Introduction:
Whatever the Lord wants to accomplish in your life today, may His power touch it and turn it around.
Bad news is turned into good news, in Jesus' name.
Amen!
CREATIVE FAITH
Our theme this month is Creative Faith.
Hebrews 11:3 says:
"By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen."
This scripture establishes a fundamental principle of faith: what we see physically can originate from what God has spoken spiritually.
Before something becomes visible, it can exist as a spiritual reality.
God speaks, and when God speaks, He reveals His perspective.
Isaiah 46:9 says:
"I declare the end from the beginning."
God sees the end from the beginning.
It is like someone showing you the result of a football match before the game has finished. You may still be watching the players struggle on the field, but you already know the outcome.
That is what revelation does.
God introduces certainty into your heart while there may still be uncertainty around you.
There may be chaos in your physical environment, but God can give you certainty in your spirit.
And this is where faith begins.
Faith is conviction.
Faith is trust.
Faith is absolute certainty in what God has said.
1. SAY WHAT GOD SAID
One of the first principles of Creative Faith is that you must learn to say what God has said.
The physical manifestation of what God has spoken is triggered by our response to what He has said.
You begin by saying what God said.
You begin building your identity around what God said.
You begin believing that you are who God says you are—even when your physical circumstances have not caught up with the revelation.
This is important because your present reality does not necessarily represent your ultimate reality.
You may not see it yet.
You may not have it yet.
You may not have experienced it yet.
But if God has spoken, your responsibility is to hold on to what He has said.
Faith says:
"I believe what God says about me more than I believe what my circumstances say about me."
2. INTERNALIZE WHAT GOD SAID
However, it is not enough for God to speak.
It is not enough for you to hear a sermon.
It is not enough to say "Amen."
It is not enough to shout.
What God said must become your internal programming.
This is where many people miss it.
Hebrews 4:1–3 explains this through the experience of Israel.
God had promised them rest and had given them the Promised Land. The same good news was announced to them.
But the Bible says:
"It did them no good because they didn't share the faith of those who listened to God."
The same message was heard by everyone.
But the result was different.
Why?
Because Joshua and Caleb internalized what God said.
Everybody saw the giants.
Everybody saw the fortified cities.
Everybody saw the obstacles.
But Joshua and Caleb interpreted what they saw through what God had said.
They said, in essence:
"God has given us this land. We can take it."
The others said:
"We saw giants."
"We were like grasshoppers in our own sight."
They allowed their circumstances to define their identity.
Joshua and Caleb allowed God's word to define theirs.
That is the difference.
Revelation Must Become Programming
Romans 10:10 says:
"For with the heart man believes, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
The heart is where belief operates.
What you repeatedly see and hear eventually enters your heart.
Matthew 13:15 shows the relationship between seeing, hearing, understanding, and experiencing transformation.
Whatever you consistently expose yourself to over time begins to shape your internal world.
Eventually, what was once new becomes familiar.
What becomes familiar becomes a habit.
And what becomes habitual can begin to operate almost automatically.
This is why you must be careful about what you repeatedly hear, watch, say, and meditate upon.
Proverbs 4:23 says:
"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life."
Your life flows from what has been deposited into your heart.
So ask yourself:
What is programming me?
Is it God's Word?
Is it faith?
Is it fear?
Is it culture?
Is it your past?
Is it the opinions of people?
Is it your present circumstances?
RENEW YOUR MIND
Romans 12:2 says:
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Transformation begins with the renewal of your mind.
The Message puts it this way: don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
Culture is programming.
Culture tells you what is normal.
Culture tells you what is possible.
Culture tells you how people like you should behave.
But God's Word can give you a different program.
God can cause you to think differently.
God can cause you to see differently.
God can cause you to respond differently.
Therefore, you must deliberately expose yourself to God's Word until God's perspective becomes your perspective.
REPETITION BUILDS PROGRAMMING
Take what God has said and repeat it.
Listen to it again.
Read it again.
Meditate on it again.
Speak it again.
Until it enters your heart.
There was a time when I repeatedly listened to messages that had impacted my life.
I listened while preparing for work.
I listened in the car.
Some of those messages I listened to perhaps a hundred times.
One particular teaching about David's conquest and why David never lost a battle became deeply programmed into me.
It influenced the way I approach life.
David always inquired of the Lord.
He did not make assumptions.
That revelation became part of my internal programming.
This is the level to which revelation must go.
I once met a pastor who had been instructed by the Holy Spirit to come and see me from Canada. When he was returning, he took about two hundred CDs of my messages.
