Faith

The main idea of the transcription is that faith is crucial for believers. The author discusses the importance of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, which is often referred to as the "Hall of Faith." The author emphasizes that without faith, it is impossible to please God. They also mention the dangers of unbelief and the need to hold fast to one's faith. The author connects the concept of faith to the idea of living by faith and trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation. They highlight that faith is not blind, but rather based on the evidence and promises of God. The author references various New Testament passages that emphasize the importance of faith and living for Christ. They conclude by stating that faith is what keeps believers moving forward and hoping for their ultimate goal, which is being with Jesus Christ. 11. Hebrews chapter 11. We kind of introduced and talked about the subject of faith this morning and tonight we're going to just kind of look at the author of Hebrews. We're going through it on Wednesday night. Of course, this Wednesday night I will be at camp. Brother Morris Boyd will be taking care of the Wednesday night services this Wednesday night. So I know that he will have a good lesson for you and then we will get back into Hebrews next Wednesday night and over the month of July, kind of finish it out. But we're not going to, one of the dangers is not found in chapter 11. So we're going to kind of skip chapter 11 as we are looking at the dangers and the warnings that the author gives us in Hebrews. But Hebrews chapter 11, of course, is a very, very familiar chapter. We all know it. It's often referred to as the Hall of Faith and it lists all of this stuff about faith and everything else. And in verse 1, he begins this chapter by saying, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. And then you skip down to verse 6 and he says, Without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And really you cannot fully understand chapter 11 without going back in chapter 10 and verse 23. He makes this statement. He says, Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And so he's been laying out all of these dangers that we can do. And basically we have found out that it all centers and focuses around unbelief, the lack of faith. If we don't believe God, we never will obey God. And if we don't obey God, it doesn't matter how long it lasts until the promise is done, if we ever see the promise, because why? We didn't believe and obey anyway, so we're probably not going to come to reality. And so he breaks all these dangers down and he says, Here we need to hold fast to our profession. Trust God. Hang in there with God. Believe God. And all of chapter 11 are these great examples. And when we see this passage of scripture, it stems from Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 4. In Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 4, Habakkuk says, The just shall live by faith. In other words, those that are righteous, those that have been justified, and the only way that we can be justified is through the blood of Jesus Christ, right? And so those of us that have been saved, that have put our trust in Jesus Christ, and have believed Jesus Christ, and are obeying Jesus Christ, the only way that we can live is by faith. Because to begin with, if you are truly saved, you are believing in a God that you have never seen. You're believing that you're going to a place that you've never experienced, so you've got a whole lot of faith that is there to begin with. And it's not a blind faith though, because we see that we see the promises and the reality of God and the effects of God and the results of God everywhere around us. And so no one would argue here in a little bit, hopefully, I looked at the radar and it looks like it's going to cut right around us and we're going to be okay right here, but hopefully in a little bit there won't be a lot of hail, there won't be a lot of wind and all of that. But nobody is going to argue that the wind is not blowing when we see leaves and stuff flying across the yard, right? We know that there's a wind, but none of us see the wind. And so it's not a blind faith, and that's what the world wants us to believe, that you Christians have this blind faith. You are believing kind of like the Easter bunny or the tooth fairy, right? You know, it's something that you've never seen and you're just being ridiculous to believe. No, guess what? I have seen the fruit and the effects and the results of Jesus Christ. And we start at the very beginning of the Bible and he shows us example after example of how God has fulfilled his promises. When you look at this passage of scripture in Habakkuk, the just shall live by faith, you will find that it is actually quoted three times in the New Testament. First of all, it is quoted in Romans chapter 1 and verse 17, where he says, the just shall live by faith. And there the emphasis, and I went ahead and capitalized it there on the screen, the emphasis in Romans chapter 1 is faith, the believing and obeying God. That's what the author is trying to focus on. And we find it later on, just a few verses down, what happened? When they knew that there was a God, when they saw all of the effects and the results of God, to where their heart knew that there was a God, it says they chose not. They made a distinctive, willful decision not to believe God. And so then God turned them over to a reprobate heart. And in Romans chapter 1, the whole thing is you've got to take it by faith. You've got to trust. Just like when you came in and sat down in that pew tonight, none of you sat there and tested it to see if it was going to hold you, if it was going to crack or fall or whatever. Every one of you just came in and plopped down in your spot. And what has happened? That's come because of experience. Every single week, every single Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, many of you come and you sit in the same exact spot. It's never gave you any problems before, right? The more you do that, the more comfortable you become and your faith gets stronger and the more you just come in and plop down, right? And we don't test it. And so the whole key there is faith. Faith is necessary. It's mandatory to be the standard equipment that you and I have in our life as believers. