By Faith We Understand

Hebrews 11:3- By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

By faith we understand...

That which is confidently trusted in, will ultimately determine exactly and precisely what is known. In this case, we know something about the universe because we are trusting what God has said. We know because we have faith. If we were to trust something else or someone else, we would come to know something else completely about the universe.

What is the source of what you know about yourself? After about a decade of talking to other Christians about their deep heart struggles, I've come to the conclusion that we are rarely (if ever) the source of what we know about ourselves. What we know about ourselves is almost entirely understood by who or what we are trusting. Who or what we trust, is determining our views on ourselves. 

Most people don't know or realize that. You may have low self-esteem. You may be struggling with fear... or possibly guilt and shame. I want you to know that the source of those thoughts and struggles is NOT you... There is an outside source that is not you that is sending you messages about what to believe.

Internally, we are waging a war of faith. We are wrestling with different sources of information and which ones we will put our faith in.

Paul says it like this: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities..." The word "principality" means "the source of something". We aren't wrestling with ourselves, we are wrestling different sources vying for our trust... And once trust is gained by that source, it has free access to dictate what we will perceive and understand about ourselves and our lives. Our faith produces our knowledge.

What are you listening to right now? What voice has all the authority in your life?

As you go through the day today, hear God speak one word to you that fills your hunger. Hear one word from this passage in Isaiah. Hear the voice of truth and reject all opposing voices:

Isaiah 54:14-17
¹⁴ In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
¹⁵ Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.

¹⁶ “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
¹⁷ No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.

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Less important sidenote: I plan on revamping the blog in a week or two. I'll be teaming up with my amazing and beautiful girlfriend to produce a blog/art blend.

Every other week, we'll create a super fun piece of art that elaborates and integrates with the message in the blog. You'll be able to buy the art too, that way, if you really connect with something God is saying through the art/blog, you'll be able to hang it on a wall as a constant reminder of what God was speaking to you. It should be really fun and I'm kind of overly excited about it lol. Anyways, Happy Memorial day to everyone. Enjoy the day!