For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. —EPHESIANS 2:8 NIV
This faith to move mountains and supernaturally transform every impossible situation that comes against us is not out of our reach. It’s not some upgraded version of faith reserved for the spiritually elite. Are you a Christian? If so, then this means you have already received breakthrough faith. It was God’s gift to you, to both save you eternally and empower you to live victoriously while upon the earth.1
If we are believers in Christ, it is not necessary for us to run around, trying to get faith as if it’s something we don’t already possess. Rather, it is more like unwrapping a gift that we have already received. At the moment of our salvation, we received the key that transforms hope into reality, possibilities into solutions, and God’s Word into life-changing supernatural power. And that key is faith. It’s one of the most frequently preached about and written about topics in Christianity today—but do we really understand what faith is and how to use it to walk out a lifestyle of supernatural breakthrough?
I want to help you be aware of what you have already received at the moment of salvation and show you how to put it to work in your everyday life. The faith you received is not wimpy. It’s not watered down. It’s not some junior faith that is in need of a constant upgrade. You received supernatural faith from a supernatural God the moment you were born again.
Together we will navigate through some false understandings and ideas about faith, press through the deceptions, and then learn how to put the truth into action. Throughout the book I will share my up-and-down story with understanding and activating faith, as I experienced extremes on both ends of the spectrum. Now, by God’s grace, I am moving toward a healthy, Bible-based balance of what faith looks like and how it functions. My vision is to stir up the breakthrough faith inside each of you—faith that perseveres through every obstacle and obtains the promises of God.
Throughout this journey together, we will establish solid, Scripture-based foundations on what faith is and how to put it to work in our lives. This is why the book is broken up into two sections: Understanding Faith and Activating Faith. Many books about faith focus on one or the other, but I believe that in order to activate faith we need to have a solid, biblical understanding of what it actually is, where it comes from, and what it does. For faith principles to work effectively, they must be built on the pillar of the knowledge of God. Otherwise, at the first sign of resistance, we will break.
At the moment of our salvation, we received the key that transforms hope into reality, possibilities into solutions, and God’s Word into life-changing supernatural power.
There are three groups of believers that my book is written for: the first group consists of those who have been striving to diligently work all of the faith principles, but after days, weeks, and even years of confessing, declaring, rebuking, reading, listening, and praying, they feel burned out and spiritually bankrupt. Hold on tight, friend. I believe the Holy Spirit is going to bring you some much-needed encouragement and balance.
The second group is those who need to learn about certain scriptural realities that they have never been exposed to before. In order for them to experience breakthrough, they need to be introduced to some new, and perhaps unusual, ways that God moves. To many, these realities include supernatural healing, deliverance, freedom from oppression, and restoration—to name just a few of the more popular topics. I am so excited to share these keys with you, keys that are going to birth within you a hunger to experience God’s power in fresh, new, Bible-based ways.
The third group consists of those who are just hungry to experience more in their relationship with God. They are not content with a miracle on Sunday and a meltdown on Monday; they are pressing into a lifestyle of sustained, supernatural breakthrough. This desire burns in their hearts (and it should burn in the heart of every believer, for we were made for it). Christianity, in its current shape and form, does not satisfy them. There is a resounding cry from deep inside their spirit, telling them that there is a “new normal” available.
There are two types of faith believers tend to gravitate toward. First, we can fall prey to experiential faith. This is a counterfeit understanding of faith that is built on personal experience, not the eternal, unchanging truth of Scripture. An example of this type of faith is that because we are sick and showing no signs of improvement, experiential faith begins to assume that God’s overall will is sickness for our lives. Or another example is that we believe that God does not want to restore a hurting marriage because we see many examples of other people in our lives who ended up getting divorced, even though they prayed for reconciliation.
Experiential faith emerges if we are going through something—a sickness, family problem, addiction, trial, or bondage—and rather than stand on what God’s eternal Word says and agree with the solutions presented in Scripture, we start to use our circumstances to define who God is for us. If we don’t experience immediate healing, then we start to believe that He is not the healer. If restoration in a relationship does not take place overnight, we begin to think that He might not be a restorer. This perspective shapes how we end up praying about our problems. Bad reports. Hopeless situations. Impossibilities.
Experiential faith often appears to be the most popular and damaging perspective for us to adopt when it comes to faith. We cannot treat God’s character like it changes every time we go through a difficult season or situation. He does not respond one day, only to be silent on the next. He does not reveal His nature as healer, deliverer, or restorer on Sunday, only to completely change His character on Monday. Experiential faith is not faith at all; it is a counterfeit and denies the constancy of God’s eternal nature. It is in direct opposition to what Scripture tells us about the Lord Jesus Christ, who “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8 NIV).
Does God use our suffering and sickness for His ultimate glory? Absolutely and thoroughly, as He is a God who refuses to let anything be wasted. The key, however, is being able to appropriately identify where our circumstances come from and refusing to let them adjust the way we see God.