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 6 says, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus, so walk in him. If you can believe in Christ for salvation, then why in the world is it so hard to believe Christ through our life and our walk with him? If you trust him with your eternity, Colossians is saying, trust him in your everyday life. Trust him right now. And then it goes back as quoted in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 11. The just shall live by faith. When you study the book of Galatians, you will find that it was dealing with legalism. And so he takes this same exact verse and he's beginning to focus on those that are just, those that have been justified. And we kind of, for lack of probably a better definition or saying, we say a lot of times, for those just as if I have never sinned, right? That's what justified means. But it goes just a little bit deeper than just as if I've never sinned because it takes the blood of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. I have sinned and I have come short of the glory of God, but Jesus Christ through his blood justified me. And so he's telling us the just, those that have been justified by the blood of Jesus Christ must live by faith and the emphasis on justified. I didn't do it. Who justified me? Jesus Christ. Guess what? It takes faith to believe that, doesn't it? We have to believe that Jesus' blood was sufficient. The whole book of Galatians is about that. Quit trying to live according to the law. Quit trying to work to make God happy and realize that God is the one that has justified you. He is the one that has made you as if you have never sinned. Not you, but Christ. And then the third place that we find this in the New Testament is in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 38, right before we come to chapter 11. And in Hebrews chapter 10 in verse 38, he says, now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto Christ. We are not of the perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Here, the whole focus is on living. The here and the now. If you have been justified and you are living by faith, then guess what? You're going to be living for Jesus Christ. If you trust Him for your salvation, then you're going to be living for Him. You're going to continue with Him. You're not going to draw back. You're not going to turn back because why? We've got that settled. I trusted God at nine years old for my salvation, and He justified me, not me, so I can't do anything to lose it. All I do is trust Jesus Christ. So therefore, I live for Him every day. If there's nothing I can do to be saved, there's nothing I can do to keep my salvation either. That's the liberty of Christianity. To be able, that gives us the freedom to live. We don't have to be afraid of failure. We don't have to be afraid of mistakes and different things because why? It's not us. It's God that is working through us, and so it has to do with living. So faith is what keeps us going forward into the unknown. Faith is basically our title deed to the things that are hoped for. Now, if I ask you in your Christian life, what is it that you hope for the most? And this hope is not this idea of wishful thinking. It's not a hope as I hope I win the lottery or I hope it doesn't rain or what, but hope is a surety of a promise that is out there that we have not obtained. What is it that we are hoping for? Our ultimate goal and our ultimate hope is that when I see Him, I shall be like Him, right? That is the goal of the Christian. As Jesus Christ promised in John chapter 14 to His disciples, if I go, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again that where you are, or I am, you may be also. That's what I'm hoping for, right? And so my whole entire life is being living by faith just like the Israelites. All these generations was lived looking for a land that they had never seen. But God, what happened? God promised it to them. And so they knew that it was going to be there. Eventually, we are going to get there. Our whole entire hope is that we were going to be with Jesus Christ to the point to where He wipes away all of the tears and everything that is there. And Paul is telling them in chapter 10 that here is the great failure. He says the failure is to use faith in our life to trust Jesus Christ in our life is the great inadequacy in the Christian life. How can you be saved and have faith for salvation and then not trust God with your everyday life? It's ridiculous. And that James goes in and tells us that. James tells us in chapter 4 and verse 1, where does all these rumors of wars and fightings and all of this come? He says that you lust and you have not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight in war, yet you have not because you ask not. And then he says you ask and receive not because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lust. And so why don't we give the spiritual gifts into our life, the blessings that Paul said we could have in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3? Because we don't believe that we can obtain. I'm not really good enough. God really is not going to do that for me or I've been bad. And so James just totally blows that thought out of the way. And so when we think about faith, we have to understand that faith is not optional in the Christian life. Faith is not an option that we get to pick and choose. For the Christian, it is standard. It is mandatory. It is necessary. It's standard equipment. Remember, taking the shield of faith. You cannot stand against the walls of the devil and leave your shield behind, leave your faith out the door. And so when we surrender ourselves to him by faith, we seek and follow his will by faith and perform it by faith. The person of faith lives his beliefs. If I believe something, then I'm going to follow through. If I believe something, I'm going to argue it. I'm going to fight for it. I'm going to strive for it. And so faith is not simply one way to please God. Faith is the only way to please God. God cannot find happiness in us if we do not trust him. And so faith is what opens all of the doors to our hope. Faith is what brings us to the reality of seeing him and being with him and being like him. And so it's