Later, while we were discussing in Canada, he showed me his laptop and said:
"I have over six hundred of your messages here."
Why?
Because he listened continuously.
There is no shortage of revelation.
The question is:
Have you taken the revelation to the level of programming?
3. ACT ON WHAT GOD SAID
Now we move to the next level.
It is not enough to say what God said.
It is not enough to internalize what God said.
You must act on what God said.
This is where Creative Faith becomes practical.
Faith is:
"Acting as if it is so, when it seems not to be so, for it to be so, because it is so."
Let's reverse-engineer that statement.
Because It Is So
First, it is so because God said it.
Your spiritual reality begins when God speaks.
God's word establishes the reality.
Therefore, you must first become clear about what God has said.
Pray.
Seek God.
Study His Word.
If necessary, fast.
Spend time with God.
Stay with Him until you have clarity.
When God speaks, hold on to that revelation.
When It Seems Not To Be So
Then comes the challenge.
Your physical reality may contradict what God said.
But never accept your physical reality as your ultimate reality.
Never allow your current circumstances to define your identity.
The fact that you are struggling today does not mean you are destined to struggle forever.
The fact that you are starting today does not mean you will always be at the beginning.
The fact that you don't have it yet does not mean God has not spoken.
Faith refuses to make temporary circumstances the final definition of your life.
Act As If It Is So
Now comes the action.
Act as if you are the person God has called you to become.
Act as if you are the billionaire founder of that company.
Act as if you are the governor.
Act as if you are the president.
Act as the husband.
Act as the wife.
Act as the father.
Act as the mother.
Act according to the identity God has revealed to you.
Someone tell the person next to you:
"Act it!"
You may say:
"But I don't even have a job."
Then you have a choice.
You can live according to your circumstances, or you can live according to what God has said.
I choose to live by what God has said.
THE PROOF OF FAITH IS ACTION
James 2:17 says:
"Faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless."
The proof that you believe something is that it influences your decisions and your behaviour.
If you truly believe, you will act.
If you don't act, then what you claim to believe has not yet become your internal program.
Faith produces action.
Abraham demonstrated this.
Hebrews 11:8 says:
"It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would show him as his inheritance."
And then the powerful statement:
"He went without knowing where he was going."
That is faith.
One of the greatest threats to human existence is uncertainty.
We want to know.
We want guarantees.
We want everything explained.
That is why people run from place to place looking for prophets and people who will tell them what will happen.
But faith teaches you to leave certainty to God.
You don't have to know everything.
You have to trust the One who knows everything.
Get ready to take steps in absolute trust in God.
A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF CREATIVE FAITH
Years ago, I felt it was time for the church to replace the white plastic chairs with better seats.
But while praying about how to raise money for the project, I sensed God saying:
"You have come again. You want to make the church more beautiful. But look at the community around you. It is depreciated. You will raise the money, but not for the church. You will use it to do something for your community."
So I spoke with the leadership team.
We decided to identify a primary school where we could make a significant difference.
A team was sent out to investigate schools in the local government area.
When they returned, they said we didn't have to look far.
Years earlier, bomb blasts at the army cantonment had destroyed five schools.
The schools had not been rebuilt.
They showed us videos.
There were weeds everywhere.
The buildings were devastated.
Only the names and remains of the schools were visible.
I said:
"This is it. We are taking on these schools."
It was a Friday.
On Sunday, I showed the church the video and announced:
"We are building our five schools."
The church looked at me.
They were probably thinking:
"Five schools? From where?"
But we proceeded.
We got the drawings.
We obtained approvals.
We started construction.
And from the beginning of construction to completion, it took exactly ten months.
The schools were completed.
Classrooms were furnished.
Desks were provided.
Chalkboards were provided.
Buildings were restored.
Water facilities were provided.
Road access was improved.
One of the schools was so badly damaged that only the shell remained. The roof was gone.
The cost of renovating that school was about the same as building a new one.
At the end, the total expenditure was just under ₦250 million—about ₦249 million and something.
But remember how it started.
It started with a word.
It started with revelation.
Then it became conviction.
Then conviction became action.
And action produced a physical result.
That is Creative Faith.
Jesus demonstrated the same principle with the five loaves and two fish.
You start with what is in your hand.
You bring your five loaves and two fish.
Then you see how far the power of God can take what you have.
4. FAITH MUST EXPRESS ITSELF THROUGH LOVE
There is one final dimension of faith.
