July 29 – Assurance + Conviction = Faith

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1 (NASB)

We consider some of the narratives found in our Scriptures. Those narratives have prophecies, revelations and promises from God’s Word. The key to receiving these promises and the blessings they bring is ‘faith.’  We all have a kind of faith and exercise it every day. We have faith in a light switch, but not when our supply of electricity has been cut off. However, a promise from God in which we have hope and are convinced it will be is because of our faith. When we learn of a promise from God it is by faith that we have assurance of its fulfillment and that is where our hope is. By faith believing in what God has promised, we have assurance and conviction even of things we cannot see. Hope in God’s promises and convictions that what is promised is true even if we cannot see it, feel it, or touch it, is because we have faith. Heaven, is a promise. Jesus Christ coming back one day is a promise and we have hope and conviction in its truth. What promise of God will be good to have faith in today? Let’s do so and we will not be ashamed.

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April 10 – Assurance and Conviction

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”    Hebrews 11:1 (NASB)

We all have hopes, don't we?  We hope for good things and good outcomes when challenged by troubling circumstances.  But are we convinced that these kind of hopes will be realized?   True faith trusts the promise of the things we hope for because by faith we realize the promises we have received are true and so, we live by and we hope for their fulfillment.  We have faith in things we can't really see.  Our faith becomes our conviction they are real and they exist.  Having faith is not a pathway to material wealth and prosperity.   No, faith is knowing what we believe, we have been promised by God, is already ours. Faith is knowing that what God says will be, already is in Him.  All of Hebrews 11 is an account of examples of this kind of faith where God fulfilled His Word in the lives of those who believed His promises.  He does the same for us today.  We might be able to write a bit about our examples of when we've had assurance and conviction of what we have been promised but do not see right now.    

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