Faith Is The Unseen Reality That Shapes What You See

This is episode 1 of our Foundations Of Faith Series.

What if faith isn’t a feeling you chase but the unseen reality God gives you before anything changes? We kick off our Foundations of Faith series by unpacking Hebrews 11:1—“substance,” “hope,” and “evidence”—to show how faith operates as a real, present essence that stands before results. Along the way, we answer a listener question about treating the unseen as more real than the visible, and we share a simple framework for renewing your mind so your responses flow from God’s promises instead of your circumstances.

We explore why biblical hope is not desire or daydreaming but a confident expectation rooted in God’s character. Through Moses “seeing Him who is invisible,” Abraham refusing to let facts have final say, and Jesus teaching faith that speaks from conviction, we map out how obedience before evidence becomes a way of life. These stories aren’t distant ideals; they’re actionable models for training attention, guarding confession, and taking steps that align with Scripture.

You’ll hear core principles to put faith into motion: faith as revelation rather than reaction, faith as proof rather than waiting for proof, and faith that frames reality instead of yielding to it. We walk through Romans 10:17 and 2 Corinthians 4:13 to show how hearing, believing, speaking, and standing form a practical loop that strengthens endurance. To help you start now, we offer a focused exercise: choose one verse tied to what you’re believing for, read it, speak it, and stand on it until it becomes substance in your spirit.

Ready to live from the unseen and let the seen catch up? Press play, share this with someone who needs courage today, and if our teaching helps you grow, subscribe and leave a review so others can find Faith Revealed. Your support helps spread sound doctrine and steady hope.

