Introduction to Faith Teaching
Sue E. (Cunningham) Wood
*WARNING*
You must read the introduction to this book before reading the book itself. It will keep your perspective straight.
INTRODUCTION
"FAITH" is not a bad word. It was and is God's idea, not man's.
Hebrews 11:6 "Without Faith It Is Impossible To Please God"
Romans 1:17 "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."
Galatians 3:11 "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, (it is) evident; for, The just shall live by faith.
Hebrews 10:38 "Now the just shall live by faith: but if (any man) draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for..." the evidence of things not seen."
Or Sue's Translation * Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is the substance (essence or thing), that grabs hold of your hope (dream) the thing you can’t see with natural eyes, and pulls it into manifestation (your world) where you can see it with your natural eyes." Without hope, there can be no faith exercised.
I want to challenge you to begin to live a life of faith. That does not mean that you do nothing. It means you will be more involved with God, Himself, than you have ever been before. It means you begin to live and make your decisions according to God's Word and nothing else. It means you will have to get into the Word and study to see what God's desires are in all your circumstances. It means you will have to get neutral, giving all your own desires over to God, when making a decision. Your desire is not necessarily God's desire. It is true that He places His desires in our heart. But if you are not neutral, your own selfish desire will almost always win out. Where the Word does not give specific instructions for your particular situation, you apply the principles of God that are based on His character. You can only do that if you really know Him and His character well enough to make the decision that He would make.
In order for true, Bible faith to work, there must be a close relationship with God, maintained. You must recognize Him as your Father and the initial giver of faith. Your main focus must be on the giver of your faith, not on the results of the giving. Otherwise you have entered into a carnal way of thinking and living. A faith walk is not a blind walk. It is deliberate and takes effort on the Believers part. It is not "blind trust."
Every human being that has ever been born has a "natural" kind of faith. All "born again believers" are born again with a spiritual kind of faith. It is a supernatural (supercedes natural, unregenerated) faith planted in the spirit of a believer the moment he is born again. That makes it spiritual faith, not natural faith. You do not pray for it. You already have it if you have been born again. It is not available to the unbeliever. The unbeliever can operate in natural faith, following God's principles and achieve a measure of success. But because he is operating in the dark and only has natural understanding of God's Word, the unbeliever can never achieve what the believer can. Miracle, spiritual faith is only available to the born again believer. It is the faith of God, given to His children.
To operate in the God kind of faith as spoken of in Mark 11:22, you must be born-again. That passage says, "Have faith in God." It actually translates, "Have the God kind of faith" or "the faith of God." You can only have the God kind of faith if you are a born again believer. It is a seed like faith (having been planted within you at your new birth) that must be nurtured and developed. You can even say, "I believe God's Word" and still not be developing your faith. Undeveloped faith will leave you in unbelief. If you live in conscious unbelief long enough it will result in doubt which is much more serious. Doubt is actually a contention against something. Unbelief can just be very weak faith. Faith Is A Force and must be released to be effective. Strong faith must be developed through exercise just as you would exercise a muscle to strengthen it.
From this point on when we refer to "faith," we will be talking about the born again believers faith unless otherwise stated.
Many people say they have "blind faith." They think that ignoring a situation or not worrying about something means you are walking in faith. Not so. You can refuse to think about something, not worry and still not be trusting God's Word. That is complacency or passivity. It is indifference and self-satisfying. To be complacent is most assuredly not the same as faith. There is no such thing as blind faith. Faith is based on the truth of God's Word. You know it's true because God has said it. No matter if you think you heard God telling you something (you would even stake your life on it) if it doesn't come into line with His written Word, it is not God. Therefore you act and react according to His written Word. You must know how to make Godly choices. Neither is just accepting everything that comes along, saying, "I am trusting in God," walking in faith. There is no force of faith released in that. It, too, is complacency and is very dangerous. We have a real enemy (satan and his cohorts) who will manipulate you if you allow it and get into a complacent mode.
To say, "God, just do whatever you want to do," is not faith. It is ignorance of His word. If you don't know what He has said, then you cannot release your faith. You release your faith by knowing what God has said and then saying it with your mouth, in sincerity. You cannot release your faith beyond what you know and understand. Proverbs 4:7 "...with all thy getting, get understanding." You can say it but there will be no force of power to cause it to come to pass if you don't understand what you are saying.
FAITH IS A FORCE AND MUST BE RELEASED. YOUR FAITH IS RELEASED THROUGH YOUR MOUTH. The force will only be released as the word comes up from your spirit and is released through your words. This releasing of God's word with your mouth will cause your spirit to be more energized as you continue to confess it. It will cause you to act accordingly, knowing it is already taken care of. After you have done that, from this point on, you continue to thank God. You no longer need to ask Him. Your actions must now line up with your confession. If your actions do not line up with your confession, you are not walking in faith. Be careful where you place your faith. Do not place it in your faith. Place it in God's Word. It is truth.
Do not do things foolishly. Where healing is concerned, do not throw away your medicine. Your faith must not be in whether you take medication or not. That would be faith in your medicine (or lack of it). I repeat, do not throw away your medicine until your healing has been confirmed. That would be very foolish. Medicine alone cannot heal you. It may aid in your healing but only Jesus is the healer. Discontinuing your medication will not cause your healing to come any faster and in actuality may cause you more problems until the symptoms of your illness subside. Taking it will not cause Jesus to withhold healing from you. When the manifestation of healing comes, a doctor can confirm it. You can walk as a healed person and still take medication. Sometimes an aspirin can help you walk as a healed person without a headache.
I believe if you will take these A to Z principles and make sure that you have not left any one out, and begin to consciously apply them in your life, you will see your situations change for the better. After a while, they will become a part of your life. Remember, keep your eyes on Jesus and His Word and be sure He is the focus of all you do and want. You cannot compromise to suit your lifestyle or feelings. His word is the final authority. These principles are only possible because of the cross of Jesus and all he did for us. It is the faith of God working in us.
First Few Lines of Sue's New Book
FAITH AS SIMPLE AS 
IDLE FAITH IS AS USELESS AS IDLE WORDS.
A. Agree with the Word of God.
*I John 5:8 = Spirit, water and blood agree, these three in one.
*Matt. 18:19 = If any two agree. Agree with God.
*II Tim = "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable."
