I'm thinking today of Hebrews 11, verse 1. Hebrews
11, verse 1 says, Now faith is the assurance
of things hoped for, the conviction of things
not seen. So first of all, we have the faith,
and then we have what the faith is directed towards,
I guess you could say. So we have two words,
assurance and conviction. Assurance is when you're
getting constant confirmation. You're comforted
in your knowledge that something is true. Conviction
is when it goes deeper than the belief. I think
it's true, and therefore I'm going to act on
it. I'm almost 100 % certain, and therefore I'm
going to act on it. But conviction goes way deeper
than that, so that when everything else you believe
would seem to contradict your conviction, your
conviction holds true anyway. I believe in gravity,
so I don't go walking off cliffs. But I am convicted
that there is a life after this one and that
Jesus came so that we might have life and have
it more abundantly in this lifetime and then
for eternity with God. We can know. It's more
than just believing a thing. It's the overflow
of knowing a thing down in your soul. Faith is
fed by deeper holdings. We are a people of faith
and we live in the realm of what we believe.
And what we believe flows out of what has become
who we are. And believing in Jesus Christ as
your Lord and Savior, God will come in and He
will save you. If you're 97, 98, 99 % sure that
you're saved, that's just not good enough. 99
% saved is 100 % lost. Accept Jesus Christ as
your Lord and Savior today.