Transcript

Listener Shout Out

Listener Question On The Unseen

Training The Mind For Reality

Defining Substance, Hope, Evidence

Faith As Proof Before Results

Moses, Abraham, And Jesus On Faith

Kingdom Principles

Kingdom Principles That Activate Faith

From Hearing To Manifestation

Prayer, Practice, And Next Steps

Outro

V.M. Mansfield 0:14

Welcome back to Faith Revealed. I'm your host, VM Mansfield, and today we begin our Foundation of Faith series with one of the most quoted scriptures in the entire Bible, yet one of the most misunderstood. What if faith is not something that you feel at all, but the unseen reality that exists before anything in your life ever changes? Faith is the invisible reality that God gives you before the visible world lines up with His Word. We're going to be working out of Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1. It says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. This episode reveals what faith actually is: not an emotion, not a guess, not a feeling, but a spiritual substance with real existence in the kingdom of God. Before we get into the message, we want to take a moment and give a very special shout out to Peggy in Ohio. Peggy, thank you for being a partner and for supporting this podcast. Your generosity and your consistency truly make a difference, not just in keeping the podcast going, but in helping the word reach people who are hungry for truth and hungry for understanding. The Bible tells us that when we partner together in the gospel, we share in the fruit of that work. And Peggy, you're absolutely part of that. We want you to know how appreciated you are, that we're praying for you, and we value you, and thank you for standing with us and believing in what God is doing through this ministry. As many of you know, we take questions. Today's question comes from Marcus in Tennessee, who writes, You mentioned that faith operates in the unseen realm, and that the unseen is more real than the natural. How do I train my mind to recognize the unseen as reality when everything around me feels opposite? Well, Marcus, thank you for your question. We truly appreciate it. It's a great question. The unseen is not less real. Okay, it's more foundational. Scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 18, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are seen, for the things which are not seen, or excuse me, the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. That means that what you're feeling, what you're seeing, what you're experiencing right now is real, but it's not ultimate. So how do we train our minds? Well, first, by renewing the mind through the word. Romans chapter 12, verse 2 says that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Okay? God's word reveals reality as God sees it. When you consistently feed on the word, your perception begins to align with heaven rather than circumstance. Okay. Second, by learning to respond instead of react. The natural senses react to what is visible, faith responds to what God has spoken. So Hebrews chapter 11, verse 3 says that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. So that so what is seen came from what is unseen. Okay? Faith trains you to ask, what has God said about this before you accept what you see? The third thing is by obedience. So obedience before evidence. This is a pro tip for you. Obedience before evidence. Every example in Hebrews 11 shows people acting on God's word before they saw results. Faith is strengthened when you step in obedience, even when your emotions or environment disagree. Okay? Finally, what you can do is by practicing spiritual focus. So you might say, well, what is spiritual focus? Well, let's look at Colossians chapter 3 and verse 2. It says, set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. This is intentional. Okay. Faith grows as you deliberately shift your attention from symptoms, fear, lack, you know, all of those things. When you shift your attention from that to God's promises. So, in short, you don't deny the natural, you just refuse to let it be the final authority. Faith learns to live from the unseen because the unseen is where God's word originates. And his word is the truest reality that there is. Okay, so we're gonna explain a little bit more of this uh in this episode of Faith Revealed. So without further ado, let's get into it. As you know, I love to delve into the Hebrew and the Greek and the Aramaic and all of these things, and I love to search these words out. We're not gonna bore you with a big word search, but we are gonna define, and you'll see a pattern of this as we continue, that we're gonna define the words that we're gonna be using in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, that said, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Okay, the word substance is the Greek word hypostasis, and it and Thayer defined it as the real essence of a thing, the actual reality beneath what is seen, the foundational support. Okay, faith is not emotion, faith is the spiritual reality undergirding what God has already declared. The word hope is the Greek word elpis, and they're defined that as confident expectation based on God's promise. See, when we think hope, we think like a magic genie in a bottle thing, we're gonna rub it, and all of a sudden now we're gonna uh, you know, this thing's gonna pop out and we're gonna have three wishes and we're gonna be rich and you know the dream like, you know, whatever the case. So that's not hope. That is not Bible hope. It never was Bible hope. Hope is the confident expectation based on God's promise. If I told you, if you knew me personally, you would know that uh I'm a person of my word and I try to do absolutely everything that if I say I'm gonna do it, I try to do it. Okay, if I told you that I was gonna write you a check for $100, that you could count on that. Okay, and you knew me, you know that you could take that check to the bank, you could you can be promising that $100 out before you even receive it. I don't recommend you do that with anybody, but that's the kind of thing we're talking about God here. That's that's what it's talking about. Confident expectation based on the promise. Okay, hope is not desire. It's not, you know, I I desire guitars, I desire different things. Uh I like to fish, boats and airplanes, and trucks, and houses, and you know, whatever your desire is. That's not hope. Okay, well, I hope one day I can live in a big house. That's not hope. That's not Bible hope, excuse me. Hope is not desire. See, that kind of hope is desire. Hope is the expectation rooted in revelation. And that is vitally important that we get our heads around. The revelation is not some big, you know, mind-blowing, oh man, that's the end of that. That's not that's not by that's not what we're talking about. The revelation is understanding what God's word says, and God's word being alive in you and being real to you. Hope is the expectation rooted in you knowing what God said is going to come to pass. Okay, evidence was defined as just proof, inner certainty, that which brings