the standard equipment in our life. And so notice what he says. Now let's go back to our text with that background of information that is there. And let's look at what he says in verse one and two, where a lot of people use this as a definition of faith. This is not a definition of faith. This is a description of faith. How would you define when? There's really no way you cannot define something that you've never seen or touched, can you? So what? Go look. I guarantee if you go look in the dictionary and you look up the definition of when, you're going to see a lot of effects of when. And what it calls is a description, but you're not going to see a definition. And so he's not giving us a definition of faith. He's given us a description of faith. And he says, now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the weight of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The best example that I've ever read of this with my book is either Charles Stanley or Chuck Swindoll. I read so much of their books that sometimes I get confused. But one of them, too, I know we tear it down to them, too, to give it credit, but they said that they use the example for this description of a tolerance. How many of you have ever seen a story? Just turn on the little play and you get back to the normal and then you go in there and guess what? Every week, every week with my advisor, guess what? We talk about calories, right? I've never seen a calorie. I've never tasted a calorie. But guess what? I am starting to realize that calories exist. Calories are very, very important. Your body will burn a certain number of calories all day. Do you realize just sitting there you can burn calories? The problem is, is when we take in more calories than what we exercise, and then what happens? Then the body loves calories, and so what does it do? It waits for a depletion of those calories later on and it wants to store it up. And so it takes those calories and it turns it into fat. And it begins to build up on our body, right? And so it can all of this store into calories. Now, I don't really know anything about calories, but I understand the effects of a calorie, right? And so now look at, if you read this now, and instead of saying faith, use calories there. Now, calories are the substance of things hoped for, right? Calories give us energy, right? Have you ever had low blood sugar? Have you ever tried to do something on an empty tank? It doesn't last very long. And so I know if I am going to exert a lot of energy, if you look at marathon runners and stuff, what do they do the night before? Man, they load up on carbohydrates and calories. They eat all the pops, all these high things because why? They are going to burn it up tomorrow, and they don't want to get near the end of the race and run out of calories. So a calorie is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Why do we need faith? First of all, because of its potential. The same way we need calories to live, we need faith in the Christian life. Faith is the substantiating. It's the given substance for the things that we hope for. Remember, our ultimate goal is to see Jesus and be like Jesus. And so what this substance means is it's literally to stand under, support the foundation. The foundation of life, and this is what I'm having to learn and struggle, the foundation of life is food, calories. Every piece, everything I put into my mouth has calories. And we even talk about the hidden calories, right? You know, we've got these labels today, and the labels are good about telling us things. Even if it says zero, zero, zero, guess what? There's always hidden calories in there. And so I didn't realize that, and so I'm allowed so many hidden calories, you know, and you start looking at all of this, it starts getting, but what happens? Calories are the foundations of life. If we don't eat, we don't live. The problem is, is when we store up too many calories and we start eating more calories than what we can consume. And the same problem happens when it comes to faith. Sometimes we end up doing what? We have more faith than what we're using up, and we get settled in our life. We get settled, and we get big and lazy. Faith is living in hope that revealed truth. Romans 10, 17 says, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so it gives us this absolute assurance. It stands under every situation. It supports it with assurance. We all hope for many things. But the question is, what foundations are ground, have we, for our hope? What is the evidence that is there? And that's one of the things that I've learned studying scientific apologetics and looking at that, when you look at the two different worldviews, Christianity and a worldview with God is the only one that makes sense. When you look at the evidence, every worldview that is out there that is apart from God ends up destroying itself. It cannot exist. It cannot survive. And so it doesn't make sense. It doesn't fit. If there's no God, and if the promises are not true, then we have no foundation of hope. It's baseless. The good thing is, is that I know that what happens. If a storm comes in, that storm is going to leave. It's temporary. It's not going to stick around forever. We have the rainbow to thank for that, right? God is not going to destroy. So no matter how bad it gets, there's a hope, there's an evidence on the other side. And it's not the sincerity of our belief. It's the object of our belief. And so we have to have faith because of the potential, but we also have to have faith because it's practical. Which is the most important thing? What we do or what we allow God to do through us? Of course, the obvious thing is what God can do through us, right? That's the thing. A life that is committed to what God's mind and God's spirit has convinced us to true, faith becomes our conscience. Faith becomes what guides us. It is the living proof in the mind that something is going to happen. It gives us that inward conviction from God that what He has promised, He will perform. When God saved me at nine years old, He made the promise, I will just have done as good work as you, will stand in your position. I have to trust Him for that. He's been working on me from nine to 64, that's a hundred years. A lot of years. 