Faith must act in love.
Galatians 5:6 says:
"What is important is faith expressing itself in love."
Faith is not merely about getting things.
Faith is not merely about achieving personal goals.
Faith is not merely about becoming successful.
Faith is about becoming aligned with God's purposes.
John 3:16 says:
"For God so loved the world that he gave..."
What is the proof of love?
Giving.
And what else?
Forgiving.
Both are sacrificial.
The proof of love is giving.
The proof of love is forgiving.
Forgiveness is writing off somebody's emotional debt because God has commanded you to forgive.
You trust God with the consequences.
That is faith.
Giving is also faith.
How do we know that you have faith concerning your finances?
By your obedience.
Can you obey God in giving?
Abraham demonstrated this when God asked him to offer Isaac.
God ultimately provided the sacrifice.
And that same mountain became associated with God's ultimate provision through Jesus Christ.
When you trust God, you obey God.
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS ABOUT?
Ask yourself:
Are all your goals only about you?
If everything you want is about yourself, there is a problem.
But when your goals involve God...
When your life is about making God famous...
When your ambition includes spreading the Gospel...
When your faith is about changing people's lives...
When your success becomes a platform for kingdom advancement...
Then you begin to align with God's master purposes.
And when your life aligns with God's purposes, you can experience an extraordinary faith life.
That is what makes you a leader and a role model.
SUCCESS IS OBEDIENCE
Hebrews 11 will change your definition of success.
For many people, success means titles.
Success means results.
Success means money.
Success means recognition.
But Hebrews 11 shows us something deeper.
Success is obedience to God.
You can achieve great results without God being involved.
You can become famous without faith.
You can build something impressive without God's direction.
But the God-kind of success is different.
It is measured by obedience.
Did God speak?
Did you believe Him?
Did you internalize what He said?
Did you act on it?
Did you express your faith through love?
That is Creative Faith.
THE FINAL STAGE: SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Changing your programming is warfare.
2 Corinthians 10 teaches us that although we walk in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh.
The weapons of our warfare are powerful through God for pulling down strongholds, casting down imaginations, and bringing every thought into obedience to the knowledge of God.
Your mind is a battlefield.
Your identity is a battlefield.
Your beliefs are a battlefield.
Your programming is a battlefield.
There are cultural programs that have been deposited into people.
There are family programs.
There are experiences from the past.
There are negative words people have spoken.
There are fears.
There are limitations.
There are wrong beliefs about marriage, money, success, leadership, relationships, yourself, and even God.
But God wants to replace every wrong program with His truth.
CONCLUSION: FROM WORD TO REALITY
Creative Faith follows a progression:
1. GOD SPEAKS
God reveals the spiritual reality.
2. YOU BELIEVE
You accept God's perspective above your circumstances.
3. YOU SAY IT
You confess what God has said.
4. YOU PROGRAM IT
You repeat it until it enters your heart and becomes part of your identity.
5. YOU ACT ON IT
You make decisions and take steps according to what God has said.
6. YOU EXPRESS IT IN LOVE
Your faith begins to bless God and other people.
7. IT BECOMES VISIBLE
What existed first as spiritual reality eventually becomes physical reality.
So don't stop at revelation.
Don't stop at confession.
Don't stop at shouting "Amen."
Take God's Word to the level of programming.
Then take programming to the level of action.
And take action to the level of love.
That is Creative Faith.
PRAYER: BREAKING WRONG PROGRAMMING
Stand with me.
We are going to engage in spiritual operations.
In the name of Jesus Christ, every wrong programming standing between me and the fulfillment of my destiny, be destroyed.
Every limitation programmed into my mind, be broken.
Every negative identity created by my past, be broken.
Every cultural programming contrary to God's Word, be broken.
Every fear that has controlled my decisions, be broken.
Every imagination that contradicts the knowledge of God, be cast down.
Every voice that says I cannot become what God has called me to become, be silenced.
I reject every identity that God did not give me.
I reject every limitation that God did not place upon me.
I receive the mind of Christ.
I receive God's perspective.
I receive the courage to believe.
I receive the grace to act.
I receive the strength to obey.
I receive the grace to love.
From today, I will not allow my present circumstances to define my future.
I will live by what God has said.
I will act according to what God has revealed.
I will become what God has called me to become.
My faith will produce action.
My action will produce impact.
My life will bring glory to God.
And I will become a true leader and role model, in Jesus' name.
Amen!
Culled from Pst Sam Adeyemi's Message on Creative Faith.
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