One of the most interesting things I learned is in Hebrews 6. When God made His promise to Abraham, He had to swear on Himself since there was no one greater to swear by. (verses 13) In verse 18 we find that it is impossible for God to lie or change because of His promise and His oath.
God ABSOLUTELY CANNOT LIE. In Isaiah 55:11 we were also told that God’s Word cannot return to Him void. All of these verses give us confidence that what God said He would do must come to pass if we do our part. Earlier in this study we referred to Hebrews 11:1 where it talks about faith being the assurance or confirmation of things we hope for. Hope is the predecessor to faith. Hope is the inner image that believes things can change or something can happen.
Before we can have faith, we must get a picture of what we want. However, we cannot hope for something that is not in God’s Word. We need to find the promise in the Bible that assures us of what is ours in Christ. We then read that verse daily. Meditate on it. Look up the definitions for each word. We start confessing that promise as ours with our words. This will build a true, Biblical hope in us that confidently expects the promise to manifest in the natural realm. We may not see it right now but that’s ok.
We know that the just shall live by faith. We don’t have to see it to believe it. We believe it because God said it and we trust Him that we will see it in due time. This confident expectation becomes faith. This is when we know that we know that God said it and therefore I believe it. Hope moves into faith when the promise goes from “could be” to “it is” in your heart. Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
Faith comes out of hope. It’s a tangible result. There is substance. Hope and knowledge of God’s promises produces faith. Faith in God’s love for us moves mountains. Faith in God’s love for us heals the sick. It’s not our works of faith but the faith we have in God’s love for us and His ability to manifest His presence among us that brings change.
Of course, it’s important to again note that all of this starts with the Word.
No Word, No Hope.
No Hope, No Faith.
No Faith, No Results.
In order to have confident expectation, you have to know what God has promised. The only way to do this is to spend time in God’s Word. As you build up your knowledge of God’s promises, your hope and faith will begin to rise.