65 to 65, that's a lot of years He's been working on me. I haven't got there, but guess what? There is a completion somewhere out there. And so what is important is that God is going to continue to grow in me and mature in me. There's going to be setbacks. But guess what? There's not nearly as many setbacks because they're not nearly as important as what they were four years ago. But God's like, I'm learning to cook and I'm seeing growth. My eyes is on the completion, the future. And so that is the need for faith because of the potential and because of the practicalness of it. So what is the nature of faith? Look at what He says there in verse 1. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Verse 3, through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Faith enables us to understand what others cannot see and what others cannot understand. That's why an atheist, you know, we argue with people and when you argue with an atheist or something, you say, man, you are being ridiculous. You know, I've explained this, but what happens? The God of this world has blinded their eyes. If they don't have a belief in God, then nothing else matters. You can't convince somebody that doesn't believe or have somewhat. So there has to be somewhat of faith. And what I've learned with dealing with atheists and evolutionists and those worldviews is you do not attack the facts. You attack their belief. You attack the core. You have to get them to believe that there is something. You have to get them to a starting point of having some faith. Then you begin to lay out the facts and which one fits better. That there is a God, but there isn't a God. When you look at this building, we all know that there was a creator, right? We all know that there was somebody that designed this building. There were people that came in that nailed things together, that put things together, that created this building. None of us believe this building just popped up out here. Many of you were alive to watch it and see it. I was talking to a young lady this week and was witnessing to her and seeing about where she goes to church and everything during some down time during shooting sports and come to find out she was actually a member here when the church burned down. And so she knew the pastor and was friends with the pastor's daughter and all of this. And I said, well, what a coincidence, right? And so the nature of faith, Philippians 2.13 says, it is God who works in you both to will and to do his good pleasure. And so he gives us this example in verse 4. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh. What made Abel's offering greater than Cain? Only one thing. Abel offered what God commanded him to offer. Cain offered what he wanted to offer. Look at what I have done. Look at what I have made. The only thing was complete obedience to God and a lack of obedience to God. And so what happened? He tells us there, Abel proved his allegiance. He proved his faith because why? He obeyed God. Cain proved his lack of faith and obedience because he did not obey God. And so therefore, it wasn't that this act of sacrifice did make him faithful, but it proved in his heart that just shall live by faith. And then he goes on and he gives other examples, Enoch and so forth. And so faith cannot operate until you take things seriously and say, I will not quit until I've developed the habit of trusting God regularly. I've got to trust God in my domestic life, in my occupation, in intellectual realms, in relationships, everywhere I have to trust God. I was thinking tonight, you know, what if hell does come in my truck sitting out there? I had to work through this in myself, right? But I'm human just like you are. And you know how I finally worked through it? God provided that truck for me to begin with, right? If God wants it to hell on His truck, then that's God's business, right? He's got another plan. He's got another deal. But what? I'm where I am supposed to be. And that's why sometimes I don't ever want people to think that I don't take the storms and stuff seriously. But what I do do is I trust God enough that I know even if God came and destroyed everything, I am where I need to be doing what I need to be. And guess what? If God does allow things bad to happen, then that's God. And God has a bigger plan and a bigger design. And so, yes, the storms are serious. Yes, I'll watch it. Yes, I'm constantly looking at radars. I'm constantly watching stuff. But ultimately, guess what? I cannot do one thing about it. The one thing I can do is obey God and do what I'm supposed to do. That's the nature of faith, is obey Him. So notice the substance in verse 1. The substance, the foundation, is things that are hoped for. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him in verse 6. Because why? You have to believe that God is. And then you also have to believe that God is the rewarder of those that give little as they think Him. Do you believe in God? Yes. Check that one off, right? Do I believe God wants good for me? Yes. Because why? God is a good God. God is a loving God, right? He wants the best. And so what do I do? I start asking these questions. Yes, God is good. Yes, God is real. Yes, God loves me. God's taking care of me. God's going to provide for me. And so what's happening? The more and more I think about God and I look over my life and how God has protected me and how God has worked with me and provided in my life, I am 100% convinced that without God, there are no rewards in this life. And so my only faith and my only option is to obey God because if I'm going to be rewarded and I'm going to be blessed, it's going to come through God. So guess what? When Paul and Peter said before the courts, we must obey God rather than men. That's the one that's going to reward. Men, they're not going to do anything for me. It's God that's going to reward me. Number two, the substance of things hoped for. Substance, as I mentioned, is that foundation. We walk by faith, not by sight. It's a confidence. It's not an ignorance. It's not a blind faith. It is a confidence. He says in 2 Corinthians 5, 7, that we are well pleased rather to be absent from the body than to be present with the Lord. Therefore, we walk by faith, not by sight. Apart from faith and obedience to God, there's no way to please God. And then he says this is the foundation. This is where