Manifesting Presence of the Holy Spirit

Rom 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Is 7:9b “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

Faith… everything unseen depends on it. Even more, there is no Grace without it. 

It is impossible to define the unseen sufficiently through that which is seen. Science, though defined by God is, of itself alone, woefully insufficient to define Him … 

Without dependent, humility based faith, it is impossible to rightly discern the eternity of the unseen; it is impossible to see or understand God. 

The lack of this understanding is the basis behind every false religion in our world. 

How great are the unknown wonders of God, accessed only through a hearts condition postured in selfless faith! 

All Things By Faith

Ga 3:1-6 You foolish Galatians! (most of today’s church) Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  

The word is clear that we see nothing but by faith. God’s covenant blessings are already secure, but we need faith to activate them when God’s timing is made known. No person or any church will see it that does not have faith for it! If we have to have proof, we will never see it.

In the Genesis 15 covenant made between Abraham and God, Abraham prepared a ritual. Anytime we (man) make a covenant, we can’t fulfill it. Then God put Abraham to sleep. God makes covenant by Himself. God included Abraham in it. Abraham was not a promisor in it, it was God… a promise made between God and Himself. Abraham simply stepped into it. Like Christ, we step into the covenant God made on our behalf by faith. 

Faith is critical! Because the covenant we cannot enact is already made for us. We step into this covenant simply by faith.

No faith – no learning, no faith – no revelation, no understanding, no growth… Rest, wait, believe and then we will move into it.

We have so much that is untapped because we choose not to believe. God has given so much. And so, like a lawyer, we must take what the word of God says and declare it against the enemy who accuses us in order to silence our faith!

Intellectualizing Faith

One cannot intellectualize faith. God never shows up when people attempt to define Him. Or in the case of an intellectual study, He doesn’t show Himself powerful to prove himself.

When Jesus was constantly harassed by the church leaders of His day, the Pharisees, he was being judged for doing miracles in ways they did not understand or agree with. He was doing these miracles right in front of their natural eyes, yet they did not believe. The Pharisees were thinking… Jesus was loving. The only people able to see Him for who he was were those who had hearts to believe by faith. 

Non-belief in “a thing” generates all manner of good sounding arguments against “the thing”. This is true in all areas requiring faith. This was the problem with the Pharisees, it remains the problem with all who do not live by faith, likewise to all who must figure God out. And satan exploits this reality to the max! On any given thing, there is only one God defined truth. It takes faith based revelation given understanding to see it. Wherever faith lacks, there exist many good sounding arguments, all of which are leavened with error. 

Faith overcomes the mind. Faith exceeds the mind. Faith should manage the mind. Faith believes without quantitative proof. No attempt to prove God through intelligence has ever succeeded. 

I have seen cancers healed, hearts replaced, limbs grown back and the dead raised, literally. My own pastor was healed from a deadly illness and himself twice raised from the dead by the prayers of the desperate and hungryfaithful in the power of Jesus name. And so I know faith based prayer works. But the thinkers who think independently of the Holy Spirit will never see it. Like the Pharisees who witnessed Jesus healings and who yet denied him, of what value is proof to those who will not believe anyway? 

Experience follows faith. Or, at least, the experience is understood by a people who have a heart to have a faith. Only the faithful see it. Therefore, trying to figure it out is a waste of time lest in the figuring out, the Holy Spirit has brought revelation to it!

Faith is required first in all things spiritual; only in this way will anyone see the miraculous. 

Faith Given

Heb 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Faith activates the Kingdom of God on earth. Faith activates miracles. They will not be seen or understood without it. 

Acts 14:9-10 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

We know that faith is absolutely mandatory in order to believe in God. Because God has not manifest himself clearly in the ordinary world in an obvious way, if one believes in God, it must be from a position of faith. Thus, faith is mandatory to believe in God. This is the first step that leads to any and all things of the Lord and His Kingdom. All things of the Kingdom of God start and finish through faith. Faith is the very doorway to all things God.

Faith is something one expresses, not thinks. The expression of faith comes first from the choice to have faith, and then the gift of faith from the Holy Spirit. 

