I Believe

     It is easy to throw around the word "believe," but it is much more difficult to grasp its true meaning.  Yet since the essence of belief is the true crux of salvation, it is essential that we understand what saving belief is.  We need to have certainty in our own lives that we possess it, and can explain it well enough to lead others to true saving faith in Christ.

     All too often we are confronted with people who say they believe in God, or that they believe in the Bible, but their protestations of belief are accompanied by lifestyles that belie their claims.  James 2:19 basically says, "You say you believe in God, great, but so do the demons, who shudder at the thought."  James' point is:  believing in God isn't enough to save us.  In fact, the evil spirits have a better grasp of who God is that we do, yet although their knowledge and experience of Him makes them tremble, it does not save them in the least.  Believing something is true, even with all certainty, is not saving belief.

     People will often profess to believe the Bible.  They may even hallow it as the Word of God.  But several places in the Scripture we are told to be certain that we don't just hear the Word, but that we do it.  Saying we believe it is God's Word means nothing if we don't live it out.  James says that belief without obedience is worthless.  In fact, not lining ourselves up with what the Word says actually adds to our condemnation, because once we say we have "received" revelation, we are them responsible for what we have received - in other words, we're responsible to adjust our lives to its truth.

     Neil Anderson explains how we can have a disconnect between what we say we believe and how we actually behave.  He states that we can often act contrary to what we profess, but we will never act contrary to what we really believe.  The scary part is, we may not be aware that there is this disconnect in our own lives.  We may believe that we believe, only to be shocked (or shock others) when we end up behaving in ways that are contrary to our professions.  The evidence for what anyone really believes is found in what they do, not merely what they say.

     It is essential that we regularly lay ourselves open before the Lord and allow His searching light to probe the dark corners of our hearts and expose any inconsistencies in what we profess and what we actually live out.  Just ask Him, "Lord, show me where I'm deceiving myself that I truly believe what I profess."  Then hang on, because He loves to answer that kind of prayer, and it can be fairly ghastly when He does expose those things to us.

     For instance, we say we believe in prayer, but how much do we actually pray?  When faced with a decision, with life's challenges, with dire circumstances, is our first response to bring it to God or to wring our hands and fret, or complain, or fall a friend for advice?  Is prayer our first thought or an afterthought?  If we truly believe in prayer, I think most of us would be praying more than we do.

     We say we believe in the power of God, but how much of the time do we struggle on in our own strength instead of relying on His power?  do we even believe He will move in might?

     We say we believe He is our provider but do we believe that enough to truly trust Him and rest in His provision, or are we striving and stressing?

     We say heaven is going to be more wonderful than anything we experience here, and yet, do we long for it?  Is our treasure truly there?  Jesus said where our treasure is our heart will be, too.  What evidence is there in our lives that indicates we believe our treasure is really  in heaven?

     You see, there are many things we say we believe, but the way we live our lives would testify against that being true of us.  Measured against the Word, how do our lives reflect our belief that we should sacrificially love and totally forgive like Jesus did?  do we prove we believe He is faithful, true and trustworthy by our dependence on Him?

     When we spiritually engage with others, do we have the words to challenge them regarding the necessity o a true saving belief?  Who are those people in your life that may need to better understand what real faith is all about?  Put your belief in prayer, and your dependence upon the transforming and enabling promises of God into gear and begin to ask God for opportunities for sacred conversations with these people to explain what "I Believe" really means.

     But begin by being very sure what you profess you truly believe!