Goodbye to “BELIEVE” as we know it...
“I believe in God.” Most people think this means, “I'm sure that God exists”. Then you hear people say, “even the devil or demons believe in God”…
which is true… they KNOW and have full confidence in God’s existence
I’m sure… but BELIEVE in the Bible means so much more than we think...
BELIEVE means to [ADHERE TO IT, TRUST IT, and RELY UPON IT]
Do you ADHERE (stay attached to, cling to, be devoted to, be consistent to) God?
Do you TRUST [expect confidently, hope, rely on His (integrity, strength, ability)] in God?
Do you RELY (depend) on God?!
So the question should not be “Do you believe God exists?” Rather, “Do you cling to God? Are you a consistent follower of His? Do you trust His ability? His integrity? Do you depend on Him?”
With this in mind, now read….
"For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even]
gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in
(trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to
destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life." (John 3:16 AMP)
Believing
is more than acknowledging the existence of! When God is asking us to
"believe" in Him... He's asking for so much more than we think... trust
in, be devoted to, hope in, stay close to HIM!
MORE GOOD NEWS:
"For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge
(to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the
world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation--he
incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on,
trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has
already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and
trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned
for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ's name.] (John 3:17-18 AMP)
Read v. 19-21 for more!!!
Disclaimer: (I actually wrote this (above) in 2011, but was reminded of it with my other recent post. So now I add...)
I want to be a woman who stays attached to Him, that has a consistent relationship (not just highs and lows), I want to expect confidently in Him and put myself in position to depend on Him. I want to live in His strength, not my own.
I want to be like the father in the story found in Mark 9:14-29:
"'But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.' 'If you can?' said Jesus. 'Everything is possible for one who believes.' Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, 'I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!'" (Mark 9:22-24 NIV)
In the Amplified version it words it like this, 'Lord, I believe! [Constantly] help my weakness of faith!" (Mark 9:24 AMP) Lord knows I am in need of constant help!
Labels: believe, truth, world:changers