Rom 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

Now wait a minute… Am I not the one who is supposed to well up faith in my soul? Yes, initially. You are required to choose faith in any issue. Once God sees that faith, He comes to you and gives you a gift of faith. You have to take the first step and choose faith. But your faith is tiny in comparison to the faith you will need to succeed in Kingdom issues in this world. God comes to those with faith as small as a mustard seed and gives them the gift of faith. 

1 Cor 12:7-9 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit…

So faith starts with a choice, and that choice results in a faith “as small as a mustard seed”.  That is as big an amount of faith that we are humanly able to muster. But then comes the Holy Spirit who gives faith as a gift. It is that faith that moves mountains…

Matt 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

The above scripture denotes the progression of faith. I start with my “small as a mustard seed faith”, Jesus comes in the Spirit and gives me the 1 Corinthians 12 gift of faith that I could never have of my own. I then speak to the mountain in my faith and God moves the mountain by our faith. 

I can testify to an event of instantaneous and radical increase of faith that I personally experienced. In a week long conference with a group of Argentinian revival leaders back in 1997, the Holy Spirit came in such power as to see us all on the floor time and again in the Spirit. It was a dear experience in my memory. When we left, while in the car going home, I told my wife, “You know, I clearly feel a huge increase in faith!”  And this was clearly proven so. I left that conference with what felt like a five fold increase in faith! I believed that I not only knew that I was able, but had a new found desired to go out and do Kingdom exploits on behalf of my Jesus! I knew that I now had something I never had before. And it was a gift I could never muster on my own. I can say, to this day, I have never been the same. 

Faith starts with my choice. He then comes with volumes more when He sees my heart of basic faith. The result is the manifestation of God’s Kingdom on earth, through my heart that was found by Him willing and then, by Grace, made able by Him to do what I previously could not do of my own accord.

Faith is a shield that protects us from falling into a worldly mindset. The stronger one’s faith, the greater is the ability to operate with Kingdom ability in this world. 

Faith is the essence required for God’s Presence. It is the key by which we operate in the power moves of God. Like anything of God, all things require faith first. If faith leads to salvation, then faith also leads to the Presence of the Holy Spirit and the miracles that ensue. 

1 Pet 1:5 ..who through faith are shielded by God’s power…

It is a requirement therefore that we live by faith. If we are to ever succeed in our earthly Kingdom call, faith is a must. This faith leads to a power that both protects and enables. 

1Pet 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Our faith is tested by fire, by every kind of trial. These tests result in an ability to operate in such power as to be able to walk right down the valley of the shadow of death laughing and dancing in the face of every evil thing. Faith results in salvation. It then results in revelation and intimacy. It is brought into fullness when we exhibit our faith into a dying world with supernatural power. All these things testify Christ to an unbelieving word. How can I ever reap a harvest if I am not performing Kingdom acts of supernatural power to an unbelieving world? By faith! From just speaking of Christ to raising the dead, all these things require faith to activate them. 

The measure that we are made able to live a dual citizenship, with one foot on earth and the other foot in the Kingdom while on earth, is directly proportionate to ones level of faith. 

A person with great faith is a deadly dangerous agent to contend with in the eyes of satan. Faith results in a particular authority that when exercised in it’s fullest, will see the enemy flee in seven directions!

Jesus reveals himself by the Holy Spirit. We then, even having not seen, must make a choice to believe and have faith. Faith, then, is the very key to spiritual maturity. As it is in the world, so it is in Kingdom business that the highest callings are given to the wise. But only in the Kingdom of God is wisdom given in times of faith! Kingdom wisdom is given, not concluded… There is no comparison of the wisdom of the world to the wisdom of the Kingdom. 

Though still this principle holds true. Who would give an infant a task of leadership? 

Heb 5:12-6:1 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God…

Spiritual maturity is directly linked to faith. What faith we gain as a gift from God is entirely dependant on the faith we choose to have before He gives increased faith as a gift. God then chooses what measure of devine faith to give us as He chooses for each of us. 

If where the Holy Spirit is there is freedom, then where there is faith there is freedom. This is because all things of the Holy Spirit require faith first. Faith therefore is prerequisite to freedom, as God defines freedom.

