By Keiko Chibana-Shinn | Rediscovering Prayer
There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows. Ezekiel 47:9
We all live by faith. We wake up every morning with some level of faith that takes us out of bed and makes us believe that we will make it through another day. It’s as if we each have our own well, where we draw out the source of energy, hope, and love we need to make life happen. For some, the well is half empty, for others half full, for some the well is overflowing and to others, their elected cisterns are so dried up that the well itself is found crumbling from excessive drought.
The question of faith is not whether it exists or not. For everyone believes in something. Even the faithless have faith in their faithlessness. The question is, How does one qualify faith? Faith feeds identity. Therefore your faith has the ability to define your identity and the quality of your character.
The Word of God defines faith in saying:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
Anyone who holds this definition of faith will see successes in this life. It’s a truth that can affect the trajectory of our lives in the natural plane as well as in the supernatural. To have faith is to have confidence. Faith is meant to be unleashed without any limitations. However, it can be a safe feeling to remain confident in your own strength and abilities rather than trusting Jesus to be your true source of faith and confidence. It’s easier to set limits on your faith. But faith has a completely different look and feel when you truly believe that Jesus has called you out of the boat to walk on water.
Jesus says:
…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Jn. 4:14
Streams of living water belong to Jesus. He is not only the source of strength in our lives but He himself is the well of salvation. The faith He imparts saves us from every demonic power and all influence of evil desires. The power that makes abundant life possible is eternally sustained by His Spirit. We are made in the image of God and therefore have the capacity to sustain everlasting water, meaning we can behold His grace and Spirit. It is by faith that we draw out His grace and move in step with His Spirit for the journey ahead of us.
For this very reason, we are to align our perspective to that of Jesus’ knowing that every trial is an opportunity to build our character through His abundant grace imparted to us. This is what ultimately builds a character of faith that unleashes the promises God has made in the here and now. For we are a new creation in Christ. The old is done away with, the new has come. Let the everlasting waters continually flow in and through your identity as a child of God. For there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. His grace is more than sufficient for us. For whoever activates faith in Christ for daily living, wears His splendor for all to see.
Jesus has the power and authority to examine the health of your character. If willing, He can transform our character by the strength of His Spirit to support the type of faith that can raise the dead to life, heal the sick, resurrect dreams, and restore the brokenhearted. To have faith in Christ is to also have the character to withstand the effects of disillusionment, cynicism, and setbacks. Let us add to our faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and a faith characterized by love that covers a multitude of sin. The evil one will not prevail because your character has no entry point for his schemes to succeed. Jesus will always have the final Word.
We are called to be confident in that He who began a good work in us will complete it. He wants us to add to our character a fierce determination to persevere, to commit, and maintain a spirit of constancy in the plans, giftedness, and purposes God has placed in our hearts to execute. Let renewed passion, the eternal waters surge up from within so that the character of your faith says “Yes!” and “Amen!” in response to what Jesus has already promised you. Let the prayer of our hearts be:
In times of hardship, in times of momentary drought, fatigue, and uncertainty may You, Lord, instill in me an unbreakable character to say “I stand with You til the end. Make my heart to be faithful as yours. So come. I receive You as my fountain. I release my man-made cistern that cannot hold your eternal waters. I renounce the wanderer spirit within me, the idols, excuses, and distracted living. I take hold of your passion for life and choose to keep my focus on you. Let your everlasting waters flow through me. For wherever the river flows, everything will flourish. Everything will flourish within me. For Your glory in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Additional Verses: Jer. 2:13; 2 Cor. 3:17–18; Matt. 14:29; Jn. 10:10; 1 Jn. 5:4; Gen. 1:27; 1 Thess. 5:15; 2 Cor. 5:17; Ro. 8:1; 2 Pe. 1:5-7; 1 Pe. 4:8; 2 Pe. 1:4; 2 Cor. 12:9