something to light. So faith itself is the proof that God accepts. So Hebrews 11:1 declares that faith is the substance, the hypostasis. It means that something that truly exists. Okay, the faith is what truly exists. Whether you see it or not, faith is not imagination. Faith is the God-given spiritual essence of a thing before it appears in the natural. Okay, the word evidence means faith itself is proof. God gives the evidence before the manifestation. Get a hold of this. Faith is the evidence. Faith is the proof. God gives the evidence, the faith, before the manifestation. Now we can start to understand that when we read that every man is dealt the measure of faith, now we can understand we all have faith. Everybody alive has faith. They're all born with the measure of faith, which we'll we'll expound on the measure of faith in further episodes, probably not today, but everybody has faith, and I can prove this. You drive down the highway and you hit that brake pedal, and you don't think every time that you hit that brake pedal, that's not gonna work. When you go in and you start your vehicle, you don't go put the key in, turning it, expecting it not to fire. If you did that, you wouldn't be running five minutes late to work every day. We'll move on. Everybody has faith. Faith itself is the proof. God gives the evidence, the proof before the manifestations. Romans chapter 4, verse 17 said, as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed, even God who quickeneth the dead, and call those things which be not as though they were. God speaks the reality first. Now get a hold of this. God speaks the reality first. He calls those things that be not as though they are. That is the reality. Faith receives the unseen as the greater truth. Okay, so you've got you've got to get your head around that what God says is actually the truth, not whatever the circumstance is. Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 18 says, While we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. The unseen realm is eternal, the seen realm is temporary. Faith stands in what is eternal, which is the unseen realm. That is where God is, the invisible God. Right? Colossians told it's called Jesus the image of the invisible God. You can't see him. You can see the effects of him, you can see what what he's doing for people, but you can't personally see him. Okay, so let's look at let's look at people in the scriptures. We'll use a few examples here that operated in faith, it moved through faith. Okay, so Moses in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 27, said, By faith, Moses he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Faith gives spiritual sight beyond perception, okay, beyond natural perception. Faith gives spiritual sight beyond the natural perception. Why? Because by faith Moses forsook Egypt, and he did not fear the wrath of the king who could have killed him, absolutely, brutally put him to death, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Let's look at Abraham in Romans chapter four, verse 19 through 21. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body, now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. Verse 20. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in the faith, giving glory to God. Look at that. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but he was strong in the faith, giving glory to God. Verse 21 goes on to say, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able to perform. Notice and being not in the faith, or weak in the faith. Notice that Abraham was not weak in the faith. He considered not his own body now dead. Now, he was breathing. Okay, he was a hundred years old trying to have a kid. That's what was dead, but was strong in the faith, being persuaded that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. Abraham did not deny natural facts, he denied their authority. And that's what we're teaching. We're not telling you that you're not sick or you're not, you know, whatever your diagnosis is or whatever your problem is. We're not saying that that's not real, that it's not happening. We're not denying that. And I don't teach people to deny that. We're doing what Abraham did, we're denying the authority of the problem. Okay? So let's look at Jesus. And this is this will kind of tie this up. In Mark chapter 11, verse 22 through 24. Jesus answering said unto them, have faith in God. Now that phrase is literally rendered, have the faith of God. Okay. But if you're reading King James, it says, Have faith in God, so we'll go with that. Don't write me telling me I'm changing the scriptures. I'm not. Verse 23 says, For verily I say unto you that whosoever shall stand to this mountain be removed and be cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart. That's that's the contingency plan. But shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith. Verse 24 goes on to say, Therefore I say unto you, that whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. Jesus shows that faith speaks from conviction, not confirmation. Now, watch. You're gonna love this. You're gonna absolutely love this. Let's go look at the apostles. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7, they said, For we walk by faith, not by sight. Now, now we know what we're walking by, okay? We walk by faith, not by sight. 1 John chapter 5, verse 4 said, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. If you're reading in the King James, it says, even our faith, it literally is which is our faith. Okay. So this is the victory that overcomes the world, it is our faith. Our faith is the victory. So faith overcomes because it rests in what God has already settled. Do you see it? Told you you're gonna love it. Faith overcomes because it rests in what God has already settled. So I want to give you a couple kingdom principles here. And we're gonna put this thing into action. I am all about you putting this into action and not just listening to some podcast or listening to some preaching or some uh telecast or something, and just sitting around thinking, oh, well, that was that was a pretty mess. That was a good word, that was this, that was that. No, we're gonna activate this inside of you so that you cannot be dependent upon a minister or a preacher, but you can walk in the faith that God has called you to walk into. Okay, so here's a cut here's a few kingdom principles. Number one, faith is not reaction. Faith is not reaction, faith is revelation. That's that's number one kingdom principle in my opinion. Faith is not reaction. Faith does not react. So let me give you an example here. And I hate to do this in this way, but this is a very applicable example. Alright, somebody goes to the doctor, and the doctor diagnoses them to be terminally ill. Now they they've gone to church, they've done all these things, and they've they've lived for God, and all this, and then this this thing comes upon them, this enemy comes upon them, and they go to a doctor, which is usually their first move. They go to a doctor and they get a diagnosis. In most cases, they are prophesied