Lisa's Heart

Belief/Conviction
         What is truth?

What is the difference between a belief and a conviction?

Believe: to accept as true, genuine, or real; to have confidence in the truth, existence or reliability of something
Conviction: a fixed or firm belief (it's more than just believing - it's acting on that belief)

"Believing" in today's culture does not mean the same as it did in my culture and time frame. What does it mean to believe something? Does believing something make it true? What is true? "Believing" can't just be a preference based on a person's subjective feelings at any given moment - as our culture would make it. To be "true" there has to be a standard to measure against. Our society would like us to think there are no standards, no absolutes; that whatever is right for us at any given moment is true for us for that moment. Jesus Christ should be that standard, but most of our friends do not have any standard except their own ideas and those will change as the need arises. Today's culture says that something is true if I choose to believe it is true for me. We cannot buy into that argument. We must not - we dare - not turn belly up and swallow that line. We must have a belief and a faith system that goes so deep that it becomes our identity, our purpose, our destiny in life. But beware, we must have accurate beliefs stemming from accurate convictions. Remember 9-11? The terrorists had firm convictions that they were fulfilling the will of their “god.” They firmly believed – held to strong convictions, but their convictions were based on wrong beliefs. We must know that absolute truth exists and that truth is based on the never changing infallible Word of God, which is based on the essence of a holy God that never changes - He is always true and is the only Truth. Having convictions then is "being so thoroughly convinced that something is absolutely true that you take a stand for it regardless of the consequences." (Josh McDowell)

You may say, "but Lisa, I do believe, I do have convictions." OK - then let me see it. You tell me you know the Word of God to be absolutely true to the point that you'll stake your life on it - and then talk back to your parents, or lie or be manipulative to get your way, or "borrow" something without asking i.e. steal something that isn't yours, or talk bad about someone behind their back, or not allow any authority figure to speak into your life, or only read your Bible when you feel guilty, or only talk to God at the dinner table, or fudge on your taxes and take money under the table in a bribe for your own profit, or … the list is endless - things we know go against God's holy order of things and we say we love God - when our motivation isn't love for God but rather what can I get out of this. I know this is hard - but if we truly look at our lives most of the time we rarely live like we believe anything in the Bible is true - and therein lies the problem. If we really had convictions about these issues - they would cease to be issues. If we truly knew the Person of Truth - we would live our convictions for all to see and readily recognize. We must know that Jesus is the very embodiment of truth and that He does not change - ever - He's rock solid - a sure foundation. We must grasp that or we have no standard in a world that says there are no standards and no absolutes. Consequently, we will float around and be tossed about by every wind of doctrine as stated in Ephesians 4:14 "Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth." (NLT) and Colossians 2:8 "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." (NIV)

We must show our family and friends and acquaintances the truth - we must show them Jesus - the true Jesus - that He came in the flesh - that God became man and lived with us as John tells us. We must have something to show them! How do we know? Personally how do we know that Jesus is truth? You can't just tell someone who doesn't believe the Bible is God's Word to "just believe the Bible" - they'll look at you like some kind of poppycock! Especially when what a person "believes" is open to interpretation!

So how do you explain Jesus to an unbeliever - not just an unbeliever, but someone who thinks the Bible is just a bunch of myths and fairy tales?

1. There are evidences to the truth of the Bible's claims
2. Relationship - personal, intimate relationship - with the person of Jesus Christ.

In order to explain these things adequately, we must know some basics and how to present them.

Evidences: There are many evidences of the truth of the Bible’s claims. We must believe the Bible’s claims by faith; however, history, archeology and fulfilled Biblical prophecy are prime examples of evidences that help us to accept the claims of the Bible and help our faith to grow. For example; Jesus fulfilled over 60 Biblical prophecies (along with nearly 200 more implications) and 29 of those were fulfilled in just one day. The mathematical statistic of just 8 of those happening in a person’s lifetime is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. That’s like finding 1 particular silver dollar out of a pile of silver dollars the size of Texas and 2 feet deep!

Relationship: Jesus had 12 disciples - they were his friends - then his closest friends: Peter, James, and John - the Bible says he loved them. He built relationships with them.

Look at the story of Lazarus – When Jesus raised him from the dead (John 11:35): Jesus wept - he lost it at the heartbreak of Mary - he saw her pain and simply wept with her - he cried with her and said I feel your heart - he felt her pain - he relationally went through what she was going through.

Read Psalm 139 and look at David’s relationship with the Father. Be bold enough to have a real relationship with Jesus and with the Father through the Holy Spirit. Simply talk to Him – about anything and everything – the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the sin, the joys, the thoughts, the dreams, the…everything.

Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (KJV)
Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (NIV)
For you are to be worshippers of no other god; for the Lord is a God who will not give his honour to another. (BBE)
You must worship no other gods, but only the Lord, for he is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you. (NLT)

Know this one thing. Be convinced of this. Be convicted about this. God is jealous for you. He refuses to share His honour with anyone or anything. He is passionate about you.