Certain in God's Faithfulness?

I like to watch TV. I admit, sometimes I watch too much TV. And because I tend to forget the story after a while, it's become a habit of mine to re-watch my favorite shows from time to time. Looking at all those TV shows, I came to realize that I am a kind of person who likes to watch a strong and solid character. Series like Bones and Castle, my favorite kind ^_^, are very entertaining because it gives us 'perfect' characters who are very capable to do their jobs and in fact, at the top of their game. Though, like any other good stories, they often encounter problems, you'd still get the feeling that everything would be okay at the end because those leaders are good.

Other more challenging series like Life, however, is just okay for me because watching it can create an unsettling feeling. While it is a very good series, I often feel restless watching it because there is always a possibility that the lead character would do something stupid that can ruin his life. Call me silly, but I really don't like that feeling. For me, watching TV is supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable moment.

Anyway, why am I talking about TV series? Well, today devotion focuses on certainty in God's faithfulness. It talks about how Jesus, even through His last moment, was so certain in God's faithfulness that His faith radiates to His disciples and it guides Him through the suffering.

We all like certainty. It's kind of funny that way. Because there are many unpredictable events in our lives, we like to keep everything that's close to us very predictable. That's why trust and honesty become very crucial in any relationship because we need a certainty that we can count on those who are close to us in time of needs.

The question is how about our relationship with God. I know that I am not dependable, but can I trust God to be dependable? While it seems like an easy question to answer, I know that many times in my life, I doubt God for no reason. It's kind of sad that I found certainty in my favorite TV series but couldn't find it in my relationship with God.

Walker says, "Jesus was so sure that God's faithfulness would be present in all circumstances that his certainty radiated throughout his whole being" (2009, p.22). Wow... can I radiate with certainty? I guess that's a question I have to answer with my life.

Funny little thing called FAITH

One of the big topic for the last couple days of devotion seems to spin around this little and powerful thing called faith.
What is faith anyway?

Religious people sees it as the key of their belief
Rationalist calls it (quoted from my favorite TV series, "Bones") "an irrational belief in something that is logically impossible"
Marxism argues it to be "the opiate of the people"
And for most of us, we tend to treat it as an encouraging word when nothing else seems to work.

What is Faith anyway?

The bible describes faith as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). This definition didn't make a lot of sense to me before. I used to like this sentence just because it sounds smart and intelligent but I didn't really understand what it means. Lately, it started to click together for me.

For me, faith is a conviction of the heart of what we believe in. While we can try to convince ourselves by saying that we believe, our heart knows the truth in us. The key is not about knowing or saying that we believe, the key is to convince our heart. That's why in Mark 9:24 we got a statement such as "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!".