we go. And then this foundation, notice what happens. This foundation gives us the substance, the weight of our faith. What foundation or ground have you for our hope? Peter says, always be ready to give an answer or a defense. That's where we get that word apologetic. It's from the Greek word apologia. Always be ready to give a defense of the hope that is within you. When somebody comes up to you and asks, why are you a Christian? Why do you believe in God? What is your foundation for that? What is your proof? See, as a Christian, we ought to have our proof because I trust God. And he's what? He has always been faithful. He has always done what he has promised that he would do. But not only is it the substance, but it is the evidence of things not seen. This implies a response, an outward manifestation of an inward assurance. This is our title deed. This is the title deed that we have in our hand. And then look what he says. Because of the foundation, we have the promise of God. We have the foundation of God. We have the promise of God. That produces verse 3. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by God. So now, because I believe God and I am trusting God, then guess what? I see the results that only God can give. Without faith, you cannot understand the Word of God. It doesn't make sense. Why does Joshua march around the wall seven times and God gives him a city? Why the next time did he take these men and should have slaughtered this city, but he didn't? It doesn't make sense in our rational deal. So our understanding has changed. Because why? God doesn't always do it the way that we want it done. God doesn't always do it the way that we think it ought to be done. And so this understanding is to have a perception and knowledge of who God is and what God does and how it relates to you and I. So we see the need of faith. We see the nature of faith. And then verse 6 gives us the necessity of faith. Why is faith important? Look at what he says in verse 6. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Apart from faith, it is impossible to please God. If it's impossible to be pleasing to God, it's impossible to have fellowship with God. Right? One thing that I have learned in 35 years of marriage. We said 35 this year? 30. 30. The 30 years. It's a number deal. 30 years. We've been together 35 years. But one thing that I've learned in 30 years of being with her, if she is not pleased somewhat with me and what I am doing, there is no fellowship. There's no fellowship that happens if there's not pleasing first. The same way with God. If we're going to be disobedient and willfully choosing not to trust God, that we're going to obey God, there can't be any fellowship. So look at what he says here. He who comes to God must believe that He is. Faith wills what God wills. When you go back to the model prayer, what did he tell us? Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on what earth as it is in heaven. God, I'm not praying for my will. I know what my will is. But what I'm praying is that your will will be performed. When we pray for what God wants and what God desires, then guess what? God has no choice because God is not a liar. He has to fulfill and answer the request. So faith reveals all that God is and it accepts all that He is. If God suddenly ceased existing, would it make any difference in your life? Would it be any different? Would your life be shattered? Would it be affected? How long would it take you to notice that God died tomorrow? You know, that's impossible. But what if He didn't speak? You know, I sometimes wonder in the intertestaments when God didn't speak to anybody for 400 years, what did they think? Where did God go? What happened? Why is God not speaking? And when all of a sudden He appears and said, guess what? Here comes the Messiah. Gee, you think that was important? Yeah. You think they were ready to believe? Yes. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 53 says, And it came to pass that Jesus, when He had finished these parables, He departed thence. And when He was coming to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue in so much that they were astonished and said, Where hath this man this wisdom and these mighty words? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas and his sisters? Are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? This guy has a father like we do. He has a mother like we do. He has brothers and sisters just like we do. But he thinks like God. He's got wisdom that we don't have. What's up with this? And they were offended in Him. How is this man better than me? But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, saved in his own country and in his own house. And then look at what this verse here, because this is a sad, sad verse. And He did not meet Him out in works there because of their own belief. Who is there? Where's He at? He's amongst His family and relatives. He said His brothers are right here. His sisters are right here. He's back in His own country. Those that knew Him the closest. Now, all of us have a little bit of favoritism in us when it comes to our family. Right? As hard as we try not to. Right? We all are a little bit particular and favorable to our own. But it says there, because of their unbelief, Jesus did no more mighty works. No more healing. No more feeding them when they're hungry. No more providing water when they're thirsty. No more providing anything good for them. He did not do any miracles or anything miraculous. He did not do anything outside of being a man amongst them because of their unbelief. If that doesn't give us an understanding of how important faith is, I don't know what. Because with family, can you imagine how hard it must have been for Jesus Christ wanting to do for His family? You know, would not believe that I'm not. You look at this and I'm here. Even though I think that ultimately, if you're not going to believe the signs, if you're not going to believe the results of faith, then therefore, I'm not going to believe it. I'm going to choose to believe it. Because I'm going to choose to believe it. I'm not going to choose to believe it. I'm going to choose to believe it. Because I'm going to choose to believe it. I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it. And I'm going to choose to believe it.