Faith is confidence in what we hope for

and assurance about what we do not see.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We all have at one time or another experienced that “Aha!” moment when everything comes together, it all makes sense, and a convincing argument comes to life to birth an undeniable shift and purpose in our way of thinking and feeling.

Like the instant a little child first comprehends something only adults have always known, that’s when we start growing up. That confidence and assurance are acquired psychic elements necessary for healthy growth and maturity.

Faith is nothing we can touch, taste, or see, yet the reasoning behind its emergence pierces both mind and heart inescapably.

Faith is inherently future-focused.

It requires awareness and conviction of a fully-functioning supernatural world around us and within us which is on our team and working for us 24/7.

Ironically, faith is borne from reason not an abandonment of it. It comes from a hearing that awakens our soul to something more and bigger than ourselves.

All these arguments and examples are incomprehensible to those without awakened spiritd and thus, is a bullseye on our back and the daily target of the ruler of this world.

But faith is a changemaker from the inside out.

Keep the faith.

Keep hope alive.

It won’t be long.

Faith asks a lot from us

but promises infinitely more in return.

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

My friend devotes her entire existence to promoting the best in others.

As she comes to know you, she discerns things about you that make you a better person and you never take notice it was her friendship at the helm of your voyage.

Encouragement is her gift. She pays full attention to the details of your conversations and remembers important parts of them as if they were her own.

And at just the right times and places, she shows up like an angel unexpectedly dispensing love where it hurts most of all.

Though it may seem like a miracle it’s not. She’s merely obedient to the instruction she receives about how we should live our lives with faith in action.

And she always leaves you wanting more.

She sees the Day approaching with a winning strategy to recruit for God’s kingdom and at the very least, to demonstrate her unique brand of love that sows deep seeds.

The woman is on a mission and it shows wherever she shows up to illustrate this passage of scripture.

“I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Knowledge of what is right and wrong is already inscribed in our minds and hearts as is the awareness of God, the originator.

“No longer will they say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.

Inherent to being human is the often disregarded but innate belief in One who put everything in order and motion.

To be human is to know of God, but to be among the saved of our species is to acknowledge Him and the plan in place to tie it all together.

Doing what is right and doing so within the framework of its origin is that plan.

“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

That plan included the human demonstration through Jesus, His son, that our sin has been crucified once for all.

The greatest story ever told is the unfolding of this revelation about new life emerging from otherwise certain death.

All stories must come to an end except this one which demonstrates our hope and trust in a new beginning.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭8‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬ NIV‬‬

We are a pathetic bunch.

With salvation in pocket, many of us stagnate without the same zealous pursuit of Christian growth and maturity that was demonstrated to us by God when He first sought our souls.

Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We are known by our fruit.
The ripening and ready-for-harvest kind.

We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The saved soul is never satisfied.

Possession of a taste of heaven should be driving us toward greater knowledge, gifts, and heroic actions for the kingdom to which we now belong.

Doing just the bare minimum is an unacceptable lifestyle for a mature “child” of God who fights against growing up and into that which we’ve been called.

If this hurts a little, it probably should. 

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How we conduct ourselves reveals whose we are.

Nothing is hidden,

everything is uncovered.

From day one in the garden, hiding our sins has been a staple of being human.

Our desire to be liked and loved, to be discovered as something we are not, despite the things we have done, is the very thing that keeps us in chains.

Deceit was the trade of the serpent that should have taught us otherwise, but we placed it in our toolkit and have wielded the original sin ever since.

But deception bites back every time at the hard headed and hard hearted who won’t acknowledge they need a Savior who reveals and heals.

Despite deception’s lie, the most attractive people are liked and loved by all not for what they aren’t but for whose they are, crust and all, because they accurately represent themselves.

They’ve no interest in pleasing others when they can please God from whom nothing is hidden, everything is uncovered, and all is forgiven and forgotten, forever.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I have a dream from which I wake with every certainty that the race has ended and I’ve won.

The track didn’t lead me in directions I’d expected nor traverse exotic and beautiful stops along the way.

It didn’t begin how I’d hoped nor included all I’d wanted, but when it was over, I recognized the destination and it was better than I’d ever imagined.

Not knowing the route, which had always been a source of fear and anxiety, turned out to be the most sensible of all the unknown paths I could have taken.

There was no checkered flag to notify those who’d always hoped for me, there was no crowd.

No floral wreaths or expensive champagne, as there was no winner’s circle in which to stand.

All my work was over.

I’d woken up and yet it had been no dream at all.

While all along I’d been asleep, I was finally awakened for the very first and the very last time in my life.

I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

From politics to toilet tissue, ads sell anything and everything they think you want to know about their product with little regard for the truth.

“You want the truth?

You can’t handle the truth.”

Preach, correct, rebuke, and encourage may be what believers desperately need, but given the option, they all too often take it, and in a heartbeat.

Long haul Christians clearly understand the price that comes with their faith, subjugate their own desires, and opt for the road less traveled.

They have trained themselves to recognize truth from lies, good from evil, and right from wrong.

Particularly in these later days, these are the least popular leaders bearing the least popular message for the most important human era.

The road is narrow.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”.

Matthew 17:13-14 NIV

Your choices today are more weighty than ever for yourself and your family.

Who will you allow in your inner circle to teach and advise? Choose wisely.

I am Jesus Christ

and I approve this message.

Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The chasm continues to widen.

If it seems the more you practice good, evil on the other side is enjoying a grander heyday, you’re right.

Our enemies are determined to thwart our plans at every turn and to convince us to come to the dark side where victory seems all but certain.

Living the godly life is messy, full of unanticipated reactions and decisions how to stay on track.

Consider the temptation of Jesus when Satan made numerous promises to recruit Him for his team. Jesus responded with truths from the word of God forcing Satan to retreat for a future opportunity.

When you’re persecuted yet know the nature of the battle you’re fighting and know and use the armaments at your disposal, your victory will be more in the process than in the outcome.

The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but our weapons are superior to any intimidating Death Star.

Know and use the Word of God and stand on His promises and despite what seems to be the outcome, your victory is the promise embedded in the process.

Use the Force, the Word of God.

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Whew! That’s an impressive list, especially if you’re into current events.

But Paul can be dramatic.

Lately anything that can point to these being the last days often does so, and with remarkable accuracy.

All his listed traits are alive, thriving, and highly contagious these days.

None are external events but internal ones, observable in those around us and oftentimes also within us. A list like that allows no escape for any of us.

But an escape was provided by Jesus’ death and resurrection and your choice to accept His forgiveness as an unmerited gift.

As a young boy prone to misbehavior, I fully expected no presents for me under the Christmas tree, but there they were, unearned, undeserved, yet provided to me despite what I’d done.

It always blew me away that dad, mom and Santa all loved me so much that they’d still spent time and money on a terrible kid like me.

I learned early on that the love doesn’t go away because of what I’ve done.

It stays because of whose I am.