Substance part 3
"Bub, I want you to eat something substantial, not just snacks." I find myself saying this to my son on a daily basis. Why? Because I want what's best for him. I want him to grow up healthy and strong. I want him to have something good, and something real. That's what faith is. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, and the EVIDENCE of things not seen. It's what's REAL even when it might not SEEM real. Let me try to explain. "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). Seems kind of upside down and backwards, eh? We don't look at the things which are seen, but we look at the things which are not seen. How can you look at what is not seen? By faith! Because faith is the evidence of those things! Those SPIRITUAL things! When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil their "eyes" were opened. Their natural eyes. And their Spiritual eyes were blinded. They couldn't see LIFE anymore. They could only see good and evil. This is why Jesus told us not to judge by appearance, but to judge righteous judgment. And this is why 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us, "(For we walk b faith, not by sight:)". If you're walking by sight you could easily stumble and fall. Because to a hammer, everything looks like a nail. We see things from the wrong persepective when we walk by sight. We make mountains out of molehills. We run to God telling Him how big our problems are, instead of telling our problems how big our God is. (And just real quick, we CAN cast our cares on Him, because He cares for us. But that doesn't mean going around whining and complaining. It simply means trusting Him to take care of us no matter what. Which, by the way, is exactly what we're talking about. Because trusting God is having faith in God.) I think it can be a little bit tricky because while God speaks--from the inside--with a still, small voice... the world is screaming at you from the top of it's lungs. And what you focus on, what you believe, defines your reality. What you feed is what will grow. What you magnify is what manifests in your life. If you let what a situation looks like dictate to you then you'll always be at the mercy of external forces. But if you flip the script and let what's inside you come out of you, then YOU can start to dictate to your situations! (And I'm not saying you can just conjure anything you want into being. I'm saying there are two reports--the world's and the Lord's--and whichever one you believe is which one will apply.) I always say it like this, "You have heard it said, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But I say unto you, stop taking what life gives you and receive and release the gift of your heavenly Father!" There is so much more available to us. Abundant life! But until you know it and believe it... until you've heard about it and been persuaded of it... until you stop snacking and eat something substantial... you'll miss out. You'll rob yourself from the gift by trying to earn something that can't be earned. It has been freely given, and must be received. We have been given THE measure of faith when Jesus gave us something--someONE, Himself, Love--to believe in. And now we can love each other because we know and believe we are loved!