doom, defeat. Okay, you're terminally ill. You've got six months to live, you've got a year to live, you've got this, you've got that, right? Okay, that that is a prophecy of death. Now you've got one of two options. You can either receive that and say, that's it, I'm done. Or you can see what the Bible says. Okay? It's your option, and both will work. They both work, okay? Most people, and I'm not I'm not bashing you, I'm just I'm just bringing this to light. Most people at that moment, they then run to God as a reaction to the prophecy of death they just received. Okay, that's not faith. Now, we might think it is and all of that, and I'm trying to tread lightly and not be an offense on the first episode of this series. However, I'm going to bring some things to light that may cross your grain a little bit, but hang in there with us because we're going to give you the answer. I promise we'll give you the answer. Okay, in that situation, in that hypothetical, most people react and they think they're using faith. Oh, I'm going to God. Oh, God, you got to heal me. Everybody and their mother pray for me. Well, the whole world's praying for me, and I'm still dying. Why? Because it faith is not a reaction, and we try to use it in a reactionary environment. Faith is rather a revelation, and we have to walk daily in faith. We walk by faith, not by sight. We have to walk in the understanding, in the knowing of God's word that He will bring to pass whatever He promised. Okay. Second kingdom principle that I'm going to give you today. Faith does not wait for proof. Okay, I teach this in my school of healing class, and I've taught this all over the country and different parts of the world. Faith does not wait for proof. We don't wait after praying for somebody. We don't wait for some arbitrary uh feeling or like a bolt of lightning or a flash of light or that, you know, a shake, shimmer, and a shimmy. We don't do that. We don't need that. Faith does not wait for proof. Faith is the proof. Okay? Remember when we broke the words down at the beginning of the episode? That's why it's so vitally important that we understand these words. Okay? Faith is the substance. The hoopostasis. It is the solid foundation that holds us up. Faith itself is the proof. Okay? Another principle I want to give you is faith does not respond to the world. Faith causes the world to respond. You say, now that one's out there. Yeah, I know. Look, turn to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 3 with me, or look right here. 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. Everything visible came out of the invisible. Faith interacts with the invisible realm where everything originates. Okay. Do you get that? It's wonderful, isn't it? Now I told you this is this is gonna be cool. Okay. Faith causes the world to respond. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. Your world has to respond to the word of God when you speak it and believe it. Now you can just quote it until you fall over dead, but if it's alive in you, that's what makes it revelation, is it's illuminated in you, it's revealed unto you, it's alive in you, it's quickened to you. Okay, the word is alive, but you have to become alive in the word, and the word becomes alive in you, right? So everything that was made was made from the invisible God, from the word of God. Okay, so everything visible came out of that which is invisible. That's why faith interacts with the invisible realm where everything originates. Okay, now you say, Well, this is all wonderful, but how do I do this? How do I get to that level? I'm glad you asked that question. Romans chapter 10, verse 17 says, So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Okay, you're hearing the word of God right now. Okay, you really need to get into your Bible and read it for yourself. And these studies are great, but really go deeper into these studies. Okay, faith isn't born by hearing, it's born by hearing until the word becomes your internal reality. So it's born by hearing, then the word becomes your internal reality, and you start to manifest it, you start to produce it. Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 13 said, We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believe, and therefore I have spoken. We also believe, and therefore we speak. Faith hears the word of God, it believes the word of God, it speaks the word of God, and it stands on the word of God until the word of God manifests. That's what faith does. So you hear it by believing faith comes by hearing. Okay, get in your Bible and read. That's the spoken word of God written down on pages, right here. It's the spoken word of God written down on pages. Get it, apply it. I'm gonna give you, I'm gonna give you a takeaway how you can actually put this into practice in your real life. Okay, but get in your word, study the word, read the word, hear it, believe it, stand on it, speak it, and the word will manifest because his word will not return unto him void, but it will accomplish that's what he sent it to do. We know that word was Jesus, but Jesus came in the volume of the book. It will work for you too. Okay, faith is God's reality standing inside of you. Before anything around you changes, God's reality is established. When God's word defines your hope, your hope becomes substance. Okay, say I I want to uh pray this with me. Say, Lord, open my spirit to receive the reality of your word above everything I see. Now confess this. Say, I stand in the unseen because the unseen stands forever. Okay? Now here's what I want you to do. I want you to choose one scripture that defines what you are believing for. I want you to read it, I want you to speak it, and I want you to stand on it until it becomes substance in your spirit. Okay? So think that the visible is temporary, the word is eternal, faith stands in the internal. Do you get it now? Faith stands in the word. And then I want you to write to me and tell me how that exercise went for you. I want you to do that. That's where we're going to stop for today. I want to take time and let the word settle in, let it establish faith in you, let it guide your steps. If faith revealed has helped you understand the word more clearly or strengthen your walk with God, would you take just 30 seconds and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Your review helps us teaching. Uh, reach believers who are hungry for truth and sound doctrine. It's one simple way that you can help spread the word. And while you're at it, share this episode with someone who needs encouragement and teaching from the word. If you're listening on YouTube, make sure to subscribe and turn on the notifications so you don't miss future teachings. Thank you for being part of the community. And until the next time, may God continually bless you abundantly. Thank you for tuning in to Faith Revealed. Please subscribe, share, and join our email list to receive our monthly magazine and teaching updates, keeping you rooted in the Word. We appreciate you keeping us in your prayers, and we will see you next week right here on Faith Revealed.