Hindrances to faith are pride, fear, sin issues, and past wounds. Many people are unable to see or hear because of issues blocking their ability to do so. Faith therefore requires that we come to the end of ourselves. The result of this self-death is the choice to become dependent upon God in all things. Faith wells up from this revelation of and subsequent agreement with the concept of dependency. Independence results in spiritual death. Independence results in spiritual immaturity. Therefore, the lower we go, the higher can be our faith, and thus our success as a Christian called to the task!

God accepts that people vary in faith. But faith, we must choose. We are simply left with the choice. How deep do we want to go? How much of the Kingdom of God do we desire to have manifest through us? God is ever merciful and loving to us, His children. He is pleased that we have faith! Nothing pleases Him more! How much more pleased is He when we have a big faith?

Faith is both prerequisite to and a product of Grace. Grace is the difference between His perfection and our broken state. Grace and mercy are directly linked. But grace is not mercy! Grace is the power of God that brings mercy to pass. For so it is that only in the power of the Holy Spirit can we, the imperfect, move towards perfection. We cannot even come close to perfection as God defines perfection in our own strength! And so Grace (power) given through faith leads us into a very great mercy by which God allows the imperfect to move towards perfection in an unmerited way! All of this happens by faith! Since no man or woman is perfect, and because of the completed work of Jesus cross, there is Grace. 

And so, where faith is concerned, people vary in faith levels. Though this is not perfectly desired, it is accepted by Father God because of the gift of Grace that was established through the completed work of the cross. The result is that we are each used according to our faith. 

No person should be judged for lack of faith, just encouraged to go deeper through the word expressed and, by the Spirit, the word revealed. 

Rom 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

And so all faith starts by hearing. May it be that we all have ears to hear so that we can enter into spiritual maturity and effectiveness in the reaping of this great End Time harvest of souls!

Faith Required for the Power

1 Pet 1:5 …who (the Saints) through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

This scripture makes it clear that faith is required for the power moves of God to be gained in one’s life. It is through faith that the shield of God’s power comes upon us. 

Now look at the same scripture in context with the word around it:

1 Pet 1:3-9 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade– kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvationthat is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith— of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire— may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in himand are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The main purpose of faith is that we might go through life secure in the knowledge of our inheritance of eternity, by this living hope we have within us called faith. But faith also establishes and maintains the power to shield us from the wares of this world, the power to be revealed to the truths of the Kingdom of God, and the power to bring others into this glory as well through miracles, signs and wonders. Belief that leads to salvation and joy that equips us in this world to endure the trials that test our faith! It is all encompassed in this faith. In faith is the hope of our salvation, and the equipping to maintain it and express it!

But again, faith is required first to gain anything of the Kingdom of God, not the least of which is the power given by the Holy Spirit. 

The power of God is absolutely required if I am ever to gain anythingh of the Kingdom of God here on earth. Without His power, I am but operating by way of the mind and the flesh of man, a dead and lifeless religious way! I must understand that it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that I can ever rightly connect with the Kingdom of God and then gain the things He wants me to have and to use to reap this great harvest. In so doing I will be made able, not of my own flesh, but of His Spirit to speak the very words of God by the convincing convicting power of God. And here is the end of it…

1 Pet 4:11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever.

I don’t want to do a thing without His heavenly provision of power. But I know that I cannot do any of these things without the prerequisite faith which hungers for more of Him in all that I do! Therefore I will have faith in these things and believe that they are real and really important for me and my call in Him. Faith is oh so much more than just gaining heaven. Faith is my measure of release in all things here on earth that reap a harvest for Him before I get to Heaven. How sad that the lack of faith prevents the harvest from being reaped, but it does.

Let faith well up then for all the things Christ did and spoke of, all the miracles, the healing of the sick, the casting out of demons, and the raising of the dead! Let faith well up for all the things that Jesus did and more. Let faith believe that Jesus really meant what He said when He said these words:

John 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Here are some other relevant scriptures regarding faith:

Heb 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…

Faith starts with me. It is then perfected by Him. 

Acts 15:9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.

Rom 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

Rom , since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…

Gal 3:1-5 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed ascrucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

So now the question remains, what will you choose to have faith in