, touch, smell or taste. Notice the first question Mary asked the angel that brought the good news: How shall this be? That is how secure it is for many of us to rationalize what we are believing God for or what His word has said to us.

 

God says "this and that" are the things I am going to do. Although we believe that He is God and that He can do all things, but we still find ourselves in that corner of asking ourselves; really? Will God really do that for me? We seems to have faith, but the faith isn't just the persistent one. That was why Jesus said in Luke 18:8 that we read: "when the Son of Man comes, will He find [this kind of persistent] faith on the earth?" The challenge is not whether He would find faith, the challenge is will He find persistent faith?

 

What then is Persistent Faith?

1) Persistent faith is an unrelenting faith. In Mark 2:1-5, there was an account there that gave a vivid example of what an unrelenting faith is. The story goes thus:

 

"And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. ² Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. ³ Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you."

 

2) Persistent faith is that kind of faith that shuts up every opposition (2 Kings 2:1-13). It is a kind of faith that stays on God until one sees the things He has said and promised to us in His word. It is not the type of faith that is there today and tomorrow, it is no longer there.

 

3) It is the kind of faith that builds patience and endurance in your spirit. James 1:3-4 tells us: "knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. The question is: How is faith tested? It is sometimes and most times in the place of delay in receiving what you are believing God for. Sometimes God delays the answers to your requests simply because there are many things that needed to be put in place so that you can enjoy your blessings when it comes. In Genesis chapter 12, God called Abraham at 75 and promised him all sort. Abram obeyed God (which is faith) and did what God asked him to do.

 

However, the promises didn't come as Abraham had envisaged. So at 99, God told Abraham again, walk before me and be perfect (Genesis 17:1). What does that tell us? It means Abraham's walk with God was not yet perfected and therefore, the promises could not come into fruition. They were delayed! ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." Persistent faith is the faith that when it is being tested, it will not cave in under intense pressure of the test and trials.

 

The Realms of Faith

 

1) The Realm of Seen

2 Corinthians 5:7 says "For we walk by faith, not by sight." There is absolutely no one in the Scriptures that walked by faith that didn't see or heard something  from God, and what they saw or heard became the basis upon which their faith walk began. Let us take Abraham as a great example here. In Genesis 15:5-6, the Bible says:

 

⁵ Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶ And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

 

There was no way Abraham could have counted the stars of the heaven, but Abraham saw beyond the stars, an innumerable number of descendants coming after him, and the Bible says "he believed in the Lord." Faith involves sight, but not this physical sight. Your spiritual sight must be involved.

 

2) The Realm of Love

Galatians 5:6 says: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love." Whether we believe it or not, walking in love gives so much power and energy to our faith walk and vice versa. And there is no other Scripture in the Bible that establishes this fact other than the popular 1 Corinthians 13 that we all are familiar with. We are going to read from verse 1-3 in Amplified and also the final verse, 13. It says:

 

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction]. ² And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing. ³ If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good at all."

"And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love."

 

So, we can see that the Scripture above is succinct about faith and love in tandem if one is to properly walk in the realm of faith. And there are many other Scriptures too that we can examine to buttress the point further. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 says: "remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father," Also, in 2 Thessalonians 1:3 as well; it says: "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other,"

 

So, these Scriptures clearly shows that if we are ever going to walk in the realm of faith, walking in love is a prerequisite to walking in faith.

 

3) The Realm of Prayer

An integral part of walking in faith is through prayer. Jude 20 tells us: "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." That simply tells us that prayer builds faith.

 

4) The Realm of Hearing

If you are ever going to walk in faith, you must be someone who love to hear and cherishes the word of God. Whatever it is you would receive from God would first and foremost be on the basis of the things that you have heard. Let me show us two great examples of the popular Scriptures Romans 10:17 that we usually love to quote.

 

"But the news about Him was spreading farther, and large crowds kept gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their illnesses."

Luke 5:15

 

"Now at Lystra a man sat who was unable to use his feet, for he was crippled from birth and had never walked. ⁹ This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, and Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰ and said with a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet.” And he jumped up and began to walk."

Acts 14:8-10

 

"If the substance of your faith is not located in the right place, that faith cannot work." So, what do you need to do? Locate the substance of your faith and then, walk in it. The substance of your faith is Christ Jesus. Locate Him and then walk in Him and with Him.

 

I believe we have been blessed.

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!