Fasten your seatbelts for 2025! Many thanks to Bud Hancock for his timely article concerning Faith, i reckon you will all need it abundantly during this coming year.

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

The Purpose, Process and Power of Faith

By Bud Hancock

What is the Real Purpose of Faith?

”Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.  Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:18-26, emphasis mine)

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6)
“And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17)

No one will ever come to know God, or approach Him, or especially understand Him, without faith. The only way we can ever comprehend Him is through the use of the faith He gave to all men. Because we cannot see God, at least at this present time, we must use faith to come into His presence. Any attempt to get into His presence, to “come to God”, without faith is NOT pleasing to God and will result in utter disappointment. Coming to Him requires a “belief that He IS, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” through faith. Read the scripture above from Hebrews 11:6 and you will see the answer to my question:

The purpose of faith, the reason God gave us His faith, is to make us pleasing to Him.
God knows that we cannot see Him with our physical eyes and therefore He demands that we “see Him” through the eyes of faith. What are the eyes of faith? Remember the words of Hebrews 11:1:
“Now faith is the substance (foundation) of things hoped for, the evidence (proof) of things not seen.” Faith is God’s powerful means of allowing us to see things with our physical eyes that are in the unseen, spiritual realm. When real, believing faith is used, it allows our spirits to comprehend the things that provide the very proof of His existence and our reward will be the ability to comprehend God and to develop a relationship with Him.

The Perfect Example of Proper Use of Faith: God’s Creation:

God created the universe and everything that exists, both in the visible World and the unseen realm, and He did so by FAITH. But, faith in what? There is no higher power, no higher knowledge, no greater wisdom than God’s power, knowledge and wisdom. He always has been God and He knows it. He has faith that, whatever He speaks, the words that He speaks become LAW. By the faith He has in His own innate ability, His own power, knowledge and wisdom, He created all the things that are both visible and invisible. As a part of His creation, He also established rules for the governance of ALL of His creation, including the CLIMATE. He has not relinquished the ownership of the rules governing climate, so the brouhaha about “climate change is a fool’s errand.
The spiritual rules that God established when He created everything work the same today as they did thousands of years ago. God does not change and neither do His rules. Faith, a “spiritual force”, works when it is used correctly. Is faith governed by God’s rules? Absolutely. One can attempt to make faith and the rules that govern it work in ways that are contrary to God’s word and complete failure will be the result every time.

The Proper Use of Faith

So exactly how does faith work, according to God’s rules? Let’s go to His word and see if we can find the answer. In the parable of the sower, recorded in Mark chapter four, Jesus is teaching His disciples one of the most, if not THE most, important lessons one can ever learn. He tells His disciples:

“Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred” (Mark 4:3-9).

The sower makes a conscious decision, and sows his seed BY faith, and IN faith. But, faith in what? Faith in the rules that God established when He created all things. His rules determine that the earth will respond to a “good seed” placed in the soil by working on the seed causing it to open up, receive the nutrients from the soil and begin the reproductive process that increases the seed from one seed to “some thirty, some sixty and some an hundred”.

Notice that, according to the words of Jesus, the seed sown by “the sower” is an instrument of reproduction; one seed can produce just one of its kind, or a large amount of whatever is contained in the seed (the unseen fruit).

A short time later, when He was alone with His most trusted disciples, they asked Him to explain about the parable of the sower. His answer speaks volumes about the critical nature of knowing and UNDERSTANDING this parable. He said:

“The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred (Mark 4:14-20).

Notice that Jesus directly compares the sowing of the word to the sowing of physical seeds. He did so because the two, the seed and the word, are very similar; one, the physical seed, is the visible, and the other, God’s Word, is the unseen. The physical seed and God’s word both contain within them the life that will cause reproduction of themselves; in other words, they both have life within them.

The process, sowing seed and sowing the Word, is exactly the same in both cases, as are the results. So in essence, Jesus literally compares His Word with a seed. I have written about this before and gotten feedback disputing that statement. But, if you will allow, I can prove that the statement is true. In Luke 1:26-38, is the story of the Virgin Mary who was in her home town of Nazareth when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that she would conceive in her womb and bring forth a son whom she would name Jesus. She questioned how this could happen since she had not known a man and was indeed a virgin. He explained that the Holy Ghost would come upon her and that the power of the Highest would overshadow her and the child conceived in her womb would be called the Son of God. Not having been with a man meant it was impossible for her child to be the product of a human sperm joining with a human egg. But yet, a child was conceived in her womb with her agreement and her permission. Notice that in Luke 1:37-38:

“For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word’. And the angel departed from her”.

