When we teach faith, many people think we are trying to merely get people to be positive.

I believe we need to make this very clear: FAITH IS NOT OPTIMISM.

Christians need to first understand that what the world calls ‘faith’ is not what the Word calls faith. Just as the world has its own kind of faith, love, peace and so on, so does the Word of God have its authentic kinds of these virtues.

Sometimes, preachers try to get believers to have faith and they say things like, “Anyone can have faith. When you sit down on a chair, never doubting that it can carry your weight, you are exercising faith.”

Well, that is not Bible faith. People believe all kinds of things, but it is based on the evidence registered to the senses.

Bible faith is spiritual. It is not optimism. It is not positive thinking.

A man of true faith will necessarily be optimistic and be positive, but one can be optimistic and be positive and not have faith.

Some people think taking action is faith. No. One can take action in unbelief. Sometimes faith is exercised in being patient… just waiting. Israel took action and attacked the Amalekites and the Caananites. They ‘believed’ and took action, but were roundly defeated. Their ‘faith’ was not based on God’s Word or guidance, but on optimism, presumption and positive thinking. (Numbers 14:40-45).

Okay, I know faith without works is dead — (James 2:26), but works without faith is dead and buried.

True faith is imparted by the Spirit of God, and it comes from the Word of God. Divine faith can make a man do things that seem stupid, but doing stupid things is not necessarily an act of faith. The foundation, or basis, is what matters. Naaman acted in faith when he dipped himself in the Jordan, and was clean. Any other leper could have dipped himself in the Jordan. The results would have been disappointing.

The tire is part of a car, but the tire is not the car. Optimism may be part of true faith, but optimism is not faith.

When people see the cover of my book, “Success Dynamics,” they say things like, “So you are a motivational speaker.”

No, I am not a motivational speaker. I preach the Word of God, and in the process, you will get motivated. But I seek to minister to your spirit, not your intellect or your mind. A “motivational speaker” doesn’t need the Word of God. He doesn’t even have to believe in the Bible. Some of them may even use the Bible to support their messages, but God’s word is not central to their messages.

True faith is based on the eternal Word of God. That is why healing, deliverance and other supernatural blessings are manifested when the Word of God is active by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I have ministered God’s power to people who have been bound by demons for decades, and seen marvelous deliverances. I have seen cancer healed and regenerative disease of the bones disappear in a moment through the power of the Word of God, even in a hospital in the presence of people.

I didn’t minister to these people through words of motivation. No amount of motivational words and teaching on optimism will drive out the tiniest demon or heal the sick.

Motivational messages are like palliatives or tranquilizers. They do a lot of good and help a lot of people, but they essentially deal with symptoms, not the causes. They may be helpful on the mental level, but are generally powerless in spiritual cases. That is why I have endeavored in “Success Dynamics” to show that your motivation should be established on divine inspiration, and not just on words of men.

Faith, I say again, is not optimism. You may try to motivate yourself through your daily chores, and that is very okay. However, when the real opposition comes, and the situation demands the presence of a higher power, your relationship with the Word and the Spirit of God is what will give you victory.

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:3 KJV)