Faith!

Faith!

Hebrews 11:1 AMP

[1] Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. 

The topic of faith is fundamental to the human experience. We need God's help to fully understand and appreciate the value of faith in the Christian experience. Even without applying it to the spiritual, there are things we do based on faith. We sit down on chairs trusting that they can hold our weight; we take medication when ill, believing the medication will do the work it has been advertised to do, and we get out of bed in the morning to go to work, hopeful that we will earn a decent wage that will take care of our bills. If this is relevant to our daily human experience, the same also applies to the spiritual life. Faith can be seen as something tangible, even when it is not something that can be physically touched, tasted or seen. 

The heroes of faith listed in the same chapter from where the verse above is taken lived and died on the basis of strong convictions about what they believed. They did not always see things clearly in the physical, but there was no doubt in their hearts about who they had come to believe. In fact, it was said of all of them on that list that though they gained divine approval through their faith, they could not receive the fulfilment of what was promised. Their lives and practices laid the foundation for the blessings we now enjoy today and sometimes take for granted. These men of old, together with those of us who now believe in Jesus, are made perfect and complete together. That connection is faith in Jesus. 

We do not yet have the fulfilment of eternal life, as we are still in our mortal bodies, but we know that it is ours by faith. We do not yet have occupancy of our homes in heaven, but we hold on to the assured word of God that He has gone to prepare a place for us, and when it is time, He will come and take us to Himself. That is the focus of the verse above: if you already have it in your possession, it is real to you. The fact that others do not see it is not as important as the convictions you have. You hold title deeds to the resources of God, based on your relationship with Him. All that Jesus died and lived for are now mine to enjoy. Do not let the demands of the physical rob you of the realities of the spiritual. If God has said it, it is yours. Take hold of it by faith. God's time of favour is here.