To Believe or Not to Believe

To Believe or Not to Believe

Hey Winterfest students. This week I am going to be talking about and challenging you to think about BELIEF or FAITHFULNESS.

I. Compromised Beliefs and Walking Contradictions

What if we believed in others the way we believe in God? How would that work in our daily walk with them? There is a difference in believing in someone in an abstract way and having faith in someone because you know them personally.

God doesn’t want us to have SHALLOW BELIEFS (or concepts) about Him just so we can get to heaven. He wants us to have a DEEP FAITH in Him because we love Him. (SWIMMING POOL)

The Greek word that we translate as “believe” is more accurately translated “have faith in”. We can believe in God in a very shallow way, but if we have faith in Him, we have deeply entrusted ourselves to Him.

I can believe in something without being changed. But, putting my faith in something or someone means that I can’t helped but be changed by whatever I have entrusted myself to.

We live in a world of compromised beliefs. Our beliefs are often based on concepts (abstract ideas) that we have been taught by others. We will generally accept concepts and believe in them if they do not conflict with our lifestyles or do not bring injury to those we love. But when the concepts we believe in begin to “negatively” affect the way we have chosen to live (have brought discomfort or unease) or they “negatively” affect those we love (keeps them from living the way they want to live), then we begin to compromise those beliefs until they are either reshaped to fit our current stance on the issue or we completely discarded them all together.

We begin to compromise our beliefs in very subtle ways as Satan introduces doubt into our minds. You know, like in the garden when Satan asked Eve, “Did God really say?” This doubt creeps in to where we ask ourselves, “What did God really say?”

Now, if we honestly seek to find what God said to honor and glorify Him, then we will find Him and He will give us His answer. BUT, if we are seeking to find a way to honor our own desires or beliefs then God will also allow us to find the answers we are looking for, but they are most often NOT the answer we need.

Read Romans 1:20-25 – For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

God will allow us to go the path we choose, even if it is away from Him.

In 2 Timothy 4:3-4 it says, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

We do this and make it the truth we WANT to believe in rather than following and living the truth we NEED to have faith in. All while saying we believe in God. Truth is, we do believe in god; we believe in the god of SELF. So, our compromised beliefs make us WALKING CONTRADICTIONS. To believe in God, but not to believe!

II. To Believe or Not to Believe

“Do you believe?”Mark 9:14-29

But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." And Jesus said to him, "If you can! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9: 22 - 24)

This man found himself stuck between a place of belief and unbelief. But He knew that Jesus had the answer and asked Him for it. He wanted Jesus’ help him to believe (or have faith in) the right thing. When we ask God to help us in our belief (our faith), He will always help us. We just have to be OK with the answers He gives us. God can do great things with even a small seed of faith/belief in Him.

So, DO YOU BELIEVE?

As Paul said to Timothy, “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” (ESV: 2 Timothy 1: 12 - 14)

a. FAITHFULNESS does not mean we will have no doubt, and it doesn’t mean we will be perfect. FAITHFULNESS means that we have put our hope and trust in God. That truth comes from Him and not from the whims of our desires or emotions.

I'm leaving you with two things to think about and take action on this week. They are 1) Ask yourself if you have simply believed in a concept ABOUT God or have deep faith IN God and why? , and 2 )determine one thing you can do this week that will demonstrate your FAITHFULNESS to God rather than just your belief in Him.

Always be seeking the truth, even when you have doubts. Trust God--He is faithful! God bless you this week.