Some Christians haven’t been able to distinguish between faith and hope. Faith isn’t just to believe God’s Word in the future, faith is in the NOW! Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is…” Faith is actually calling real and calling done what you have hoped for! The Bible describes faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). That’s why you don’t have to see it with your optical eyes to know it’s there.
The Amplified Bible says, “Faith is the title deed” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is the evidence, and if it’s the evidence, then there’s something it represents. For example, if you had a landed property somewhere, you may not even have been there to see it yourself, but the legal documents to the land, stating its ownership is your evidence that the land is yours. You’re so sure of that document; you can even use it as a collateral. If someone comes and says the land doesn’t belong to you, you simply pull out your evidence—the title deed.
That evidence is faith, and God’s Word is your evidence that you have what He says you have, and you can do what He says you can do. Hope presents to you a picture of your inheritance in Christ, but faith makes it real to you. It’s one thing to look at the picture far away; it’s another thing to take possession of it and bring it into the NOW of your life; that’s faith! Hope says, “It will be mine,” but faith says, “I have it; NOW!”
