<p><em><strong> Have you ever</strong></em> had those times where something pops into your mind out of the blue, and then you can&#8217;t shake it for days or maybe even weeks to come? A song, a quote, a movie, anything?<br />
A few weeks ago this happened to me. A Bible verse popped into my mind so randomly that I grew curious as to why. I typed it into my phone just in case I needed it for later and here I am weeks later, finally using it. I was just sitting in bed when it finally hit me.<br />
The verse that I&#8217;m referring to is:</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><strong> &#8220;Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.&#8221; (Hebrews 11:1)</strong></em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>I&#8217;d like to explain it to you in terms of what I&#8217;ve discovered.<br />
<em><strong>&#8216;Faith&#8217;</strong></em> is defined as<strong><em> &#8220;complete trust or confidence in someone or something.&#8221;</em></strong></p>
<p><em><strong>&#8216;Is&#8217;</strong></em> is defined as<strong><em> &#8220;having the state, quality, identity, nature, role, etc., specified.&#8221;</em></strong><br />
So if I said &#8220;Barack Obama <strong>is</strong> the President of the United States&#8221;. That means, he has the <strong>&#8216;role&#8217;</strong> or <strong>&#8216;identity&#8217;</strong> of being the President.</p>
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<p>Those were pretty easy right? Faith is&#8230;. but the word &#8220;substance&#8221; is what makes it interesting. When we say substance, we can be referring to different things. If we say someone is a person of substance we&#8217;re referring to them being made of something special or having good character. In other terms, substance could be an object or an item. But I researched the word and here&#8217;s what I found.<br />
The word <em><strong>&#8216;substance&#8217;</strong></em> has a Latin origin derived from the word, &#8216;substare&#8217; or &#8216;substant-&#8216;. The meaning of &#8216;substant-&#8216; is <em><strong>&#8220;standing firm&#8221;</strong></em>.</p>
<p>And there is was&#8230; in order to have <em><strong>faith</strong></em> you have to <em><strong>STAND FIRM</strong></em> in the things you are hoping for; not wavering or faltering in your thoughts and will of God. Too many times do we second guess whether or not the things that we hope for and ask God to do will actually come to pass.</p>
<p>If you guaranteed someone that you would bring them a bottle of water, but when you see the person, there is worry all over their face because they don&#8217;t think you&#8217;re really going to bring the water, how would you feel? You&#8217;d probably feel as though the person doesn&#8217;t trust you. The word says, <strong><em>&#8220;Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.&#8221;</em></strong> (Psalm 37:4) If he&#8217;s made this promise to us, why do we still doubt him? I fall short everyday, so I&#8217;m not talking to you as someone who has it all together. But, I am working on it. I hope that you are too.</p>
<p>From Me to You, Love.

