You don’t have an option. God has said very plain that His people are to understand faith. The problem for many of us is that we’ve fallen victim to the tyranny of familiarity. We mention particular verses and subliminally we already turn off, as we are so familiar with the text of the scripture that we deny ourselves the power of the scripture.

It’s why I told my students for years to train themselves always to read the Word of God aloud. If you’re like me, you have found yourselves at times reading chapters of the Bible from a totally cerebral approach, where you suddenly realize you may have skimmed two or three chapters of scripture, but not really read or retained any of it. You read it like a book.

The Bible isn’t just any book. It is truth to say that it is God’s master plan laid out for us as a roadmap to lead us to the habitations of His promises to us.

Therefore, in God’s word it says categorically that without faith it is impossible to please Him. The Greek word for impossible used there is “adunatos” or the opposite of a more familiar Greek word to us; “dunamis.” In each lexicon I look into, adunatos is translated into the word impotent.

We all understand that impotence translates into the inability to procreate. God wants His children to reproduce after His will for us, and without faith we’re as spiritually unable to produce as in physical terms impotency means we’re unable to produce.

You must live by faith! I say to you again, it isn’t an option. The just shall live by faith. Thayer’s Lexicon lists “shall live” as the one Greek word “zaoo” which is defined “to be among the living; to enjoy real life, i.e. to have true life worth(y) of the name, active, blessed, endless in the Kingdom of God.”

Imagine that. Without a revelation of faith it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to ever really enjoy the life God has planned for you. If that’s the case then, regardless of anyone who may have misrepresented the topic of faith, you should do yourself a favour and jump headlong into God’s word and find out for yourself how to walk by faith!

Jesus paid an incredible price for us to have an abundant life. John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly! Abundantly! He did not say that He came that we might have life and have it more miserably, but from looking at many you’d think that was the case. God forgive us.

Abundantly is the word “perissos” which Thayers Lexicon translates as, “over and above, more than is necessary, superior, extraordinary, surpassing and uncommon.” Louw & Nida’s Lexicon defines abundantly as, “pertaining to a quantity so abundant as to be considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate; that which is more than enough, beyond the norm, exceptional, outstanding, remarkable and unusual.”

Words are powerful. We’re to study to show ourselves approved unto God. God has paid an incredible price for us to have an extraordinary life. Think about it. We receive the very Son of God to live in us by His Spirit, and then we lead normal lives? That can’t be right. It isn’t right. Nevertheless, without an understanding of how to operate in faith, we’re basically doomed to normality and mediocrity, and find ourselves in the position of frustrating the great and marvellous grace of God to us as believers.

Let’s put the brakes on now if that’s the case in your life. Get before the Lord in prayer and talk in plain language to Him and ask Him to show you for yourself what faith is all about. He is your Father, and He will begin to instruct you. He wants you to realize that you’ve already been blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3). He also wants you to understand however that faith is the currency of heaven.

Learn to release your faith in God and His promises, and you’ll begin to see heaven release what has always been stored up and waiting for you. Don’t believe me; believe the Bible. Read it and discover for yourself the truth of not only saving faith, but living faith.