The second type of faith—and this is what I am pursuing at all costs and the lifestyle Jesus is inviting all of us into—is the lifestyle of breakthrough faith. And I have some incredible news for you: this is your inheritance as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ! Gone is the ridiculous idea that “You don’t have enough faith to…” and you name the Scripture-based breakthrough you are believing for. The revelation of breakthrough faith completely destroys the concept of “levels of faith,” for every person who has given his or her life to the Lord Jesus Christ has received breakthrough faith. The time has come to learn how to activate it and walk in it as your everyday Christian experience.
The entire essence of this teaching is based on an account in Mark 2 that I have come to affectionately call “Faith that Breaks through the Ceiling.” The ceiling is whatever stands between you and the promises that God’s Word legally authorizes you to possess. Examples of these ceilings include the disappointment of perceived unanswered prayers, circumstances that did not work out, or those downright overwhelming seasons where the phrase “hell on earth” takes on new, personal meaning for us.
Faith does not accept any ceiling or any boundary that prevents us from experiencing God’s promises coming to pass in our lives. This is the attitude we will be developing in the pages ahead—one that holds on tight to what God has said in His Word, and refuses to let go until what He said becomes what we experience.
We have become inundated with teaching on faith. Many of us are overwhelmed with Kingdom principles—the how-tos of faith. But when it comes down to the foundational level, many believers are not truly grounded in what they believe about who God is, what the Scripture says, and the supernatural lifestyle Jesus modeled for us to live. As a result, we become susceptible to embracing the experiential faith that changes every time we face opposition.
We may persevere for a season, but ultimately, when things get to be too overwhelming, we throw in the towel, adjust our theology, and conclude that God might not be interested in getting us through our situation or circumstance. That whole business of transforming impossible situations and bringing Heaven to earth sounds more like pie-in-the-sky ideology than the normal Christian life. This should not be the case at all. I am going to help you activate a faith that can break through any situation, season, or circumstance.
We have been given this tool of faith to release Heaven’s solution into every situation that does not line up with God’s perfect will for our lives. Heaven contains every solution that will transform the circumstances and challenges we face on earth. The lack we experience is not on God’s end. He has everything that we need to enjoy victory in this lifetime. The lack exists on earth because there is a disagreement between two worlds and two different realities. God’s will and agenda for created order was completely good and never involved a separation between Heaven and earth. Sin created this gulf. But the blood of Jesus made it possible for these two worlds to be reconnected once again. Jesus would have never given us the Lord’s Prayer as a model if He was not interested in bringing two worlds together: on earth as it is in Heaven (see Matt. 6:10).
When something on earth is in disagreement with the culture and climate of Heaven, it should not be okay with us. In fact, it is completely unacceptable. Paul identifies us as ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ (see 2 Cor. 5:20), representing the culture of heaven while on earth. Before we are citizens of a country, governmental system, or even the planet earth, our citizenship is first in Heaven (see Phil. 3:20). This citizenship has everything to do with the ultimate purpose of faith, for Christianity is all about bringing Heaven to earth.
The early disciples and followers of Christ recognized this. Every time faith in Christ was demonstrated and released miracles, signs, wonders, and healings, Heaven’s culture was being established on earth. Everything that was normal in God’s world was coming into this one. This is our primary mission while living on this planet, according to the Lord’s Prayer.
I place no restrictions on how much of Heaven is available for here and now. We leave that up to God. In the meantime, we are called to embrace this commission with great joy, knowing that through faith we get to participate in bringing divine alignment between God’s solutions and our impossibilities.
Prolific author and prophet Kris Vallotton makes the following comment about the early followers of Christ and their overall mission:
Apostles are not only sent; they are sent for a very specific purpose. The word “apostle” comes from the secular Roman world. The Romans were very aggressive about expanding their empire. They wisely employed the strategy of Alexander the Great, who established the Greek Empire by conquering kingdoms and then culturizing them in Greek ways.2
They were not just disciples—ones who learned from the Master. They were apostles—sent ones, called to culturize planet earth with the ways and culture of Heaven. This is our mission too! Faith is not only about getting us into Heaven one day, but following the apostles’ lead and making our world look as much like Heaven as possible. As ambassadors and emissaries of Christ, Heaven is our place of citizenship, not just an eternal resting place. Heaven can have influence and impact now, on earth, in our sphere of influence, through our faith!
In the pages ahead, we are going to go on a journey together. Whatever you currently think about faith, I ask that you keep an open mind and let the Holy Spirit come and lead you into all truth. My heart burns to see the body of Christ unlock the power of breakthrough faith and bring the supernatural power of Heaven to earth—in our lives and in our world. I want each of us to walk in sustained, consistent victory over the unbiblical circumstances that come against us. These things are not God’s sovereign plan or purpose for our lives.
Faith is not only about getting us into Heaven one day, but following the apostles’ lead and making our world look as much like Heaven as possible.
If you are currently dealing with circumstances that are not in line with God’s Word—either in your life or someone else’s—I want to equip you with practical tools to break through every obstacle, press through every circumstance, and experience victory in every season of your life, in Jesus’ name!
We already received breakthrough faith at the moment of our salvation; the key is understanding what we already possess and activating it in order to live a lifestyle of sustained victory!