Those two words don’t really belong together in that title, but they both encompass what this post is about.
Lee and I went to my mom’s on Sunday afternoon while we waited for our townhouse to be cleaned, and while Lee was on the phone, computer, etc., my mom and I had a very deep conversation about faith. She took off her “friend” hat and put on just the “mom” hat. By the way, my mom has always made it clear that she was NOT my friend – she was my mother; when I became an adult, she was perfectly fine with being my friend. Anyway, I digress.
Still scared.
Still, the woman with the mom hat didn’t want to hear it. She told me that I am exercising absolutely no faith, and that I know better. OUCH! She told me that my fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. She (notice I said “she”, not “we”) finished the conversation by telling me that wherever I get my spiritual guidance from is where I should give my money (we haven’t joined a church yet).
So yesterday, I went straight to the website where I get my daily Bible verse and commentary through iGoogle, but I wasn’t quite satisfied with how it was set up (hard to explain). So I searched for another organization that I could: A) Give money to; B) Receive a daily verse and message along with the one I’ve been getting.
After about 30-45 minutes of searching, I found one! Then I went to the verse and message for the day (yesterday), and hit me like a ton of bricks!!
“Faith is . . . the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). When the writer said, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”, he used two parallel and almost identical phrases to define faith. We’ve seen that faith is the assurance that all God’s promises will come to pass in His time. “The conviction of things not seen” takes the same truth a step further by implying a response to what we believe and are assured of. James addressed the issue this way: “Someone may well say, ‘You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’. . . But are you willing to recognize . . . that faith without works is useless? . . . For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (James 2:18, 26). In other words, a non-responsive faith is no faith at all… I pray that the choices you make today will show you are a person of strong faith and convictions.
Suggestions for Prayer:
- Ask God to increase and strengthen your faith through the events of this day.
- Look for specific opportunities to trust Him more fully.
Um, wow. I was pretty speechless. Talk about confirmation!
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