Mary fully agreed with the word sent by God and delivered by Gabriel, and as she accepted the word, she spoke forth in faith and with the Holy Ghost overshadowing her, she received that word into her spirit and conceived a child, being yet a virgin. The word became the seed that produced the flesh and blood body of God’s Son. Her agreement with God’s word caused her to be the “good ground” into which the word (seed) was sown that created our Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

The Process of Faith

Notice also, in Mark 4, we are told that the seed producing the most, and lasting, fruitful results was that which was sown into good ground. So what does that say about the sowing of the word? Whether we are witnessing to an unbeliever, or simply using faith to deal with issues in our own lives, the “ground” where the sowing is happening, must be receptive to the seed, with the nutrients needed for reproduction in abundance and continually being consumed to aid in the reproduction of the seed. In the visible World, this means fertilizer and plenty of sunlight and water. In the spiritual realm, it means that the word must be fed with more of….the word. Paul stated that:

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

As the seed, (the word) is nourished with additional “faith-building words” from the scriptures, it will respond and begin the reproductive process and will result in the harvest, and the abundance of the harvest will be determined by the original faith used and the “watering with the word” needed to do so.
Once a believer has learned the purpose of faith, why we must have it to please God, he or she must then learn the process that governs the use of it. Faith has a proper process, the “mechanics of faith”, in order for it to work.

I hesitate to use the words “mechanics of faith” because it sounds so, well, mechanical, but a simple analogy will explain why I chose the term. Let’s use a firearm, a handgun, as one of the comparatives in our analogy.

A handgun is a mechanical device which uses all its mechanical parts to function as designed. No part is there simply for appearances and each one serves a purpose. The handgun is made up of, basically, a frame, a barrel, a firing pin, a trigger and some means of holding projectiles. Of course there are other important parts but for the purpose of this analogy, they need not be mentioned. The frame is the part that houses all the other parts; the barrel is the place from which the projectile is sent toward a specified target; the trigger initiates the working of the firing pin which then ignites gunpowder thus propelling a projectile down and out of the barrel, and finally, either a cylinder or a magazine that holds the projectiles. Let’s then compare the frame to the human body, the barrel to the mouth, the firing pin to the tongue and the trigger to the human mind along with the human brain working together, and finally, the cylinder or the magazine to the human spirit.

Just as using a handgun successfully involves a mechanical process that allows it to function, sending a projectile through a barrel toward an intended target, faith also involves a specific process for successful functioning.

When a person makes the conscious decision to use faith, he must decide, first and foremost, what the desired and thus, the expected, outcome is. Just as a person firing a handgun expects to hit a desired target, a person using God’s faith must have, and express, his expectation. Failure to do so, results in a doubt that the outcome is even possible. When that decision has been made, the frame (body), the barrel (mouth) the firing pin (tongue) and the trigger (mind/brain) must all be ready to function together, just as a handgun would. Remember, you are using God’s faith, in exactly the same way He did when He created all things. It is His ability, NOT yours, that will cause your faith to function.

When you fire a handgun, your part ends when you have properly loaded the gun, aimed the gun, and pulled the trigger. At that point, your faith in the proper functioning of the handgun has done its part. Your part in the entire “faith process” is to “believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Just as Mary spoke forth her desire, to become the mother of God’s Son, any person who wants to experience the joy and benefit of using faith must be ready to speak concerning the desired outcome and here is where the projectiles come into play. The projectiles are the words of faith, faith-filled words if you will, that are aimed at the target, whatever that target may be (that is completely between you and God). In the case of the handgun, behind the projectiles is gunpowder, which when ignited provides the power that sends the projectile to its intended destination. In the case of faith, the Holy Spirit is the POWER that sends your faith to its desired destination. The power of God is the Greek word “dunamis” (Strong’s 1411, pronounced doo’-nam-is), and not surprisingly, it is the word from which the English word “dynamite” is derived. It literally means “explosive power”. While the gunpowder used to project a bullet is physically limited, the dunamis, the Power of God has no such limitation.

Just as the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, and that Holy presence allowed the word to enter in to Mary’s womb to form the body of Jesus, God’s Spirit will also overshadow you and bring into existence that which you desire.

The Power of Faith

A serious word of caution is needed at this point. One must never abuse the faith of God. It was not provided to us so that we can “get whatever we want from God”; His faith is not the login and password to some heavenly bank account linked to an ATM here on Earth. However, if you have a need that cannot be met by your own efforts, and that need is aligned with God’s promises to us all (Philippians 4:19), His faith is there for you to learn about, understand and, most importantly, please Him by using as directed by the Creator.

May we all learn to better please God by always living by, speaking by, and acting IN faith, the Faith of God. Nothing will please our Father more!

Blessings and Maranatha!

Bud Hancock

Born and raised in a small textile town in North Carolina, Bud’s family moved to Michigan in the hope of finding better employment with General Motors.  After graduating from high school, Bud began an apprenticeship with General Motors to become a Metal Modelmaker. Retiring after a 30 year career, which included an eight year stint as a Metrologist (Science of high precision measurement), he and his wife moved back to North Carolina to be near his elderly parents.  Shortly thereafter, with both of his parents having passed, he began a new career in the bank security/ATM business, advancing from an entry level technician to one of two North Carolina customer service managers for his employer.  Retiring again after 13 years, he and his wife of 51 years relocated to Tennessee where Bud began writing articles emphasizing Biblical teaching and geopolitical issues.  At age 75, he and his wife relocated to South Carolina with their Miniature Schnauzer, Baxter.  Bud continues to study God’s word and write articles on Christian living and geopolitical issues from the Biblical end times  perspective.