Do You Believe?

Someone asked me a question today.  It was a simple question and one I thought that I would share with you.  The question was simply, "Do you really believe all that stuff you talk about?"  In other words, "Do you really believe all that stuff you say about God and how He is going to deliver you out of every situation?"  What a thought provoking question!  Now this question was asked by a fellow Christian not just some unsaved person on the street.  I, of course, was curious to know why she was asking.  My answer to her was a resounding YES!  I believe everything God has said to me.  I believe that no matter how dark the situation may be, God is going to see me through.  But I couldn't stop thinking about this question. 

When we are saved a requirement is to 'believe on the Lord Jesus Christ...Acts 16:31'.  That is the plan of salvation 101. Another verse that comes to mind is,  'If you confess with thy mouth and believe in thy heart...Romans 10:9  Once again there is that word 'believe'.  What does it mean to believe?  To believe is to have confidence in the truth.  So the first step in our salvation is to have confidence in the One who came to save us.  But that's only one part of it. We know that we must 'believe in God' but not only that 'we must believe God'.  Most people would say that this is the same thing but it really is not.  Many of us believe in God.  We believe in what God represents.  We believe that He died on the cross for our sins. We even believe that He is coming back again.  However, many times during our journey of trust, we don't believe God.  We don't stand firmly on the His promises.  We don't proclaim our belief with confidence.  In the back of our mind we may know it but there is still some doubt that if God said it then it will come to pass.  We read in His Word where He said 'ask and it will be given unto you, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened unto you' ---Luke 11:9 but when God doesn't move at our speed then His Word isn't true.  We read in His Word where it talks about having faith the size of a mustard seed, then you can say to the mountain move and it is supposed to move.---Matthew 17:20  I wonder how many times the mountain did move but instead of God just pushing it out of the way, He gave you the ability to climb that mountain until you were standing on the top.  You see, what we have to remember through our journey is that we must believe. In fact the scripture says in Isaiah 7:9b, 'If you do not stand firm in your faith,

you will not stand at all'.  It really made me wonder how many of God's blessings I had postponed because of my lack of faith.  Instead of focusing on the problem solver, I was too focused on the problem.  The Bible and all of the promises it contained was not living and breathing in my life.  The words were dead.  I hadn't used my faith to activate them. Proverbs 30:5 says that 'every word of God has been proven true'.  So it is time you start believing it.  Your faith is not meant to be dormant.  It is meant to be active and through each test and trial it should become stronger.  The things that you go through should steer you to the Word.  More time in the Word should only secure your belief.  That way if someone should come to you and ask you, "Do you really believe all that stuff you talking about?"  You can answer them, without any hesitation...YES!

Most Gracious Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your Word.  I confess that I don't always use it as I should.  I don't turn to it when times are tough in my life.  I don't carry my sword at all times.  I confess that at times I am not as sure as I should be that things are going to work out for my good and your glory.  I need Your help.  It's time for me to stop playing around and begin to stand firmly on Your promises.  I believe.  In Jesus' Name I pray Amen.