confidence – Three Minute Bible

August 3, 2026July 28, 2026

1 Timothy 6:11 (Part 3) – Faith

But you, man of God, flee from all this, andpursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

Summary: Paul’s emphasis on pursuit evokes images of running after something. In this case, we are running after an attitude of trust.

How are we supposed to “pursue faith?” Is it running away from us? Interestingly, when we look for faith in our own lives, it can seem to be elusive.

What is faith?

Simply put, faith is another word for trust and confidence in someone or something. Hebrews famously defines faith this way:

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

You can have faith in things you see, touch, and feel, but it is not as challenging as faith in things we do not see.

As a Christian, we put our faith in … what? God? Jesus? The Bible? (Oh, wait. We can “see” the Bible!)

Those who believe in Jesus believe in someone who has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:2). He is not here in the flesh, but he does promise to come back for us (John 14:3).

And that is what we have faith in. We are trusting that Jesus won’t leave us behind; that he will come and get us at the proper time.

So how do we pursue faith? How do we chase after having trust in Jesus?

The answer is probably different for each of us. After all, we are all in different places in our relationship with Jesus. However, there are some common threads we can all make use of.

One is to keep our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2). The writer of Hebrews compares faith to running a race. If you have ever run a physical long-distance race, you know the challenge of believing you can finish.

Another thread is to keep our minds focused on where Jesus is. This is the place we pray about when we pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13): “… your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven….”

A third thread is to remain in Jesus:

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you… apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

It requires effort to stay in Jesus. He was using a vine and its branches as an illustration. If the branches lose their grip, they lose contact with the source of their life.

Application: Make it your goal to stay focused on Jesus all day, every day.

Food for Thought: What other ways of pursuing faith come to mind?

Please click ‘’Continue Reading” for comments.

January 24, 2026January 26, 2026

1 Timothy 1:5d – The Headwaters of Love

Picture of three separate water streams forming one stream (Grok)

[The goal of this command is love, which comes from]… a sincere faith.

Summary: Wrapping up our discussion of Paul’s three reasons for his “command,” we come to the question of faith. What is it and why is it important?

Writing to Timothy about the need to “command” misguided believers in Jesus not to do certain things,* he says the goal is love (agapē). He then explains that there are three sources, three artesian springs if you will, where the headwaters of love spring from. The three sources are:

October 1, 2025October 1, 2025

Philippians 3:4b – It’s All About Jesus!

Picture: I giant cross surrounded by thousands of people (GROK)

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in…

Summary: The opening words of Paul’s statement about why people put confidence in the flesh provide a jumping-off point for us to consider what the true meaning of the Gospel is.

Before we begin with today’s meditation, Thank you to all of you who took the time to write and share your thoughts. I deeply appreciate the encouragement and the feedback! God bless all of you! — Jeff

Looking at this passage, it is easy to get caught up in the larger picture of Paul’s thought. His full sentence reads:

September 17, 2025October 1, 2025

Philippians 3:3e – Taking a Break

Two deck chairs overlooking the ocean (GROK)

… though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

Summary: Today, we take an inside-out look at Paul’s statement about confidence. We are also taking a break from blogging.

Taken in context, Paul is referring to his spiritual “credit rating” under the Old Covenant Law. He has a lot to be proud of! He could trace his lineage back to Abraham. He was schooled under the best instructor, Gamaliel. He was apparently a good student. And as far as enthusiasm goes, his Zeal Factor was off the charts. When it came to enforcing the Law, there was no one better.

May 26, 2023May 27, 2023

Ephesians 3:12 – Visiting God

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Summary: Thinking about how we approach God leads to some interesting thoughts about who and what God is and how we relate to him.

January 13, 2020January 13, 2020

Affirmation Monday – Philippians 1: 6

… being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Confidence

In the opening lines of Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, he shares an eternal truth: God is not a quitter.

Think about the persistence of God. Before he created the earth and the stars he created the angels. One of them went bad. Then this bad egg, Satan, enticed many of God’s angels to follow him.

When God created the universe and all that is in it, he understood the risk. He had already seen corruption in his creation of the angels. When he created the earth and all that we know, he was not surprised when Satan corrupted his creation again.