IF You Believe

If you believe....

There is a song in the movie The Wiz that Dorothy sings to the Tin man about believing.

If you believe Within your heart you'll know That no one can change The path that you must go

Believe what you feel And know you're right, because The time will come around When you say it's yours

Believe there's a reason to be Believe you can make time stand still You know from the moment you try If you believe Jesus said Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed! John concludes this chapter with these words 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (Jn 20:31).

John gain said in 1 John 5:13 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 Jn 5:13).

There is something to believing if you ask me!

We Must Believe to be Saved

The fundamental start of our walk with Christ is believing he is Lord.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (Jn 3:16–18).

The Jailer asked the question Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Ac 16:30–31).

Paul reminds us in Ephesians

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8–9).

We believe when we Pray

We must exercise belief even when we pray.

Believing, ye shall receive. The condition for the success of prayer is stringent. A man must have no latent doubt in his heart; he must not debate whether the thing desired can be done or not; he must have absolute trust in the power and good will of God; and he must believe that "what he saith cometh to pass" (Mark 11:23).

Look at Mark 11:23-24 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mk 11:23–24).

We must believe while we wait

A week and a day after the resurrection the disciples are assembled again behind lock doors. This time Thomas is with them. As we read Thomas missed Jesus visit. When he was told he made the statement that he would not believe unless i see the marks in his hands and place his finger in Jesus side.

Jesus arrives and comes in without knocking and says “Peace be with you.” Without asking Thomas any questions about what he said. Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” (Jn 20:27).

In Luke combines this event with the events from our Sunday School Lesson. This is easily explained by him having the responsibility of retelling the events. Luke 24:36-40 36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved . (Lk 24:36–41). Now understanding their disbelief was mixed with joy and astonishment!

Thomas was now sure of who Jesus was and experienced overcoming doubt about his own faith.

As we walk through our life day by day, we have times when we will have doubts about each of the things that occur.

We will have to believe that what is happening will be for a purpose that only God may know at the time they occur.

Our future, whether it is happening the way we want or not, is a constant walk of faith.

But as we are able to get through each day, our doubts start to subside and we walk with more confidence and get stronger so that when the trials and tribulations that occur with our daily lives occur, we can handle them easier.

As the daily things in life come along, we can be able to handle them without doubt, without fear, and with the strength that the Lord provides for those who believe.

Our strength in our faith allows us to move forward to serve others and make our lives an example of our faith in Jesus Christ.

Jaun Carlos Oritz in his book, “Disciple”, stated on the front cover, “Jesus did not say, “How would you like to go?” No. He commanded, and they did. That is how disciples are made.”

We have become believers and now who need to look at what our calling in life is.

It is to walk in faith serving as a disciple by no longer doubting all of the time, but to walk in faith with confidence. We do not have to go out and serve as the disciples did that walked with Jesus, but we can be like them by sharing each of the gifts that we have been given to use in this life.

You have many things that you can share about life that are a part of being a disciple.

Your life experience is the biggest one. You can share how you have been like Thomas, doubting things that have come up in your life.

You also can share testimonies about how, like Thomas, you have seen the Lord get you through life to get you where you are now in your faith.

Life can be hard sometimes but walking with Jesus through it makes it bearable.

Thomas saw that Jesus was who He said He was and experienced being able to overcome his doubts and growing in his faith because of that.

You may need to grow in your faith today.

Or, you may also need to experience having faith in someone you have not seen but have been hearing about today.

Jesus can guide you through life’s trials and give you comfort knowing that life can be different in a true relationship with Him.

If you would like to make a change and stop being a “doubting Thomas” all of the time. If you would like to have a new life from this moment on in a true relationship with God through His son, Jesus Christ, let us talk to Him right now.